South Block Opens 26th Location in DC's Tenleytown July 11
South Block expands to Tenleytown, DC on July 11 with its 26th location. Here's what the DMV's favorite açaí and juice bar brings to upper Northwest.
In brief
South Block opens its 26th location in Tenleytown, Washington DC on July 11, 2026, expanding the DMV-born açaí and juice brand deeper into upper Northwest. The fast-growing chain — known for its smoothie bowls, cold-pressed juices, and energizing 'Block' menu — now stretches across more than two dozen storefronts from the District into Virginia and Maryland.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
South Block's 26th location opens in Tenleytown, DC on July 11, 2026.
The brand — founded in the DMV — has expanded rapidly across DC neighborhoods, Northern Virginia, and Maryland.
Tenleytown's dense residential base, American University foot traffic, and Metro access make it a high-value retail corridor for health-focused food concepts.
South Block's growth mirrors a broader national surge in the fast-casual health food segment, which has outpaced traditional QSR growth in urban markets.
The opening adds to a competitive upper Northwest dining scene that includes national and local wellness-oriented brands.
South Block Brings the Bloc to Tenleytown's Health-Conscious Corridor
Tenleytown isn't a random pin on the map. The upper Northwest neighborhood — anchored by the Tenleytown–AU Metro station on the Red Line and the sprawling campus of American University — draws a consistent stream of students, Hill staffers who've migrated northwest, and longtime DC families who treat the area's strip of Wisconsin Avenue NW like a town square. It's a neighborhood that buys green juice on the way to the gym and orders açaí bowls between morning meetings. South Block read that room correctly.
The chain, which launched its first location in Arlington, Virginia, built its identity on accessible wellness — the kind that doesn't require a nutritionist consultation or a $20 cold-pressed single-serve bottle. Its bowls, blended drinks, and toasts have earned a loyal following across the region, particularly among younger professionals and university communities. South Block's expanding menu leans into whole-food ingredients, customizable bases, and branding that communicates energy without the clinical sterility of some competitors.
The Tenleytown opening, confirmed via RestaurantNews.com, marks the brand's 26th storefront — a milestone that places it firmly in the conversation about which regional food chains are scaling with discipline rather than desperation.
26 Locations: What South Block's Expansion Map Says About DC's Food Economy
Reaching 26 locations is not a vanity metric for a regional food brand — it's a structural inflection point. At that scale, supply chain leverage increases, brand recognition compounds, and the unit economics that made early locations viable become reproducible. South Block has navigated that growth without the dilution that kills promising local concepts.
According to IBISWorld's smoothie and juice bar industry analysis, the U.S. segment has grown steadily as urban consumers shift discretionary food spending toward perceived wellness value. In DC specifically, that trend is amplified by the city's above-average household income, high density of fitness-oriented residents, and a food culture that rewards brands with a clear identity.
South Block's footprint now spans neighborhoods from Capitol Hill to Clarendon to Bethesda — a geographic spread that tracks the DMV's professional-class residential corridors almost exactly. Tenleytown completes a meaningful gap in the upper Northwest coverage, placing South Block within reach of residents who previously had to travel south to Friendship Heights or east toward Columbia Heights for the brand.
Why Tenleytown Works: The Neighborhood Data Behind the Decision
American University enrolls roughly 13,000 students, many of whom live in or immediately around Tenleytown. Add faculty, staff, and the neighborhood's established base of young professionals and families, and you have a daytime population that trends younger, higher-income, and more health-conscious than the city's median. That's South Block's core demographic written in neighborhood demographics.
The Tenleytown–AU Metro station also matters. Red Line access means the location isn't dependent solely on walk-by traffic — it can capture commuters heading inbound to Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, and downtown. That commuter capture is a force multiplier for a quick-serve concept with a sub-10-minute ticket time.
Wisconsin Avenue NW, where the Tenleytown commercial strip is centered, has seen sustained retail interest from health and fitness brands. The corridor already hosts national gym chains and specialty food retailers, signaling that the market has validated wellness spending in this zip code. South Block fits that retail ecosystem rather than disrupting it.
The Competitive Landscape: Who South Block Faces in Upper Northwest
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South Block enters Tenleytown with brand equity but not without competition. The health-food fast-casual segment in upper Northwest includes national players and local independents competing for the same morning and midday wallet. Sweetgreen, which has operated in the District since 2007, remains a dominant force in the healthy-fast category citywide. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's locations in the area also absorb grab-and-go wellness spending.
But South Block occupies a distinct niche. Its açaí bowl and smoothie focus doesn't directly compete with salad-centric concepts — it functions more as a breakfast and snack destination than a lunch replacement. That positioning reduces head-to-head friction and expands the addressable daily occasion window.
According to Washington Post Food, DC's fast-casual health segment has remained resilient even as broader restaurant traffic has faced post-pandemic normalization pressures. Brands with regional identity and neighborhood-specific loyalty — exactly what South Block has built — have fared better than national chains perceived as generic.
Why This Matters in Washington
Washington DC's food scene is a proxy for the city's economic confidence, demographic shifts, and neighborhood-by-neighborhood investment story. When a brand like South Block — founded here, scaled here, and still expanding here — chooses to plant its 26th flag in Tenleytown rather than flee to the suburbs or pivot to franchising out of state, it signals something real: the District's neighborhood retail corridors remain viable, and health-conscious consumers in upper Northwest represent a market worth serving intentionally.
This expansion also matters for DC's small business and entrepreneurship narrative. South Block isn't a New York or California import — it's a DMV success story now operating at regional chain scale. That trajectory is worth tracking for anyone watching which local food brands have the operational infrastructure to grow without losing what made them compelling in the first place. Follow DC's broader business power map at WDCM's DC Power Players Index.
FAQ: South Block Tenleytown DC Opening
When does South Block Tenleytown open? South Block's Tenleytown location opens on July 11, 2026. It is the brand's 26th location overall.
Where exactly is the South Block Tenleytown location? The new location is in the Tenleytown neighborhood of upper Northwest Washington DC, near the Tenleytown–AU Metro station on the Red Line along the Wisconsin Avenue NW corridor.
What does South Block serve? South Block specializes in açaí bowls, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, smoothie toasts, and wellness-focused fast-casual menu items. The brand emphasizes whole-food ingredients and customizable builds.
How many South Block locations are there? As of July 11, 2026, South Block operates 26 locations across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region.
Where did South Block originate? South Block was founded in Arlington, Virginia, and has grown organically across the DMV without franchising out of the region — a distinction that sets it apart from national health-food chains.
Is Tenleytown a good fit for a health food concept? Yes. Tenleytown's proximity to American University, Red Line Metro access, above-average household incomes, and established wellness retail corridor make it a strong market for health-focused fast casual concepts like South Block.
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What to Watch Next
With 26 locations now in operation, South Block approaches the threshold where regional brands typically face a strategic fork: double down on DMV density, pursue a Mid-Atlantic corridor expansion toward Baltimore or Richmond, or explore institutional partnerships with university food service programs — a natural fit given American University's proximity to this very location. Watch whether the brand's next announcement comes from inside the Beltway or signals its first real geographic leap. WDCM will track it. Follow our Power Moves tag for ongoing coverage of DC's most consequential business expansions.
Reporting drawn from: RestaurantNews.com. Washington DC Magazine provides original analysis, DC-specific context, and editorial perspective beyond the source material.This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by WDCM editorial staff. Washington DC Magazine is committed to accuracy, transparency, and editorial integrity. If you believe any information in this article requires correction, please contact editor@washingtondcmagazine.com.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
