A Matchbox Pizza Will Open Right By Suburban Maryland’s Outdoor Music Venue

Three more restaurants for Merriweather

The new mixed-use development rising next to the huge outdoor concert venue in Columbia, Maryland, just added three more food tenants. Merriweather District, which will be adjacent to Merriweather Post Pavilion, will house the fourth Maryland location of Matchbox, D.C.’s homegrown wood-fired pizza chain. It will be the first Howard County location for Matchbox, which has three restaurants in Montgomery County. Merriweather District will also get Dok Khao Thai Eatery, an offshoot of Sense of Thai St in Ashburn, Virginia, and Clove and Cardamon, which comes from the team behind Rangoli Indian restaurant in Hanover, Maryland. The new additions, expected to open next summer, follow last month’s news that Busboys and Poets’s will plant its largest restaurant to date in the development.

Spike Mendelsohn does Ballston

We, The Pizza just announced an opening date for a new 50-seat location in Arlington. The pizza and milkshake chain from celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn will open at 4201 Wilson Boulevard, next to the Dunkin’ Donuts, on Wednesday, October 30. We, The Pizza has two locations in Capitol Hill and Crystal City.

Chiko gets crabby

The inventive Chinese and Korean counter in Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle just started running a crab week to capitalize on a peak month for the Chesapeake delicacy. “As the season gets cooler, the crabs get fatter, and the flavor is really amazing as it gets later,” co-owner Scott Drewno tells Washingtonian. Through Sunday, October 20, diners can expect a different special every night (last night was all about crab rangoon). Look for crab fried rice and Singapore-style chile crab too. This weekend, the Capitol Hill location is hosting a crabby brunch.

New fall menu on H Street

Thamee, the Burmese hit on H Street NE that just earned a place on Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema’s top 10 fall rankings, introduced a revamped menu for fall this week. According to co-owner Simone Jacobson, the restaurant is doubling down on “bolder flavors” that ramp up spicy, sour, and pungent elements. Thamee is focusing more on large plates, introducing a sugarcane glazed duck for two and a meatball curry with rice, among other things. The restaurant will also introduce a BFC (Burmese Fried Chicken) special Mondays from 5:30 until the dish sells out.

New fall menu in Adams Morgan

Brothers and Sisters, Erik Bruner-Yang’s lobby-level West-meets-East restaurant at the Line hotel, just dropped a new fall menu filled out by prosciutto and butter, burrata with pickled beets and mala, and hamachi crudo with som tum:

Estadio expands to Charleston

Logan Circle favorite Estadio just crossed state lines, opening a much-anticipated second location in Charleston last week. Click here for a look inside the Southern city’s new Spanish stunner, which sports a tiled backsplash decorated with a massive bull. Owner Max Kuller imported the core of D.C.’s menu to the sequel site, including patatas bravas and cured meats and cheeses. Some new dishes will depend on what’s in season in the Carolinas. Next up on Kuller’s plate: opening Oyster Oyster in Shaw. [EC]

Loss of a D.C. legend

Charles Jones, co-owner of Capital City Mambo Sauce, died last week at 45. His wife and business partner, Arsha, told Washingtonian he suffered a heart attack. The couple’s cult bottles of “mild” and “sweet hot” sauce, which appear on shelves at Walmart and Giant and on Papa John’s pizzas, have made the company a $2 million-a-year business. “We are going to keep pushing until DC is on the map and everyone knows about our culture. It’s what Charles would have wanted,” writes Arsha, in a Facebook post.