Photo courtesy of Flavor Hive
Flavor Hive dish
How popular is Alexandria's Flavor Hive Food Truck? By the numbers, Flavor Hive is through the roof, attracting 1.3 million followers on Instagram and seeing 6,000 people line up to try their menu when they recently visited Richmond.
With those kinds of numbers, it's not surprising that Flavor Hive Food Truck will open Flavor Hive, its first brick and mortar restaurant, in June in Annandale. The eatery will be located in a former Wells Fargo Bank that's being renovated at 4260 John Marr Dr., where you can also stop by now to try out their menu, from their food truck in the parking lot.
The Annandale location is reportedly one of several brick and mortar locations the owners plan to open in Northern Virginia.
You can also still visit their food truck in their original Alexandria location at 5249 Duke St., in the back parking lot.
Hours at both food trucks are:
- Monday-Friday: 6 p.m. - midnight
- Saturdays: 11a.m. - midnight
- Sundays: Noon - 10 p.m.
Image from video @flavorhivetruck on Instagram
The owners of Flavor Hive Food Truck talk about their new location opening in Annandale.
Founders Shihan Chowdhury and Amgd Gende launched their business a year ago after meeting at a food expo and their food truck quickly caught on — not just by word of mouth but also through their engaging social media videos.
Here's what they say about themselves on their Yelp review: "Flavor Hive is the creation of Shihan, a self-taught cook from Bangladesh, and Amgd, a seasoned businessman from Egypt. United by their love for food and community, they set out to break away from the ordinary by offering unique and creative flavors that surprise and delight. But Flavor Hive is more than just a food truck; it's a mission. Shihan and Amgd are committed to feeding anyone in need and giving back to the community. Their dream is to not only serves exceptional food but also funds charitable programs that make a real difference."
In addition to their own videos, they often get reviewed by popular social media influencers such as Keith Lee, a Las Vegas food reviewer who told his 17 million followers on Tik Tok about his experience after visiting last August.
Image courtesy of Flavor Hive Truck
Flavor Hive Truck's quesadilla.
"This is one of the most unique concepts that I've seen in a long time," Lee said of the most popular item on the menu, Flavor Hive's signature dish — the $10 Walking Taco Chips Bag.
What's a Walking Taco Chips Bag?
It's one of the reasons why this food truck is so popular-the Bring Your Own Chips (or BYOB, bring your own bag) craze, an idea hatched by Shihan about two years ago on his Chili Pepper Cooks video channel.
Here's how it works: Patrons show up at the food truck with their favorite bag of chips (something like Doritos, but people have been known to bring everything from bags of salad and pizza in a box to truffles and caviar).
Photo courtesy of Food Hive Truck
Flavor Hive's BYOB (bring your own bag...of chips)
After you hand over your chip bag (or whatever container you've brought with you) to the server on the food truck, he opens it with a few snips and then uses the bag and the chips as the first layer of the Walking Taco Chips Bag.
You then pick out your ingredients which ranges from falafel, Halal meat (chicken, lamb gyro or ground beef) tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, salad, rice, shredded cheese, spicy truffle sauce, crispy fries, white sauce, green sauce, and you can also add a bowl or tray which costs extra.
Other popular items include the Rice Bowl, Quesadilla and Loaded Fries.
Chowdhury and Gende give back to the community. At Thanksgiving, the owners boxed up 120 meals to take to a homeless shelter in D.C.
The business has earned 4.2 stars out of 5 stars from 120 Yelp reviews you can read here.
