George Mason University Debuts Only Kosher Restaurant in NoVa

GMU Chabad and Hillel now enjoy the fruits — and vegetables — of their labor

The long history of efforts to bring kosher dining to George Mason University came to a close on Tuesday with the opening of northern Virginia’s only kosher restaurant.

As GMU students returned from a three-day weekend, they could choose to eat at The Mason Mensch at The Eaterie on GMU’s Fairfax campus for lunch or dinner. The kosher restaurant opened to the public on Jan. 21, but The Mason Mensch is hardly new; it had humble beginnings as a food stand in the university’s dining area.

“Many people even said this was the best food at Southside [Station], and so we knew that we already had success,” said Rabbi Ezra Wiemer, the co-director of Chabad at GMU. “We wanted to build it out to something that was real brick-and-mortar, an established place, somewhere that can also benefit the entire northern Virginia Jewish community.”

About a half dozen members of the GMU Jewish community sat together in the Student Union Center and munched on kosher fare, including rice bowls with falafel, Israeli salad and baba ganoush.

The new restaurant is the result of a partnership between GMU, George Mason Dining, Chabad at GMU, Mason Hillel, food service company Sodexo and Char Bar, a kosher restaurant in Washington, D.C. Members of the GMU and surrounding communities can order a custom-made bowl or wrap, according to Sofya Vetrova, the marketing director of George Mason Dining.

“Customization is the key,” Vetrova said. “[The] Mason Mensch is super-customizable — it’s pretty much similar to Cava or Chipotle-style, like you build your own plate: you get your starch, you get your protein, your veggies and your sauces, and it’s just delicious.”

Wiemer also said he appreciates the customizable aspect of the restaurant’s offerings.

“What’s amazing about the expanded location is it functions as a complete restaurant where [patrons] can choose anything they want off the menu instead of having it [be] a specific meal depending on which day you go,” Wiemer said.

When The Mason Mensch operated as a food cart starting in January 2023, George Mason Dining would order up to 50 portions of a dish from Char Bar to serve from The Mason Mensch food cart, but that food would consistently sell out before dinner hours ended at 8 p.m.

“We saw the demand, and we decided to take it to the next level, hence this eatery with the fully-closed kitchen,” Vetrova said.

Now, the restaurant’s hours cover lunch and dinner, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and kosher chefs make all of the food on-site. Akiva Klatzkow, who has been working at The Mason Mensch since its 2023 opening, said he looks forward to the increased hours.

The move toward kosher dining on GMU’s campus began “with the student voice,” Vetrova said. Wiemer said a lot of prospective Jewish students touring GMU ask if there is kosher dining available on campus.

He added that part of Chabad’s mission is to “make Judaism accessible to students and the larger Jewish community,” so that’s what Wiemer set out to do, he told Washington Jewish Week after polishing off a brisket sandwich from The Mason Mensch.

Bracha Wiemer, the co-director of Chabad at GMU, said The Mason Mensch is more than a restaurant; it will bring Jewish students and community members closer together: “Students are already making plans to meet up here on a weekly basis for study sessions, to meet up with friends, of course to grab some food.”

“Food is a huge social component of any culture, and especially for students in college to be able to get together with their Jewish community and connect, it’s vital,” she said. “The kosher cart in Southside was an essential first step, and we are so grateful to George Mason for partnering with us and helping that happen. This was the natural and necessary next step to extend the hours … to be able to have lunch and dinner.”

Bracha Wiemer said there are “so many reasons” that it’s important to have a brick-and-mortar kosher restaurant on campus and ultimately cited the influence of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

“Someone once came to [the Rebbe] and asked him … ‘What’s a good starting point for college students who want to engage in Judaism?’” Bracha Wiemer recalled. “‘There’s so many places you can start. Is it learning? Social events? Jewish holidays? Shabbat? Where do you start?’ And the Lubavitcher Rebbe advised that person that kosher food is the place to start.”

She said kosher food is one of the mitzvot — “good deeds” — that affect us from the inside out: “The food that we eat becomes a part of us, so on a spiritual level, we are what we eat.”

“Kosher food uplifts and enables a Jewish person to live a soulful life,” Bracha Wiemer said, adding that the Rebbe also recommended having a place for Jewish students to convene.

“It’s super-exciting to see something inclusive on our campus,” Vetrova said.

Rabbi Daniel Novick, the executive director of Mason Hillel, said northern Virginia’s Jewish community is largely excited for this new development.

“Kosher food has been lacking in northern Virginia for many years,” Novick said. “I actually grew up in northern Virginia; I was born and raised here. There’s always been the conversation of kosher food and kosher access.”

One key aspect is that now, community members can order from The Mason Mensch, whereas the food cart was limited to GMU students and faculty.

“This is [now] open in a public university building, so anyone can park, come in, get their kosher food and leave or eat there at the table,” Novick said.

He noted the benefit of having a kosher restaurant on GMU’s campus in terms of sustainability: “Financially, the university needs to rely on non-students like the community to also access this to help sustain this venture.”

Liat Bershad, the director of student life at Mason Hillel, excitedly looked on as Jewish students got their first tastes of the newest food at The Eaterie.

“We are hoping that [The Mason Mensch] brings a lot of new Jewish students to campus and a lot of Jewish community members,” she said.

“We’re very excited to bring the kosher food in a greater way to students and to make George Mason a home for Jewish students, a place where they can be proud to be Jewish, as well as serve the larger Jewish community in a way that is monumental,” Rabbi Wiemer said.

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