Updated to reflect that Taco Don Perez will be taking over the location
K Town Bistro, located at 3784 Howard Ave in Kensington, has been listed as “permanently closed” for a few weeks. We have been told the restaurant closed at the beginning of November and the website has been updated to include only the following message: “Thank you for the support these past 12 years. It was a pleasure serving you all. The bistro will be passed on to a new ownership“
The Town of Kensington has partnered with KTown Ladies to bring the Town of Kensington residents the 2nd annual seasonal lighting ceremony on Friday, December 2nd from 6pm-7pm at Howard Avenue Park (3716 Howard Ave).
“Please join us for hot adult beverages, hot cider and hot chocolate, s’mores by the fire pits, music, and merry making! The lighting ceremony begins at 6:15pm and there will also be a brief announcement about the home decorating award contest categories and rules. Enjoy the lights in Howard Avenue Park every evening through January 8.”
ALDI is currently running a “Thanksgiving Price Rewind” now through November 29 at all of its locations. The grocery chain is matching 2019 prices, up to a 30% discount, on holiday food items marked with a red sticker. “Think favorites like brie cheese, prosciutto, cornbread stuffing, award-winning wines, mini quiches, fresh brown-and-serve rolls, macarons and apple pie, to name a few. Shoppers can look for the Thanksgiving Price Rewind icon in their local ad and throughout the store for extra savings,” the company said in a press release. Aldi has MoCo locations in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Kensington, Montgomery Village, Rockville, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park.
ALDI is currently running a “Thanksgiving Price Rewind” now through November 29 at all of its locations. The grocery chain is matching 2019 prices, up to a 30% discount, on holiday food items marked with a red sticker. “Think favorites like brie cheese, prosciutto, cornbread stuffing, award-winning wines, mini quiches, fresh brown-and-serve rolls, macarons and apple pie, to name a few. Shoppers can look for the Thanksgiving Price Rewind icon in their local ad and throughout the store for extra savings,” the company said in a press release. Aldi has MoCo locations in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Kensington, Montgomery Village, Rockville, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park.
Back in March we let you know that MoCo residents Sam Mussomeli and Terry Redmond are bringing BabyCat Brewery to 10241 Kensington Pkwy in Kensington.” Born from a love of nature, pets, family, and beer, BabyCat brewery will forever be dedicated to crafting excellent craft beverages and ensuring you, your family and your friends feel right at home every time you visit us.” The brewery has officially opened and has posted the following weekend hours: Saturday 11:30am-11pm and Sunday 11:30am-9:30pm
The brewery is family focused, as Mussomeli and Redmond would like to maximize the outdoor space. “We plan to have a good size lawn area where we’ll have adirondacks with some fire pits along with picnic tables, room for lawn games and spreading out blankets for families and their dogs.” says Redmond. “We’ll also have a bluestone patio area that will have a cafe type beer garden feel, along with some other surprises we’re not ready yet to reveal.” The brewery will offer a space for local artists to show their work and would also like to bring in local musicians to perform. Though the brewery won’t offer food of its own, they’ll be working with food trucks and offering QR codes to use at some of the surrounding restaurants.
Per the National Park Service: After careful consideration, the National Park Service (NPS) has decided to keep the upper portion of Beach Drive closed to motorized vehicles year-round. This decision will allow visitors to enjoy the park’s recreation and nature opportunities 365 days a year.
In July 2022, the NPS published the Environmental Assessment (EA) for public comment and shared three alternatives for consideration: Alternative 1: No-Action Alternative Pre-Covid-19 Pandemic Management; Alternative 2: Full-Time Closure for Recreation; and Alternative 3: Seasonal Closure for Recreation, the preferred alternative at the time of the EA publication. Based on the analysis presented in the EA, extensive public input and NPS internal deliberation and analysis, the NPS has selected Alternative 2 for implementation.
This Saturday, October 29, the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Kensington are once again hosting their annual Halloween Movie Night. “Hotel Transylvania” will be shown at dusk in St. Paul Park on the big screen. Costumes are encouraged for all attendees.
The Kensington Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Kensington will have refreshments available for purchase in the Park, including pizza, popcorn, and candy.
Holly Agouridis started “The Catalina Haunt” (video below) at her Kensington home back in 2015. The haunted house, located on Catalina Terrace, is now in its 8th year with a growing audience each year. “Between October 1st and Halloween night I have about 500-600 people stop by. The last halloweens I have been on the news and we have about 300+ come on Halloween night.” Agouridis told us.
She started really getting into decorating in 2015- initially using small props and homemade scarecrows and pumpkins. Then, she found the store Spirit Halloween and it took off from there. Agouridis has lived in MoCo for nearly 20 years, since 2003. When she was trying to figure out a name for her haunted house, a neighbor’s child who was 7 or 8 and would sit on her driveway everyday to watch her work on the house said “Ms. Holly, we live on Catalina Terrace so let’s call it the Catalina Haunt Yard” and the rest was history.
“The Costco in Gaithersburg is the 7th circle of hell” is just one of many answers we received when we asked the question, “What is the worst parking lot in MoCo?” on social media. Everyone has had their share of terrible experiences in MoCo parking lots, and while there are more than 26 “bad” parking lots, we’ve narrowed down a list (in no particular order) of what we feel are the worst.
Back in January 2021, we let you know of site plans that were being developed for Kensington Crossing, a new retail development that will be located at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road) in Kensington. In May 2022, Montgomery Planning staff recommended approval (with conditions) for the project. Though it may take some time until construction begins after final approval, Kensington Crossing has already signed it’s first three tenants– M&T Bank, Buffalo Wild Wings GO, and Mezeh.
M&T Bank, which currently has a Kensington location on Howard Avenue, signed on as its first tenant to take over its largest space (2,635 SF). A representative from the Howard Avenue location has told us that the plan is for the branch to relocate to the new space once it’s ready to go.
The annual Festival of Lights at the Washington D.C. Temple (9900 Stoneybrook Dr) in Kensington will run from December 1, 2022 to January 2, 2023, including Christmas and New Year’s Day. The lights will be turned on nightly from dusk until 9pm and additional details for the festival will be released in the upcoming weeks.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cancelled the Festival of Lights in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns and to focus on the temple’s open house and rededication, which took place this past spring.