Spirit Halloween opened its first Montgomery county location at 30 Grand Corner Ave. in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront in August this year. Its second of three total planned locations, in Rockville, has been postponed until October according to the Spirit Halloween website.
Just Chicken, which opened its only Maryland location as one of the founding concepts at Solaire Social (located on the ground floor of the Solaire 8200 apartments at 8200 Dixon Ave in Silver Spring), has closed after approximately four months according to a Source of the Spring report.
Chido’s Tex-Mex Grill, located in the space that was recently home to The Eleanor at 931 Ellsworth Dr. in Downtown Silver Spring, is currently holding its soft opening.
The Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council approved on Thursday evening the plan for the redevelopment of the site that was the longtime home of Lakeforest Mall. Jud Ashman wrote on Friday that “Last night was a pretty historic one for the City of Gaithersburg. We voted to approve a redevelopment plan for the Lakeforest property.”
Earlier this year we let you know that First Watch signed on to open a new location in the upcoming White Oak Town Center development (12255 Prosperity Dr.). It will be taking over a corner space with a large outdoor patio, across from the future grocery store anchor that remains to be determined (but appears to be Amazon Fresh again). According to Google, the opening date will be October 14th.
The New York Times has released its list of “America’s 50 Best Restaurants.” According to the newspaper, “Over the last 12 months, reporters and editors traveled to nearly every state scouting restaurants for our annual list.” While two DC restaurants (Moon Rabbit and Pascual) and one VA restaurant (Joon in Vienna) made the list, just one Maryland restaurant was included.
The B12 Store at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda has announced it is rebranding to Vydration on October 1. Vydration, a combination of the words vitamin and hydration, is a Maryland based health and wellness company that is “dedicated to helping patients look great and feel their best.” (more…)
Kolkata Chai started with a simple idea: “How do we extend the authenticity, respect and tradition behind a cup of masala chai to NYC?” The company started as a café in New York’s East Village in 2019, secured $1 million in funding in 2022 and recently added popular comedian/actor Hasan Minhaj as a business partner after receiving an investment that made him the second largest stakeholder in the company. Kolkata is now available in the DC Metro Area through fast-casual Indian restaurant RASA.
50 Top Pizza, a pizza evaluation site in Paestum, Italy, not far from Naples, has released its 2024 Top 50 Pizza list. 50 Top Pizza is “an independent online guide which evaluates pizzerias with anonymous inspections during which the bill is paid in full.” Maryland contributed with the 22nd and 50th ranked pizzerias in the country.
Kanpai Southeast Asian BBQ and Shabu Shabu Buffet at 1701 Rockville Pike STE A10 in Rockville will begin its soft opening on Wednesday, September 25, from 5-10pm.
Falafel Inc is coming to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, taking over the space recently occupied by Butter Chicken House, next to Chick-Fil-A. The DC-based quick service chain serves falafel, hummus, bowls and sides like Zaatar fries and Tabouli salad. (more…)