Flavor Hive is a fast and casual restaurant chain in the D.C. area known for its viral “walking taco” and flavorful halal dishes. Starting as a food truck in Alexandria, Virginia, Flavor Hive now has five locations, two permanent stores and three food trucks. On social media, Flavor Hive is viral, with over 5 million followers on Instagram and 80 million views on their most watched video.
The Rockville restaurant opened on Feb. 12 as one of the two permanent locations, and it welcomes customers for lunch and dinner seven days a week. This location is a less than five-minute drive and a 20-minute walk from the JDS Upper School.
The menu and food selection procedure is very simple. Customers can either bring their favorite bag of chips or select a base of fries, salad or rice. Flavor Hive does not provide chips for walking tacos. Personally, I brought a large bag of Tostitos corn chips, but many people choose to bring Doritos or Takis.
After being offered rice on top of the chips, there is a wide variety of proteins, including chicken, beef and falafel. The next station features toppings like cheese and vegetables. The whole thing is topped by one of three delicious sauces: “The Hive,” green or white sauces.
The Hive sauce is a sweet and savory red sauce. For spice lovers, the green sauce has a hot and fiery taste. Finally, their white sauce is yogurt-based and tastes similar to tzatziki.
My falafel Tostitos bag included onion, tomato, cucumber and the Hive sauce. Even though it was very messy and required many napkins, the creation was packed with flavor. The falafel and crunchy cucumbers combined with the savory Hive sauce was mouth-watering and hard to put down.
Considering my bag of chips was substantial and filled to the brim with toppings, the cost was very reasonable at $15. I felt that the walking taco is so substantial that it can also be easily shared with multiple people.
I also ordered the fries, which were seasoned heavily and tasted perfect. Combined with the Hive sauce, this sauce and fry duo was tasty and very delicious. I can imagine the sauced fries with protein and toppings would be very appetizing as well.
Even though the restaurant was busy, the workers were very friendly. They were also not afraid to fill my walking taco up to the brim with food.
Personally, I was looking forward to trying Flavor Hive’s walking taco because of its hype on social media. After trying it, I was blown away by the quality of their food and the experience as a whole.
In addition to the great service, the indoor and outdoor atmosphere felt unique and fun. Music, bright lights and sleek furniture created a modern and chill vibe. Flavor Hive’s bright red and black color scheme was on full display with the decorated signs and furniture, and the outdoor seating option was very relaxing in the spring weather.
With their extensive social media attention, Flavor Hive lives up to the hype. The food quality and unique walking taco bags are staples and taste phenomenal. Because of the fast casual service and large portions, Flavor Hive is a great place to eat with friends and share a walking taco bag. Flavor Hive’s proximity to JDS leads me to highly recommend that students and faculty try out their unique food. It would be an understatement to say that Flavor Hive is worth a visit.
