Updated on 5/16 to reflect the new opening date of Friday, May 20th
A couple weeks back we let you know that Doki Toki, a dessert shop that will offer Japanese desserts, including ice cream, mochi donuts, milk tea, and a “lot of other desserts”, will be opening in Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown neighborhood. Last week signage went up, and we have been told that the dessert spot will be opening on Friday, May 20th.
Corner Pizza & Subs at 18503 N Frederick Ave. will be holding a soft opening on Saturday, May 14, with the official grand opening scheduled for June 3. The restaurant is located in the former Jasmine Bakery Café location (that was previously home to Classic Bakery) in the Gaithersburg shopping center that is also home to Brewster’s Ice Cream. We spoke with owners Nishade and Prabath who told us that the restaurant will specialize in what’s sometimes referred to as “Maryland Style Pizza“, the rectangular pizza you find at local restaurants like Stained Glass Pub, Continental, Gentleman Jim’s, and 4 Corners Pub. Nishade has worked in pizza restaurants since he came to America from Sri Lanka over twenty years ago.
HalfSmoke at 36A Maryland Ave. in the Rockville Town Center is expected to open in about three months. Representatives from the restaurant told us that construction and supply chain issues have been the cause for the delay, and that they were originally planning to be open last year. The new Rockville location will take over the spot that was previously home to Pandora, American Tap Room, and Austin Grill. According to the Washington Business Journal, “the 50-employee Rockville location will be 6,000 square feet with 150 seats inside under normal capacity and seating for 30 outside. Baltimore will have 4,000 square feet, with 80 seats inside and 40 outside, and 30 employees.”
HalfSmoke was the first restaurant of its kind to serve gourmet sausages via an assembly line format. Its sausages and toppings can be fully customized to create over 50,000 variations. The HalfSmoke menu also features craft beer, mac and cheese balls, tater tots, milkshakes, funnel cakes, wine, cocktails, and more. Earlier this week we reported that the upcoming HalfSmoke location in Montgomery Mall is scheduled to open in “about four weeks.” HalfSmoke will be located in a kiosk in the food terrace that was the former home of Coldstone Creamery and more recently Gelato Galaxy. This will be the first restaurant/bar in the food court to serve alcohol. The menu will consist of the best selling sausages and sides from their DC location, as well as boozy milkshakes and a funnel cake bar.
Rumali roti is a thin flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent, popular in India and in Punjab, Pakistan. It is eaten with tandoori dishes. The word rumal means handkerchief in many north Indian languages. Kebab is a cooked meat dish, with its origins in Middle Eastern cuisines, but commonly used in many other cultures as well. Many variants are popular around the world. In most English-speaking countries, a kebab may be the classic shish kebab or souvlaki – small cubes of meat cooked on a skewer– or, outside of North America where it is better known as the more recent and now-ubiquitous fast-food doner kebab. By contrast, in Indian English, Bangladeshi English, Pakistani English and in the languages of the Middle East, other parts of Asia, and many Muslim communities, a kebab is any of a wide variety of grilled meat dishes.
A few months ago, a mysterious boat was seen in Pike & Rose being lifted by crane into Canopy. Hello Betty confirmed that this boat will be part of their restaurant’s decor. The restaurant opened last month inside of Canopy by Hilton in Pike & Rose, replacing the Canopy Central Cafe– the restaurant that was there previously. Now, it’s 40-foot boat bar is also open for business.
🛥️ Our 40-foot deadrise boat bar is NOW OPEN! 🛥️
Back in February we let you know that Bethesda favorite Raku will open Rakugaki at the Shops at Wildwood in the Fall of 2022. The 2,188-square-foot restaurant that will offer sushi will be located at 10223 Georgetown Road near Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream. Raku’s Bethesda and Cathedral Heights locations as well as Rakuya at Dupont Circle remain open. The restaurant has a hearing with Montgomery County’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) on Thursday, May 19th at 9:30am for a “Class B Beer, Wine, and Liquor License, On Sale Only.” The restaurant is still aiming for a Fall 2022 opening.
When deciding on a new location, co-owner Marcel The said, “We love the Bethesda community which we have served for the past 25 years. We feel that Wildwood is the perfect choice for our newest restaurant where we will feature favorite menu items as well as introduce new offerings.”
Back in January, we let you know that Buffalo Wings and Beer had closed in the Cloverly Village Center (15412 New Hamphire Ave). In February we let you know that the restaurant will once again open, as it will be taken over by the owners of Dominic’s Italian Grille in Colesville. The BWB name will remain, but the acronym will have a slightly different meaning as the restaurant will now be named Bourbon, Wings, and Beer.
B.W.B. LLC has a hearing with Montgomery County’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) on May 19th at 10am for a “Class B Beer, Wine, and Liquor License, On Sale Only.” While we don’t have an opening date yet, the approval of this license will bring the restaurant/bar closer to opening.
In January 2021 we let you know that Java Nation would be moving in to 121 Market Street in the Kentlands neighborhood of Gaithersburg, which was formerly a Starbucks. After a few delays, Java Nation has said it plans to open its new Kentlands location by the end of May, according to a report by Bethesda Beat. Outdoor seating was installed a couple weeks back.
Java Nation is best known for its house-roasted coffees, diverse food menu, and wide variety of local craft beers, wines and artisan cocktails. Curious about the “social house” signage that’s up in the window? Much like the Rockville/N.Bethesda location, the Kentlands location feature entertainment such as live music, comedy shows, dramatic readings and other community events.
After a successful soft opening, Eternal Love and Pizza is rolling full steam ahead at its location at Windridge Vineyards in Darnestown (15700 Darnestown Rd). “I finally opened. After 2 years and 15 different dough recipes!” wrote owner Neil Dundee on Reddit.
While some of us have experienced a garlic dip for our crusts, Eternal Love and Pizza provided you with a garlic whip to help you finish your crusts. MoCo native Tod Fishman shared his love for the new pizza place via social media. “This place is good and they give you this garlic whip to dip your crust that’s insane!” Fishman wrote to us in his message.
A new El Salvadorian restaurant is coming to 19114 Montgomery Village Ave, the former Einstein Bagel Bros location in the Montgomery Village Shopping Center. The owners of the restaurant say they are almost finished with construction and are hoping to open sometime next month. The restaurant will serve popular Salvadorian dishes like pupusas, tamales, and yuca con chicharron, as well as traditional Salvadorian cuisine such as pastelitos. The name of the restaurant has yet to be announced. La Poteria, which sells Colombian street food and coffee, is located next door. Einstein Bros closed its Montgomery Village store in December of last year and has additional Montgomery County locations in Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, and Silver Spring.
Also in the Montgomery Village Shopping Center, construction is nearing completion on the upcoming Starbucks location. Once construction of the building is complete, Starbucks will then take it over and begin the buildout process (installing equipment, signage, etc,) and is still expected to open this summer. Building permit signs were posted on the future sites of Kobe Japan, The Joint, and Boo Boo Pho back in March, but buildouts have not began on any of these locations. Representatives from klnb, the shopping center’s realty company, tell us more new businesses coming to the center will be announced very soon.
Approximately 2.5 years after we first reported that Olney Crab House was coming to Olney, the restaurant has opened. It’s located at 18200 Georgia Avenue, the former site of the Olney Tavern in the Hillcrest Center in Olney. We are told the menu will consist of “steamed crab, steamed shrimp, crab soup, and a lot more.”
For a little background, renovations on the building began in the summer of 2020. The previous owners ended up backing out at some point in 2021, and the building remained dormant until the new tenants took over. In February, we were informed by the property management of the center that new owners had recently taken over the lease. It didn’t take long for them to get everything ready, as the restaurant is now open.