Restaurants Archives - Page 190 of 344

Mezeh is Coming Soon to Aspen Hill

Published June 15, 2023 at 12:17PM

Back in February of 2019, Mezeh Mediterranean Grill closed its Wheaton Mall location and reported on its website that it will be relocating to the Aspen Hill shopping center. The would-be Aspen Hill location was later removed from the Mezeh website in 2020, but a representative from the shopping center told us the two sides still hoped to reach an agreement. Nearly three years later, it’s officially happening. Mezeh has recently started construction on the old Jerry’s Subs & Pizza space. An opening date is not yet available.

Mezeh Mediterranean Grill will also be opening a new location in the upcoming Kensington Crossing development at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road). The restaurant has signed on to take over a new 2,350SF space with plenty of outdoor seating. Mezeh is a fast-casual eatery with a buffet-style of offerings that include rice and salad bowls, wraps and a variety of sauces and toppings. Mezeh currently has MoCo locations in Gaithersburg and Germantown.

MoCo’s Very Own, CAVA, Makes its Debut on the New York Stock Exchange

By MCS Staff

Published June 15, 2023 at 9:59AM

Cava is making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, with its IPO priced at $22 per share, valuing the company at $2.5 billion. The company, which was started by three Montgomery County natives with its first full-service restaurant in Rockville in 2006 (Cava Mezze in Traville Gateway), has since become the largest restaurant operator in the Mediterranean category in the U.S. restaurant industry, has opened over 200 restaurants since opening its first fast-casual spot in Bethesda in 2011.

In 2006, first-generation Greek Americans Ted Xenohristos (Paint Branch High School), Ike Grigoropoulos (Gaithersburg High School), and Dimitri Moshovitis (Quince Orchard High School) launched the full-service Cava Mezze restaurant in the Traville Gateway shopping center (Rockville), with Moshovitis as executive chef. Following the launch of four additional restaurants, in 2008, Xenohristos, Grigoropoulos, and Moshovitis launched a line of dips and spreads to over 200 stores, including Whole Foods Market. In 2009, Brett Schulman joined them as CEO and co-founder of the fast-casual chain CAVA (originally called Cava Mezze Grill, later rebranded as Cava Grill and then simply as CAVA). The group opened the first CAVA restaurant in Bethesda in January 2011.

Barstool-Rated Pizza Places in MoCo

By MCS Staff

Published June 14, 2023 at 5:11PM | Updated June 14, 2023 at 8:36PM

At one point Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, ate pizza every day for two years while getting his “One Bite” pizza reviews started on Instagram and YouTube. Through the years, he has eaten pizza from various restaurants across the country– providing a 1-10 rating for each slice, with over 1,000 ratings overall. While many disagree with his opinion on pizza, the ratings are some of the most popular across the country (in terms of social media views). Most of his reviews come from pizza places in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, but some restaurants operate stores locally here in MoCo. Check them out below:

Buca Di Beppo (New York, NY, #1024, 1.2). An incredibly low score for the Italian family-style chain restaurant. It’s sole MoCo location can be found in Gaithersburg’s Kentlands neighborhood.

GrillMarx Clarksburg Has Closed Permanently

By MCS Staff

Published June 12, 2023 at 5:36PM | Updated June 13, 2023 at 4:39PM

Grillmarx in Clarksburg, located at 12011 Snowden Farm Pkwy, has closed permanently. We spoke with owner Alec Aronow, who confirmed the news and let us know that he wants to thank the community for their support the last decade. GrillMarx Clarksburg, which hasn’t been affiliated with the other GrillMarx locations in Olney and Columbia for about a year, originally leased the space about a decade ago in 2013.

The restaurant previously planned to undergo a rebrand after a split with the other GrillMarx locations located in Olney and Columbia, but ultimately wasn’t able to make it happen. “I am devastated that we have to close. I gave it everything I had,” Aronow told us, “and unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to make the decision to close.” Aronow wanted to stress how important the Clarksburg community has been to him throughout the years, “I wish it would have worked, I gave it a million percent…I just want to say thank you to everyone.”

Pines of Rome to Open Second MoCo Location (Pines of Rome Express) After Over 50 Years in Business

By MCS Staff

Published June 11, 2023 at 5:01PM | Updated June 18, 2023 at 4:12PM

Last year, we let you know that Pines of Rome, a Bethesda staple for over 50 years, tabbed WashUrban to spearhead their first ever search for a second location. Pines of Rome has found a home for its newest venture, Pines of Rome Express, according to the restaurant’s website. It will be located at 121B Congressional Lane– the former home of Congressional Deli, a representative from the restaurant confirmed. The new restaurant is located beside/behind Mykonos Grill and near Bed Bath& Beyond.

The original restaurant, which will remain open, is located at 4918 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. Pines of Rome moved to the location in 2017 and was previously located at 4709 Hampden Lane, opening in 1972. The restaurant is known for its extremely popular white pizza, spaghetti & meatballs, and other traditional Italian dishes.

Citizens & Culture Grand Opening to Take Place on Friday, June 16

By MCS Staff

Published June 11, 2023 at 9:41AM

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.

Farewell Letter From Mark Choe of Mark’s Kitchen

By MCS Staff

Published June 9, 2023 at 7:54AM

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,

Miss Toya’s Southern Kitchen Opens Today in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront

By MCS Staff

Published June 9, 2023 at 5:21AM | Updated June 12, 2023 at 2:48PM

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.

Smoothie King Now Open in Olney

By MCS Staff

Published June 9, 2023 at 5:09AM

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.

El Papi Real Street Tacos is Coming to Rockville

By MCS Staff

Published June 8, 2023 at 4:56PM

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.”

Dunkin’ Now Open in Montgomery Village

By Patrick Herron

Published June 7, 2023 at 7:23PM

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.