Gaithersburg

Peter Chang is coming to 637 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg, the former location of Ichiban Restaurant. Ichiban closed in September 2021 after 35 years in business. Chef Peter Chang’s signature dishes include Boneless Whole Fish, Dry Fried Eggplant, Crispy Pork Belly, Cilantro Lime Fish, Duck In Stone Pot, and Beef in Sichuan Chili.  Peter Chang opened its Rockville location at 20A Maryland Ave in 2016, and Q by Peter Chang opened at 4500 East-West Hwy in Bethesda in 2017. The restaurant is hoping to open by the beginning of February 2024.

In May, Peter Chang visited the culinary program at Paint Branch High School to teach students two recipes inspired by his family and culture as a part of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.


Germantown

Charleys Cheesesteaks & Wings is now open inside of the Germantown Walmart at 20910 Frederick Rd, in the space formerly occupied by McDonald’s. Earlier this year, Charleys also opened a location at 19877 Century Blvd in Germantown, in the space that was previously home to Roll by Goodyear and Yogi Castle in the Shops at Town Center & Century Station shopping center.

Charleys is a Philly cheesesteak franchise that opened its first location across the campus of Ohio State University in 1986. While studying real estate at the school, Charley Shin worked in his mother’s Japanese/Korean restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. A wrong turn on a family trip to New York City resulted in Charley’s discovery of the Philly cheesesteak. Charley convinced his mother to sell her restaurant, and invest her life savings of $48,000 into Charley’s, a 450-square-foot restaurant across the street from Ohio State’s campus.


Crime

Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 5th District Investigative Section have arrested and charged 28-year-old Cyprian Nwaigwe with the shooting that occurred at Topgolf on Monday, August 29, 2023.

The investigation has revealed that at approximately 12:06 a.m., a 23-year-old Topgolf security guard informed Nwaigwe to leave the premises because they were closing for the night. Nwaigwe proceeded to get into a physical altercation with the security guard. The physical altercation continued to the front door area, where Nwaigwe pulled out a handgun and shot the security guard in his upper body. An 18-year-old Topgolf employee was also shot in his lower body. Nwaigwe then left the scene.


Gaithersburg

The Container Store, which currently has one Montgomery County location at 1601 Rockville Pike in Congressional Plaza, will be opening a second Montgomery County location in Gaithersburg.  The retailer specializes in storage, home office organizers and organization supplies, including custom closets and shelving systems. It provides an experience-driven shopping destination with more than 11,000 organizational products offered.

Representatives from the Rockville location were unable to provide us with any additional details about the exact location of the retailer, but we are told that the vacant space in Downtown Crown next to Woodhouse Day Spa is the likely location. The Container Store recently announced that it will be opening six new small format stores in fiscal 2023 and three new stores in fiscal 2024, with Gaithersburg estimated to open in Winter 2023. The Rockville location is approximately 24,000 SF and the small format stores tend to be approximately 15,000 SF.  Visit www.containerstore.com/locationsfor more information about store locations, the product collection, and the services offered. We will have an update with confirmation of the Gaithersburg location being in Downtown Crown as soon as we have it. Below is a list of the six new locations expected to open by the end of 2023.


Event

Join Us for StoryBox Comics Fair, a two-day festival celebrating local and independent comics authors!

Day 1 – Saturday, June 27th, 11-5pm @ DwightMess compound (805 Silver Spring Ave): Events are open to the public, admission is FREE. Featuring Special Guest Artists, gallery exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, a modeling session (suggested donation) and exhibitors, you can dig in to indie comics and also tour the compound, which features an extensive comics collection, a rare video collection, Risograph and screenprinting studios.


Restaurant

Sarku Japan has reopened in Wheaton Mall in a  new location just outside of Costco, near the relatively new Sydney’s Burger. Sarku Japan is often found inside of malls and has a mall location in Bethesda’s Montgomery Mall. Its other MoCo location can be found a standalone store (located within a strip mall rather than in a food court) in the White Oak shopping center. The chain offers made-to-order teppanyaki-style Japanese dishes cooked on sizzling grills as well as a limited amount of sushi rolls.

History of Sarku: “In Japan, lunches are often taken quickly from small stalls where freshness and quality are key. Shops value their reputations very highly. This was the same dedication of our founders when they opened the first Sarku Japan in 1987.


MCPD

According to Montgomery County Police, “On Saturday, September 2, 2023, officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police and allied agencies, including Howard County Police Department, will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint and will conduct focused enforcement on impaired driving laws.  The exact location of the checkpoint will not be disclosed in advance.

Earlier this week, Montgomery County Police has announced that during the August 25 sobriety checkpoint on northbound Georgia Avenue at Weller Road, officers from MCPD and allied agencies stopped approximately 372 vehicles and arrested 5 people for driving while impaired. Last week MCPD announced that it stopped 565 vehicles and arrested 4 people for driving while impaired during an August 18th sobriety checkpoint on northbound Frederick Road at Game Preserve Road in Gaithersburg.


Bethesda

Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police -2nd District Investigative Section are investigating a theft that occurred at Cubano’s Restaurant in the 4900 block of Cordell Avenue on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Detectives have released surveillance video of the suspect and are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying him.

The preliminary investigation by detectives has determined that the suspect entered the restaurant at approximately 8 p.m. The suspect immediately walked to the back of the restaurant, grabbed the victim’s purse that was hanging on a rack and entered the bathroom. The purse was later located inside the bathroom by a customer but was missing cash, personal items and property.  The suspect is described as a Black male, approximately 30-years-old, thin build, wearing a gray t-shirt.


MoCo History

Per Montgomery County: The early evolution of the post roads and their impact on the development of Montgomery Country will be the subject of a free online presentation from Montgomery History that will be available Sept. 4-11.

“A Bump in the Road: A History of Our Local Post Roads” was originally presented by historian Bob Hines at the 2021 Montgomery County History Conference. His talk focuses on the County’s “post system,” the early road known as the Brookeville Turnpike and how post roads shaped the future of the country. To view the presentation starting Sept. 4, go to » WATCH (montgomeryhistory.org).


MCDOT

Per Montgomery County: Bicycles that are no longer being used by some can make a big difference for others. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s annual Bicycle Donation Drive will be held on Friday, Oct. 20. The event will make it easy to donate previously owned bikes and ensure they will have a continued impact.

From  7 a.m.-2 p.m. on Oct. 20, bikes will be collected (rain or shine) outside of the Montgomery County Council Office Building Garage at East Jefferson and Monroe Street in Rockville. Bicycles should be in good working condition or in need of only minor repairs. Donations will be refurbished and MCDOT will match the bikes with residents in need through the Bike Match program.


Highways / Interstates

Per Montgomery County: The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) this week launched an all-hands-on-deck litter and debris removal effort aimed at removing litter from its roadsides prior to Labor Day weekend. SHA maintenance shop personnel have been spanning the State to beautify roadsides as part of its “Operation Clean Sweep Maryland” project. In addition to making roadways look better, the project has additional goals.

Litter, including plastic bottles, fast food containers and cigarette butts, can wind up in highway drainage systems and clog the system or cause slow drainage. This creates dangerous conditions, such as ponding of water during storms. Litter that makes it past drainage systems can enter streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay and poses a threat to wildlife habitats.