Pentagon City restaurant 1983 Chinese Cuisine is set to “soft open” this Thursday, serving up traditional Cantonese dim sum at the Westpost shopping center.
The restaurant will start accepting customers, but General Manager Cuong Vo says the food and menu won’t be a finished product — they’re looking for feedback from the public before hosting a “grand opening.”
Dim sum to be its calling card
- Dim sum is a traditional Chinese small-plate meal akin to Spanish tapas.
- 1983 will offer main dishes but hopes to be the top spot in town for dim sum.
- Its dim sum offerings include pepper steak, salt and pepper calamari, congee, shrimp dumplings, meatballs, turnip cake, honey barbecue pork rolls and more.
Its name comes from the Chinese zodiac
- 1983, the year of the water pig, symbolizes luck and money, Vo said.
- The restaurant’s interior, decorated with green seats and accents, is reflective of the water pig’s signature color.
Vo believes it provides a unique offering in the area
- In order to get authentic Cantonese dim sum, Vo said residents have to go to Falls Church, Tysons or D.C. — none of which are walkable from Pentagon City.
- Vo wants 1983 to be a popular spot for hyper-local customers.
- “This is a neighborhood restaurant. We don’t want people to go that far,” Vo said. “They can walk over here. They can carry out. They can have it at a family party.”
The official grand opening has yet to be announced as 1983 wants to get feedback from customers first and is still working on obtaining a liquor license. The ownership group is planning to open a second location in Rockville, Md., some time next year.
