UPDATE: Nava Thai has announced it will remain open until further notice due to an outpouring of support

Popular Wheaton Thai restaurant, Nava Thai, has announced that it will close permanently after Sunday, September 11th. The restaurant, which is located in the old Sir Walter Raleigh building at 11301 Fern St, has been open for approximately 15 years (most of them at the current location). The restaurant temporarily closed back in January 2020 for plumbing maintenance and was supposed to reopen in early March. The closure lasted nearly 11 months, with the restaurant reopening in December 2020.


At the beginning of this year we let you know of Raising Cane’s planned expansion into the D.C. region with the first restaurant planned for Sterling, VA at 45545 Dulles Eastern Plaza in March. Per Biz Journals, supply chain disruptions and other factors designing and building out the space slowed its progress, but the restaurant now plans to open in late October or early November. Raising Cane’s aims to open 14 stores in the next year, stretching from suburban Baltimore to the Richmond area, with more to on tap for 2023 including Bowie, Dumfries, Manassas and Springfield. No Montgomery County locations have been announced yet.

Founded by Todd Graves in 1996 in Baton Rouge, La., Raising Cane’s has more than 460 restaurants in 27 states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with multiple new restaurants under construction. The international expansion began in 2015. The menu is simple and focuses on chicken finger combos , chicken finger sandwiches, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, sweet/iced tea, and Cane’s sauce.


Ding Tea opened in January 2020 at Ritchie Plaza next to Kiim Imm Thai restaurant (785 Rockville Pike). According to a listing, the bubble tea shop is now available for sale and can be purchased for $650,000. It is the only Ding Tea franchise in the state of Maryland.

Per the listing, the shop is being sold due to the owner moving out of state. There is currently 2 years left on the lease, with an option for an additional 5 years. Everything in the store would be included in the purchase of the store, which touts “no competition” since it’s the only Ding Tea store in the area.


Back in September 2021 we let you know that Kusshi, a popular sushi restaurant in Pike & Rose, would be opening a new location called Kusshi.ko in Downtown Silver Spring, taking over the location that was formerly occupied by Gusto in Downtown Silver Spring (8512 Fenton Street). The restaurant has since dropped the “ko” from its name, but we are told the restaurant could open in as little as two weeks.

The restaurant dropped the “ko” from its name due to approval issues with the signage and will now be going by the Kusshi name going forward. This location will have a similar, but slightly more limited, menu as Kusshi in Pike & Rose. We are told it will definitely have all of the sushi items.


Vocelli Pizza, which has operated at 12311 Middlebrook Rd in Germantown since 2006, is available for sale. According the listing, the asking price for the franchise is $125,000.

The current lease of the store is up in February 2023 and, according to the listing, potential new owners can extend the lease with the current landlord or come to terms on a new lease. There are additional Montgomery County Vocelli Pizza locations in Cloverly (730 Cloverly St) and Rockville (1331-a Rockville Pike).


Back in July we let you know that Miller’s Ale House would be closing permanently on Sunday, September 25th, after approximately a decade at 1471 Rockville Pike in Rockville. This evening we were told that the restaurant expects to operate at 100% until the last day. The location was previously home to Hooters before it moved across the Pike (and later closed) and Shakey’s before that. Miller’s Ale House is a Florida-based American restaurant and sports bar chain that was founded in 1988. The restaurant serves steaks, chicken, burgers, salads, seafood, and more. Though most of their locations are in Florida (over 50), there are over 30 other locations open across the east coast. Miller’s Ale House has nearby locations in Hyattsville and Sterling, VA locations.

In what was one of our most popular articles of the summer, over 500 readers chimed in with comments on the impending closure. Comments, which were mostly positive, included:


Bun’d Up has closed its location in The Block at Pike & Rose after a little over a year and a half. Bun’d Up opened it’s Pike & Rose location in January of 2021and is known for putting a “modern, Korean twist on the original Taiwanese “gua bao” with handmade buns, local produce, and sustainably raised meat from Springfield Farm.” The location closed a earlier in September, according to a representative from The Block. We were told a replacement hasn’t been named yet, but one is likely to take over in the coming weeks.

Bun’d Up is still available in the DMV at Pentagon Row in Arlington and Union Station in DC. You can also still get your buns in MoCo on Saturdays between 9am and 1:30pm at the Pike Central Farm Market in Pike & Rose and at the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sundays between 9am and 1:30pm at 7600 Arlington Rd.


La Casita opened its first location in Silver Spring (8214 Piney Branch Rd.) back in 2002. Since then the restaurant has opened locations in Germantown (18058 Mateny Rd.) and Gaithersburg (2 E Diamond Ave), and has just announced the launch of its new food truck “La Casita on Wheels.”

Per La Casita on social media, “La Casita is now on wheels! Book the La Casita food truck for events, festivals, and more.” The food truck schedule will be available via Instagram @LaCasitaPupusas.


Common Plate Hospitality (CPH) has announced the restaurants that will be featured at the upcoming The Heights Food Hall at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase.  The new food hall will be opening in the space formerly occupied by Anthropologie and PF Chang’s on the 5400 block of Wisconsin Ave.  The food hall will offer both indoor and outdoor patio dining and will be open seven days a week from 11am-Midnight. According to the group, the following “culinary partners” are in the lineup:

CPH will also be holding a “Stall Wars” competition, where one food hall stall will be awarded to an “enthusiastic culinary aficionado and entrepreneur” who otherwise would not have the means to open a location. According to CPH, “the top three finalists will have the chance to tell their story and display their culinary talent in a 30-minute ABC7/WJLA Good Morning Washington segment. The winner will be announced on television and offered the opportunity to open their own culinary business at The Heights Food Hall.”


Charleys Cheesesteaks will be opening a location inside of the Germantown Walmart (20910 Frederick Rd), in the space formerly occupied by McDonald’s. The company has created a Facebook page for the new store and representatives from Charleys tell us they expect to open in early November. The upcoming Charleys located at 405 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg, in the location that was recently home to Teriyaki Express, is scheduled to open sometime this month. We were told by employees of the Lakeforest location that the Lakeforest location will close when the new Gaithersburg restaurant opens, but a specific date has not yet been provided.

In August we reported that Charleys would also be coming to 19877 Century Blvd in Germantown, taking over the location that was previously home to Roll by Goodyear and Yogi Castle in the Shops at Town Center & Century Station shopping center, according to the shopping center’s leasing company.


Café Sophie, a European boutique style café with Scandinavian influence, opened at the Montgomery County Airpark (7940 Airpark Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20879) last October. The café has a hearing for a “Class B, Beer and Wine License, On/Off Sale” at 10:30am on Thursday, September 15th.

Per Café Sophie: “Café Sophie is a European style café with a Scandinavian influence in the Montgomery County Airport. Tom, a Co-Founder, is a foodie from Bergen, Norway, which is the reason for the European style food. We provide indoor and outdoor air-side dining serving breakfast, lunch, and grab ‘n go sandwiches. The airport restaurant received a complete makeover in the spring and summer of 2021.


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