Charley Prime Foods, the new restaurant from Jackie Greenbaum & Gordon Banks (Little Coco’s, El Chucho, Bar Charley, Quarry House Tavern) that is replacing Tara Thai on the Rio Lakefront boardwalk at 9811 Washington Blvd in Gaithersburg, will now open on Saturday, May 13 at 4pm (the restaurant had previously announced an opening date of Friday, May 12.) Charley Prime will feature an extensive steak menu that includes filet mignon, New York strip, and a 36oz Tomahawk ribeye, as well as house made pastas and sandwiches like the Roasted Lamb French Dip. Additional details below:

Acclaimed DC restaurateurs Jackie Greenbaum & Gordon Banks (Little Coco’s, El Chucho, Bar Charley, Quarry House Tavern) will open Charley Prime Foods, a modern American restaurant, on May 12 at Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg.   Chef/Partner Adam Harvey, long time Executive Chef with Greenbaum & Banks, will helm the kitchen, along with Russell Pike, currently the Chef de Cuisine at Little Coco’s.  Located in the former Tara Thai space (9811 Washingtonian Blvd, Gaithersburg, MD), the restaurant will be centrally positioned on the boardwalk. The space will seat roughly 90 inside, with another 100 on an expansive patio, complete with lake views.  Editlab@Streetsense designed the space.  


According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the honorable Kevin Hessler, a jury has found defendant, Jean J. Pierre, 50, of Montgomery Village, guilty of second-degree murder for the death of his wife, 41-year-old Nerlande Foreste. The jury deliberated for just two hours, reaching a verdict Friday evening, May 5th, 2023 after a five day trial prosecuted by Deputy State’s Attorney Ryan Wechsler and Assistant State’s Attorney Gabe Carrera.

It is believed that Pierre stabbed and killed Foreste inside of their home on the 20000 block of Rothbury Lane in Montgomery Village on August 21st, 2019, then placed her body inside of a shipping container and carried it out to a dumpster. The victim’s remains have not been recovered. The defendant faces up to 40 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 14th 2023, at 10 a.m.”


Vine Alley, located at 114 Market St. in Gaithersburg’s Kentlands neighborhood, has reopened after a very brief closure (video below). The wine bar and restaurant has added new partners Ken and Rebecca Smondrowski to the original restaurant group, which is the same one that owns Brew & Barrels (also located in Kentlands), Royal Tandoor (820 Muddy Branch Rd, Gaithersburg),  and Creek Lodge Bar & Grill in Rockville.

Vine Alley originally opened in February 2022 in the location that was home to Wine Harvest, which closed in June of 2019 after 23 years. The Park Potomac Wine Harvest closed back in November 2020. The menu has been updated with a variety of wine and full bar, as well as small bites that can be seen in the video from this weekend’s grand reopening:


Per the Office of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney: In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Karla Smith has sentenced defendant Sergey Danshin, 35, of Rockville, to life in prison plus an additional 20 years. The sentencing hearing was held earlier this week on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023. Danshin was convicted by a jury on January 13th, 2023, of first-degree murder and related handgun charges for the death of 39-year-old Javier Gonzalez-Mena.

On June 22nd, 2022, Danshin and co-defendant, Micah Clemons, 33, of Virginia, knocked on the door of a room at the Red Roof Inn along the 16000 block of Shady Grove Road in Rockville, where victim, Gonzalez-Mena, had been staying. After an initial confrontation, Danshin left the area of the room, only to return several minutes later to ambush Gonzalez-Mena.  Danshin then fatally shot Gonzalez-Mena. Gonzalez-Mena’s girlfriend was holding his hand as he was shot and fell to the ground. Danshin ordered her to come to a waiting get-away car where he removed a facial covering that he was wearing and revealed his identity. The two were known to each other. As soon as Gonzalez-Mena’s girlfriend had the opportunity, she called 911. Danshin and Clemons were arrested along with the driver of the getaway car, Willman Quintanilla, 44, of Boyds.


Daytime Eats at 7889 Cessna Ave in Gaithersburg has closed. The restaurant made the following announcement on its Facebook page: “With great sadness and after much thought, we will be closing Daytime Eats. To all of our friends we have made, we are better people because of you. We are so thankful and appreciative of every guest that walked through our doors. Your support and generosity will never be forgotten. The new owner should be reopening the doors soon and we wish them much success. Feel free to reach out or stay in touch on Facebook. We will miss you immensely”

Daytime Eats was a fast casual restaurant which served breakfast all day. We will post an update when additional information is available. Featured photo courtesy of Daytime Eats on Facebook.


The Planning Commission approved the revised application to demolish the buildings located at 9, 11, and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue in anticipation of redevelopment into a pair of four-story multifamily buildings totaling 151 units with 182 parking spaces at its May 3 meeting. At its May 17 meeting, the Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution of approval based on its discussion at its May 3 meeting.

Per the City of Gaithersburg: The Historic District Commission initially reviewed SP-9149-2021 at its June 22, 2022 meeting for potential historic or architectural significance. The application was deferred to its next meeting so the HDC could receive more historical information on the properties. At its July 27 meeting, the HDC determined there was reasonable probability 9, 11, 13, and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue could be locally designated as an historic district, or, in the alternative, 9 and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue could be locally designated as individual sites. The HDC directed Staff to prepare a petition resolution to the Mayor and City Council, and the HDC approved the resolution at its August 24 meeting. At its October 3 meeting, the City Council voted not to accept the HDC’s petition to designate the properties as historic. The HDC provided a nonbinding courtesy review of the Concept Site Plan (SP-9149-2021) at its October 26 meeting.


Candidate Packets will be released on May 11. The packets will be available online or can be picked up at City Hall. Per the City of Gaithersburg: City residents will cast their ballots for three City Council Members in November of 2023. All Council Members serve at-large. The terms of office for Council Members Neil Harris, Ryan Spiegel, and Robert Wu expire in November. The Council Members elected in 2023 will each serve a four-year term.

Candidate Packets for this election cycle will be released on May 11. The packets will be available online here or can be picked up at City Hall, 31 South Summit Avenue. Candidates must file a petition for candidacy with the Gaithersburg Board of Supervisors of Electionsvia the Office of the City Attorney. The petition must be signed by at least 100 City residents who are registered voters, with both electronic and paper versions of the petition signatures available.


Following last week’s Sideline Swap at Dick’s in Wheaton, the swap will be hosting another local trade-in event at the Dick’s Sporting Good at Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront (2 Grand Corner Ave) from Friday, May 5th until Sunday, Sunday, May 7th. You can bring your gently-used sports gear to receive a gift card for the trade-in value. Sideline Swap is accepting hockey, baseball, lacrosse, golf, ski gear & more. Sideline Swap runs from 2pm-7pm on Friday, 10am-6pm on Saturday, and 10am-6pm on Sunday. Items accepted include:

Items not accepted include:


On Thursday night we were sent multiple videos from readers across Montgomery County informing us of an unidentified flying object in the sky. The lights appear in a long line that Forbes described as “up to 60 in a long line” and they belong to Starlink, one of many satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Starlink provides satellite Internet access coverage to over dozens of countries and eventually aims to provide global mobile phone service following this year. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019 and as of earlier this year, consists of over 3,580 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. SpaceX announced reaching more than one million subscribers in December of last year. Below you’ll see a video, as seen in Germantown last night:


Darden Restaurants, Inc.  and Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Darden will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ruth’s for $21.50 per share, in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of approximately $715 million. Ruth’s, owner and operator of Ruth’s Chris Steak House (MoCo location in Gaithersburg’s downtown Crown and formerly in Bethesda), will complement Darden’s portfolio of differentiated brands which currently includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse (MoCo location in Germantown), Yard House (MoCo location in Gaithersburg), Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille (MoCo location in Chevy Chase), Seasons 52 (MoCo location in North Bethesda), Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s. 

Per the press release: Ruth’s Chris was founded in 1965 in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Ruth Fertel and features signature USDA Prime steaks served sizzling on 500-degree plates, New Orleans-inspired sides and an award-winning wine list. Ruth’s Chris has 154 locations around the globe, including 80 company-owned or -operated restaurants and 74 franchised restaurants, generating systemwide sales of over $860 million, total revenues over $500 million, and average annual restaurant volumes for company-owned or -operated locations of $6.2 million in Ruth’s fiscal year 2022.


The Gaithersburg resident contacted a friend, who works at a Lottery retailer to help confirm the win and claimed the prize this week. She and her husband plan to take a trip to Dubai and pay bills with their winnings. The Montgomery County retailer, 99 Ranch Market, is also celebrating this win. For selling a $50,000 top-prize-winning scratch-off, the store will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery. The Gold X20 game launched in January 2023, and three of its $50,000 top prizes remain unclaimed along with five $5,000 prizes and thousands of additional prizes ranging from $5 to $1,000.


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