Within 22 days this summer, the Mosaic District lost two of its full-service restaurants. Both were at 2911 District Avenue, the building facing Strawberry Park. That is the same address Mosaic lists for its Holiday Tree Lighting on Friday, November 27. The replacement for one of them is promised by the end of the year and still has no opening date. This holiday season, the Holiday Village Market, free Santa visits in the Angelika lobby and the Sunday farmers' market carry Mosaic, and all three take place in daylight or cost nothing. That Sunday market is also where the district's one confirmed new food storefront for 2027 is coming from.
Twenty-two days at Strawberry Park
Alta Strada closed on July 25, a few months short of ten years at 2911 District Avenue, Unit 150. As FFXnow reported, the restaurant on Strawberry Park was Alta Strada's last D.C.-area location. Its original Mount Vernon Square restaurant had closed in November 2024.
Matchbox followed on Sunday, August 16, after more than 13 years in Suite 120 of the same building. Northern Virginia Magazine was first to report the closure. Matchbox was not just one restaurant among many there. It opened in April 2013 and was promoted as the first full-service restaurant in the development. It was also the brand's first location in Virginia. With Merrifield gone, the McLean restaurant that opened in 2023 is Matchbox's only remaining location in Fairfax County.
One of the district's longest-running food tenants was already gone. Four Sisters, the Vietnamese restaurant, moved to Merrifield in 2008, before the Mosaic District existed, and closed in May 2023 after 30 years in business. Its space at 8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1, has been empty since then. Hawkers Asian Street Food had once filed to open there. According to FFXnow's July 31 report, the tenant now is a Charles Schwab branch offering brokerage, wealth management and financial planning.
What moved into the storefronts instead
Over the same months, Mosaic signed tenants that open by appointment, sell clothing, or both. Here are the additions since late spring, by address:
- Pura Vida, a health-focused café, at 8296 Glass Alley
- The Tox, a body-sculpting spa, at 2980 District Avenue, Suite 150
- Ernesta, a custom rug showroom, at 2920 District Avenue, Suite 145
- BedHead PJs, the New York pajama boutique, at 2910 District Avenue, with a grand opening set for August 22
- Lilly Pulitzer, which soft-launched September 25 at 2905 District Avenue, Suite 145 and has not yet scheduled a grand-opening ceremony
- Charles Schwab, planned for the former Four Sisters space at 8190 Strawberry Lane
- Onelife Fitness, a planned 53,000-square-foot health club. Its preview center is open and selling founding memberships, with no opening date posted for the full club
Only one of the seven is a café. The restaurants that remain at Mosaic are the ones that stayed open. In early October, after True Food Kitchen closed its Reston restaurant, FFXnow confirmed that the Merrifield location is still open.
The 290-seat question at 2911 District Avenue
The opening that would change the most is Makers Union, which is taking Matchbox's old Suite 120. Matchbox and Makers Union belong to the same Reston-based company, Thompson Restaurants. A spokesperson for the company told FFXnow that the Mosaic location "will open by the end of the year."
In a statement published by FFXnow, Thompson Restaurants COO Alex Berentzen described "the nearly 290-seat restaurant, complete with a lively bar, private dining rooms and patio." The menu is what Makers Union calls elevated pub fare: burgers, rice and salad bowls, fish and chips, alfredo pasta, Moroccan-style Impossible kebabs and tomahawk ribeye. It also runs happy hour and brunch.
The brand has grown steadily since it opened at Reston Town Center in August 2020. It added the Wharf in D.C., Pentagon City and Ashburn, and in April it opened in the South Riding area of Chantilly. The Makers Union Mosaic page already lists Monday through Thursday hours of 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. It still says "Coming Soon" and offers $10 off a first visit to anyone who signs up for updates.
So the deadline is December 31. The tree lighting on November 27 happens in front of the building where those dining rooms sit.
The next bakery already sets up on Sundays
The one confirmed new food storefront at Mosaic comes from the FreshFarm market that sets up in the district every Sunday. Toimoi Bakery began in 2021, when Shurou Pu sold her homemade pastries at the Fairfax City farmers' market. It now has stalls at about half a dozen markets across Northern Virginia and D.C. Co-owner Gabriel Santos told FFXnow that the Mosaic market has long been one of its most successful, with croissants and Pu's French-style, often Asian-flavored pastries selling out most weekends.
Santos told FFXnow that customers at the tent have asked for years where to find the bakery during the week:
"A permanent home at Mosaic finally gives that question a good answer. It also lets us do things a market stand never could: warm pastries all day, a full drink program, and a place to come visit us 7 days a week."
Toimoi is targeting early 2027, and Santos said the exact timing depends on the buildout. The store will be the bakery's first true retail storefront. Its Chantilly production hub sells some pastries to walk-in customers on weekends, and the bakery will keep its farmers' market stalls. It will take a 540-square-foot space at 2985 District Avenue, Unit 170, which Falafel Inc. currently occupies. Falafel Inc. announced plans this summer to move this fall into a larger space across from Barnes & Noble.
Until the storefront opens, the Sunday market is still the place to buy Toimoi pastries at Mosaic. FreshFarm lists the market every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through December 27. Winter hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. start in January and run through March 2027.
A holiday calendar that mostly runs in daylight
Mosaic's official holiday listings add to the Sunday market. Most of the season happens before dark. The free kickoff at nearby Tysons Corner Center is included below for anyone planning a full month.
| Date | Event | Hours | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sundays through Dec. 27 | FreshFarm Mosaic market | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Mosaic District |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Tysons Corner Center Holiday Kick-Off | 6 – 8 p.m. | PenFed Plaza, Tysons Corner Center |
| Sat.–Sun., Nov. 21–22 | Holiday Village Market | 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Mosaic District |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Holiday Tree Lighting | 5 – 8 p.m. | Strawberry Park, 2911 District Ave. |
| Starting Fri., Nov. 27 | Santa at Mosaic | Select dates | Angelika Film Center lobby |
| Sat.–Sun., Dec. 12–13 | Holiday Village Market | 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Mosaic District |
The Holiday Village Market features more than 65 local artisans. Its first weekend falls the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the second comes two weeks before Christmas. The tree lighting is the day after Thanksgiving, with performances and Santa's arrival. After that night, Santa moves into the Angelika lobby. Visits and self-service photos are free and first-come, first-served. Santa's schedule is posted on the district's Merry Mosaic page. At Tysons, the Holiday Kick-Off on November 13 is free and includes Santa, performances, a retailer market and giveaways.
Every Mosaic market on the calendar ends by 4 p.m. The exception is the tree lighting, which starts at 5 p.m. on November 27 at 2911 District Avenue. Suite 120 in that building is where Makers Union has said it will open by December 31.
Gurdeep Mangat tracks changes at Mosaic and across Fairfax County as they happen, and we'll update this list when Makers Union announces an opening date. If you own a home near Merrifield and want to talk about what the district's new tenants mean for your plans, Gurdeep Mangat offers a complimentary consultation.
