Irish-themed restaurant The Hunter’s Hound at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue in Chevy Chase opened for business this past weekend.   The restaurant will be closed for the next week due to the holidays, according to a message on its website, and will reopen on December 28th.

“Dear Friends, We had a fabulous first weekend and we can’t thank you all enough for such a warm welcome! As we were delayed so much on the opening, our staff had made plans for Christmas and as a result we will be closed for the rest of the week. We will reopen for full business on Tuesday, December 28th at 4pm. From all of us, to all of you, have a great and safe holiday and we will see you next week.”

Items on the menu include chicken liver pâté, beef & Guinness, fish & chips, and sticky toffee pudding.

Hunter’s Hound owner Jason O’Brien also owns Irish restaurants in New York City, NY and Jersey City, NJ, according to Bethesda Beat.

Feature photo courtesy of the The Hunter’s Hound Instagram.

BusyBees Chevy Chase will be closing its doors permanently on January 1st, 2022, according to an email sent out to customers this evening.

The children’s play space opened in Chevy Chase back in 2017 after opening in Falls Church in 2015,  but states that staff shortages have made their brand unreliable. BusyBees previously closed it’s Fairfax Corner location.

The full email sent to customers can be seen below.

Dear families,

This is definitely not the type of email blast we rushed to create.

It is with a broken heart that we are announcing that BusyBees will be shutting its doors permanently as of January 1st 2022.

Back in the summer, we closed down our Fairfax Corner location to fully focus on Falls Church and Chevy Chase.

Sadly, the staff shortages have made our brand unreliable. BusyBees has always strived to offer the best of services to all our families and we refuse to offer a broken service to our loyal and beloved customers who deserve nothing but the best from us.

Furthermore, the new variant is causing booking cancellations, which makes us financially unstable towards our obligations.

As we are sad to leave our wonderful community, our hearts will always be filled with the many memories we built together, your fabulous support and the fact that we all built a unique, happy and funtastic community together.

Thank you for your support and for sharing your families with us.

Onward,

The Team at BusyBees

WSSC is at the scene of a water main break at Elm St and 44th St in Chevy Chase.

Chief Spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Pete Piringer reports that MCFRS is checking nearby homes for any hazards.

There is high water in the roads and some lanes are currently blocked.

We will post an update when more information becomes available.

There are a few days left to complete the online survey about the future of the Chevy Chase Library!

The library is in need of repairs and upgrades and there are two possible scenarios on how to move forward. Complete the survey ➡️ buff.ly/3bXxaM4.

The Chevy Chase Library was originally included in the approved CIP for Library Refurbishments. The Library Refurbishment level of effort (LOE) project provides a structured process to modernize all 21 library branches over 20 years with new technologies and service delivery improvements which reflect the latest in 21st century library trends at much less costs than renovations.

Before each library refurbishment, DGS completes a building analysis. During the building analysis for the Chevy Chase Library, the County learned that the cost to renovate the Chevy Chase Library far exceeds the budget allotted in the approved CIP for Library Refurbishments.

The facility assessment completed in November 2019 included a comprehensive evaluation of all building systems, ADA access, hazardous materials and site conditions, along with an order of magnitude cost estimate for recommended remediation over the near and long terms.

The analysis was revised in March 2021 to correct a discrepancy between the Order of Magnitude Cost Estimate Summary in the Executive Summary of the report and the costs included in the body of the report. After review by the consultant, it was determined that the Order of Magnitude Cost Estimate Summary was correct and adjustments were made to the balance of references in the report.

Given the extensive renovations required, the County decided to explore the possibility of leveraging the property for residential development thereby offsetting the costs of a replacement library on site. On April 1, 2020 the County issued a Request for Developer Expressions of Interest(RFDEOI) for the Chevy Chase Library site. The RFDEOI was not a formal solicitation to gather and evaluate proposals, its purpose was to evaluate interest from the development community. The County initially planned to host a community forum to discuss the solicitation in Summer 2020, but could not due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the public was invited to leave comments under the Comments tab to facilitate public comment and feedback. We continue to welcome public comments on this project. All input received to date is posted for review.

DGS and Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) staff attended a virtual meeting of the Friends of the Library, Chevy Chase Chapter on November 17, 2020. DGS staff made a brief presentation, providing a status update and answering questions. More than 70 people attended the Zoom meeting. DGS stated that the goal is to develop options for the Chevy Chase Library that the County Executive could consider for the FY23-28 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). One possible scenario is full-scale renovation of the existing 16,000 square foot library. The second scenario might include a newly constructed 20,000 square foot library achieved through a public-private partnership and a mixed-use project to include residential development to offset the costs of a replacement library on site.

On October 16 and October 20, 2021, DGS-OPD and MCPL held informal drop-in sessions at the library to present these two scenarios to community members and receive feedback. To learn more about the office hours, please click the October Office Hours tab. We are continuing to receive feedback via comment cards at the Chevy Chase Library, the Comments tab on this website, and the online survey which is open through Monday, November 15 at noon. DGS and MCPL will brief the County Executive on community input after the survey closes.

Traffic and Significant Police Presence Expected Tonight in Chevy Chase Due to a Protest

Officer Dana Stroman of the Montgomery County Police 2nd District is reporting that there will be a significant police presence due to a protest in the Chevy Chase Park area this evening and is asking residents to please avoid the area this evening.

Heavy traffic and congestion is expected in the area of Connecticut Avenue, Brookeville Road, and Bradley Blvd.

The protest, which is listed as an abortion rights rally and speak out at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house, plans to start at 6:30pm today.

MoCo’s first Amazon Fresh is now ready to go at Collection Chevy Chase next to the Friendship Heights Metro stop.

According to its Google listing, the grocery store will open at 7am on Thursday, August 26th.

The grocery store will be taking over the location that was previously home to Giant at 5463 Wisconsin Avenue.

A frequently asked questions regarding Amazon Fresh is the difference between the new grocery store and the Amazon-owned Whole Foods, which has multiple MoCo locations already.

Difference between Amazon Fresh and Amazon-owned Whole Foods?

Amazon Fresh has been described as an everyday grocery store with slightly lower prices, whereas Whole Foods focuses on natural and organic foods at a higher price point. Some products from the Whole Foods 365 will be available at Amazon Fresh and the grocery store encourages the use of Amazon Prime.

A second Amazon Fresh location is coming to Gaithersburg in the old Office Depot location.

It has been nearly a year since we first reported that Office Depot would be closing and that an Amazon grocery store would be taking its place. A few months later we found out it would be an Amazon Fresh store.

We stopped by the upcoming grocery store, located at 15790 Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg, to check out the progress, and plenty has been made. The interior is being completely renovated and construction is ongoing.

The exterior is already starting to look like an Amazon Fresh store, with plenty of changes made.

While an opening date has not been provided, a late 2021 or early 2022 date looks likely.

MoCo’s first Amazon Fresh grocery store, in Chevy Chase, will be opening “very soon,” as the store is expected to open by the end of the summer.

MoCo’s first Amazon Fresh looks almost ready to go at Collection Chevy Chase next to the Friendship Heights Metro stop. The grocery store will be taking over the location that was previously home to Giant at 5463 Wisconsin Avenue.

The interior looked fairly close to being ready, but the exterior seems completely ready to go with signage up and shopping carts present at the grocery store (photos below). No opening date has been provided yet.

Signs on the carts encourage customers to order meat, seafood, deli, and pizza shops while they shop so that they’re ready prior to customers departing the store. They also advertise weekly deals that are available via the Amazon App.

A frequently asked questions regarding Amazon Fresh is the difference between the new grocery store and the Amazon-owned Whole Foods, which has multiple MoCo locations already.

Difference between Amazon Fresh and Amazon-owned Whole Foods?

Amazon Fresh has been described as an everyday grocery store with slightly lower prices, whereas Whole Foods focuses on natural and organic foods at a higher price point. Some products from the Whole Foods 365 will be available at Amazon Fresh and the grocery store encourages the use of Amazon Prime.

A second Amazon Fresh location is coming to Gaithersburg in the old Office Depot location.

On Sunday, August 1, Southbound Wisconsin Avenue (MD-355) will be closed between Somerset Terrace and South Park Avenue in Friendship Heights. The closure is scheduled from 7AM to 7PM, weather and progress permitting.

The closure is needed for a crane to install equipment inside the Chevy Chase Building at 5530 Wisconsin Avenue. Pedestrians and Ride On route 34 will also be detoured around the work zone. Northbound traffic on Wisconsin Avenue will not be totally diverted, however the left northbound lane will also be closed.