Coming Soon to Rockville (Restaurants, Retail, and More)

Patrick Herron October 9, 2023 at 11:10am

Below is a list of restaurants and businesses that will be coming soon to Rockville, MD:
Coming Soon: Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream will open its third Montgomery County location in Rockville’s Fallsgrove Village Center. The ice cream shop, which was recently ranked #1 in “Mr. MoCo’s 15 Favorite Ice Cream Spots in MoCo” list, has two existing locations in Bethesda– The Wildwood Shop (10219 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814) and River Road Shop (5241 River Road Bethesda, MD 20816). Sarah’s Handmade aims to open its Fallsgrove location by the end of the year, with additional information to follow.

Per the ice cream shop, “Sarah’s Handmade was created by a Bethesda mother-daughter team, Sarah and Annie Park. When Sarah retired in 2018, she suddenly found herself with time to indulge in her old hobbies. She began to experiment and create original ice cream recipes for her family, friends, and neighbors, fit for each occasion. Soon enough, she was receiving calls and orders from strangers for her handmade ice cream! With strong enthusiasm from friends and wide support from neighbors, Sarah and Annie decided to bring the homemade flavors to a River Road storefront in Bethesda. To stay true to Sarah’s commitment to the highest quality ice cream that she would “feel proud feeding my family,” Sarah uses only the best, local-whenever-possible ingredients and sticks to her small-batch, all-natural recipes.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwD-I5BuA-L/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c485acf0-dda0-46c9-b40e-af0c9c6c3921

Coming Soon: Buena Onda Baja Taqueria
Buena Onda Baja Taqueria is coming to 12107 Rockville Pike, the former home of Avail Vape/Kure CBD & Vape, in the Pike Center shopping center (home to TGI Friday’s), according to Kimco. The restaurant is a José Garces creation. Garces is an Ecuadorian-American chef, born in Chicago to Ecuadorian parents. He won in the second season of The Next Iron Chef and also defeated Bobby Flay in Iron Chef America.

According to the restaurant website, Buena Onda, celebrity chef Jose Garces’ Baja-inspired taqueria is more than a fast casual taqueria, it’s a mindset. In Spanish, Buena Onda means ”Good Vibes”. In a world full of fast casual options, Buena Onda offers a unique, casual Baja taqueria experience for guests with an appealing menu, friendly service, and laid-back beach bum decor. Renowned Latin-American chef Jose Garces translates his rich cultural traditions and culinary vision into personal dining experiences. Taking a heartfelt and creative approach to time-honored recipes and dishes, Buena Onda brings these recipes together for a unique taqueria experience. An opening timeframe is not yet available for the restaurant.

Coming Soon: Kura Revolving Sushi Bar
Kura Revolving Sushi is coming to 12266 Rockville Pike in Federal Plaza, taking over the other -part of the space that was recently home to Chuy’s and previously home to Ruby Tuesday. Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is the “ultimate eater-tainment” dining experience serving up authentic Japanese cuisine through an engaging conveyor belt system packed with prizes, drink delivery robots and more. The dining experience features a revolving sushi bar that snakes through the dining area with a wide variety of sushi plates for patrons to select from as they circulate and an express belt positioned above the main belt that delivers orders tableside placed via the ordering tablet from the 140+ menu inclusive of sushi, udon, ramen, hot and cold sides, and desserts. Guests can also look forward to receiving fun prizes for every 15 sushi plates and soft beverages delivered by Kur-B the KuraBot.

Coming Soon: Torchy Tacos
Torchy’s Tacos is also coming to 12266 Rockville Pike in Federal Plaza, taking over the other part of the space that was recently home to Chuy’s. Torchy’s Tacos, featuring “the most unique tacos, coveted queso and refreshing margaritas in the game, and the rotating Taco of the Month,” will open its first location in the DMV in 2024. The 3,961 square-foot restaurant will be located at 12266 Rockville Pike. With more than 115 locations across 14 states, Torchy’s Tacos serves tacos, sides, and drinks from scratch, made-to-order.

Coming Soon: Luna Hall

Luna Hall has signed on to move into one of the vacant spaces in the Pike Center (the shopping center that’s the longtime home of TGI Friday’s and the recently opened Golfdom), according to Kimco. The location is listed as taking is the former CiCi’s Pizza spot. The food hall recently opened its first location in DC’s Chinatown (625 H St NW). Offerings at the Chinatown location include Kung Fu Tea, TKK Fried Chicken, Dumpling District, Pollo Aria, and Luna Bar. There is no word on possible stalls at the Rockville location and Luna has told us things are in the works and that they’ll provide us with updates once they are available. The featured photo shows the Chinatown location.

Coming Soon: Teso Life
Teso Life is coming to 1701 Rockville Pike in The Shops at Congressional Village shopping center. Teso Life is a retail store that collaborates with a variety of well-known Japanese suppliers and has a limited amount of products from China and Korea as well. The company was established in 2017 in Flushing, NY and is based in Queens.

“Teso Life retail store is a great place to shop for high quality daily used products with decent prices, or stick around and enjoy the town! Along with the amazing make-up products, small housewares, kitchen supplier, snacks and more, we look forward to serving the best products in town!” In addition to purchasing in-store, you can order through their website where customers can place both pick-up or delivery orders. An opening date it not yet available for the store.

Coming Soon: Tequila Modern Mexican
Tequila Modern Mexican is coming to 11 N Washington Street in Rockville Town Center, the former location of Trapezaria. Tequila Modern Restaurant has additional location in Harrisonburg, VA and upcoming locations in Kansas and North Carolina. While an opening date has not been announced, the restaurant tells us its “almost ready.”

Coming Soon: La Speranza
La Speranza is coming soon to Rockville, opening at 806 Baltimore Rd. in the location that was most recently home to Tia Ochi in the Burgundy Park shopping center that has been the longtime home of Jonathan’s Sports Pub. While an exact opening date is not yet available, the restaurant had its alcohol license hearing with Montgomery County’s ABS last month and expects to open this month. La Speranza will feature both Tex-Mex and Italian cuisine, with a menu created by executive chef Neptali Mendoza, according to the restaurant’s website. Additional information from its website below:

“Neptali Mendoza, is an experienced chef who has worked in many well known restaurants to gain knowledge and have familiarity with the preparation of Italian cuisine. The newly founded La Speranza Restaurant, which is a Tex-Mex restaurant, will include Neptali’s expertise on Italian cuisine and his prior skills of Mexican food. Neptali’s journey in the world of culinary arts started at the Michelin guide, Obelisk Italian Restaurant (2006-2010) where he worked under the owner, Peter Pastan, a well-known chef in DC. While working in preparation, he learned the production of fresh pastas and the backstage environment of a restaurant’s kitchen. RedRocks Pizzeria in Alexandria, Virginia, was the next step for Neptali as he worked as the kitchen manager. Neptali was able to gain even more understanding and capability on how a successful restaurant is run and the work ethic it entails. Baronessa Italian Restaurant, was the final step before opening La Speranza Restaurant, as Neptali worked as the sous chef there. This enabled him to perfect his skills in the craft of cookery and gave way to the final preparation for the opening of his own restaurant. During this time, not only was Neptali working to gain valuable experience, but he also completed a demanding training program offered by the Culinary Arts Program at Carlos Rosario International School.” The full menu can be seen here.

Coming Soon: Mimi’s Handmade
Mimi’s Handmade ice cream is coming to Rockville’s Federal Plaza. It will be taking over the location that was recently home to Yogi Castle (12274 Rockville Pike Suite E). Yogi Castle closed permanently this spring and Mimi’s Handmade took possession of the space in May. No opening date has been announced.

Per Mimi’s Handmade: “With both Italian and German grandmothers, I inherited the secret family recipes from many generations including the most delicious desserts. I can still taste Nona Concetta’s hand cranked gelato and Oma Annamarie’s Bavarian creamy custards and sweets. Over the last 30 years, I have worked extensively in Asia allowing me to explore the wonderful tastes and flavors of the rich cuisines of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Korea. Coming home from my trips, Alexandra, Mimi and I would try all new recipes from my trips, exploring sweet Thai basil, azuki beans, black sesame, ube, jackfruit, lychee and so many other flavors. While we all like interesting flavors, we all love the traditional flavors, from French Vanilla to Oreo to Mint Chocolate Chip. Whatever your tastes, we promise you the best and freshest ice cream you have ever had, all made right here in our little store. So, whether you’re a little kid or a “forever” kid (parents in hiding!), enjoy one of America’s oldest and favorite eating traditions. Welcome to Mimi’s Handmade.”

Coming in 2025: Weagmans
Wegmans is coming to Twinbrook Quarter, in the area of Halpine Rd and Rockville Pike. According to signage put up at the construction site this summer, Wegmans is now expected to open in 2025. Previously, a more general “Late 2024 or 2025” was the expected opening date of the grocery store. In addition to the grocery store, the upcoming neighborhood has approval for 480,000 SF of retail (which includes the 80,000 SF Wegmans and an additional 25,000 SF of additional retail/restaurants in the first phase. Twinbrook Quarter will also consist of 450 apartment homes (The Milton) and 248,000 SF of trophy office above. It will also include over 1,500 parking spaces with electric vehicle charging stations.