A new one-stop shop for Filipino breakfast sandwiches and baked goods opened over the weekend in Pentagon City.
Gwenie’s Pastries x Lapu Lapu, owned and operated by acclaimed culinary sibling duo Stella and Javier Fernandez, offers breakfast and baked goods under one roof at 1417 S. Fern Street. It is the first brick-and-mortar location in Virginia for both Maryland-based businesses.
“It’s two concepts in one space, almost like a two-business food hall,” Javier Fernandez told ARLnow. “It’s been a long time coming. There’s a big Filipino community in this area, and so we’re really excited to get it out to the city. It’s something different.”
Lapu Lapu sandwiches come on homemade rolls
- Lapu Lapu’s menu is split into Filipino Favorites and American Classics, with highlights like bistek, sweet chorizo, and bacon, egg and cheese. Each sandwich comes on Filipino pandesal rolls.
- Gwenie’s brings an array of traditional and Filipino-inspired sweets, including a best-selling ube cheesecake and donuts filled with ube, mango, pandan and Nutella creams.
- The new shop also sells Lapu Lapu’s signature ube soft serve and flavored lattes, including options like Biscoff, tiramisu, pandan and ube.
Both businesses have Maryland roots
- Stella and Javier Fernandez’s mother, Gwendolyn Fernandez, founded Gwenie’s Pastries in Rockville 20 years ago. It has since catered and delivered across the region.
- Lapu Lapu’s sandwiches, meanwhile, have captured praise over the years in publications like Bethesda Magazine and The Washington Post.
- Javier Fernandez is a two-time RAMMY-nominated restaurateur for his other Maryland eatery, Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly.
Daily hours are 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Breakfast will be served all day, and the team hopes to experiment with new sandwich offerings in the future.
- “Depending on how everything goes, we’re going to try and put up some specials, maybe like a Filipino smash burger or a chicken sandwich,” Javier Fernandez said. “We’re going to play around with it.”
- The shop hopes to host an official grand opening next week, Javier Fernandez said.
Photos 4 and 6-8 via Lapu Lapu/Facebook and Gwenie’s Pastries/Instagram.
