Loudoun County's first Bartaco restaurant has quietly started serving customers at One Loudoun in Ashburn, though for now diners can only get in the door at dinnertime. The freestanding restaurant sits in the shopping center's newest phase, and after two years of anticipation, the doors are finally open — even if only partway.
According to The Burn, the soft opening began this week, with the building fully constructed, furnished and staffed before the first plates went out. The outlet reports that Bartaco is currently open for dinner hours only, but staff expect to add lunch service as soon as next week. The Burn first broke news of Bartaco's plans for Loudoun back in September 2024, meaning the wait for the chain's debut in the county has spanned roughly two years.
Once lunch service kicks in, the Ashburn location will mark the culmination of a project that has been years in the making. Bartaco had posted signage at the site by late July, according to Pearson Smith Realty, even as the surrounding phase of One Loudoun remained under construction. At that point, no firm opening date had been announced, with the brand only targeting sometime before the end of 2026.
A Bigger Build Than Its Reston Cousin
The Ashburn restaurant will be Bartaco's third Virginia location, joining existing spots at Reston Town Center and the Mosaic District in Fairfax, per the same Pearson Smith Realty report. The chain now operates more than 30 locations nationally. Details on the building's size come from a separate account: the Ashburn Bartaco is being built as a freestanding structure on a median, running roughly 5,200 square feet with seating for about 168 people, according to The Local Group Loudoun. That's notably larger than the Reston Town Center Bartaco, which measures about 4,200 square feet, the same report notes.
Bartaco's hiring push in the run-up to opening played out on social media, where the company's LinkedIn page said it was seeking sous chefs and managers for the soon-to-open Ashburn restaurant and pointed prospective hires toward hiring events at 44695 Uptown Row Drive.
Our team is eagerly preparing for the grand opening of a brand-new bartaco in One Loudoun located in Ashburn, Virginia. — bartaco, via LinkedIn
Joining a Fast-Filling Block
Bartaco isn't opening into an empty corner of One Loudoun. The Burn reports that it joins Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Tatte Bakery & Cafe, Alo and Arhaus on the same new block along Exchange Street. That stretch has filled in steadily: Arhaus, the block's 20,000-square-foot anchor store, held its grand opening the first weekend of April, while Tatte Bakery & Cafe opened on a Wednesday in June and Alo Yoga has also opened its activewear store there, according to the Local Group Loudoun account.
More retail is on the way for the still-under-construction phase of the development. The Burn's report lists Williams-Sonoma, Madewell and Pottery Barn among the tenants slated to arrive, while an Anthropologie store is under construction nearby as well. The broader buildout traces back to October 2024, when Kite Realty Group broke ground on seven new buildings extending Exchange Street north, per the Local Group Loudoun report.
Bartaco's arrival also fits into a wider wave of dining additions across Ashburn and Loudoun County this year. Pearson Smith Realty's report notes that The Backspin has signed on for the roughly 12,000-square-foot space at Loudoun Station formerly occupied by The Zone, while Bobby's Bagel Cafe has been eyeing a second Loudoun County location in the former Kung Fu Tea space near the Ashburn Metro stop off Shellhorn Road. For now, though, the focus in Ashburn is on getting a single new restaurant fully up and running — dinner today, with lunch expected to follow soon.
