New signage has gone up outside 2111 Wilson Boulevard in Courthouse, where a long-delayed Tex-Mex and Latin American fusion restaurant called Rocoto's Restaurant and Bakery is inching closer to opening. The project has now cleared a liquor license, a tangible sign of movement after renovation plans stalled for months at the former Corner Bakery Cafe space.
The liquor license was approved last week, according to ARLnow, which first reported the project's stalled renovation timeline and confirmed the new storefront signage. Restaurant owner Jaime Vargas, who also runs San Antonio Bar & Grill in Washington, D.C., did not respond to the outlet's requests for comment on the current status of the buildout.
Vargas first announced plans for Rocoto's in August 2025, and the restaurant was originally expected to open in October, per the same report. That timeline has clearly slipped, with the renovation plans stalled. The business also still has no apparent website, leaving prospective diners with little public information beyond what has trickled out through local coverage.
A Prime Corner Vacant Since 2023
The space has sat empty since Corner Bakery Cafe closed in February 2023, a casualty of the fast-casual chain's broader financial collapse. Corner Bakery's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware that same month with estimated assets and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million, a filing that led directly to the sudden closure of the Courthouse location, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
Texas-based SSCP Management later acquired Corner Bakery out of bankruptcy in June 2023 and began a corporate overhaul, as reported by Eat This, Not That! That overhaul didn't bring Corner Bakery back to Wilson Boulevard, though — Rocoto's is planned for the former Courthouse endcap. In a separate legal chapter, Corner Bakery's parent company filed a federal lawsuit in August 2024 against former owner Jay Pandya, alleging he breached fiduciary duties and mismanaged corporate funds in the years leading up to the bankruptcy, per Restaurant Dive.
Tex-Mex Meets Bolivian Bakery Traditions
Rocoto's plans to serve fajitas, tacos, baked goods and seafood, with a particular emphasis on the latter — think ceviche, seafood tamales, mahi-mahi tacos and tuna tacos, according to ARLnow's reporting. The restaurant is also planning to make salteñas, cakes and other baked goods, reportedly using leftover bakery equipment left behind by Corner Bakery.
Salteñas are savory Bolivian meat pies, and Northern Virginia and the broader D.C. area host the largest population of Bolivian-Americans in the country, where the baked pastries have established a strong regional presence, per the Washingtonian.
The restaurant's name nods to the rocoto pepper, a South American chili known for its distinct black seeds and a heat rating between 30,000 and 100,000 Scoville units — up to 40 times hotter than a standard jalapeño, according to PepperScale.
Big Bar, Bigger Seating Plans
When Vargas first detailed the project in August 2025, he described interior plans featuring a 19-person bar that will pour margaritas and pisco sours, per ARLnow's earlier coverage. Rocoto's is expected to seat about 100 people indoors, with an outdoor patio built for 46 more.
