Coming to Bethesda: ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen

Chipotle's Asian-themed spin-off, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, will open a Bethesda location—at 4820 Bethesda Ave.—in late 2013, according to a company news release.

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen opened its first restaurant in 2011 in Washington, DC (at 1516 Connecticut Ave. NW). Other locations are coming soon to DC and California, as well as to Rockville—the restaurant has signed a lease at 11800 Rockville Pike, and will open there in mid-to-late 2014, Rockville Patch reported.

The restaurant "draws on the unique flavors, ingredients and cooking methods of Southeast Asia, and takes its name from the mid-rise buildings prevalent throughout Southeast Asian cities where hard-working families live in apartments above the ground floor restaurants or markets that they operate," according to the news release.

"These shops serve as Asia’s version of fast food, with tiny kitchens turning out rice or noodle bowls laced with spicy sauces, marinated meats, and a flurry of herbs and vegetables," the news release added.

Like Chipotle, ShopHouse has an open-kitchen style and lets diners pick and choose what they want in their food orders.

So far, the restaurant has received good feedback from customers.

"The response we have seen to ShopHouse reminds me very much of what I saw when I opened the first Chipotle," Steve Ells—founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle—said. "People love the food and the experience, and appreciate that we are giving them something that is unique and flavorful, and doing it in a way that is accessible and affordable."

Sidebar: Chef Kyle Connaughton, hired by Chipotle to help develop the ShopHouse concept, is suing Ells "over an alleged scheme to rip off concepts from David Chang's Momofuku empire," DC Eater reported. Read more about this story on DC Eater, which has obtained a copy of the lawsuit.

Will you try the new ShopHouse when it opens on Bethesda Row? Tell us in the comments.