On Vienna's Church Street, This Year's Openings Went Upstairs and Around Back
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"My primary goal was to remain on historic Church Street, which is a hub for restaurants and small local retail shops," Bards Alley owner Jennifer Morrow told FFXnow in February, after buying the building at 103 Church St. NE. "It's a walkable and bike friendly area and easily accessible from the W&OD trail."
That goal ended up describing the whole block this year. A lot moved onto Church Street in 2026, and almost none of it took a new storefront facing the sidewalk. A mahjong club opened on a second floor. A coffee bar opened at the back of a commercial building. A restaurant took over a dining room another restaurant had just left. The street's best-known bookshop bought a building a two-minute walk away so it could stay. Church Street got no longer this year. It got more use out of the buildings it already had.
Most people know 101 Church St. NW for Sushi Yoshi, the Japanese restaurant there. The space above it, Unit D, is now home to The Bamboo Room, a mahjong club run by Vienna resident Jennifer Groves. When FFXnow reported the plan in June, she expected to open in August, and she had been teaching the game locally for about a year. Groves teaches American mahjong, but she told FFXnow that "anybody is welcome to come and play whatever style of mahjong they want." Her intro session on terminology and how to handle the tiles runs two and a half hours.
The club's website now says its doors are open. Its league schedule lists a season running Aug. 25 to Dec. 8, 2026, so organized play here continues into the holidays. Groves said she modeled the idea on her mother's mahjong group, roughly 15 people who have played together for more than a decade. She compared it to a book club. "I love watching the connections at the table," she said.
A little farther down, Kin Espresso Bar soft-launched July 6 at 145 Church St. NW. It sits at the rear of the commercial building, so you won't spot it from the curb. Manager Nicole Badraa described the cafe as inspired by Japanese kissaten culture and by "omotenashi," which she called "thoughtful hospitality from the heart." The menu covers ceremonial matcha from Japan, specialty coffee, house-made syrups and desserts. Badraa runs it with owner Yuna Tsatsralt, a Fairfax County resident, and called it a family business. Kin's posted hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. That makes it one of the earlier-opening spots on the block.
Neither business needed a new building or a prominent sidewalk window. Both found room inside addresses that already had tenants.
The block's other two big changes this year happened inside existing spaces with long histories.
Le Bistro closed quietly in early March 2026 after its owners sold the restaurant. By the end of March, FFXnow reported that Sheeba would fill the 2,200-square-foot space Le Bistro left behind. In late August, Sheeba opened at 111 Church St. NW. It's a Yemeni restaurant, and the Vienna location is the first franchise of the family-owned chain to open outside its home state of Michigan. Owner Nadir Naimi, who is 26, served his first dinner guests on Aug. 21. He told FFXnow that more curious customers showed up than his team had expected, so he stayed with dinner-only service from 5 to 10 p.m. while staff trained. He hoped to start full hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends on Aug. 29, depending on how the first full week went. "If I don't feel that we are ready, I will continue to do the dinner service for as long as necessary," he said. We couldn't confirm whether the all-day schedule has started, so check current hours before planning a lunch there. Naimi's family has run restaurants in the area before, including Alf Layah in Chantilly and Babalu in Tysons.
Across the street, 103 Church St. NE tells a longer story. John Edwards Hair Design was there for 55 years and closed in mid-January when owner John Kurcina retired. Morrow took possession on Feb. 5 after buying the building for $1.5 million. It's a 1,686-square-foot building at the corner of Church and Center, built around 1900 according to Fairfax County property records. She has said that keeping the building's history intact mattered to her.
The bookshop's move adds space inside one building and keeps the business on the same street.
Bards Alley has leased 110 Church St. NW for about a decade. Morrow said that very little about the store will change. The new building's additions are the kind most shoppers would never see: "We will have dedicated space for meetings and events, which we have had to host on the sales floor to date. Additionally, we will have a receiving room, storage for overstock, and office space. Not very flashy, but this will make a huge difference for us behind the scenes operationally." She also said the new site will have private parking for customers.
The timeline has slipped. In February, Morrow tentatively aimed for fall or winter 2026. The bookshop's own move page now says the project is in the approvals stage and estimates the move for early 2027. A "Future Home of Bards Alley Bookshop" banner has hung on the old salon sign since April 16. The engraved-brick fundraiser officially ended Sept. 7, but the page says it is still taking orders. The bricks will line the walkway to the new entrance.
For this fall, that means Bards Alley is still operating at 110 Church St. NW. It held an Oct. 4 read-in at that address. Its website lists more events on Oct. 22 and Oct. 24. The bookshop's move page doesn't mention who will take the 110 Church St. NW storefront once it leaves.
Here's the 2026 version of Church Street as one walk, using the addresses from this year's coverage:
When Kin opened in July, FFXnow wrote that the year was "shaping up to be a busy one for Church Street businesses." Nearly all of that activity happened inside the six stops above.
Vienna Oktoberfest took over Church, Dominion and Mill streets and the Town Green on Oct. 3. It was the first Oktoberfest for Kin, Sheeba and The Bamboo Room. Here's what's still coming:
The Holiday Stroll will be the first one with Kin, Sheeba and The Bamboo Room all open on the block. Bards Alley will still be at 110 Church St. NW, with its future home across the street waiting on approvals.
A building from around 1900 changing from a salon to a bookshop is the kind of project our team pays close attention to, because older buildings on and near Church Street come with their own renovation and approval timelines. If you own a home in Vienna and want to know how improvements or condition might affect its value, The Gaskins Team can walk through it with you. Let's connect for a free home valuation or market consult.
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