Updated to reflect the restaurant has reopened
Last month, we let you know that Rio Grande Grill at 13541 Clopper Rd in the Seneca Plaza shopping center in Germantown has been sold. At that time, former owner Erika Myers told us that the new owners will be keeping the same name and menu. The restaurant has been closed for renovations, but recently reopened and has a November 3rd hearing with MoCo’s Alcoholic Beverage Services for the transfer of the liquor license to the new owners.
The event will be held at Westfield Wheaton Mall, outside of the Carter’s store on the second floor. Individuals who receive their booster at the event will be entered into a drawing to receive one of five $50 gift cards that can be used throughout Westfield Wheaton’s variety of retailers.
“Health officials continue to recommend the updated COVID-19 booster as a way of protecting people from the risk of serious illness from COVID-19,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “I am grateful and appreciative of our partnership with Westfield Wheaton to provide space, incentives and access to get our vaccines directly in front of potential recipients.”
PetWellClinic, which recently opened at 11802 Rockville Pike Suite D in Pike & Rose, will be having its grand opening party and pet costume contest on Saturday, October 29th from 3pm-5pm. The pet costume contest will involve prizes from PetWellClinic, Bark Social, Dogtopia of Bethesda, OrangeTheory, and more.
Per PetWellClinic: “Join us at our Grand Opening Party on Saturday, October 29th from 3PM to 5PM! Hang out with other pets, meet our staff, make homemade dog treats, participate in our agility course, enter costume contest, take pictures in our photo booth, and hang out with our friends from @rescuepetconnect . Prizes include daily passes to @bark_social_bethesda , ONE MONTH FREE @orangetheory, Spa service @dogtopiaofbethesda , YETI cooler, Complete dog or cat package from @petwellclinic_md and MORE! RSVP using QR code (below) and receive $25 off visit!”
Following months of delays due to flooding at the site, construction has continued at the upcoming Shake Shack location in Gaithersburg’s Kentlands neighborhood. As shown in the featured photo, the frame of the building has gone up and it should construction of the building should move quickly from here, weather permitting. While an opening timeframe hasn’t been provided, we’d expect the restaurant to open in the first half of 2023.
Background: On July 8, 2021, Shake Shack was granted approval for the construction of a 4,700 square foot building with outdoor seating as the second of three commercial infill sites totaling 16,000 square feet along Kentlands Square Place. The burger chain was granted its license to sell beer and wine on the premises during its Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) hearing on January 6th of 2022, and prepared to break ground in February. Construction began in March, but stalled after flooding that occurred over the summer.
Last October we let you know that Sweetgreen would be taking over the Verizon Wireless storefront, located next to Downtown Crown Beer & Wine, in Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown development. Verizon has since moved within Crown, and signage for Sweetgreen went up in August. Earlier today we stopped by and were told by workers that construction will be complete in “a couple months”, giving the fast-casual restaurant an expected early 2023 opening. We were also told permanent signage is going up very soon.
Sweetgreen currently has three MoCo locations, in Bethesda, Downtown Silver Spring, and Pike & Rose. Crown has been without a fast-casual salad restaurant since Chopt closed in early 2020 and has since moved that location to the Kentlands neighborhood.
Coming soon signage recently went up at Miss Toya’s Southern Kitchen at 229 Boardwalk Pl. in Rio. The restaurant will be located in the 2,741SF space previously occupied by BGR, which closed back in June. We have been told by Rio Lakefront that the restaurant is currently anticipating an early 2023 opening. Miss Toya’s Southern Kitchen in Rio will be a fast-casual restaurant, while the recently opened Miss Toya’s Creole Kitchen at 923 Ellsworth Dr in Downtown Silver Spring is full-service (wait staff, etc.).
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 will serve southern-influenced dishes such as red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese and a southern fried chicken sandwich. It will be joining the recently announced Sportrock Climbing Centers, Charley Prime, Le Macaron, as well as the recently opened Donutchew, as locally-based businesses opening in Gaithersburg’s Rio. Below you’ll see a video of the recently opened full-service Miss Toya’s restaurant in Downtown Silver Spring:
Coming soon signage is now up around the exterior of Charley Prime Foods, the new restaurant from Jackie Greenbaum & Gordon Banks (Little Coco’s, El Chucho, Bar Charley, Quarry House Tavern) that will be replacing Tara Thai on the Rio Lakefront boardwalk at 9811 Washington Blvd in Gaithersburg. Originally aiming for a Fall/Winter 2022 opening, the restaurant had its Class B: Beer, Wine, & Liquor license hearing on August 4th and construction continues as Rio representatives have let us know that the restaurant is now scheduled to open “early 2023”.
According to a press release, the Charley Prime team envisions the restaurant as a mature version of their popular DC restaurant Bar Charley, with an expanded menu, but keeping its lively cocktail forward energy. The broader menu will remain steak focused, but will also feature house made pastas (a la Little Coco’s) as well as other items unique to just this location. The group has tapped Editlab@Streetsense to design the space. Explains Greenbaum, “We can’t wait to do our first suburban project and think the timing is perfect. We’ve always done restaurants that are near and dear to our hearts and that we feel are right or needed in the particular neighborhood. My partners both have young families and Rio has been a frequent destination for them for years, as it is for tons of people in north Montgomery county. This is especially true for our chef and partner in this project, Adam Harvey, who lives nearby. We’re really thrilled to bring something unique to the mix out there.”
Last December we let you know that Kruba Thai would be coming to Park Potomac. Instead, Pama Thai has arrived. The new Thai restaurant comes from the owners of Kruba Thai, which has a location at 301 Water St. near Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Their menu offers traditional Thai dishes, but we are told will not offer sushi like DC”s Kruba Thai (aside from one appetizer roll). Pama Thai had a soft opening earlier in the week and has since listed that it will be open from 11:00am-9:30pm, 7 days a week. It is located at the former Wine Harvest location at 12525 Park Potomac Ave B.
The menu offers a variety of appetizers ranging from $7-$13, that includes chicken satay, chive dumplings, curry puffs, and more. Pama signature dishes range from $18-$20, and include pineapple fried rice (featured photo), clay pot shrimp, crispy eggplant, and more. Entrees, curries, noodles, and fried rice dishes all come in at $15 a piece, and four different desserts are available, ranging from $5.95-$9.95.
Vietfood, a Vietnamnese restaurant that currently operates as a stall called Viet Kitchen in Rockville’s Pike Kitchen, will be moving to a new location at The Twinbrook Center in Rockville. It will be taking over a 1,500 SF space that was previously occupied by Asia Market., according to the brochure for the shopping center by klnb. An opening date is not yet available.
The Twinbrook Center is located at 1902 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD 20850, and is currently anchored by Lotte Mart and previously by CVS, which closed this past summer. Other tenants include Twinbrook Deli, Don Pollo, Dunkin’, Little Caesars, and more. Longtime tenant Bamboo Buffet also appears to be leaving, as the space they’re currently operating in is available for lease, according to the property brochure.
On Top, a new restaurant offering Korean and Japanese fusion cuisine, opened its stall earlier this month at Pike Kitchen food hall in Rockville (1066 Rockville Pike).
The restaurant has shared photographs of yubu, which is a fried tofu pocket filled with rice and various toppings “On Top.” Our featured photo, courtesy of @ontop_pike on Instagram, shows Masago, Spicy Crab, Spicy Pork, Spicy Chicken, Unagi (Eel), and Mentaiko Mayo yubu. Donburi, a Japanese rice bowl dish consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients served together over rice, is also on the menu. We do not have a website for the restaurant at this moment.
Way back in July 2021 we let you know that Wayback Burgers, a fast-casual burger chain based out of Connecticut, is coming to Montgomery County with a new location in Gaithersburg. Permanent signage has now been erected, and though there is a tarp partially covering the sign, it’s evident that it says “Wayback Burgers”.
Construction on the restaurant began a while ago, but there have been plenty of delay before recent progress. The restaurant will be located at The Shops of Potomac Valley shopping center at 12121 Darnestown Rd. in the location that was formerly home to an AT&T store and a tanning salon before that.