Cult Bakery Milk Bar Starts Serving Crack Pie in Southwest February 23 [Updated]

Three years after returning home to open the first Milk Bar in D.C., Masterchef alum and Northern Virginia native Christina Tosi is unveiling a second District location on Wednesday, February 21 at the newly renovated Wharf complex.

UPDATED: The new Milk Bar is now scheduled to open at noon on Friday, February 23. Tosi tells Eater she’ll be available to sign cookbooks/meet customers/talk baking from noon to 2 p.m.

The first of at least two new outposts coming to the area, the glass-wrapped and brightly decorated Milk Bar occupies approximately 721 square feet of space along the still evolving Southwest waterfront. It’s located just a few doors down from homegrown chain Dolcezza’s largest gelateria/all-day cafe to date and directly across from the first Requin fellow celebrity chef Mike Isabella got to build from the ground up. In addition to providing more breathing room than Milk Bar staff currently has at the compact Citycenter site, this latest store features a communal table inside and seating outside on various benches.

Warren Rojas/Eater DC

“It’s more cozy, comfortable, welcoming, and communal … but has all of the things you love,” Tosi says of the new addition to her burgeoning empire.

The opening menu features familiar Milk Bar offerings: cookies, cakes, coffee, bagel bombs, and soft serve ice cream. Tosi tells Eater she plans to add a handful of new hot drinks — akin to the “cereal milk lattes” savvy regulars know to ask for — on Tuesday, February 27, along with a new frozen treat combining her cereal milk soft serve with dulce de leche, pretzels, and chunks of butterscotch.

Tosi plans to give away birthday cake-flavored truffles to the first 100 customers through the doors; everyone gets $1 cereal milk soft serve on opening day. Customers will also get free friendship bracelets because Tosi loves the ‘80s.

Warren Rojas/Eater DC

Once the 2,382-square-foot bakery/classroom still in the works for Logan Circle (1525 15th Street NW) arrives later this spring, Tosi says “all that will be missing will be the Northern Virginia store.”

The Wharf location is currently projected to operate from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday — though Tosi says she is willing to open earlier or close later depending on demand.

Status: Scheduled to open at noon on Friday, February 23. 49 District Square SW; website.

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• Milk Bar Is Multiplying in D.C. [EDC]
• The Wharf: A Guide to All the Restaurants, Bars, and Clubs [EDC]
• Watch: Building the Crunchiest, Beer-Soaked Masterpiece in Milk Bar’s Arsenal [EDC]