NYC Bakery Levain Will Sell Its Gigantic Cookies in Georgetown

Nearly a year after announcing D.C. was on its wish list of expansion cities, NYC institution Levain Bakery will bring its beloved cookies to Georgetown.

A spokeswoman confirms its first location outside of the Big Apple will occupy the M Street strip’s former Johnny Rockets space (3131 M Street NW). Last week Popville flagged a building permit with an applicant’s name linked to the bakery.

The current plan is to open in late summer or early fall, a spokeswoman tells Eater, “though we’re continuing to monitor the environment.”

Its hefty, 6-ounce cookies, a favorite amongst New Yorkers and tourists alike, come in at two inches tall and rival the size of many burger patties.

The Georgetown location will eat up 2,250 square feet and debut with four best-selling cookies (chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, and oatmeal raisin), as well as a gluten-free chocolate chip walnut variety and its newest circular attraction: two chip chocolate chip.

Eater’s Jenny Zhang describes Levain cookies as “textured, with incredible height and craggy peaks” and “melt-in-your-mouth delicious, easily breaking open to reveal deep pockets of liquid chocolate within a soft and tender interior.”

The menu will be “similar” to that of its NYC’s bakeries, but with “some changes.” Other baked goods like pastries, breads, cakes, and sticky buns are also available at existing locations.

Melissa Kirschenheiter/Levain Bakery

Started in 1995 on the Upper West Side, Levain has expanded to five locations sprinkled across Manhattan and one in the Hamptons. The brand is currently operating on a takeout, delivery, and nationwide shipping basis.

New York Magazine’s Grub Street reported last summer that D.C. was on Levain’s short list of markets under consideration as part of a nationwide expansion plan.

“As for additional D.C. locations, we’re always looking at interesting real estate, but there are no further locations to speak of yet,” the spokeswoman says.

Another legendary New York bakery, Mah-Ze-Dahr, has already announced plans to plant multiple locations in the D.C. area.

Not all well-known NYC bakers have panned out in D.C. Parisian bread maker Maison Kayser, which expanded to D.C. with high hopes in early 2018, suddenly pulled out of the market last year.

• New York City’s Best Cookie Could Be Headed to a City Near You [E]
• Looks Like We are Getting a Levain Bakery!! [PopVille]
• Both of D.C.’s Maison Kayser Bakeries Are Closing This Month [EDC]
• An NYC Bakery Famous for Over-the-Top Chocolate Chip Cookies Is Eyeing D.C. [EDC]
• Powerhouse NYC Bakery Mah-Ze-Dahr Plans D.C. Expansion With a New Partner [EDC]