Per the article, “This creative bagel and others like it are the work of partners Daniela Moreira and Andrew Dana, who opened their first deli in DC to immediate fanfare in 2018. Call Your Mother now has 12 locations, including a brand-new outpost in Denver. Moreira, who is the executive chef, infuses Call Your Mother’s menu with ingredients and flavors inspired by Dana’s Jewish heritage.” Photo by Taste MoCo.
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Dalia’s Falafel is scheduled to officially open its first brick and mortar location, with its regular hours, at 7750 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda on Tuesday, July 11. Today, from 11am until 2:30pm, Dalia’s will be holding a special Grand Opening. Per its website, regular hours will be:
Dalia’s opened up as a pop-up restaurant at 4223 Howard Avenue in Kensington back in August 2020 serving falafel pita sandwiches and falafel bowls. New items on the menu will include radishes, french fries, rice, and Moroccan beef kabobs (full menu below.) The Kensington pop up will close once the Bethesda location opens. Last year, the local “Yelp MD Burbs” part of Yelp released its list of “Top 25 Places to Eat in MD Burbs” list and 15 of the 25 restaurants on the list are in Montgomery County, including Dalia’s Falafel, which came in at #21. Yelp is a popular company that publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses with a major focus on restaurants.
Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon combination restaurant is now open at 220 Boardwalk Place in Rio, taking over the location that was recently home to Lilly Magilly’s– as the cupcakery is still preparing for a move to a new location.
The two brands, popular for their presence in malls, are co-branding to open locations across the country. In recent years, Cinnabon left then returned to Montgomery Mall. There’s also an existing Cinnabon location in Wheaton Mall. Auntie Anne’s has locations at the outlets in Clarksburg, Ellsworth Place Mall, Montgomery Mall, and Wheaton Mall in MoCo.
Daboba will be holding its grand opening at 1079 Rockville Pike in Rockville’s Talbott Center on Saturday, July 8th (a time has not been included on social media postings by the shop). The bubble tea shop was established in early 2018 in Taiwan and is now based in Malaysia.
Daboba will offer a free drink to the first 50 customers on Saturday, July 8th and – deal of “buy 1 get 1 free” for the next 50 customers after that. On Sunday, July 9th Daboba will offer free gifts to the first 100 customers and 50% off certain drinks after 3pm (see flyer below). Photos courtesy of Daboba Rockville on Facebook.
Hong Kong Pearl has announced that it will be taking over the location that has been home to New Fortune at 16515 S Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg. New Fortune has operated in Gaithersburg for many years and the dim sum restaurant, known for having over 140 different offerings, has been a staple in the Walnut Hill shopping center.
Recently a sign was placed on the New Fortune window explaining that the restaurant is under new management. The same notice can be found on the New Fortune website. Hong Kong Pearl, which has a location in Falls Church, also offers dim sum. The new restaurant will hold its grand opening on on Saturday, July 8th with “new dishes and a dragon dance” starting at 11:30am.
Baked Potato House, featuring “delicious stuffed potatoes”, is now open in the Clarksburg Premium Outlets, taking over the space that was previously home to Day & Night Cereal Bar. The cereal bar cleared out of the space in May and is expected to open in a new location sometime this summer.
Menu items at Baked Potato House include a “build your own” stuffed potato with toppings such as cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, gyro meat, broccoli, olives, sweet corn, and a variety of sauces, a selection of specialty baked potatoes, ice cream, and lemonade. The menu also features “wet burgers,” an Istanbul-style street burger that has been marinated in a special tomato sauce.
Restaurant Broker & Developers recently facilitated a major leasing deal for a 6,000 sq.ft restaurant space within The Hotel at University of Maryland’s Conference Center. The space has been leased to Iron Rooster, a Maryland-based restaurant renowned for its unique offerings and warm hospitality.
This will mark Iron Rooster’s 5th location in Maryland, reinforcing their commitment to serve the local community. With the addition of this new location, the dining scene in College Park is about to get a lot more exciting. Per Restaurant Broker & Developers, “This location is poised to be a vibrant hotspot for students at the nearby University of Maryland, offering a perfect blend of delicious food, a welcoming ambiance, and a unique setting.”
Tasting Table, an online publication with over 18 million monthly visitors that offers “expert-backed dining advice, practical tips, must-try recipes, and the most relevant news influencing the food and restaurant world today”, has created a list of “The Best Gyro in Every State” and MoCo’s very own Big Greek Cafe earned the nod for Maryland.
Big Greek Cafe opened its first location in Downtown Silver Spring in 2009 and has quickly grown to become a favorite across the county. In addition to Downtown Silver Spring, there are currently locations in Bethesda, Hillandale, Kensington, Rockville, Urbana, and Laurel. Per the article,“According to the owners, the food here is served just as yia yia used to make. For those who don’t know, yia yia is the Greek word for grandma, and no one can cook better than a Greek grandmother. Follow up the famous gyro pita with rizogalo, a Greek rice pudding dessert not often found outside of Greece.”
Last year we let you know that developers Bernstein Management and Finmarc Management pulled the first permits that will allow for construction to begin on the upcoming White Oak Town Center (12345 Columbia Pike). Now, at least three tenants have signed on for the upcoming shopping center. European Wax Center, Jersey Mike’s, and Inspire Nail Bar are all slated for the shopping center that also has plans to include at least one larger full-service restaurant, a cell phone store, beer & wine, grocery store, and more.
In February 2022, BizJournals reported that “Amazon has reached a deal to open a new supermarket at a long-planned Silver Spring redevelopment fewer than three miles from the Food and Drug Administration’s campus”, referring to White Oak Town Center. “The team behind the White Oak Town Center has swapped a 41,000-square-foot Amazon-branded market, likely an Amazon Fresh, in for what had been a roughly 16,000-square-foot Trader Joe’s.” Amazon Fresh is no longer in the plans as the company has moved away from opening new grocery stores and the grocery tenant space is still available.
Dunkin’ Donuts at at 20000 Goshen Rd. (former Capital One Bank building) in the Goshen Crossing Shopping Center, which opened on June 7, will hold its grand opening celebration this Saturday, July 8. Starting at 9, the restaurant will reward the first 100 customers with “Free Coffee for a Year” and from 9-11am, Dunkin’s mascot Cuppy will be on hand to give out free merchandise to guests from the Dunkin’ Prize Wheel.
Additional information courtesy of Dunkin’: At 10:00 a.m., Dunkin’ franchisee network Luis Group will host the store’s official ribbon cutting. Following the ribbon cutting, the Luis Group, in partnership with the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, will award local nonprofit Driven to Cure a $3,000 grant. Based in Silver Spring, Driven to Cure works to raise funds and awareness for children and young adults with rare kidney diseases.
In January we let you know that Poke Bros will be opening its first Maryland location in Gaithersburg’s Kentlands neighborhood. The restaurant, which opened its first location in 2016 and has since expanded to over 75 restaurants across the country, will be taking over the space that was previously home to Next Day Blinds at 107 Market St W until 2020. Permanent signage is now up, but there is plenty of work left to do on the interior of the restaurant (photo below). An opening date is not yet available.
More bout Poke Bros: After the founders were introduced to the Hawaiian staple on a trip to California. The appeal of this fast and casual—while healthy—concept immediately inspired the founders to begin thinking how they could bring this unique dish to the midwest. From its inception, we were confident the foodies of Columbus would love the poké concept, but wanted to provide an inexpensive and accessible product in the larger market. After some intense research and trial and error, the Poké Bros founders developed their own brand of poké bowl flavor they are proud to share and call their own. Modeling similar assembly line casual dining concepts, we developed a unique way to build your “sushi in a bowl” and have fun doing so! As the poké movement has caught on, Poké Bros has rapidly expanded into multiple states across the Midwest and East Coast, offering the same fresh and authentic cuisine to a wider range of customers. We will continue to stick to our roots, as Poké Bros continues to grow, and offer only the best fresh ingredients that fill you up but don’t slow you down.