A halal chicken restaurant based on Langston Blvd has opened a sister eatery on Columbia Pike, with a grand opening expected later this month.
Charga on the Pike is the second venture of Charga Grill, an eatery whose original location at 5151 Langston Blvd surged in popularity after claiming the No. 1 spot on The Washington Post’s ranking of the best casual restaurants in the D.C. area in 2022.
Now, the grill by founder Asad Chaudry has made its way to 3203 Columbia Pike, the former site of the well-liked but short-lived vegetarian Ethiopian restaurant Greens N Teff.
“When [the owners] were speaking of expanding and looking for locations, I was like, you know, I think South Arlington would definitely be a great place,” restaurant partner Ibrahim Al-Amin told ARLnow. “A lot of the people associated with Charga live in South Arlington, so it’s just an area we really wanted to get to.”
A grand opening celebration for the new Charga is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, following a soft opening late last month. Grand opening specials include the following.
- For the first 50 customers: 20% off one regular-priced menu item
- Free chopped cheese or steak and cheese sandwiches to the first 25 guests who follow, like and share a post on the restaurant’s social media pages
- A $10 kebab platter combo, which comes with two sides, fresh naan and a beverage
- Any sandwich combo, which comes with fries and a beverage, for $7
Other specials will be added throughout the weekend, Al-Amin said.
Equipped with the same “no frills, all flavor” mantra as the Langston Blvd location, Charga on the Pike’s menu places an emphasis on its namesake, charga: a Pakistani chicken specialty that is steamed and flash fried to achieve succulent bites.
Some new menu items on Columbia Pike include mumbo sauce, the D.C. specialty condiment, and New York-style chopped cheese sandwiches.
Given the smaller space, however, the restaurant does not sell rotisserie chickens.
“We’re putting our own touch on it over time,” Al-Amin said. “We look forward to putting more and more of our stamp on it, and bringing our flavor profiles to the Columbia Pike area.”
Beyond trying the charga, Al-Amin recommends the restaurant’s steak and cheese sandwich and chickpeas. He also puts the grill’s house-made pickles and pickled red onions “on almost everything I eat.”
Right now the restaurant is primarily focusing on carryout while it works to get an upstairs dining space approved by the county.
Charga on the Pike is open from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Friday through Saturday, and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
