Fire Pit Brazilian Barbecue, a new food truck, is now open at 804 Rockville Pike in the Golden Arcade shopping center (across from the Ritchie Center/IHOP) in Rockville. Sneak peek video available below.

The food truck is open from 11am until 7pm from Tuesday through Saturday and specializes in Brazilian BBQ, offering meats like picanha, beef ribs, pork ribs, and chicken, often served with two sides that could include rice, potato salad, farofa, black beans, or a vinaigrette salad. A variety of drinks, including bottled juice, are also available. Full menu here. The food truck officially opened on Halloween and has been operating in its location on Rockville Pike for the last two weeks.


The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State(MPower) announced a transformative partnership to establish the University of Maryland 3 – Institute for Health Computing (UM-3-IHC), which is being led by the University of Maryland, Baltimore(UMB) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), in collaboration with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and Montgomery County. The institute is expected to open in leased space in early 2023. Final completion of laboratory and office space in the North Bethesda Metro area in 2028, according to officials. Video below shows Thursday’s announcement.

Per the press release: This new Institute will leverage recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computing to create a premier learning health care system that evaluates both de-identified and secure digitized medical health data to diagnose, prevent and treat diseases in patients across the state of Maryland. “We are witnessing an unprecedented revolution in health care that is being driven by biomedical innovation, the digitization of medical records, and advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence,” said UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS. “This new Institute will include all of these elements in a synergistic effect that will transform our health care system.”


Last month we let you know that Dick’s Warehouse Sale is coming to Congressional Plaza in Rockville, taking over the space previously occupied by Saks OFF 5th, which closed in 2019, at 1675 Rockville Pike. The store opened on Friday, November 11 (photos below). Dick’s Warehouse Sale is an outlet/warehouse version of Dick’s Sporting Goods that offers merchandise at clearance prices. Dick’s Sporting Goods currently has Montgomery County locations in Gaithersburg (Rio) and Wheaton.

Per Dick’s: “Save Big at DICK’S Sporting Goods Warehouse Sale Store. Our outlet stores have a great assortment of apparel and footwear at discounted prices. Find products from the biggest brands, including Nike, adidas, Under Armour and more. At DICK’S Sporting Goods Warehouse Sale store, we add new markdowns throughout the year, so check back often for the newest savings. For incredible prices and savings you don’t want to miss, keep checking to see if a DICK’S Sporting Goods Warehouse Sale store is opening near you!”


Earlier this year Amazon Fresh opened its second Montgomery County location at 8531 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace. The opening was the second Amazon Fresh in Chevy Chase with additional MoCo locations coming to Gaithersburg and White Oak. We now know that the upcoming location in Gaithersburg, on Shady Grove Rd., will now be opening in early 2023, according to signage on the door (exact date still not available).

The upcoming Amazon Fresh location will be outfitted with Amazon’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology. If you want a preview of what to expect, head over to the Chevy Chase Lake location that already has the same technology.  The Gaithersburg store will be located in the former Office Depot location at 15790 Shady Grove Road in the 270 Center that’s currently home to Home Depot, Best Buy, Nordstrom Rack, and more.


Slapfish at 12033 Rockville Pike in the Montrose Crossing shopping center closed permanently last week at and no time was wasted in removing signage and clearing it out. The restaurant had occupied the space for a little over 4 years, opening in July 2018, but was a “discrete listing” for a sub-lease for over a year. Now we know the replacement will be RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant with four locations in DC and Virginia.

The restaurant, founded by Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman (combined to create the name, RASA), opened its first location in Navy Yard in 2017 before opening a location in Mt. Vernon Triangle in 2020, Crystal City in 2021, and Fairfax this past summer. The menu offers seven chef-curated bowls under the “We Got You” portion of the menu, that includes their signature bowls like the “Tikka Chance on Me”, “Open Sesame”, “Eat Your Veggies”, “Home Cooking”, “Goa Your Own Way”, “Aloo Need is Love”, and “Caul on Me” or the “You Got It” portion of their menu that allows customers to “DIY” and design their own bowl using the assembly line format of a base, main, sauce, veggies, toppings, and chutneys/dressings. The full menu can be seen here.


Kick off the holiday season with a skating session at Rockville Town Square’s outdoor ice skating rink, which is now open. Reservations are required and are available two weeks in advance. Lessons are also available. Hours of operation and additional information below:

Skater admission is $10 for skaters 12 and under and $11 for skaters $13 and up. Seniors are also $10. Skate rental is $5. Per the Rockville Town Square Ice Skating website: scheduled reservation time. If you are more than 10 minutes early you will be asked to wait until your scheduled start time. If you are more than 10 minutes late your reservation time has started and you will lose the reserved time to skate.


Montgomery County Fire and Rescue services responded to a “well-involved” vehicle fire and collision on Thursday, November 10, around 1pm. According to Chief Spokesperson for MCFRS Pete Piringer, the incident occurred on Northbound 270 past Rockledge Dr.  The fire has been extinguished and EMS is currently evaluating one patient. Some lanes are currently blocked and drivers should expect delays. We will post an update when additional information becomes available.

Per @mcfrsPIO on twitter: “Update – NB I270 past Rockledge Dr Single car into the wall, caught fire, “well-involved”, fire extinguished, MCFRS_EMIHS evaluating single patient, @mcfrs  PE726, M726, RS741, BC702, EMS702, VC700 on scene, some lanes blocked”


WWE Superstar Omos came off one of the biggest matches of his career at WWE’s pay per view “Crown Jewel” event in Saudi Arabia. Though he didn’t come away victorious, he did get to visit his family in Nigeria for the first time since moving to the United States to attend school and play basketball at Montrose Christian in Rockville back in 2008.

The 7’3, 335 Nigerian-born Jordan Omogbehin moved to America with his family and attended school/played basketball at Montrose Christian (photo below) for the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 school years. He went on to attend and play for the University of South Florida before moving back to Maryland and attending/playing for Morgan State University. His college basketball career spanned from 2012 to 2015. Omogbehin signed with WWE in October 2018, and made his in-ring debut a couple years back at WrestleMania 37 in Tampa, FL. From the time he initially came to the United States, he hasn’t been able to make it back to visit his family until last week. The video, seen below and courtesy of TMZ Sports, is certainly a feel-good moment.


If you are interested in discovering local pet service businesses, like training, boarding, and veterinary, you are in luck. Whether your dog needs to learn to “sit” and “stay” for your family holiday photoshoot or needs a yearly check-up, you can learn more at the Holiday Barket.

If your pup is looking for a furry friend to add to their pack, catch PetConnect Rescue at the event and learn more about their adoption efforts and services. PetConnect is an animal welfare organization dedicated to saving dogs and cats at high risk of euthanasia. We are committed to ensuring a highly positive rescue experience for our adopters and to raising awareness of the plight of abandoned animals through community education.


Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) announced today that Sodexo committed its U.S. headquarters to 915 Meeting Street, a new 276,000-square-foot trophy office building currently under construction at the award-winning mixed-use development of Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland. Sodexo’s headquarters are currently located at 9801 Washingtonian Blvd in Gaithersburg (next to Rio Lakefront).

Sodexo will be taking 52,000 square feet, along with Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), which signed a long-term lease to occupy 105,000 square feet. Sodexo is the leading global provider of catering, facilities management, employee benefits and personal home services to 100 million daily consumers in 56 countries. It will be moving from its current location in Gaithersburg to Pike & Rose in Spring 2024. Renderings below courtesy of Federal Realty:


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