Flavor Hive, the fast-casual chain known for stuffing customers' own chip bags with meat, rice and vegetables, is planning a second Richmond-area location inside Chesterfield Towne Center. The brand has filed a building permit with Chesterfield County to take over the former Five Guys space along the mall's exterior, sandwiched between the Twisted Crab seafood restaurant and the now-vacant TJ Maxx anchor.
The filing was first reported by Richmond BizSense, which notes the space would give Flavor Hive an exterior entrance directly off the mall's southeast side. The manager of Flavor Hive's existing Glen Allen outpost told the outlet the Chesterfield location is anticipated to open later this year, though additional details about the build-out were not available, and the company did not respond to emails seeking further comment.
A Walking Taco Empire Built From a Food Truck
Flavor Hive built its following as a fast-casual concept centered on walking tacos, rice bowls and quesadillas, with rice bowl options that can include chicken, falafel, vegetables and other toppings, per the same BizSense report. Its signature move is letting customers bring their own bag of chips to be sliced open and packed with more than 12 ounces of halal-certified meat, basmati rice, vegetables and house sauces, a format priced between $10 and $12 according to Washingtonian.
The brand started as a single food truck in early 2024, co-founded by Amgd Gende and social media creator Shihan Chowdhury, who had built an online following of more than 1.8 million under the handle @chilipeppercooks, according to The Business Journals. That viral momentum caught the attention of Basim Mansour, owner of Northern Virginia home-services company Michael & Son, who acquired a 50 percent stake in Flavor Hive in 2025 to bankroll its brick-and-mortar expansion and brought on former Chipotle regional director Drew Kellogg as company president, the trade publication reports.
Flavor Hive opened its first Richmond-area restaurant on May 21, 2026, at 1080 Virginia Center Parkway in Glen Allen near Virginia Center Commons. The chain has since grown to 10 listed locations across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., including a Stafford outpost that opened the week before the BizSense report and a Georgetown restaurant that debuted on August 27, both announced via the company's social media accounts. Hoodline previously reported on the Stafford opening as part of the chain's regional rollout, and also covered its debut on Georgetown's M Street. Every location is corporate-owned rather than franchised, a structure tied to maintaining consistent menu standards.
A Mall Reshaping Itself Around New Tenants
The proposed Flavor Hive space sits in a part of Chesterfield Towne Center that has seen significant turnover. The combined TJ Maxx and HomeGoods anchor store closed in February 2026 and relocated to the nearby Pocono Crossing shopping center the following month, according to Inc. Magazine, leaving a large vacant anchor footprint right next to the planned restaurant. The Twisted Crab seafood restaurant is a neighboring tenant, per Richmond BizSense's earlier reporting.
Other recent arrivals at Chesterfield Towne Center include DVD store Blue Rose and menswear shop R.S. Milan, additions that suggest the new ownership group is actively working to refill the mall's storefronts. Flavor Hive's expected arrival would add another fast-casual name to Chesterfield Towne Center.
