Popular Fast-Casual Rice Bowl Shop Fieldtrip to Open Two New Locations

Chef JJ Johnson’s Harlem-based, fast-casual rice bowl shop Fieldtrip is expanding with two new locations this month, the restaurant has announced.

The upcoming locations are situated inside of the dining complexes at Rockefeller Center in Midtown and the Jacx office space in Long Island City; both are sprawling real estate developments under the purview of commercial firm Tishman Speyer.

The Jacx location is slated to open next week, on November 11, while the Rockefeller Center location is expected to open in late November, according to the restaurant. Both locations will feature menus identical to the Harlem shop, where Johnson has built a reputation for crafting flavorful rice bowls that pull inspiration from various corners of the globe, including a crispy chicken dish with Carolina Gold rice, salmon with China Black pineapple fried rice, and a “stupendously good” seafood gumbo, according to Eater critic Ryan Sutton. The bowls are all priced under $15 apiece.

At Rockefeller Center, Fieldtrip’s opening is part of a larger, ongoing shakeup of the development’s dining scene, with Tishman Speyer previously signing other buzzy fast-casual shops including Milk Bar, Fuku, Van Leeuwen, and Sweetgreen to open locations inside the property. Similarly, Fieldtrip’s Jacx location is scheduled to open among offshoots of other well-liked local counter-service spots like Taim Falafel and Crif Dogs.

Johnson is excited to reach new customer bases in Queensboro and Queensbridge through the Long Island City location, he tells Eater, and he views the Rockefeller Center opening as a welcome challenge to help breathe life back into Midtown.

“What I’ve realized through the pandemic is that Fieldtrip can grow,” Johnson says. “Harlem was able to birth this working class brand that can now fit into other working class communities, now we can go into other communities and also speak to the people who work there and live around it.”

Fieldtrip now operates four locations overall, including the original Harlem shop and an outpost at the U.S. Open.