A vehicle was driven into the Food Stop Mini Mart at 4820 Boiling Brook Pkwy in North Bethesda, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) chief spokesperson Pete Piringer.
The crash occurred at approximately 5pm on Wednesday afternoon and caused plenty of damage to the storefront. Additional information on why the crash occurred is unavailable at the moment and we have not been made aware of any injuries.
In July we let you know that Planet Fitness will be opening a new location at 5520 Randolph Rd in Rockville (Montrose Shopping Center) in the space that was formerly occupied by Gold’s Gym. Though an opening date has not yet been set, we were told today that the current Rockville location at 1776 E Jefferson St in Federal Plaza will close when the new location opens. The new location is currently under construction.
Planet Fitness currently has MoCo locations in Germantown, Rockville, and two in Silver Spring. In June, Planet Fitness at 255 Muddy Branch Rd in Gaithersburg announced it would no longer be open 24 hours, seven days a week. The gym now closes on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 9pm and reopens the following morning. The other MoCo locations will remain 24-7 according to a representative at the Gaithersburg gym.
Several Montgomery County theaters will offer $3 tickets this Saturday, September 3 as a part of National Cinema Day. According to www.nationalcinemaday.org, the $3 tickets are for “every movie, every showtime, and every format.” Some theaters will also offer food and drink discounts, such as AMC, who are offering a fountain drink and popcorn combo for $5. Participating theaters include:
XO Pho & Grill has recently joined T-swirl Crepe at 313 N Washington St in Rockville. T-swirl Crepe has been at the location since April of 2019 with XO Pho & Grill joining a few weeks back.
The XO Pho & Grill menu offers unique pho pairings such as the Pho XO Live Lobster Raptor T Rex (featured photo), a dish made to be shared that includes “Live Lobster, Shrimp Balls, and Prime Beef Ribs”. The Pho XO Snow Crab Legs Prime Beef Ribs is another dish to be shared that includes “Alaska Snow Crab Legs, Shrimp Balls, Prime Beef Ribs”.
The 2022 Taiwan Bubble Tea Festival will take place on September 24th from 11am until 4pm at Rockville Town Square. The event is being held by Taiwan Sister Cities, an organization “dedicated to promoting, educating, and fostering intercultural understanding and cooperation among the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan.”
Participating in the festival will be Tiger Sugar Rockville, which recently reopened after a car crashed through their storefront. Bun’d Up, which has a Pike & Rose location nearby. Mr. Wish, which opened last year in Rockville. Bao Bei, which started operating out of a kitchen in Rockville recently. Doki Toki, which recently opened in Downtown Crown, and a lot more.
Rockville’s Pop-Up Poutine has been named one of the best places for poutine in America by TastingTable. Poutine is a popular Canadian dish consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. As Canadians living in the US, the owners of the Pop-Up Poutine found it impossible to find good poutine, so they came up with their own cheese curd recipe and use a sauce/gravy base that’s imported from Montreal to create the most authentic poutine in the area.
You can order Pop-Up Poutine at their Rockville location (12712 Rock Creek Mill Rd 16 AA), or from one of their food trucks you’re likely to spot at local breweries, events, and festivals across the county. In addition to poutine, they’re also known for their imported Montreal smoked meat, a beef brisket that’s described as a cross between corned beef and pastrami (full menu at the bottom of article).
Over 300 hundred guns were turned in at today’s gun buyback event in Rockville. The event was hosted by the Rockville City Police Department, in partnership with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and Montgomery County Public Schools. Individuals who turned in firearms received a $100 Visa gift card for functioning handguns, rifles and shotguns, and $200 in Visa gift cards for functioning assault-style weapons and privately-made firearms, i.e., ghost guns.
According to the RCPD, “in what we can only describe as an overwhelming success, over 300 guns have been collected during today’s Gun Buyback. We thank everyone for their patience as we navigated through the long lines & traffic jams.“
Utkarsh Ambudkar was born in nearby Baltimore, but was raised in Rockville while his parents worked at NIH in Bethesda. The 38 year old actor graduated from Wootton High School and is well known for his roles in Hulu’s The Dropout, the male lead in hit CBS sitcom Ghosts (which he stars in with fellow Wootton alumnus Richie Moriarty), Donald in Pitch Perfect, Rishi in the Mindy Project, Skatch in Mulan, and a lot more. In season 2, episode 5 of the CBS series Secret Celebrity Renovation, Ambudkar comes home to MoCo to renovate his parents’ home.
The episode starts off with views of Gaithersburg, where his parents currently live, leading into Ambudkar and the show’s host, Nischelle Turner, driving through MoCo on their way to his parents’ home. While home he visits friends who are still in the area and heads over to Wootton High School where one of his childhood friends, Nick Hitchens, is currently the assistant principal at the school. He stops by the theater where it all started and credits one his former directors, Harriet Mittelberger, for changing the course of his life by convincing Utkarsh’s mom to let him pursue acting.
FlexPods™, a fitness and wellness rental space, has opened at 5020 Nicholson court suite 207 A in Kensington MD (off of Rockville Pike). The concept is designed to support professionals in building their businesses by providing the space, tools, and support needed to become successful entrepreneurs, according to founder Laurent Amzallag. According to Amzallag, FlexPods provides innovative, high-end, turn-key, and fully equipped studios without the hassle of having to own or rent conventional spaces. Studios are also available for photographers and producers doing fitness shoots or wellness videos.
Amzallag tells us the space allows its users to be their boss, set their schedule, and keep 100% of their profits. FlexPods includes four full studios that can be used by personal trainers, physical/massage therapists, pilates/yoga instructors, boxing, group coaches, and more. Per the press release, Laurent Amzallag has been a well-known fitness trainer in North Bethesda for over 25 years. He has worked at some of the region’s most popular studios and gyms as well as hosted numerous live events around the city and helped to transform popular DC night spots into giant fitness parties. Laurent is a regular on the media circuit, having appeared on Oprah’s Live Your Best Life Tour, the Dr.Oz Show, TEDx talks, and many local news programs.
At approximately 8:58 p.m., 1st District officers responded to the above location for an armed robbery that just occurred.
The investigation by detectives determined that the suspects entered the store and announced the robbery by displaying a handgun and using it to hit a victim on the head. The suspects then forced the employees into the rear office and storage area. Once inside they demanded that the employees open the safe. The victims complied and Cole, Smith and Drayton then began to fill large laundry style bags with iPhones, iWatches, tablets and AirPods. Before leaving with the stolen items, they also stole the store’s nightly cash deposit.
Five Montgomery County bakeries have been voted in to WTOP’s 2022 ‘Best Bakery’ list. WTOP readers and listeners nominated a number of local businesses in D.C., Maryland and Virginia that serve baked goods. Out of hundreds of restaurants and eateries, Arlington’s Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe was voted the favorite, but 50% of the list consists of bakeries that have at least one MoCo location.
Coming in at #2 was Silver Spring’s Kosher Pastry Oven (1372 Lamberton Drive). Georgetown Cupcake, which has a location at Bethesda Row, came in 4th. Sunflower Bakery, which has both locations in MoCo (North Bethesda and Rockville), came in at #5. Woodmoor Pastry Shop at 10127 Colesville Rd in Silver Spring was ranked 7th, and The Pretzel Bakery, which recently opened a location in Cabin John Village (Potomac) was ranked 9th.