Playa Bowls will open its fifth Montgomery County location at Chevy Chase Lake. Three residential developments are slated to be part of the Chevy Chase Lake development in Chevy Chase and the development is designed to be a walkable, mixed-use community with a town center and access to the Capital Crescent Trail.

It is located adjacent to Connecticut Avenue and the planned Purple Line transit system, which will provide an east-west connection between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.


Hallowed Grounds Coffee Co. is coming to 15 Fulks Corner Ave in Olde Towne Gaithersburg as part of Saints Row’s “Craft Collective.”

Saints Row announced this past fall that it would be moving to the Fulks Corner location, which was formerly home to Brawling Bear Brewery, this spring. The brewery hopes to be open by the end of April.


A Korean corn dog company called “Kong Dog” is set to open up soon at the Glenmont Shopping Center (12335-H Georgia Avenue).

The Korean corn dog restaurant has been opening up shop across the country and has chosen Glenmont as its first Maryland and MoCo location. It will be taking over the storefront that was previously home to El Encanto, next to Subway.


Crumbl Cookies opened its first MoCo location about a year and a half ago at Federal Plaza in Rockville. In November we let you know that the bakery, known for its long box of cookies, would be opening a second location– near Wegmans at The Shops at Seneca Meadows shopping center in Germantown.

The shop will be located at 20650 Seneca Meadows Pkwy, in what used to be home to Sprint, next to Sally Beauty. Permanent signage is now up at the location and construction is ongoing inside, but there is plenty left to go. No expected opening date is available at the moment.


The Beltway Bistro food truck is preparing to make its debut, and it has been quite a ride. Last summer Burtonsville resident James Turner was about to launch his food truck, Beltway Bistro, when the truck was stolen and later recovered with all of the kitchen equipment gutted from the truck.

Licensing was challenging for Turner, but he was able to make it through and was about two weeks away from opening when the truck was stolen around Memorial day of 2021. It was recovered a few days later in Charles County, “gutted, wrecked, steering column messed up, painted, propane tank found inside – probably about to be burned.”


Sam’s Cafe & Market, also known as Sam’s Hookah, will close permanently at the end of March. The cafe/market/hookah bar has been open in Rockville at 844 Rockville Pike for over a decade and at a previous location across Rockville Pike before that for a combined 24 years.

A representative from the store told us that the closure is due to the owners retiring. They also. let us know of big sales on all products until they close at the end of the month, for anyone interested in discounted products from the store.


Earlier this month, Marriott celebrated the opening of its 8,000th property – Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ, a 12-story stylish retreat adjacent to Marriott International’s soon-to-open new global headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. The hotel opening signifies both a growth milestone for the company, as well as a remarkable moment in the Marriott story, as the company celebrates its 95th year. Marriott’s first lodging property, the Twin Bridges Marriott, opened in 1957 and was a four-story motor hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

The hotel’s restaurant, Seventh State, a historical nod to Maryland entering the union, also opened along with the restaurant. Seventh State offers a locally curated menu with items such as the Panuozzo, a wood-fired folded sandwich handmade with pizza dough and locally sourced ingredients. Floor-to-ceiling retractable glass walls open seasonally to outdoor seating, while a custom Italian wood-fire oven clad in bronze is a focal point of the open kitchen indoors.


Baltimore-based ice cream shop is making its move into MoCo, with a location coming soon to Chevy Chase Lake in Chevy Chase. According to OpenCorporates, The Charmery will be moving in to 8551 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 202, a 1,306 SF location. Currently, The Charmery has locations in Hampden, Union Collective, Towson, Federal Hill, and it’s first locstion outside of Baltimore, in Columbia, that opened about a year ago.

The restaurant shop is owned and operated by David and Laura Alima. The Charmery started in 2013 with their its first location in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. Per the Howard County Economic Development Authority:


Due to “unforeseen events,” Connecticut-based Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana  has announced they will be pushing back the opening of its first DMV location at Bethesda’s Westfield Montgomery Mall (7101 Democracy Blvd) one week to Monday, March 28.

Representatives from the restaurant said the delay was due to a “minor technical issue.”


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