Korean Chain Brings Olive Oil-Fried Chicken and Japanese Whiskey to Falls Church

Recently renamed BBQ Chicken is branching out after nearly a decade in Centreville, Virginia, exporting its signature brand of olive oil-fried chicken to a new location in Falls Church City.

The 22-year-old South Korean chain got started in the area as BBQ Chicken and Beer, but has since rebranded as Best of the Best Quality Chicken. Foreign-born competitors Bonchon and Cheogajip have similarly put down roots within the Korean communities spread across Centreville and Annandale, Virginia.

The menu at BBQ Chicken ranges from olive oil-fried chicken wings and full-sized pieces of bird to cross-cultural mash-ups including shrimp-topped pizza, kimchi-chicken nachos, and Jamaican barbecue platters. A company spokesman tells Eater that as soon as the new shop (7115 Leesburg Pike #107) secures its liquor license, the restaurant plans to work Japanese whiskey nights into the weekly rotation.

Those looking to get a taste of the fledgling operation are welcome to stop by beginning Friday, August 25. The restaurant plans to serve most of its featured offerings — “We are trying to have about 70 percent of our menu,” a BBQ Chicken aide says — for the first week, followed by a full-scale roll-out on Friday, September 1.

And more locations are on the way. BBQ Chicken wants to open around 30 more stores in the area within the next three years, including six more scheduled to come online in 2018.

The Falls Church outpost is projected to operate from 11:30 a.m. to midnight from Monday to Thursday, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturdays, and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.