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.
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: