D.C.’s Most Exciting New Restaurant Started as a Pop-Up
This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Now Open is a yearlong series celebrating some of 2026’s most exciting new restaurants. Throughout the year, we’ll check in with teams in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., to hear what it’s really […]
Justin Ahn and Alex McCoy launched Alfie’s as a pop-up restaurant in 2016, serving northern Thai cuisine in Washington, D.C. The temporary location only stayed open for a few months before they began operating it as a roving concept worldwide. Now, they have returned to D.C. with a permanent venue in Georgetown. Despite the shift to a brick-and-mortar location, the team has kept the dynamic energy of the pop-up model, with a 25-seat space tucked in an alley off of Georgetown's M Street serving Thai dishes made with Mid-Atlantic ingredients and natural wine from Virginia.
The team still operates with a pop-up mindset, with only three staff members handling all aspects of the restaurant. They adjust their menu daily based on what local purveyors have in season and serve Virginia wines, emphasizing the regional ingredients in their dishes.
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