After years of having just a single kosher meat restaurant in Washington, D.C., the city will gain a second when HaMakom opens in the coming weeks in the new George Washington University Hillel building. 

HaMakom — Hebrew for “the spot” — will serve a globally inspired “meat and vegan” menu with some Jewish standbys, like chicken noodle soup and a pastrami sandwich. The restaurant is operated by Yehuda Malka, the co-owner of the Schmaltz Bros food truck. (The company also offers a catering service.) HaMakom will borrow some of the most popular Schmaltz Brothers menu items, like its Nashville hot chicken sandwich.  

Malka was approached about the project by Louis Mayberg, the CEO of a cloud computing company and a GW alum who along with his wife, Manette, was involved with the new GW Hillel project. The new 21,000-square-foot Hillel opened earlier this year at 2300 H St. NW.

“Their goal was to create a kosher dining option that would really be great for the students but in a broader sense for the Jewish community in Georgetown and D.C. in general,” Malka told Jewish Insider. GW students can use their meal plans to buy food from HaMakom. Non-students can also dine in at the restaurant, which seats up to 80 people. 

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Mains range from $11 to $17, and the restaurant will also serve breakfast. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and for Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

A final opening date has not been announced due to supply chain issues that have slowed down the timeline for the restaurant. “We are really hoping within the next month or so,” said Malka. 

“The HaMakom concept, we’re piloting at GW University,” Malka, who hopes to expand the restaurant idea to other university Hillels around the country, said. “This is something that we’re trying to really jumpstart in the Hillel here, and then if it works, potentially moving into other Hillels at different colleges.” He has not yet spoken to other universities about the idea. Tulane University is the only other college with a publicly accessible glatt kosher restaurant at its Hillel. 

HaMakom is less than a 10-minute walk from Char Bar, Washington’s only other kosher meat restaurant. Schmaltz Bros will continue to make stops in other parts of Washington, where it has a partnership with the Edlavitch DCJCC.