New Indian restaurant on Richmond Highway aiming for January open
The Taj of India is located at 6027 Richmond Highway, next to the Virginia Lodge motel.
Folks anticipating the opening of the new Taj of India restaurant on Richmond Highway will need to be patient.
Taj of India’s owner says the restaurant is shooting for opening day in early January, which is a few months later than he expected. Originally the restaurant was planned to be up and running by October, but delays in securing construction permits from Fairfax County have thrown the schedule off, owner Shahjahan Mia said Wednesday.
Mia voiced his displeasure with the county building review process in the course of a brief conversation, saying he had not encountered as many requirements when opening restaurants in Arlington and Washington D.C. Without going into specifics, Mia said that he’s been forced to spend much more money than anticipated to get the building ready.
“I don’t know how far I can go,” Mia said Wednesday. “I’m really upset.”
County permit records online show that the restaurant still needs approval of its building review, electrical review, mechanical review and plumbing/gas review. All of the reviews failed on their first go-rounds in October.
The Taj of India is located at 6027 Richmond Highway (see map), across from the Montebello condominiums and the Cityside at Huntington apartments. It’s connected to the Virginia Lodge motel, and takes over a space left vacant since Euro Bistro closed in 2015. Prior to that it was a sushi restaurant.
This will be the third location for Taj of India, with the first restaurant opening in Georgetown in 2002 and another later built in Arlington.
Certainly hope that a successful operation will take hold at this location. Lived nearby for 36 years and witnessed many efforts to open a sit down restaurant in this building but nothing has lasted very long. Adjacent ageing and run down properties make this area of the highway look extremely sketchy. If the existing hotel/motel sites were redeveloped with a modern hotel/motel for which there is ample need given the proximity to Old Town, DC, Metro, Reagan National Airport, National Harbor and the MGM Casino, surrounding businesses would have a better chance at thriving. Unbelievable that the county and SFDC can’t attract new/redevelopment entities from Quander Road north to the beltway to occupy the weed strewn vacant lots or existing run down and tawdry looking motels. This area should be ripe for developer investment given the proximity to the aforementioned destinations. Love to hear feedback as to why this seemingly potential area for redevelopment has remained as it has for all these decades.
Makes you wonder about the permit process in Fairfax County especially around the Route 1 Corridor. Bob and Edith’s was delayed due to permitting issues, Bonchon is delayed due to permit issues, the owners of Del Rey Pizza had planned to put a micro brewery on Richmond Hwy but the permit process was too onerous and now Taj of India is delayed.
A lot of municipal codes are on the books because businesses lobby to get them there to discourage competition. An African American woman I know tried to open a business braiding and weaving hair, but she had to get a barber’s license and training even though she wasn’t cutting any hair. In total, it would have cost her close to $13k even before she opened a shop.