Little Miner Taco Is Bringing Birria Ramen to an Asian Food Hall in Maryland

Building on months full of sold-out days at its roaming food truck, Little Miner Taco is expanding into Montgomery County next week with a move into the Block food hall in North Bethesda’s Pike and Rose development. Chef-owner Mackenzie Kitburi expects to start offering a limited menu in the Asian food hall on Wednesday, July 15.

Little Miner Taco is known for braised beef birria tacos full of melted jack cheese and served with a dark, rich consomé for dipping. Along with tacos and menu staples such as carne asada fries, the new location will feature a number of Asian-influenced dishes, including a “birria ramen” that uses the consomé as a broth base for egg ramen noodles, slow-roasted pork, and a slew of veggies such as radish, corn, and cilantro.

Rey Lopez/For Little Miner Taco

“We wanted to pay homage to the Block being an Asian food hall,” Kitburi says. “I felt like it was also the perfect opportunity to bring back our birria ramen, which was a very popular dish when we ran it this past winter, but now it will be an exclusive dish for our location at the Block.”

Additional new menu items include a bulgogi taco, a kimchi-avocado quesadilla, and kimchi fried rice. Instead of the corn tortilla chips and guacamole Little Miner serves at its Brentwood location, the Pike and Rose stand will introduce a lemon-herb guacamole served with rice crisps for dipping.

Little Miner will join additional stalls at the Block such as the Hawaiin fast-casual chain Pokeworks and Taiwanese boba and dessert stand Snocream Company. The Block in North Bethesda (967 Rose Avenue) is open everyday from noon to 9 p.m. for takeout, delivery, and indoor seating at half capacity. The Block’s original location, in Annandale, Virginia, has a similar setup. A D.C. outpost was about to open before COVID-19 reached the area, and for now only the Rose Ave. Bakery is operating there with weekly preorders.

Little Miner Taco opened its first food hall stall last October at Savor at Studio 3807 just outside in Brentwood, Maryland. The food truck began operating at locations across Maryland and Virginia. Thanks to word-of-mouth growth and popularity on social media, the Little Miner Taco truck’s preorders are known to reach their limit within minutes of their noon opening time. Customers don’t even get the truck’s specific address until their order is placed.

• A New D.C. Area Taco Truck Scrambles to Keep Up With Demand for Cheesy Beef Birria [EDC]
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