Wonder opens 10th DC-area location as traditional food halls falter
At a time when several food halls across the D.C. region closed last year — The Block in Annandale, Virginia, The Heights in Chevy Chase and Solaire Social in Silver Spring, Maryland — one food hall chain keeps expanding in the D.C. region.
Wonder is opening a new location in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood on Jan. 9, marking its 10th establishment in the Washington-Baltimore area. Other recent Wonder openings have included the 14th Street location in July 2025, as well as in West End and Navy Yard.
Wonder’s approximately 3,400-square-foot location in Potomac Yard offers dishes by concepts tied to celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson and Michael Symon. The wide-ranging menu ranges from barbecue to Mexican and Greek dishes, and beyond.
While Wonder markets itself as “a new kind of food hall,” it doesn’t resemble a traditional one. Instead of several stalls being found under one roof, it has one service counter and several digital ordering tablets with one kitchen that serves over 20 concepts.
Is the food hall trend fading or being reshaped?
Kris Gobeil, market director for Wonder, told WTOP that Wonder doesn’t fit the definition of a ghost kitchen, because “a ghost kitchen is where you’re running something out of your kitchen that you don’t want anyone to know about.”
“What we’re doing is something very different,” Gobeil said. “We are very much the opposite. We want everyone to know all about our amazing menus.”
And more Wonder locations are on the way. This year, there are locations slated for Annapolis and Frederick in Maryland.
Washington Business Journal reported that a location at the Parks at Walter Reed in D.C. is also planned, although Gobeil wouldn’t confirm. “At this stage, I’m not going to say just yet,” he said.
Don’t expect growth expectations to temper down any time soon.
In an interview with CNBC, Wonder founder and CEO Marc Lore said the plan is to grow from just over 90 locations today to 400 by 2027.
With the goal of having both tech and food support one another, the rise of Wonder is punctuated by several acquisitions over the past few years: meal-kit company Blue Apron in 2023; Grubhub in 2024; independent media firm Tastemade in March 2025; and, most notably, robotics company Spyce in November 2025.
Wonder’s latest acquisition of Spyce, from Sweetgreen, will result in testing out a bowl-making robot in New York City next year. The goal with Spyce is to eventually automate “almost everything,” including beverages, fryers and high-speed ovens, as reported by Restaurant Business.
Lore said he is inherently focused on tech, not restaurants, as he was the former president and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce and previously the CEO and co-founder of Quidsi, the parent company of a family of websites that included Diapers.com.
But, his hopes are high for his multi-restaurant ordering platform to transcend.
“This is not taking existing equipment and using robots to replace humans,” Lore told CNBC. “This is about creating new equipment to do new things that humans wouldn’t be able to even do.”
In the end, Wonder’s appeal to diners is “(allowing) guests to truly order what they’re looking for, what they’re craving without having to compromise,” Gobeil said.
The taste test
But for any food business concept, the real test is: How is the food?
Christina Tkacik, a food reporter for The Baltimore Banner, reviewed the Wonder location at Canton Crossing in Baltimore, Maryland, and didn’t hold back.
Tkacik wrote she “hated” the food served, and that even the best dishes reminded her of “something I might eat on an airplane.”
The Wonder food hall in Baltimore currently has a 3.5 rating on Yelp, while the Wonder in D.C.’s 14th Street and College Park, Maryland, sites each have a 2.7 rating on Yelp.
In response to these criticisms, Gobeil said:
“We’re obviously still learning. Feedback is still coming in. There’s not necessarily something we’re going to do differently. We’re just going to keep growing and learning from each steppingstone. Obviously, the feedback that we’ve gotten for those locations, we’re already trying to address and continue to bring out that amazing experience that we’re able to do at other locations as well.”
Gobeil did not address any specific criticisms found on Yelp, and did not clarify exactly how those lower-rated locations are attempting to improve.
Whether reviews are glowing or critical, Wonder’s expansion shows no signs of slowing. The question now is whether scale and technology can ultimately win over diners as quickly as investors.