Buddha Bar Opening In D.C. Tonight For Friends And Family!

They've been talking about it for almost two years now, and tonight, FINALLY, the long awaited Buddha Bar is opening it's doors for some early friends and family in D.C. -  455 Massachusetts Ave. NW to be exact (across from the Verizon Center) tonight.

The 9,500-sq-ft  restaurant will open to the public on Saturday and will feature the traditional Pan-Asian cuisine with "a dollop of French influence" that has made the chain popular in Vegas and NYC.

With a full dinner menu available until 2 am, we expect this place to become a popular destination to satisfy  the munchies of a certain late night nightlife crowd. It's nice to see this restaurant, who has become C-List in NYC's over run Meatpacking district, get a make-over.

Korean-born Executive Chef Chul Kee Ko is spearheading the menu.

“My partners, Michael Don, Beni Golani, Dov Kliger, and I are excited to have the opportunity to open a Buddha-Bar in the nation’s capital,” said Eran Gorev, the CEO of Washington Restaurants LLC. “We spent the past two years looking at dozens of possible locations for the restaurant, but had a hard time finding a venue with ceilings high enough to accommodate our chandeliers and 18-foot Buddha. We love the location at 455 Massachusetts Avenue, with the 22-foot high ceilings in an up-and-coming part of town, close to the Convention Center, Chinatown and the Capitol.” [Via]

Will the D.C. version have the giant buddha gracing it's guests like it's NYC and Vegas counterparts?

Of course. The Buddha traveled 10,613 miles from the jungles of Indonesia to serve as the backdrop. Let's hope this place does in fact bring some "serious Zen to DC."