asian kitchen type subsidiary industry restaurants founded september 15 2011 ; 5 years ago 2011 09 15 in washington dc 1 founder steve ells nate appleman tim wildin number of locations 15 000000002 016 07 01 0000july 2016 2 area served california illinois maryland and washington dc parent chipotle mexican grill website shophousekitchen.com lunch bowl and fountain soda from shophouse shophouse southeast asian kitchen or simply shophouse is an american restaurant chain specializing in southeast asian cuisine . its name derives from the shophouse a common building type in urban southeast asia . the first shophouse opened in september 2011 in washington d.c. 1 as of april 2016 update there are a total of fourteen shophouse locations in california chicago maryland and washington d.c. shophouse is owned and operated by chipotle mexican grill and uses a similar serving format . 3 like chipotle shophouse restaurants are company owned rather than franchised . 4 its competitors include panda express p. f. chang s pick up stix 5 and to a small extent noodles & company . 6 contents 1 concept development 2 history 3 menu 4 reception 5 references 6 external links concept development edit the shophouse concept was primarily developed by chipotle s director of concept development tim wildin who was born in bangkok and spent all of his childhood summers there . wildin had been working in the marketing department at chipotle and realized that if he could follow chipotle s business model and combine it with his knowledge of traditional southeast asian cuisine he could bring the taste of his homeland to the american masses . culinary manager nate appleman was responsible for developing some recipes and the procedures to produce the final product . wildin was responsible with the look of the facilities the locations of the restaurants and marketing . 7 8 9 10 history edit the first shophouse opened on connecticut avenue in the dupont circle neighborhood of washington d.c. opened on september 15 2011 the location was intended to test consumer response before further expansion . 11 after almost two years the second shophouse the first on the west coast opened in hollywood on june 17 2013 . 12 13 in the last half of 2013 four new locations were quickly opened two on each coast . a second d.c. location in georgetown was opened in august . 14 in october a second los angeles area location was opened in santa monica 15 and also a location in maryland opened in bethesda 16 on the other side of the country . at the end of 2013 a location in westwood los angeles was opened in december . 17 three d.c. area locations were opened in 2014 ; in d.c. chinatown in may ; 18 19 at the mall in columbia in the d.c. suburb of columbia maryland as part of that mall s expansion ; 3 20 and at union station in d.c. in november . 21 22 after quite a bit of activity in 2014 a d.c. area location in north bethesda 23 24 was opened in maryland in march 2015 to make a total of 10 shophouse locations in the nation by the end of march 2015 . the following year a fourth location in maryland was opened in silver spring in march 2016 . 25 in 2014 the motley fool noted that chipotle was expanding the shophouse concept rather slowly when compared with the expansion of noodles & company during the same time period . 6 a writer for marketwatch commented in 2015 that some of the procedures that chipotle had developed for providing affordable quality burritos quickly may not work with other cuisines . 26 as of 2015 update there has been on the average three new shophouses are opened each year while there has been 150 new chipoles are opened annual during the same time period or nearly three opens per week . 27 shophouse defended their decision of having a relatively slow roll out by responding to their critics that they are still trying to shape the brand by getting everything done right before they duplicate the procedures and replicate it in a new location . in this way they would like to provide great products in an efficient and cost effective manner that would entice customers to return frequently . 28 29 it was announced in may 2015 that the first location in the midwest is planned to be opened in the chicago loop during fall 2015 . 30 31 32 a further announcement was later made in october stating that a location in schaumburg illinois is planned to be open in november with another location is planned to be open in downtown chicago in december . 33 34 both illinois locations opened on schedule with great reviews along with a few minor complaints . 35 after a two years hiatus on the west coast a fourth los angeles area location was opened in july 2015 in el segundo 36 followed by a fifth l.a. location the 15th in the nation in july 2016 in west hollywood . 37 the west hollywood location is the first case in which the restaurant shares a common wall parking lot and outdoor patio with a chipotle restaurant . 37 38 menu edit shophouse food is mostly inspired by malaysian thai and vietnamese cuisine . 5 39 customers start with a base of chilled rice noodles jasmine rice brown rice or salad and choose meat or tofu a vegetable a sauce a garnish and a topping . the restaurant provides several suggested combinations . 40 some shophouse locations serve southeast asian beer such as beerlao chang and singha . initially the restaurant served b nh m in addition to bowls but the sandwiches were quickly dropped a few months later 41 after receiving mostly negative reviews on the quality of bread that was being used 42 and shophouse s inability to find a dependable supplier of decent bread . 27 unlike chipotle shophouse vary the ingredients available to their customers by adding seasonable vegetables to their menu that is depended on local availability such as kale 19 summer squash 43 butternut squash 44 45 parsnips 46 and collard greens . 46 in 2014 shophouse began to offer their first dessert a coconut rice and mango parfait . 20 in 2016 the company began testing fried spring rolls at their west hollywood location . 37 reception edit tom sietsema of the washington post called shophouse one of the best fast food ideas in years . 47 the reviewer for midtown lunch said the food was not as sweet as overly sweet foods found in the heavily americanized asian chain restaurants but closer to the authentic cuisines . 48 the reviewer also said he the food is spicy than what one would expect from a chain great for people who enjoy spicier foods and a wall full of additional hot sauces for person who don t think the food is spicy enough but not so great for people who want relatively bland foods . 48 the downside to the concept is that the flavors could easily get muddled by selecting the wrong combinations of components . references edit a b mckeever amy september 15 2011 . chipotle s new shophouse concept officially open in dc . eater . choi candice july 28 2016 . chipotle branching out plans to open burger restaurant . los angeles times . ap . retrieved july 28 2016 . a b lavoie luke 25 august 2014 . shophouse opens in expanding columbia mall open air plaza . the baltimore sun . retrieved 11 april 2015 . pino isaac 2 july 2014 . 10 things you need to know about chipotle s pizza and asian concepts . the motley fool . retrieved 11 april 2015 . a b reimer miriam 16 september 2011 . chipotle opens first asian style restaurant in d.c. . business insider . retrieved 11 april 2015 . a b koslosky john erik 2014 03 04 . why chipotle should be in no rush to expand shophouse . the motley fool . shophouse . eat real . retrieved 2016 05 30 . mckeever amy 2012 09 13 . nate appleman and tim wildin on developing shophouse chipotle s southeast asian concept . eater dc . retrieved 2016 05 30 . mckeever amy 2012 09 14 . nate appleman and tim wildin on shophouse s constant evolution and expansion plans . eater dc . retrieved 2016 05 30 . inc. m. shanken communications . son of chipotle news features food arts . www.foodarts.com . retrieved 2016 05 30 . aristotle munarriz rick 28 september 2011 . test driving chipotle s new shophouse eatery . fox business network . retrieved 11 april 2015 . almendrala anna 13 june 2013 . shophouse opens in la ; southeast asian restaurant based on chipotle model . the huffington post . retrieved 11 april 2015 . odell kat 2013 06 13 . is shophouse southeast asian kitchen the next chipotle . eater la . judkis maura 7 august 2013 . new shophouse to open in georgetown aug. 19 . the washington post . retrieved 11 april 2015 . odell kat 16 october 2013 . shophouse southeast asian kitchen flavors santa monica . eater la . retrieved 11 april 2015 . kraut aaron 2013 10 30 . shophouse opens at bethesda row . bethesda magazine . shophouse southeast asian kitchen to open tuesday . daily bruin . 2013 12 09 . frederick missy may 2 2014 . shophouse chinatown . eater washington dc . a b ramanathan lavanya may 5 2014 . shophouse goes seasonal adds chinatown location . washington post . a b shophouse opens in columbia md . qsr magazine press release . august 26 2014 . frederick missy may 7 2014 . shophouse in talks for union station . eater washington dc . baitz alison november 17 2014 . shophouse union station opens wednesday . eater washington dc . frederick missy 2015 03 06 . opening report another shophouse amp both opening . eater washington dc . metcalf andrew february 27 2015 . small bites shophouse to open in march in north bethesda . bethesda magazine . metcalf andrew march 10 2016 . shophouse set to open next week in silver spring this will be the third montgomery county location for the asian fast casual chain . bethesda magazine . passy charles 2015 07 26 . 10 things chipotle won t tell you . marketwatch . a b mckeever amy 2012 09 14 . nate appleman and tim wildin on shophouse s constant evolution and expansion plans . eater washington dc . lessons from the first year of shophouse the asian chipotle . restaurant business . december 1 2012 . dyke corrie august 21 2013 . shophouse s fresh fast food intrepreneur . georgetowner . gerzina daniel may 19 2015 . shophouse chipotle s asian concept snags first chicago location in loop . eater chicago . frost peter may 19 2015 . shophouse an asian inspired chipotle offshoot coming to the loop . crain s chicago business . vettel phil may 19 2015 . chipotle s shophouse concept headed to chicago . chicago tribune . pang kevin october 8 2015 . shophouse chipotle s asian concept now opening two chicago locations . chicago tribune . selvam ashok october 6 2015 . chipotle confirms shophouse schaumburg reveals opening date in loop . eater chicago . daley bill december 8 2015 . shophouse is here we visit chipotle s southeast asian restaurant . chicago tribune . elliott farley july 30 2015 . the point brings shophouse true food kitchen and north italia to el segundo . eater la . a b c jennings lisa may 2 2016 . shophouse continues slow and steady growth still a growth seed brand more shophouse units planned for existing three markets . nation s restaurant news . subscription required help . elliott farley march 24 2015