Bassett’s Restaurant at 19950 Fisher Ave in Poolesville plans to reopen in about 2-3 weeks. The restaurant closed due to a fire on June 5.
Owner Erika Myers tells us they are working hard to get everything back up and running and that repairs are scheduled to begin on Monday. Fortunately, the fire was located in a small building in the back, with no extension to the main building.
Kaldi’s Social House founder Tsega Haile has opened Citizens & Culture – a 15,000 square feet, multi-level fine dining and live DJ and band performance venue located on the border of downtown Silver Spring and Washington, DC. The Georgia Avenue restaurant is currently in its soft opening phase and has a grand opening set for Friday, June 16th.
In addition to fine-dining, the music venue brings a unique concept to the DC-area featuring a ground-floor front patio for outdoor seating leading into an expansive, vaulted ceiling main dining room with full length bar and an exclusive new menu by Executive Chef Ryan Hackney (DC-based chef known for appearances on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay and Bite Club) and Chief Chef Consultant and Director for Kaldi’s Social House Jessica Shields.
You now have the opportunity to own a piece of Lakeforest Mall. Capital Auctions has listed over 1000 items from inside of the mall, including fixtures from stores, decorative pieces, and more. Below, we’ve listed 11 of the strangest/coolest items (depending on how you look at it), in no particular order, with the price they’re going for as of 7:30am on Saturday, June 10th (video on the auction available after the items listed):
• A portable shower– $1.50
In January, it was reported that Mark’s Kitchen, a Takoma Park staple for 32 years, would be closing permanently. After a couple months, owner Mark Choe has closed the restaurant’s doors permanently. Below is his farewell letter, courtesy of PoPville:
“To My Friends in Takoma Park and Beyond,
Red Door Escape Room is opening its 14th location at 125 Boardwalk Place in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront Shopping Center today. The Grand opening event will take place on Friday, June 9th from 6pm-8pm. “We are excited to bring the Red Door Escape Room experience to all of our guests and cannot wait to get involved in the local community surrounding Gaithersburg,” said CEO Nick Madden.
“At Red Door Escape Room, we combine technology and puzzles to create a truly collaborative and mentally-stimulating experience for families, friends, and coworkers alike. We want our guests to successfully decipher the codes and complete the challenges; but more importantly, we want them to talk and laugh about their experience on the ride home.”
Miss Toya’s Southern Kitchen at 229 Boardwalk Pl. in Gaithersburg opens today, Friday, June 9. Miss Toya’s is located in the 2,741SF space that was previously occupied by BGR and will serve southern-influenced dishes such as red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, and a southern fried chicken sandwich.
The restaurant is part of Jeffeary Miskiri’s Miskiri Hospitality Group, which describes itself as a unique collective of Black, family and woman-owned products and restaurants in the DC area. Miss Toya’s Southern Kitchen in Rio will be a fast-casual restaurant, while the Miss Toya’s Creole Kitchen at 923 Ellsworth Dr in Downtown Silver Spring is full-service (wait staff, etc.). Hours of operation (dinner only for now): Sunday – Thursday 4pm- 10pm, Friday and Saturday 4pm- 11pm.
Last September we let you know that Smoothie King will be opening an Olney location at the Olney Village Center. It will be taking over the 980 SF space that was previously home to Party USA at 18151 Village Center Drive, between IHOP and Pho & Grill. Smoothie King opened earlier this week.
Since taking the helm, owner/CEO Wan Kim has led efforts to transform the brand’s menu from being packed with sugar and artificial flavors and colors to being health-conscious and packed with whole fruits and organic, non-GMO ingredients. The main focus is not only giving Smoothie King guests the ability to customize smoothies according to their preferences, Kim says, but pushing their product to more closely align with a healthier, active lifestyle.
Chicken Basket at 30 N. Summit Ave. in Olde Towne Gaithersburg has reopened. The restaurant, which first opened in 1978, closed in April 2019 after a fire. Chicken Basket’s menu consist of fried chicken, wings, subs, gyros, salads, wraps, burgers, and seafood. The restaurant is open Mon – Thurs 11am to 8pm, Fri – Sat 11am to 9pm and closed on Sunday. Full menu can be seen below, as well as photos from Chicken Basket’s original 1978 menu.
El Papi Real Street Tacos is coming to Rockville’s Pike Kitchen (1066 Rockville Pike). The restaurant, which currently has a location in Camp Springs (Prince George’s County), hopes to open its Pike Kitchen location in July.
According to the Washington Post, which named “Most of the tacos at El Papi are wrapped in two warm, corn-scented tortillas and garnished with cilantro and onions. The onions are usually diced into uniform squares, though occasionally they’re cut into thin strips, as if the kitchen peeled each layer of the bulb and softened them into almost translucent slivers. These are the standard garnishes at El Papi, the sign will inform you. Don’t bother to ask for sour cream, lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese or even pico de gallo. You won’t find them here.”
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Peter’s Grill at 519 E Gude Dr in Rockville is open for business Thursday morning, according to a report by FOX5. A vehicle crashed into the restaurant Wednesday evening.
Dunkin’ Donuts is now open at at 20000 Goshen Rd. (former Capital One Bank building) in the Goshen Crossing Shopping Center in Montgomery Village. While the store is now open for business, we’re told Dunkin’ will hold its official grand opening/ribbon cutting on Saturday, July 8, in which Dunkin’ typically gives away free coffee for one year to the first 100 guests.
Dunkin’ has been making a big push lately in Montgomery County, with its newest location at the Layhill Center (14328 Layhill Rd) in Silver Spring. Dunkin’ also has upcoming locations in Rockvilleand Chevy Chase. Since Inspire Brands acquired Dunkin’ and Baskin Robbins in late 2020 for $11.3 billion, the company has been opening in former bank locations that allow for easy installation of a drive-thru window. Dunkin has also aimed for non-traditional development that includes opening in airports and on college campuses, including the University of Maryland.