A long-vacant storefront on MacArthur Boulevard NW is finally getting new life, as French-inspired cafe chain Maman prepares to move into the space left behind by Black Coffee in the Palisades. Work is already underway at 4885 MacArthur Blvd NW, and the bakery is recruiting staff for the new location.
The move fills a spot that sat empty for well over a year. Black Coffee permanently closed the address on March 31, 2025, after nearly seven years serving the neighborhood, according to PoPville. As WhatNow reports, Maman now has 13 open outposts across the D.C. region, and this will be its latest.
From Apartments Back to Storefronts
The building's path back to retail wasn't simple. A developer had proposed a 21-unit residential project above the commercial storefronts at the address, but canceled those plans in June 2025 due to high interest rates and tariffs, per the same PoPville report. That reversal pushed the property owner to pivot back to leasing the ground-floor retail space rather than converting it to apartments.
D.C.'s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D had endorsed zoning relief for the apartment plan back in 2023, but with a condition attached: when the commission reviewed the zoning applications that October, it required that ground-floor commercial spaces at 4885 MacArthur Blvd NW be reserved specifically for restaurant and food service tenants, in order to preserve neighborhood dining options, per the same account. That requirement helped set the stage for another cafe, rather than a retail shop or office use, to eventually take the space.
A Cafe Born in SoHo, Now Sprawling Across the DMV
Maman was founded in New York City in 2014 by Benjamin Sormonte and Elisa Marshall, who built a concept blending childhood kitchen experiences with influences from their mothers from southern France and North America. The bakery cultivates a guest experience built around rustic decor, family-tradition-inspired cuisine, and high-quality ingredients, offering coffee, pastries, and French-inspired fare, per WhatNow's report.
The chain first entered the Washington region in June 2022 at Bethesda Row in Maryland, and has since grown to more than 50 locations across North America, according to The MoCo Show. Maman's Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookie, made with dark chocolate, macadamia nuts, almonds, and walnuts, gained wide recognition after landing on Oprah Winfrey's Favorite Things list in 2017, as noted by Taste Canada. Sormonte and Marshall later included the recipe in their 2021 cookbook.
A Neighborhood in Flux
Black Coffee first opened in May 2018, launched by restaurateurs Jeff and Barbara Black of the Black Restaurant Group on the same block as their flagship seafood spot, BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant, as Hoodline reported at the time in its piece on new breakfast spots. BlackSalt itself opened at 4883 MacArthur Blvd NW in 2005 and has operated as a Palisades culinary anchor ever since, according to the Washingtonian.
Maman's arrival also fits a broader pattern of turnover along the corridor. Nearby, N.H. 48 Indian Kitchen took over the former Momo's Cafe space at 4828 MacArthur Blvd NW in September 2026, following Momo's closure the previous October, per PoPville's coverage of the neighborhood. Other commercial space on the strip, at 4865 MacArthur Blvd NW, sits within The Fitzgerald of Palisades, a 150,750-square-foot senior living community built in 2025 where Black Coffee had previously explored relocating, according to a LoopNet listing.
The Palisades opening adds to a run of new Maman locations announced this year. In March, the chain revealed plans for a Washington location at 1501 K Street NW near McPherson Square, in a storefront formerly occupied by Cosi, according to PoPville's earlier report. No opening date has been announced yet for the MacArthur Boulevard cafe, but with staff hiring already underway, neighbors on the 4800 block should expect the doors to open before too long.
