Below a is a list of restaurants that have recently opened or are coming soon to Olney, MD:
Coming Soon:
Chopt: Permanent signage is now up at Chopt, located at 18123 Town Center Dr in Olney’s Fair Hill Shopping Center, taking over the former Moss Chiropractic space. Interior construction is nearly complete, and the made-to-order salad chain expects to open by year-end. Chopt’s menu features salads, bowls, and wraps with ingredients like falafel, tofu, panko-fried chicken, and shrimp. This will be the latest Montgomery County location, joining others in Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Potomac, and Rockville.
About Chopt: “At Chopt, we are a diverse group of food lovers who are obsessed with salad, who innovate in the kitchen, who love to serve, who operate with a sense of urgency, who smile uncontrollably, who think about food all the time, who take pride in being experts of our craft. We care about the future of fast food and its impact on the local community, the local farmers and food systems and the local workers who make up our team, too.”
Classic Bakery: Back in May we let you know that Classic Bakery will be opening a new location at 18195 Village Center Dr. in Olney- the bakery’s third overall, adding to Gaithersburg and Tyson’s Corner. It will be taking over the space that was recently home to Cold Stone, which is moving within the shopping center. Classic Bakery tells us they hope to open mid to late quarter 1 (2025) with a tentative target date of March 1st that’s subject to change.
The family business was introduced over half a century ago by Grandpa Souren, who discovered his passion for baking in 1947 at the age of 17 in Tehran, Iran. He left his job as a machine mechanic to focus on his small bakery. Grandpa Souren’s oldest son, Rubic, began helping at the family business when he was just seven years old. Rubic was doing everything from sweeping the floors to mixing large batches by hand- learning the business from the ground up.
After immigrating to the United States, Rubic Movsessian and his Grandpa Souren opened Classic Bakery in Gaithersburg in 1991 in its original location in the shopping center that was then home to Hechinger’s and currently home to Bruster’s ice cream.
The bakery quickly made a name for itself by combining a family baking tradition with exceptional customer service to create the picturesque baked good crafter to perfection from scratch, using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients. Classic Bakery is now run by Rubic Movsessian and his son, Areen- the third generation of Movsessian’s involved in the family business. Due to popular demand, offerings have expanded to include sandwiches, imported coffee, and homemade gelato in addition to a variety of the cookies, pastries, baked goods and custom cakes we all know and love.
A few years back, Classic Bakery introduced a second location in Tyson’s Corner, VA and moved the original 3,000 square foot location to a new and improved 10,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility on Gaither Road to keep up with demand. Areen knows that in order to continue winning the hearts of local clients, he must maintain the same hands-on approach that Grandpa Souren and Rubic used when the bakery was first introduced in 1991. Grandpa Souren’s recipes and high standards continue to be carried on by Areen and the entire Classic Bakery family.
Mezeh: Mezeh Mediterranean Grill is coming to 18129 Town Center Dr in Olney, next-door to the upcoming Chopt. The restaurant will be taking over the space that we previously occupied by The Olney Winery in the Fair Hill Shopping Center. Mezeh is a fast-casual eatery with a buffet-style of offerings that include rice and salad bowls, wraps and a variety of sauces and toppings that are very similar to national chain Cava. Construction has not yet begun.
Mezeh Mediterranean Grill opened its first store in Annapolils, MD in 2013 and the chain has additional Montgomery County locations in Aspen Hill, Gaithersburg and Germantown.
New:
Fallen Oak Distillery: MoCo’s newest “speakeasy”, the Whispering Spirit, is now open at Fallen Oak Distilling– located at Lone Oak in Olney. A video of the experience can be seen below.
The owners of Lone Oak Farm Brewing Company have expanded Lone Oak’s legacy with the opening of Fallen Oak Distilling on the existing brewery property (5000 Olney Laytonsville Road). This includes The Whispering Spirit– a speakeasy style bar/restaurant that will “transport you to the 1920s.”
Fallen Oak is an adults-only (21 and up) space that “delivers an exquisite range of spirits, meticulously crafted for the discerning
palate. The distillery offers Bourbon, Maple Bourbon, Vodka,Rye and, coming soon, Gin – all small-batch, delicious craft spirits with bold flavors and smooth finishes.”
Named as a tribute to the brewery’s beloved Oak tree, Fallen Oak Distilling features state-of-the-art equipment and a space that reflects the passion and dedication synonymous with Lone Oak Farm Brewing Company. And like the beers at Lone Oak Farm, the spirits at Fallen Oak are made with the corn and barley they grow in their fields.
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Taco Loco: Taco Loco is now open at 18050 Georgia Ave in Olney. The restaurant is located in the space that was recently occupied by El Catrachito, and previously Milk & Cheese and Thai Cuisine.Originally starting as a mobile catering business in White Oak, Taco Loco opened its first location at 8417 Georgia Ave in Silver Spring in 2023. Their menu features a variety of items, including tacos, tortas, gorditas, soups, tamales, elote loco, and birria pizza.
You can view the restaurant’s Facebook page here.
Returning: Winter City Lights
Winter City Lights, “a magical holiday experience of 1 million twinkling lights spread across 18-acres of an outdoor winter wonderland where it is guaranteed to Winter City snow every night”, returns on Saturday, November 23z This is the largest light show in the Washington DC and Baltimore areas.
Winter City Lights returns to 4501 Olney Laytonsville Road in Olney and is described as “a unique and magical holiday experience of over 1 million twinkling lights spread across 18-acres of winter wonderland where it is guaranteed to “snow” every night!” and is touted as the “largest and most spectacular light show in the Washington DC, Virginia and Baltimore areas, Winter City Lights is one of the most technologically advanced Christmas light experiences in the Country.”
The experience consists of 33 bonfires, a 1.5-mile long trail of Christmas lights and displays through the woods, a 52-foot tall programmable Christmas lights tree with light shows, a 200-foot diameter canopy of Christmas lights, an 8-lane Snow Tubing Ride, concessions, s’mores, hot chocolate, funnel cakes, fried Oreos, BBQ sandwiches, pizza, soft pretzels, adult drinks, light up toys, and more.
The experience is designed to be eco-friendly with high-quality, low-energy lighting and aluminum displays, all made with recycled products and plastics. Tickets are available to be purchased only through the Winter City Lights website. Photo courtesy Winter City Lights
