Updated to reflect Tutti Frutti as the frozen yogurt that will be available.
Last November we let you know that Kung Fu Tea signed on to take over the location that’s as recently home to Yogi Berry, next to Starbucks in the same shopping center as Cava Mezze, CVS, and Cafe Rio at 3128 Olney Sandy Spring Road. There were initial hopes to open prior to the summer, but there have been a few delays. Management has told us they know plan to open next month, in October.
True Food Kitchen, the award-winning restaurant brand that has two Montgomery County locations (Bethesda and Gaithersburg), announced a significant round of capital investment led by two new investors, HumanCo and Manna Tree, supported by existing investor Centerbridge Partners. The more than $100 million round of funding is the largest investment for the 42-unit restaurant brand that was founded in 2008 by Dr. Andrew Weil, creator of the anti-inflammatory food pyramid and world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. The HumanCo team has several key investors, including Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, who have joined Oprah Winfrey and others in backing the restaurant brand.
“This investment enables us to truly broaden our mission to help well-being through more accessible, real food,” said Christine Barone, CEO of True Food Kitchen. “This capital will unlock a tremendous amount of potential for our future, allowing us to expand our footprint, launch smaller formats, and ultimately allow more people across the country to experience great tasting food that is truly good for you.”
Crumbl Cookies is now open at 20650 Seneca Meadows Pkwy, in what used to be home to Sprint, next to Sally Beauty in Germantown. The store is open Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm and Friday & Saturday 8am-midnight. Crumbl Cookies opened its first MoCo location at Federal Plaza in Rockville in 2020 and the upcoming Crumbl location at 277 Kentlands Blvd, next to Panera, is expected to open within the next month.
From the Crumbl Cookies Facebook: “Rob Davis and Mark Sumsion are the franchise partners to the Germantown Crumbl! They love Crumbl Cookies because the company’s mission is to bring friends and family together over a box of the best cookies in the world! Mark is married to Rob’s oldest daughter, Kayla. Rob and Mark have worked together for many years and enjoy running this business as a family! They’ve found a lot of joy in bringing other families in the community together and helping them create memories by trying Crumbl’s new and exciting cookie flavors!”
In April 2021, we let you know that IHOP’s new concept, Flip’d by IHOP, would be taking over the old Asian Bistro Cafe location at 8537 Georgia Avenue between Panera and Red Lobster. The restaurant has now set an opening date of Tuesday, September 20th per Google that was confirmed by Downtown Silver Spring.
Items on the Flip’d by IHOP menu include:
Z&Z Manoushe Bakery, owned and operated by the Dubbaneh family, opened in the exact location their grandfather opened a deli in 1982– the store that was home to Slice of Rockville for the last 11 years (1111 Nelson Street). Since September 2021, the restaurant has specialized in manoushe, a flatbread consisting of a simple yeasted dough which can have a variety of different toppings. The Dubbaneh family has told us that they look to “share the extreme generosity and hospitality that exists in Arab food culture with the local community.” and national food website, bon appetit, has noticed– including Z&Z in its “50 Best New Restaurants 2022” list.
Per the article: The Dubbaneh family started selling manoushe, a type of Palestinian flatbread, from a stall at Washington, DC’s Foggy Bottom farmers market back in 2016 and quickly gained a loyal following. Six years later, their products are available in 14 mid-Atlantic Whole Foods locations, and they finally have a permanent home base bakery located, fittingly, in the same Rockville, MD, strip mall restaurant space where their grandfather once ran a fried chicken shop. Here the manoushe emerge puffed and blistered from the saaj, a traditional convex metal griddle, and come with toppings that range from the expected to the inventive. If you have a hard time deciding, go ahead and overorder; you’ll be thankful for leftovers later. What to order: Classic ($8); Toum Raider ($11); Hot Halaby Honey ($15); Lahm Bi Ajeen ($15).
Zinnia opened in fall 2021 at 9201 Colesville Rd, the longtime home of Mrs. K’s Tollhouse in Silver Spring. Since opening, Zinnia has rolled out its beer and wine garden, cafè, tavern, and is today is launching its fine dining restaurant led by former Republic chef Danny Wells, according to Washingtonian.
Per the article, Wells is a Takoma Park native and opened the recently closed Republic (which was located in Takoma Park with restaurateur Jeff Black in 2013. “He also served as head chef at sister restaurants Black Salt and Pearl Dive over his 16 years with Black Restaurant Group. Wells briefly left the kitchen to go into hospitality consulting, but Zinnia co-owner Chris Brown—who also owns Takoma Beverage Co.—lured him back.”
Fryer’s Roadside, described as “a traditional walk-up window Chicken Shack/Ice Cream Stand”, is available for sale for an asking price of $150,000. The restaurant, located at 12830 New Hampshire Ave (former location of Chopaan Kabob House) in Colesville’s Meadowood Shopping Center, has been open for a little over a year.
According to the listing, all restaurant equipment would be included in the sale. The restaurant is currently open and operating, and the listing asks that employees are not disturbed.
Smoothie King will be opening an Olney location at the Olney Village Center, according to the First Washington Realty site plan and directory. 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.
Olney Village Center, where Smoothie King will be located, is anchored by Giant, TJ Maxx, and Gold’s Gym. Smoothie King will compete directly with nearby Playa Bowls, which opened at the Fair Hill shopping center at the beginning of 2021. CB Acai, which also offered smoothies, closed its only storefront in November 2021. Carmen’s, an Italian ice and sweet treats spot, opened in Olney in April 2020, and Kung Fu Tea, which offers bubble tea, slushies, and other cold and warm beverages, is expected to open soon at the Shoppes of Olney.
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.