Vegetarian chain adds Chantilly spot to capture office lunch demand

Diners in western Fairfax County can now cut their travel time by half to reach a popular vegetarian Vietnamese eatery. Chay Restaurant opened a second location at 5005A Westone Plaza in the Sully District on October 28. The new site is situated on the border of Chantilly and Centreville, directly targeting a weekday lunch crowd of office workers.

The expansion follows a steady growth trajectory for the family-run business. Thi Le and his wife, chef Lan Tran, first opened the Barcroft Plaza location in Lincolnia in 2023. That original site earned recognition as one of 26 best new restaurants in the D.C. metro area by Tom Sietsema, a former Washington Post food critic.

The restaurant’s reputation continued to build in the years that followed. Washingtonian selected Chay for its “100 Very Best Restaurants” list in both 2025 and 2026. The meatless bun bo hue also gained national attention when it was featured on the WETA program “Signature Dish.”

Le cited weekend congestion and geographic convenience as the primary drivers for the move. Customers from Herndon and Leesburg previously faced long waits for tables at the Lincolnia spot. The new Westone Plaza location addresses this gap by placing the brand closer to their starting points.

The new space seats roughly 85 patrons and operates daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. without a reservation system. Le stated that the team plans to introduce several dozen new dishes and additional desserts at this outlet. The menu retains popular items such as the vegan “clam” dip, which Le identified as the single best-selling dish across the entire business.

Washingtonian’s 2026 ranking specifically praised the pho, papaya salad, “clam” dip, and a fried fish dish that contains no fish. Le noted that roughly half of the customer base is non-vegetarian, citing the quality of the food as the main reason for their visits.

The operation relies on a close-knit family team that includes Le’s daughter, son-in-law, and cousins. The new location marks the second physical site for the brand, which has expanded from a single Lincolnia storefront to a two-location enterprise within three years.