DMV

Mr. Wash Offering Free Car Washes to Teachers/School Staff Across the DMV Until August 31

By MCS Staff
Courtesy Mr. Wash

With MCPS teachers reporting back to school on Monday, August 21st for pre-service week, DMV car wash spot Mr. Car Wash is offering free car washes to teachers, school staff, and administrators at any of its 10 locations across the DMV until August 31st. Just mention your role at the school to any of the team members and you will receive your free wash. Mr. Wash has two Montgomery County locations, at 7996 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring and at 3817 Dupont Ave. in Kensington. Participating locations also include:

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Bethesda

Glen Echo Park Still Reeling After Late July Storms Caused Serious Damage

By MCS Staff

Glen Echo Park is still reeling after suffering serious damage due to severe storms that rolled through the area a few weeks back. According to a FOX5 report, “Park officials say about 15 trees went down, damaging some of the historical components of the park that have kept generations of families coming back for years. Some of the horses and benches on the carousel were damaged and they’re blocked off with caution tape right now. The organ that plays the music is normally a real organ that is self-playing but the organ was damaged, so they’re playing a recording in the meantime.”

The Park has put together a funding campaign that states the following, “Glen Echo Park Partnership’s programs and events add to the vibrancy of our community, inspiring joy and creativity every day. Thank you for supporting our “Lift Us Up” campaign to recover over $50,000 in losses from storm damage.”, and has raised over $24,000 with a goal of $50,000 to help with repairs.

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Bethesda

Two Sandwiches Available in MoCo Make it Onto Eater DC’s “17 Sandwiches to Try Around D.C. Right Now” List

By MCS Staff

Eater DC recently released a list of “17 Sandwiches to Try Around D.C. Right Now” and two sandwiches available in Montgomery County have made the list. While there are classic Montgomery County sandwich spots/delis like Twinbrook Deli in Rockville and Filippo’s (formerly Marchone’s) in Wheaton, and newer places that are highly regarded for their sandwiches like Full On Craft in the Norbeck area (technically Rockville) near Olney, and Gemelli’s in Gaithersburg, among others, Eater DC tends to stick to places much closer to D.C.

The first MoCo sandwich listed is the “Chip-wich”, available at The Girl and The Vine in Takoma Park (7071 Carroll Ave). Per Eater DC, “Takoma Park’s adorable cafe and wine shop counts the “Chip-wich” hoagie as one of its most popular orders since day one. The sandwich hides house kettle chips inside for a surprise crunch in every bite, joined by smoked turkey, smashed avocado, pepper jack cheese, bacon, sprouts, and dijonnaise.” The Girl & The Vine, a neighborhood wine, food market and bar located in the heart of the Takoma Park community opened in March 2019. The neighborhood market features a wide selection of food and beverages including wine, beers, cocktails, coffees and teas, as well as sandwiches, salads, bread, meats and cheeses, and more.

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Bethesda

One MoCo Sushi Restaurant Included in Eater DC’s ‘Where to Find Standout Sushi Around D.C.’ List

By MCS Staff

While there are many wonderful restaurants in Montgomery County that offer high quality and tasty sushi, Eater DC put together a list of restaurant the website considers to have standout sushi in the D.C. area and has included just one Montgomery County restaurant on its list. Hinata, located at 4947 St. Elmo Ave in Bethesda, is a Japanese grocery store that was opened in the mid 90s by Owner Waka Sakita who once worked at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji wholesale seafood market. The carryout sushi is a longtime favorite for many local residents, but somewhat of a hidden gem for those who don’t frequent the Downtown Bethesda area.

Eater DC describes Hinata as a “cozy, family-run carryout in Bethesda” that’s “a local favorite for made-to-order rolls and fresh sashimi at an affordable price point. Call ahead or shop for grocery items from Japan while waiting for takeout orders.” With groceries like Japanese candy, tea, dried mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, packaged ramen, and more available inside, the sushi counter offers fresh and reasonably priced sashimi, nigiri and rolls. Hinata has a 4.7/5 Google rating with 163 reviews and a 4.5/5 Yelp rating with 161 reviews. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps.

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Business

MoCo’s Only Moe’s Southwest Grill Available For Sale

By MCS Staff

Updated to include a statement from part of the current ownership group

Moe’s Southwest Grill made its triumphant return to MoCo when the fast-casual Mexican restaurant opened in the Wheaton Mall food court in late 2019. In early 2022, a new Moe’s location opened in the recently renovated Montgomery Village Center, around the same time the Wheaton Mall store closed. The Montgomery Village store, now the only Moe’s Southwest Grill location in Montgomery County, is available for sale according to a business listing.

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Potomac

Whelan’s Potomac to Host Grand Opening Event on August 26

By MCS Staff

Whelan’s Potomac, a family owned and operated Beer & Wine store, recently opened at 9812 Falls Road in Potomac Village. “With our onsite bar with 12 fresh beers on tap as well as curated wines by the glass, we can’t wait to share our space with you.” The beer and wine wrote on its social media. “Whether you’re calling in for a pint or grabbing a few 6-packs and bottles of wine to-go, we aim to offer some of the best selections available in the Village”. The beer and wine is hosting a Grand Opening celebration starting at 3pm on Saturday, August 26th.

Whelan’s is owned and operated by Greg Whelan, who brought McGinty’s Public House to 911 Ellsworth Drive in Downtown Silver Spring, and his wife Emma Whalen, who was co-owner of the recently closed Astro Lab Brewing in Silver Spring.

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Restaurants

Luna Hall, a Food Hall, is Coming to Rockville’s Pike Center

By MCS Staff

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.

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Retail

Jared The Galleria of Jewelry is Closed For Major Remodeling Project in Rockville

By MCS Staff

Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry has closed its Rockville Pike (12101 Rockville Pike) location with a sign on the door stating that the store is closed for remodeling. A Peek at the building, and inside, shows major renovations underway (photos below), with the sign redirecting customers to the Jared’s Frederick location at 5617 Spectrum Dr.

In June 2020, Signet Jewelers, the parent company of such brands as Zales, Jared, and Kay Jewelers said it planned to permanently close about 400 stores after all of its stores were temporarily closed in late March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of those closures took place in the last three years. Currently, the space is listed under Diamonds Direct on the Kimco website for the Pike Center, so it’s unclear if the store will return as Jared or as a Diamonds Direct location.

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North Bethesda

Mimi’s Handmade Ice Cream Moves Closer Toward Opening in Rockville

By MCS Staff

Back in May we let you know that 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. Permanent signage is up and some renovations have taken place (photo below), but it remains to be seen on if the ice cream shop will open by the original goal of end of summer.

It appears that the Mimi’s Handmade location in The Heights food hall, which is stated to open later this month in Chevy Chase, will be the first Montgomery County location for the ice cream shop that opened its first location in Arlington in the summer of 2021.

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Maryland

Governor Moore Delivers Keynote Address at the 2023 Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference

By Patrick Herron

Per the State of Maryland: Governor Moore today delivered the keynote address during the closing session of the 2023 Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City. The governor spoke about the disciplined approach required to grow Maryland’s economy amid budget shortfalls and the critical value of partnerships to emerge stronger as a state.

Excerpts from Governor Moore’s speech as prepared:

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Restaurants

Pizza Hut To Open Soon in Four Corners

By MCS Staff

It has been over two years since Pizza Hut signed on to take a portion of the former GameStop in the Four Corners area in Silver Spring. The store has recently made plenty of progress and now appears to be very close to opening (photo below). An exact date is not yet available.

The new Pizza Hut location is a smaller version than traditional Pizza Hut locations of the past– focusing solely on carry out and delivery orders, but still brings the charm of the 80s with the retro lamps hanging inside the carry-out/delivery spot (photo below). In September 2021, David Gibbs (CEO of Pizza Hut parent company Yum Brands), told investors, “We closed a lot of the dine-in stores that didn’t belong on the portfolio over the last 18 months in the United States,” according to a transcript on the financial services site Sentieo. “But for the most part, the stores we have in the portfolio now are good, long-term stores.” The new Germantown Pizza Hut location and the new Rockville location both follow the same model. Source of the Spring recently reported on the impending opening of Pizza Hut.

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