Last December we let you know that The Creek Lodge Bar & Grill would be replacing Urban BBQ at 5566 Norbeck Rd in the Rock Creek Village Center. Back in May, permanent signage went up and the restaurant has looked ready to go for a couple weeks. We have now received word that the grand opening will take place on Monday, October 17th.

The Creek Lodge Bar & Grill is co-owned and operated by the folks that have brought you Taco Daddy (now closed, but locations formerly located in Gaithersburg and Frederick), Brews & Barrels (Kentlands), Royal Tandoor (Gaithersburg), and Vine Alley (Kentlands).


Pizza Rosa, a pop-up pizza shop located inside of Open Hand Pasta & Provisions, which just opened at 220 Girard St. Suite B in Gaithersburg, is currently holding its soft opening. The store is offering a free small pizza (pepperoni or cheese) to anyone that stops by the location this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4-9pm. Open Hand, who are a staple at local farmers markets, specialize in handmade Italian foods like pasta, cheeses, bread, sauces, and desserts.  The new store eventually plans to sell beer and wine and has a hearing with the Montgomery County ABS scheduled for next month. Open Hand’s hours are 12-9pm Tuesday through Sunday, and Pizza Rosa is available each day after 4pm. Photos below:

According to their website, “Our pizza is built for what we do – carryout and delivery.  It has a thicker crust than what you might find in most pizza shops, but not as thick as a pan pie.  We mix our dough by hand and use a slow fermentation at room temperature to make a light and airy crust.  Of course we only use the best ingredients available – spring water, artisan flours, organic san marzanos, mediterranean sea salt, and the mozz that we make daily.  Our not so secret ingredient is the nixtamal we make from local corn. We add a little nixtamal to the dough for flavor, nutrition, and to help it hold up better in a box. Please don’t ask silly questions like what style pizza this is (Neopolitan, Roman, Detroit, NY, NJ, Chicago, Sicilian, etc). Imitation is is best left to chains and hacks. This is pizza OUR style – you won’t find it anywhere else.”


Last month we let you know that Filo Cafe, a self-described “mom and pop restaurant” that will offer Filipino cuisine, is coming to 4836 Boiling Brook Pkwy.

The restaurant has announced that it will begin its soft opening on Saturday, October 8th at 10am. It will take over the storefront that was previously home to NYC Pizza and Subs. The restaurant will offer all-day breakfast, noodles, “Filo Faves”, combos, and more. New tentative hours are 10am-4:30pm Tuesday through Sunday, and closed on Mondays. The full menu can be seen below:


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 the soft opening is happening now.

Co-owner Wesley Yao has told us that a soft opening discount is available if you send a direct message to @thekusshisushi_silverspring via Instagram and that @thekusshisushi and @YaoFomo will be doing giftcard giveaways.


Mochinut, a restaurant that serves mochi donuts, Korean rice flour hotdogs, soft serve, and bubble tea drinks (menu available below), is coming to 838 Rockville Pike– the current location of Tea-Do. Tea-Do is a “contemporary tea house” that was on the early side of MoCo’s bubble tea explosion in recent years, opening in January of 2016. Mochinut will be located inside of Tea-Do.


Back in May we let you know about ‘That Smoothie Place’ coming to Damascus, taking over the location that was formerly home to Sprint in the Damascus shopping center at 9815 Main Street, suite 106. The store is now expected to open within the next couple weeks.

That Smoothie Place has been operating as a food truck since 2018, frequenting Damascus and other surrounding areas.  They offer a variety of smoothies known as “Rock Star Smoothies” named after popular rock stars of the past and present. The featured photo shows a special known as “The Lennox” named after Annie Lennox of the popular 80s group Eurythmics and contains apple, banana, apple cider  and a few other ingredients. Other smoothies on the menu include the Ozzy, Ringo Starr, Jagger, Morrison, and more.


Back in March we let you know of a the third Crumbl Cookies location that will be coming to Montgomery County, as a new store signed on at 277 Kentlands Blvd, next to Panera, in the space that was formerly home to TD Ameritrade. We stopped by yesterday and a representative let us know that the cookie spot will open on Thursday, October 6th (which is also what Google lists as the opening date in the screen capture below).

Crumbl Cookies is a bakery with locations nationwide that sells chocolate chip and sugar cookies every day, but the rest of their offerings rotate. Their flavors range from experimental (watermelon chilled sugar cookie), to cookie twists on classic desserts (peach cobbler cookie), to more traditional cookies (peanut butter brownie cookie). The first MoCo location opened at Federal Plaza in Rockville in 2020 and opened a Germantown location earlier this month.


Fatburger, which was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1947, has opened a restaurant in nearby Manassas, VA at 8097 Sudley Rd. The restaurant opened earlier this month and is the first Fatburger location in the DC area.

While FatBurger is a fast food restaurant, the food is cooked and made to order. It was originally named “Mr. Fatburger” until the “Mr.” was removed in 1952. Some Fatburger restaurants have liquor licenses as well as “Fat Bars”. Its franchise headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. In addition to the United States, the chain operates in 19 other countries, and there are east coast locations in Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.


Rockville-based Silver Diner, which opened its first restaurant in Montgomery County back in 1989, will open its first DC location at 1250 Half Street, SE (Ball Park/Navy Yard) on October 5th. The unique two-story location will have two two restaurants– Silver Diner downstairs and Silver Social, a 21+ terrace lounge, upstairs.

This will be the 18th restaurant for Silver Diner, which has locations in Maryland and Virginia, and the first to offer the Silver Social concept (previously referred to as Bar Silver). The 8,000-square-foot location will have seating for approximately 300 people and an outdoor terrace overlooking Nats Park.


Cabin John Village, formerly known as the Cabin John shopping center and mall, is  named for the adjacent creek and regional park. It has been a pillar of the Potomac community since 1967 and was acquired by EDENS in 2016. Per EDENS: “EDENS has transformed the traditional shopping center experience into a welcoming communal environment that naturally fosters meaningful social interaction. Complementary retail options include a curated mix of home goods, dining, health and wellness and more outdoor greenspace welcomes the opportunity for community events.” Below you’ll see a list of some of the places coming soon to the shopping center:

Augie’s: Augie’s Mussel House and Beer Garden is coming to 7747 Tuckerman Ln (Cabin John Village), the former site of Lahinch Tavern. Augie’s currently has a location at 1106 King Street in Alexandria, VA. In addition to mussels, menu items include a 10-Day Cured & Smoked Brisket Sandwich, Chicken Pot Pie Empanada, Chicken & Waffles,  and Soft Shell Crab.  Opening information has not been announced.


Popular Tex-Mex restaurant Guapo’s will open its 7th traditional restaurant location in the building that was formerly home to Chevy’s at 3052 Gate House Plaza in Falls Church, according to a BizJournals report. Late owner Hector Rincón opened the original Guapo’s in Tenleytown (DC) 31 years ago and has since opened locations in Shirlington, Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Fair Lakes, Tenleytown and Georgetown (the most recent location, which opened in 2018). The Rincon family still operates all Guapo’s restaurants.

Chevys is an American chain of Tex-Mex restaurants that was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. In the late 90’s the chain grew to approximately 100 restaurants nationwide, including a Gaithersburg location where Buffalo Wild Wings operates today in the Quince Orchard shopping center (photo seen below). As of last year, there were 22 Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants located throughout the United States, mostly in northern California (9 locations). The closest Chevys locations are located in Arlington and Greenbelt.


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