Michel Richard Opening a Meatball Shop in Penn Quarter

Well, that Michel Richard is one busy man. Just last month, the French chef just expanded his empire to Las Vegas, and now it turns out he is working on a brand new concept: Meatballs. Yes, Prince of Petworth reported this morning (and independent sources confirm to Eater) that Richard — the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Citronelle, Central and Michel at Tysons Corner — is also the man behind the meatball shop that has long been rumored to be headed to Penn Quarter. The price point here is expected to stay below $10, making the meatball shop by far the most affordable Michel Richard enterprise yet. It is also right on trend: New York's The Meatball Shop has been so successful it's spawning spinoffs all over that fair city.

Items reportedly on the menu at Meatballs include traditional, lamb, crab, fried chicken and vegetarian meatballs topped with your choice of sauces: marinara, alfredo, morel mushroom and one that will rotate. You can order them as a grinder, with pasta or a salad. And your wait to try these yourself looks like it won't be too long: Employees tell PoP — who got to sample one of the meatballs — that the shop could open in as soon as two weeks. Eater has reached out to a rep for the French chef for more details and will keep you updated, but it seems they're keeping things pretty well under wraps for now.

· Chef Michel Richard to Launch Quick Serve Specialty Meatball Shop in Penn Quarter — Meatballs [PoP]
· All Previous Michel Richard Coverage [-EDC-]