Wegmans Grand Opening Near Reston This Weekend

CHANTILLY, VA -- Rejoice, Restonians: a Wegmans is having a grand opening near you this weekend, meaning the popular high-end grocery store has finally arrived in our neck of the woods. The opening of Northern Virginia's newest Wegmans grocery store is set for 7 a.m. Sunday, June 3 at 14361 Newbrook Drive in Chantilly, right down Route 28.

The 120,000-square feet store will have about 500 employees, most of whom the company says were hired locally. One of the special features of the area's latest grocery store will be the presence of "The Burger Bar," which will be a first for the 11th outlet in Northern Virginia. It's described on the website: "From the best burgers in town to salads and sandwiches, and amazing milkshakes, our Burger Bar menu has items you won't find anywhere else."

Located at The Field at Commonwealth near the intersection of Route 28 and Westfields Boulevard, the supermarket offers fresh ingredients along with the family-owned company's latest in restaurant food offerings. Open from 6 a.m. to midnight daily, Chantilly is Wegmans' 97th store. Among the 60,000 plus products offered there, more than 4,000 are organic. Deliveries by Instacart allow Wegmans customers to complete their grocery shopping online and have orders delivered to their door in as little as one hour.

Wegmans Executive Chef Halit Ozdemir says The Burger Bar, a casual, family-friendly restaurant with a menu of burgers, fresh salads, soup, and signature margaritas, is a highlight of the new store. In Chantilly, Ozdemir oversees 130 staffers who prepare food from barbecue at the Homestyle Bar to made-to-order salads and Italian pizza baked in a custom rotating brick-hearth oven. Customers can choose to take out or dine in, with indoor and outdoor seating for nearly 300.

"We'll have an amazing variety of restaurant food. I can't wait for our customers to see this store," he says in a news release. "On any given day, you might find me at the new made-to-order Mexican station, expediting orders at The Burger Bar, or rolling sushi. I like to work side-by-side with members of my team. We all learn from each other."

The chain says it strives to buy its meat, seafood and produce from local sources close to its stores. Vendors supplying the Chantilly store will include:

Spiral Path Farm: Since 2003, the Brownback family has supplied Wegmans with fresh produce from their Loysville, PA, certified organic farm.

Cherrystone Aquafarm: Kenneth "Bubba" Frisby grows clams and oysters for the Ballard family's fifth generation Cheriton, VA aquafarm.

Huntly Farms: Randy Bardell manages the Hazel brothers' carefully conserved 5K-acre family farm, about 2 miles from Manassas.

Store leaders have been busy for months screening and interviewing the new employees who work at the store, most of whom are new to the company.

"Our people set us apart and we know we have to do our best every day," Store Manager Brien MacKendrick said in a news release. "As we put the final touches on our new store, our work impressing customers is only beginning."

Wegmans is planning store locations in Virginia Beach, Tysons Corner, Alexandria (Carlyle), and Arcola.

Additional reporting by Patch editor Deb Belt

Image of Wegmans storefront courtesy of Wegmans