Rio

Copper Canyon Grill (100 Boardwalk Place at Rio Lakefront) is requesting approval for a 1,012 square foot covered dining pier to be located in the RIO Lake. The Schematic Development Plan will add commercial as an allowed use on the RIO lake parcel. The restaurant currently has two locations in Montgomery County with the other in Downtown Silver Spring (928 Ellsworth Drive).

Per the City of Gaithersburg: The Joint Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday, May 1, 2023 in the City Hall Council Chambers at 31 South Summit Avenue. The public hearing is hybrid, where public comment can be accepted both in person or virtually. Further information may be obtained from the Planning and Code Administration, 31 South Summit Avenue between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, visiting the City’s website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/meetings, or calling 301-258-6330. The final agenda is posted to the City’s meeting agenda website Friday before the scheduled meeting and includes all background material.  Any questions or comments on the application should be directed to the Planning Department at [email protected] or 301-258-6330. Featured photo shows existing bridge at Rio Lakefront.

Last October we let you know that French pastry shop Le Macaron is coming to 7 Grand Corner Ave (next to BurgerFi) in Gaithersburg’s Rio. The shop is expected to open in the coming months, and is owned by MoCo residents Natalia Mejia and Camilo Beltran. Le Macaron, a Florida-based pastry shop now has more than 70 locations across the US, with more locations on the way as franchisees are opening in shopping centers like Rio, food trucks, and kiosks in malls.

Menu items at the upcoming Rio location will include macarons (available in 20 flavors), gourmet chocolates, French gelato, specialty European style coffees, classic French pastries, and homemade candies.  The store is scheduled to open in “Spring 2023”, but our best guess would be late spring based on where it’s at in the construction process. More on the history Le Macaron, per its website:

Back in November we let you know of the impending arrival of an Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon combination restaurant at 220 Boardwalk Place in Rio, set to take over the location that was recently home to Lilly Magilly’s (the cupcakery is preparing for a move to a new, soon-to-be-announced location). Construction is ongoing (photo below) and though an opening date isn’t yet available, we’d expect a mid-2023 opening.

The two brands, popular for their presence in malls, are co-branding to open locations across the country. I’m recent years, Cinnabon left then returned to Montgomery Mall. There’s also an existing Cinnabon location in Wheaton Mall. Auntie Anne’s has locations at the outlets in Clarksburg, Ellsworth Place Mall, Montgomery Mall, and Wheaton Mall in MoCo.

Last November we reported on the deconstruction of Silver Diner’s outdoor patio in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront. At that time we were told the diner was planning on constructing a new outdoor patio that can remain open in any weather. You may have recently noticed that the outdoor patio is back with a nearly identical look to last year’s version. An employee told us that due to the patio being situated above water and the supports having to go beneath the water, the project proved to be too much so the original patio was brought back in time for diners to enjoy Spring and Summer dining outdoors.

Rockville-based Silver Diner, which opened its first restaurant in Montgomery County back in 1989, recently opened its first DC location at 1250 Half Street, SE (Ball Park/Navy Yard) on October 5th. Silver Diner co-founder/CEO Robert Giaimo and partner/executive chef Ype Von Hengst opened the first Silver Diner in Rockville in 1989. The duo visited over 500 diners across the country to prepare for the opening of Silver Diner, which was located in Mid-Pike Plaza, where Pike & Rose stands today. The Rockville location later moved to Federal Plaza, in the location that was previously home to Bennigan’s, where it remains today. The Rio location opened in August of 2019, taking over the space that was previously home to Cafe Deluxe and Hamburger Hamlet.