Summer House Santa Monica will remain closed for at least the first half of today as the popular Pike & Rose destination awaits inspections following a kitchen fire that caused approximately $25k in damages. The restaurant tells us they hope to reopen for dinner, but that it looks unlikely at the moment. We’ll have an update on the impending reopening of the restaurant as soon as we get word from Summer House.

From yesterday: Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Units were called to the scene of a kitchen fire at Summer House Santa Monica on the 11800 block of Grand Park Avenue in the Pike & Rose development at approximately 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon, according to MCFRS PIO Pete Piringer.


Back in April 2021, Shouk announced that it would be opening two new locations this fall– one in Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, and another in Rockville’s Montrose Shopping Center. The Rockville location opened in November and the newest location at 5436 Westbard Avenue in the Westwood shopping center is now open and you can view the menu or place an order here.

Shouk is best known for its plant-based, Kosher street food. Per their website, their menu is “Inspired by the bold flavors of the world’s liveliest street markets, we craft our food from real ingredients you can pronounce. Fresh vegetables, beans, grains, and lots of spices.”


Trip Advisor is a popular American online travel company that offers ratings of restaurants primarily from those who have traveled to the area, rather than locals. If you’re interested in seeing the opinions of those who have traveled to the area, you’re in luck, as today we’ll be sharing the top 10 restaurants according to Trip Advisor.

10. Dogfish Head Alehouse (800 W Diamond Ave, Gaithersburg, MD): With a 4 out of 5 rating after 630 reviews, Dogfish Head Alehouse comes in #10 overall in the county and #2 in Gaithersburg. The restaurant recently closed its Falls Church location and announced that it has donated over $1,000,000 to charity in the last 17 years. Dogfish is listed in the American, Bar, and Pub categories.


Lil’ Cakes & Creamery will be opening a new location at 844 Rockville Pike, the former site of Sam’s Cafe & Market, also known as Sam’s Hookah.  Sam’s closed permanently at the end of March.  Lil’ Cakes expects the new location to open in about 3-4 months.

Lil’ Cakes & Creamery offers a rotating selection of cupcakes and ice cream, as well as macarons, pupcakes, cookies, cookie sandwiches, pushpops, and milkshakes.


China King at 8035 Snouffer School Rd in Gaithersburg has closed. The restaurant opened in 2001 and closed its doors this past April. The owners tell us that difficulty staffing and pandemic woes helped them to decide it was time to retire.

China King was known for its modern interpretation of classic dishes and for using high quality fresh ingredients. The restaurant was located between 7-Eleven and El Salvadoran restaurant El Encanto.


The restaurant that will be opening in the space that was formerly home to Greene Turtle at 19961 Century Blvd in Germantown will be called Four Seas Restaurant.

We received confirmation of the permanent closure of Greene turtle in Germantown back in the summer of 2020. Since then, the building was available for sale and ended up settling back on December 17th, 2021 for $3 million. Jim McGinnis, of Restaurant Brokers & Developers, represented the sale of the building (19961 Century Blvd in Germantown), the former home of the Greene Turtle.


Snow Bots, one of the first places to make snow cream relatively popular in Montgomery County, announced that it closed permanently via social media at the beginning of June.

Located at 1701 Rockville Pike, near Congressional Plaza, since 2014, the snow cream and bubble tea shop was one of the first to bring egg waffles to the area (called puffles). Snow Bots also introduced larger bubble tea cups that were more like soup containers.


The grand opening for Roaming Rooster at 11586 Old Georgetown Road, North Bethesda, is set for June 21st. The 1,843-square-foot restaurant will feature its famous buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches, sides, salads and an all week breakfast menu. A minority- and family-owned business founded in 2015, Roaming Rooster began as a food truck that traveled across the Washington, D.C. metro region. Its popularity grew and today there are several food trucks and multiple storefronts. This will be the first Roaming Rooster in Maryland and Montgomery County and its sixth fast-casual restaurant in the region.

In early 2015, Roaming Rooster was founded in Washington, D.C. by a family with a unique concept. The idea of a food truck with fried chicken that you could feel good about eating: free-range, grain-fed, and antibiotic free chicken served fresh every day. Within months, word got out on social media about the delicious poultry menu and the demand for Roaming Rooster soon called for the expansion from one food truck to three and subsequently, to numerous brick and mortars. Since then, the popularity of the only food truck in D.C. serving tasty free-range chicken has grown massively. Requests for catering, private events, and scheduled food truck visits have been pouring in from D.C. and the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia. The fast expansion of Roaming Rooster in just under a year is easy to explain – where your food comes from matters, and we bring that ideal to every meal we serve.


Silver Spring Wings has announced it will be opening up a new location this summer in the Wheaton Urban District.  According to owner Evan Walton, Silver Spring Wings will also be sharing a space with its sister brand, District Teriyaki. He plans to announce more information, including the exact location and opening date, in the the next couple of weeks. Walton tells us, “I’m super excited to serve Moco again. It’s been a long stressful year and a half but I’m committed to my work and this community.”

Walton started Silver Spring Wings in 2020 around the start of the pandemic after all of his catering business events were suddenly cancelled. He decided to launch several food concepts out of his catering kitchen to  attempt to make up for the loss and keep his employees.


Popular Burmese restaurant Mandalay, which was located at 930 Bonifant Street in Silver Spring, posted a message to its Facebook account on Tuesday stating that the restaurant will be returning to Silver Spring soon.

Mandalay first announced in 2019 that it would be moving to a new location in Washington, DC., but and closed the restaurant in Silver Spring on October 31 of 2021. There have been few updates on the status of that location, but the restaurant did make another Facebook post in February, seeking the public’s opinion on possibly reopening.


The OTC Bar & Grille in Olde Towne Gaithersburg has announced it is now hiring and will be opening this summer. OTC Bar & Grille is being opened by the owners of the Olde Towne Cafe at 226 E Diamond Ave, who have owned the business since 2000. It is located in the former Olde Towne Cafe restaurant space, as well as the adjacent space that was previously home to Diamond Drugs. Last year the owners knocked down the wall that separates the two locations to create the new restaurant/bar space.


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