College Park welcomed new restaurants to its business scene in 2025, with several more scheduled to open in the coming months.
Compass Coffee, HoneyPig Korean BBQ and Insomnia Cookies opened in January, and others including Chopt Creative Salad Company and Duck Donuts are expected to open in the coming weeks.
Insomnia Cookies opened on Jan. 24 in the Union on Knox apartment complex after relocating to Knox Road from its original location off Route 1, according to a news release from the company.
Honey Pig Korean BBQ, located in the College Park Shopping Center, opened Jan. 17. The restaurant allows diners to cook cuts of meat at their table and features an all you can eat option for customers, according to the restaurant’s website.
Richard Kim, a manager at Honey Pig Korean BBQ, said the restaurant differs from others in College Park because it offers a home-style option to students that is not fast food.
“Everybody can come here, have a full stomach and leave — and it's affordable,” Kim said.
[College Park City Council deputy student liaison to focus on public safety, transportation]
Compass Coffee opened its first Maryland location in The Hub apartment complex on Knox Road on Jan. 25, according to a news release. The Washington, D.C.-based chain operates nearly 20 cafés in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia.
Chopt Creative Salad Company is going through final inspections and is set to open in early March, according to Tom Parker, Terrapin Development Company’s vice president.
Duck Donuts and Pho Thom, which is relocating from a location on Route 1, are both expected to open at Union on Knox in late spring, Parker said.
Ken Ulman, Terrapin Development Company’s president and the University of Maryland’s chief strategy officer for economic development, attributed the rise in new businesses in the Union on Knox apartment complex to increased residential density in the city. Ulman said the development’s objective is to “activate the street” and create new public gathering spaces for College Park residents.
Arepa Zone, which will offer Venezuelan cuisine, is under construction and will open in the Aster apartment complex this spring, Parker said.
Li Chun Café — a Chinese restaurant owned by the same group as Northwest Chinese — is hiring and training employees, and will open in the City Hall Plaza in the coming weeks, according to Parker.
[College Park hosts inaugural Lunar New Year celebration]
Northwest Chinese’s building is slated to be redeveloped, Ulman said, so Li Chun Café’s opening will allow the owners to operate in College Park when Northwest Chinese has to move.
The influx in restaurants will increase the number of job opportunities for students, Ulman said. Ulman, who worked at the Stripe 3 Adidas store on Route 1 when he was a student at this university, said he values students’ ability to work while taking classes.
The variety of cuisines offered in College Park will add vibrancy to city residents’ current options, Ulman added.
Primetime Restaurant, which offers steaks, seafood and other comfort food and is run by the George Martin restaurant group, is scheduled to open soon in the Cambria Hotel on Route 1, according to Michael Williams, College Park’s economic development director.
Williams said College Park’s new housing leads to more foot traffic in the area during the school year.
“We have a lot of people and a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of activities to host,” Williams said. “All of a sudden the city of College Park is a destination.”