A fast casual restaurant chain Box’d Kitchen, specializing in modern Mediterranean cuisine with a twist, will open a location in College Park in December or January.

Founder Curtis Lee is known for combining different food styles, such as putting kimchi on pizza, so it’s not surprising that you would find hot sauces with habanero, jalapeño and green and red peppers at this Mediterranean eatery, which follows the Chipotle model of build-your-own bowl meals.

Customers can choose a salad bowl with arugula, kale, spinach, romaine and iceberg lettuce, a rice bowl with basmati rice or a flatbread gyro wrap. Protein options are lamb, chicken, beef, pork and tofu, and customers can add green peppers, chickpeas, onions and jalapeño peppers.

Started near the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville in 2018, Lee opened a second location in 2020 in Vienna, Va. He told the Hyattsville Wire that the restaurant would do well because people are looking for food that is “simple, nutritious and delicious.”

“We are one of the most sought after restaurants amongst UVA students,” he said. “We are very confident that we will have the same response here for University of Maryland students.”

The new location will be a few doors down from Taqueria Habanero in the Campus Village Shoppes at 8145 Baltimore Ave.

The restaurant will join a list of Mediterranean and Greek eateries along the Route 1 corridor, including Mediterranean Cafe in Mount Rainier; Mezeh Mediterranean Grill at the Mall at Prince George’s; Marathon Deli, Cava and Krazi Kebob in College Park; and Cedars of Lebanon and Perfect Pita in Greenbelt.

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