A new era of indulgence descends upon Falls Church when Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken opens its doors in Idylwood Plaza this weekend. The Washington, D.C.-based restaurant plans to debut at 8 a.m. Friday and hold a soft opening through Sunday with a grand opening – and a three-day string of limited free food – set for Monday, Astro co-owner Elliot Spaisman told the News-Press Tuesday.
Located in the corner of the Route 7 shopping center, the new eatery specializes in doughnuts and fried chicken (both bone-in and fingers), naturally, but also combinations of the two using doughnuts as buns for sandwiches. Doughnut flavors include everyday varieties vanilla glazed, PB&J, maple bacon and crème brûlée along with rotating monthly specials (this month’s are black and white, Nutella, peaches and cream and salted caramel). “The crème brûlée is our most popular,” Spaisman says. “But the maple bacon is a close second.” The Falls Church store will serve a slightly bigger menu than its D.C. location with the addition of eggs, more add-ons for sandwiches plus a new side item exclusive to the F.C. spot: tater tots.
The Falls Church space is small (but still larger than the District version), with only a few stools along the walls and some outdoor seating available for on-site eating. Like in D.C., it’s really a more of a carry-out restaurant.
For those who can’t wait until this weekend, a sneak peek of Astro is available at the Tysons Shake Shack all August long in the form of the burger joint’s Coffee & Doughnuts concrete which features Astro’s vanilla glazed doughnut mixed with vanilla custard and coffee marshmallow sauce.
Astro is planning to hold soft opening hours from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. this Friday through Sunday pending on internet connectivity. As of Wednesday afternoon, the doughnut shop’s online service was still intermittent but Spaisman and his team are training as if they will be open at the end of the week. Up-to-date information on its status will be available on Astro’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
A grand opening is set for Monday, August 17 at 7:30 a.m and during the opening week, Astro is giving out a bunch of free food. On Monday, the shop will give out 100 free salted caramel doughnuts when doors open at 7:30 a.m., 50 fried chicken doughnut sandwiches on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. and 50 five-piece chicken fingers will be given out on Wednesday beginning at 5 p.m.
Astro’s regular hours starting Monday will be 7:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with chicken and sandwich sales starting at 11:30 a.m. each day.
Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken | 7511 Leesburg Pike | Falls Church | astrodoughnuts.com
