Photo by roland.

Penn Quarter Living and the Internationalist are hopeful that Wagamama, the U.K.-based noodle shop, might finally be opening in Chinatown after years of speculation. The store, which first announced it was coming to 418 7th Street NW back in March 2008 has been close lipped about the location since the initial announcement.

In March 2009, they confirmed the location would open in May 2010. But then in January 2010, the building went up for lease, leaving Wagamama’s opening doubtful.

Now the signs proclaiming the building is for lease have been taken down, leaving area bloggers hopeful that Wagamama will indeed be coming. Couple this with the store’s recent announcement of their plans to open 650 locations in the U.S., it might leave noodle lovers especially hopeful that the chain will finally open in D.C. However, Wagamama spokespeople have been unresponsive to various media member’s requests for comment. It could be just that they leased out the space to another restaurant. Time will tell.