Viral Halal Chain Flavor Hive Brings Walking Tacos to Georgetown's M Street

A fast-casual halal chain that built its following through viral TikTok cooking videos is opening its first Washington DC storefront in Georgetown on Thursday, moving into a basement-level space on M Street just steps from one of the neighborhood's longtime nightlife spots. Flavor Hive, known for quesadillas, loaded fries, rice bowls, pita melts and its signature walking tacos, is setting up shop at 3287 M St NW, right next door to the Georgetown Piano Bar.

The company, co-founded by Shihan Chowdhury and Amgd Gende, has grown quickly since opening its first storefront in Annandale in June 2025. According to DC News Now, the pair went on to open a second location in Manassas and now operate seven storefronts total, with stores in Alexandria, Waldorf, Maryland, Glen Allen and Mason District Park in addition to the new Georgetown outpost. “DC, we are finally here,” Chowdhury said of the expansion, per the outlet's report.

Chowdhury built the brand's early audience under the handle @chilipeppercooks, where he amassed more than 1.8 million TikTok followers posting fusion recipes built around Thai chili peppers, according to the Saa Nasta newsletter. He partnered with Gende in 2023, pairing that social media reach with Gende's nine years running mobile kitchens in the DMV area, as detailed by Northern Virginia Magazine.

The Walking Taco That Went Viral

The menu item drawing the most attention is Flavor Hive's Bring Your Own Bag walking taco, priced at $12, where customers hand over their own chip bag for staff to fill with halal meats, toppings and house sauces, according to online ordering listings on Toast. The concept has drawn notice from a string of prominent names — DC News Now reports that food reviewer Keith Lee, content creator Baylen Dupree and rapper Shy Glizzy have all noticed the walking tacos. Earlier iterations of the item reportedly sold for $10, per the outlet.

The Georgetown store's basement-level space spans 1,678 square feet and is configured for counter service, with dining room seating for up to 20 patrons, per listings reviewed by WhatNow. Online ordering pages on Toast show the shop keeping hours from 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, stretching to 3:45 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights — a schedule tailored to Georgetown's late-night foot traffic near Georgetown University.

A Storefront With History

The address has its own history on M Street. The space previously housed Harmony Cafe, a family-run vegetarian restaurant that served Georgetown diners for nearly three decades before closing in 2022, according to reporting from PoPville. Next door, the Georgetown Piano Bar has operated as a subterranean live-music venue since opening in September 2014 in the space once occupied by the nightclub Modern, according to The Hoya.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E voted unanimously, 7-0, in November 2025 to endorse a special zoning exception allowing Flavor Hive to operate in the basement space within the commercial MU-4 zone without serving alcohol, according to the commission's meeting minutes. That approval cleared the way for the halal concept to move into a corridor better known for bars and late-night lounges than fast-casual counters.

Part of a Bigger Halal Boom

Flavor Hive's expansion from a single Northern Virginia food truck to seven regional storefronts reflects a broader wave of fast-casual growth across the Washington metropolitan area, Northern Virginia Magazine notes. That growth mirrors national numbers: the U.S. halal food market reached $733.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at an 8.9% compound annual rate through 2034, driven in part by a national Muslim population of 3.5 million and rising mainstream demand for ethically certified food, according to the IMARC Group.

Chowdhury and Gende have also launched a limited-edition product as part of the brand's continued rollout, though details on that item were not specified in reporting. For now, the focus is on Thursday's opening, when Georgetown diners get their first shot at the walking tacos that have already made the rounds on social media well before the doors on M Street ever opened.