2020 has been a difficult year for restaurants. A few weeks ago we released a list of restaurants that have closed since March 17th.(not necessarily due to Covid, but since the day the initial restrictions were put in place).
While that list is long, there are still plenty of restaurants planning to open in MoCo in 2021.
Lord & Taylor, the Last Remnant of White Flint Mall, Has Permanently Closed
Back in May, we let you know that Lord & Taylor had announced plans to close their location in the former White Flint Mall area.
Montgomery Mall Adds Outdoor Seating
With food courts closed, any carryout items purchased from restaurants at the mall has to be taken out of the mall to eat.
GameStop in Fallsgrove to Close
The GameStop located at 14929 Shady Grove Rd in Rockville will be closing in the early part of 2021. It is the only GameStop store in Montgomery County that has announced it is going out of business.
Gameworks Coming to Westfield Montgomery
“Coming Soon” signs promoting Gameworks and The Works Kitchen at Westfield Montgomery went up this past weekend.
Last night (December 14th), the City of Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council held a joint work session with the Gaithersburg Planning commission to discuss findings from the Lakeforest Mall Master Plan engagement efforts.
On August 10th, the Mayor and City Council put into motion an amendment process for the Lakeforest Mall Master Plan, which would consider input from extensive public engagement to then produce a new design plan for the Lakeforest site that establishes an overall vision for the future development.
Auntie Anne’s to Close Permanently in Lakeforest Mall
An employee at Auntie Anne’s in Lakeforest Mall let us know that the last day the location will be open is Sunday, December 27th.
Whenever we do a post looking back at MoCo restaurants from yesteryear, the first place that pops up in the comment section is Little Tavern Burgers (photos below). A little backstory from a 2017 article: In the 1940s, there were almost 50 Little Tavern location in the D.C. and Baltimore Metro area. By the early 90s, that number dropped to 20. The last one closed about a decade ago. Through the years there were 4 MoCo locations (2 in Silver Spring, 1 in Bethesda, and 1 in Wheaton). Most MoCo folks remember the one across from Wheaton Plaza best. One Montgomery County native told me that in the 50s you could buy their famous burgers for .5 cents each, but most people remember the $5 bag of burgers from the 80s/90s. The best part…they were open 24 hours a day.
Today we’ll be recreating the famous “buy em by the bag!” burgers. The most circulated version of the Little Tavern Burger recipe is this one found at food.com. It calls for:
Update: Now Open
Ssong’s Hotdogs, a popular South Korean chain, is opening what was the second announced U.S. location in the Montgomery Mall food court. We’ve been told it will open next week (but no specific date has been provided).
Investigation Discovery Episode about Missing MoCo Sisters Aired this Weekend
This past weekend, Investigation Discovery aired an episode sharing the story of the the Lyon sisters. The two sisters, Sheila (12) and Katherine (10) disappeared in 1975 during a trip to Wheaton Mall. The girls were never found.
Toys for Tots Drop-off Site at Lakeforest Mall
The 2020 Montgomery County Toy’s for Tot’s donation center is located inside Lakeforest Mall at the former Forever 21 retail spot. The local chapter, coordinated by Mr. Paul Gunther, distributed 34,417 toys to over 10,000 children in Montgomery County in 2019.