Below are updates on several businesses that will be opening in Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, as well as one that is closing.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Frank Pepe will open its first DMV location inside the mall on March 21.
There will be a ceremonial ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. and the location will be open daily from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
“Inspired by the look and feel of the original New Haven location, Pepe’s Pizza of Bethesda evokes the original’s comfort, familiarity, and tradition. The 3,500 square-foot, 90-seat restaurant is visually dominated by the view of its 14 x 14-foot, 104,000-pound oven and the even more significant “paddle area,” where expert pizzaiolos create made-to-order masterpieces on an oak wood table and use 16-foot-long paddles to place them in the oven”
HalfSmoke Bethesda will be opening in the Montgomery Mall food court, as first reported by The MoCo Source on Instagram. It will be located in the former home of Coldstone Creamery and more recently Gelato Galaxy.
HalfSmoke was the first restaurant of its kind to serve gourmet sausages via an assembly line format. Its sausages and toppings can be fully customized to create over 50,000 variations. The HalfSmoke menu also features craft beer, mac and cheese balls, tater tots, milkshakes, funnel cakes, wine, cocktails, and more, but there is no word on if the Montgomery Mall location will offer everything the DC restaurant does.
No word yet on an opening date.
HalfSmoke’s Butter Me Up will also be opening in Montgomery Mall.
Butter Me Up
Butter Me Up will be taking over the old Aroma Espresso Bar location, which is downstairs near the Old Navy entrance.
The menu at the DC location consists solely of breakfast sandwiches, with 13 different varieties available on your choice of a butter roll, biscuit, English muffin, or maple waffle. Stuffed inside the sandwiches you’ll find sausage, eggs, fried chicken, a variety of cheese, and a lot more.
A Yelp article named Butter Me Up DC’s best breakfast sandwich.
Signage is up, but the inside has not changed since Aroma left, so an opening does not seem imminent. We’ll keep you updated on a potential opening date as soon as we have it.
Closing: Amazon 4 Star
Amazon announced last week that it plans to close all 68 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, pop-ups and shops carrying toys and home goods (including Amazon 4 Star) in the United States and United Kingdom, per Reuters.
The Montgomery Mall Amazon 4 Star location will be closing permanently on march 19th, the store confirmed. The Germantown location will no longer be opening, despite the recent signage that was erected prior to Amazon’s announcement.
Amazon Books at Bethesda Row will also be closing permanently, but the store does not have a closing date yet.
The company also stated that it would continue its focus on Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market grocery chains. An Amazon Fresh grocery store recently opened in Chevy Chase and one is planned for Gaithersburg. It was recently announced that an Amazon grocery store is in the plans for White Oak Town Center as well.
SEE ALSO: AMC Theater Now Open in Montgomery Mall