We previously let you know that Barra Brava Cevicheria Peruana is “coming soon” to the location that was previously home to Old Hickory Grill at 15420 Old Columbia Pike B in Burtonsville. Signage is now up at the restaurant. Barra Brava opened its first location at 15921 N Frederick Rd in Rockville in October of 2017.  The restaurant hopes to open in a few months.

The menu consists of seafood entrees, a variety of ceviches, non-seafood entrees like lomo saltado, aji de gallina, and more. We’ll have a specific opening timeframe/date in the coming months. Photos of some of the dishes available at the Rockville location can be seen below:


Sardi’s/Olney Station (3418 Olney Laytonsville Rd, Olney) will open at 11am on Tuesday following an issue with the exhaust system that caused the restaurant to temporarily close on Monday night. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) and county health inspectors have cleared the restaurant to reopen for business as usual starting Tuesday morning.

We spoke with owner Phil Sardelis who let us know that the safety of the Sardi’s employees and customers is always his number one priority. “The exhaust system at every Sardi’s location is cleaned every two weeks and unfortunately the recent situations have been freak occurrences.” Sardelis told us. Insurance claims were not filed for the recent fires at both the Gaithersburg and Olney location as the ultimate goal has been to fix any potential issue and get the restaurants open again. The Gaithersburg location will likely reopen in a few weeks as they await the arrival and installation of a fan for the exhaust system.


The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce (GGCC) will be hosting a ribbon cutting for Roaming Rooster to celebrate its newest location in Gaithersburg. Roaming Rooster is a Black-owned business that started as food truck in 2015 and opening its first brick-and-mortar in 2018. Roaming Rooster won the 39th Annual RAMMY Award for the “Hottest Sandwich Shop” from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. The GGCC encourages guests to stay for lunch after the ribbon cutting and support its newest member.

What:              Ribbon cutting to celebrate second restaurant in Montgomery County, appetizers, balloon arch and photo booth for guests


Last month we reported that Texas Parrillada at 9631 Lost Knife Rd in Gaithersburg has closed with the restaurant’s last day of service being on Sunday, January 1. It will be replaced by Los Amigos– an authentic Mexican restaurant. The restaurant will hold its grand opening on Tuesday, February 14th. The full menu can be seen below and the restaurant is offering a 50% discount on opening day.

Texas Parillada had a long run in the Montgomery Village Crossing shopping center, which is home to BLT Grill, Hook & Reel, and Roy Rogers. The restaurant offered menu items that included Tex-Mex staples like burritos, carne asada, enchiladas, and tacos.


In October, we let you know that a new Korean barbecue restaurant signed on to take over the space previously occupied by Saffron Indian Cuisine at Woodmont Station in Rockville (1319 Rockville Pike). We now know that restaurant is Damso Korean BBQ.

Construction is ongoing and signage is up at the upcoming Korean bbq restaurant. A hearing with Montgomery County’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is scheduled for next month and a mid 2023 opening likely for the restaurant. Saffron Indian Cuisine occupied the space from 2014 until it closed in May 2022. Featured photo by @YaoFomo on Instagram


Washingtonian Magazine released its list of its 100 “very best restaurants” in the D.C. Metro area, the first since early 2020. The list contains a few restaurants right here in Montgomery County. Below, you’ll see the Montgomery County restaurants listed without having to sift through the ones that may be a little out of the way. On the Washingtonian’s list, the first 25 are ranked and the next 75 are listed alphabetically. Looking for other great local restaurants that may not have made this list? Our very own, Taste MoCo, had hundreds of dishes from MoCo restaurants if you’re interested in “seeing the dish.” See below:

6. Inferno Pizzeria (12207 Darnestown Rd., Gaithersburg, MD): Inferno was opened at 12207 Darnestown Rd. by Chef Tony Conte back in 2015. Last summer, USA Today published a ‘Top 50 Pizzerias in the US’ list, “as ranked by Italian pizza experts.” The list was created by 50 Top Pizza, a pizza evaluation site in Paestum, Italy, not far from Naples. New York City reigns supreme with 9 pizzerias on the list, but Montgomery County contributed with the 25th ranked pizzeria in the country– Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, located in Darnestown/Gaithersburg.


BIBIBOP Asian Grill will permanently close its Bethesda location, located at 4820 Bethesda Ave at Bethesda Row, on Sunday, February 12, according to a representative from the restaurant. They will operate under regular hours until the restaurant’s closing at the end of the weekend.

BIBIBOP has additional locations at Downtown Silver Spring (935 Ellsworth Drive) and Pike & Rose (11584 Old Georgetown Rd. Unit 1126) that will both remain open. The Bethesda Row location opened in May 2017, the same month as the Pike & Rose location. The Silver Spring location opened later that year. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps.


Barra Brava Cevicheria Peruana is “coming soon” according to signage on the location that was previously home to Old Hickory Grill at 15420 Old Columbia Pike B in Burtonsville. The restaurant opened its first location at 15921 N Frederick Rd in Rockville in October of 2017.  The restaurant hopes to open in a few months.

The menu consists of seafood entrees, a variety of ceviches, non-seafood entrees like lomo saltado, aji de gallina, and more. We spoke with a representative from the Rockville location today who told us that they didn’t have an opening date for the upcoming Burtonsville location yet. We’ll have an update with additional information as soon as it’s available. Photos of some of the dishes available at the Rockville location can be seen below:


The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce (GGCC) will be hosting a ribbon cutting for Rio Grande Bar & Grill in Germantown to celebrate the family-owned restaurant’s new ownership and grand reopening. Rio Grande was sold to new owners in 2022 and has been operating under new ownership since October.

Rio Grande will be offering Tex-Mex appetizers for attendees, and anyone is welcome to stay for lunch and support the local business and new member of the Chamber of Commerce. Additional information below:


Back in April we let you know of the impending arrival of Laperaux, the Journeymanchef’s Bistro,  the new restaurant coming to 18056 Mateny Rd in Germantown- the former home of Gumbo Ya Ya, Dickie’s BBQ Pit, and Cafe Mileto (located in the Cloppers Mill shopping center, in the same strip as Shoppers). The French bistro is now open and taking reservations. For now, the restaurant is open for dinner service starting at 5pm (Tuesday-Saturday) with brunch to follow shortly.

Chef and owner Gregory Webb, who has earned such accolades and awards as “Chef of the Year 1998” in Houston, Texas, “Winner all Categories” at the Texas Open Wild Game Cookoff, “Top Chefs of Mexico City” and many others, will be bringing a French bistro to the location (menu available below). The restaurant will offer high casual cuisine created by Webb, who has competed against Bobby Flay on The Food Network, and won numerous ‘chopped style’ competitions put on for various local charity and fund raising events, including DC Central Kitchen’s Chefs Cook Off.


Cava Group Inc., the parent company of CAVA restaurants, announced on Monday morning that the group confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public in the United States. CAVA, 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, Ike Grigoropoulos, and Dimitri Moshovitis 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.


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