11/1 Update: The date we were provided has been pushed back. Date TBD.
Last year there was a delay in opening as county had not yet adapted updated restrictions to allow the outdoor rink to open until November 10th. The rink opened a couple weeks after the updated restrictions went into effect.
This season:
TBD through 3/20/2022
Hours:
Saturday: 10am – 11pm
Sunday: 10am – 10pm
Monday: Noon – 10pm
Tuesday: Noon – 10pm
Wednesday: Noon – 10pm
Thursday: Noon – 10pm
Pricing
Adult Admission: $10
Child Admission: $9
Senior Admission: $9
Skate Rental: $5
Discount Card: $70
Season Passes
The city closed Gibbs Street in Rockville Town Square in June 2020 to accommodate outdoor dining. On Thursday, September 9th, the City of Rockville will hold a virtual public meeting to discuss the future use of Town Center streets.
Per the City of Rockville:
City staff will hold a virtual public meeting 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9 to discuss continuing full or partial road closures in Rockville Town Center to accommodate outdoor dining.
The meeting will discuss permanently closing Gibbs Street, and whether to continue the partial closure of, or to fully close, East Montgomery Avenue for continued outdoor dining. The discussion will also consider bicycle and pedestrian traffic within the areas.
The Mayor and Council are scheduled to discuss the issue on Monday, Oct. 4.
In June 2020, the city closed Gibbs Street, between East Middle Lane and Beall Avenue, and East Montgomery Avenue, between Maryland Avenue and Helen Heneghan Way, to allow for expanded outdoor dining areas. The city also created a permit to allow local eateries to temporarily create or expand outdoor dining spaces on private property and within the city’s rights of way and designated curbside pickup and 15-minute free parking spaces throughout Town Center.
In May, the city worked with Federal Realty to launch the Streetery on Gibbs in Rockville Town Square, featuring enhanced outdoor seating and a more welcoming environment for people to gather as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased and new restaurants opened.
The streetery concept eliminates or limits vehicular traffic and parking on public streets and rights of way to repurpose the urban, outdoor common space for expanded dining, seating and public use.
Staff also worked with Duball to modify the streetery on East Montgomery Avenue to allow for eastbound traffic, a pickup/drop-off lane along the south curb, and an outdoor dining tent for World of Beer along the north curb.
Citing the success of outdoor dining and the desire of businesses for it to continue, in July, the Mayor and Council authorized continuing the street closures and pickup lanes through Oct. 31.
Potential options to be considered during the Sept. 9 meeting include whether to continue the street closures year-round with the potential for heated tents, to close streets only in warm weather months or only on weekends, and whether to temporarily continue 15-minute free curbside pickup parking spaces in Town Center.
Find information for how to join the meeting online with the Sept. 9 calendar listing at www.rockvillemd.gov/calendar.aspx.
El Mercat Bar De Tapas will be taking over the spot that was most recently home to Gumbo Ya Ya at 101 Gibbs Street Unit C in Rockville Town Square.
It has been over a year since La Tasca announced its permanent closure in Rockville Town Square– leaving the square without a tapas restaurant.
Plaza Oaxaca, a Mexican restaurant, has already opened in the La Tasca location, but many have expressed their desire for tapas to return to the area. El Mercat hopes to fill the void, albeit in a smaller storefront than La Tasca was in.
In addition to Gumbo Ya Ya, Lab Cafe, Ev & Maddy’s, No. 82 Steak Out, and Tippy’s Taco House have all has their turn at the Unit C location on 101 Gibbs Street since 2012.
We currently do not have any additional information, but will be able to provide it as soon as we do.
It has been about a year and a half since Bar Louie closed both MoCo locations.While we reported the replacement for the Wheaton location back in June, the Rockville location replacement remained a mystery– until now.
Federal Realty has included two new tenants in its latest site plan and tenant roster, and it looks as though Lagos Bar & Grill will be taking over the 6,599 square foot location that used to be home to Bar Louie in Rockville Town Square.
We assume the restaurant will serve Nigerian cuisine, as Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria. We reached out to similarly-named and Burtonsville-based Lagos Kitchen Bar & Grill, a catering company that serves Nigerian cuisine, but were told that it is not them that will be opening in Rockville Town Square.
The site map for Rockville Town Square can be seen below. We’ll provide more information as soon as it is made available to us.
Rockville Town Square Parking Garages Now FREE for 2 Hours Without Validation
For years many have complained about the parking situation at Rockville Town Square. Though parking was free for the first two hours with validation, many didn’t want to deal with the hassle and blamed it for not visiting the center according to multiple comments on various MoCoShow social media posts.
Validation is no longer necessary, according to a social media post by popular Rockville Town Square restaurant, La Canela, that we’ve been able to confirm.
The new fees can be seen below, along with La Canela’s post:
“We are happy to announce that parking is now FREE for 2 hours WITHOUT VALIDATION at all 3 garages! You no longer need to worry about validations or bringing your ticket in!
These are the new parking rates at Rockville Town Square
0-2 hours: Free
2-3 hours: $1
3-4 hours: $3
4-5 hours: $5
We look forward to seeing you all soon!”
Rockville Town Square’s Interactive Fountain Opens Today
After remaining closed for over a year due to pandemic restrictions, the interactive fountain/splash pads in Rockville Town Square are reopening today.
The city recently proposed keeping the Streetery on Gibbs open through the summer and the opening of the fountain will now provide more entertainment for kids, while providing an opportunity for anyone to cool off.
A Mexican restaurant, Plaza Oaxaca, also recently opened in Rockville Town Square.
Featured photo courtesy of Rockville Town Square.
DC Based Thai Chef Street Food is Coming to Rockville Town Square
Thai Chef Street Food will open in late summer at Rockville Town Square in Rockville, MD. The 3,535-square-foot restaurant will feature authentic Bangkok-style vendor food found along the streets of the Thai capital.
This will be Thai Chef’s first location in the Maryland suburbs and will offer a vibrant and modern atmosphere. There is also a location in Dupont Circle, in Washington D.C.
“Street food has become a fan favorite over the years for many people and Thai Chef’s twist on the genre is a unique and welcome addition to the Rockville Town Square neighborhood,” said Dan Corwin of Federal. “Federal is always on the search for new restaurants to complement our merchant mix and we are excited Thai Chef will join the many other retail and restaurant concepts in the neighborhood.”
Opening at 29 Maryland Avenue in the Town Square, Thai Chef joins neighborhood favorites including La Canela, Spice Xing, Peter Chang, and the soon to open Plaza Oaxaca and HalfSmoke. It’s taking over the old Thai Pavilion location.
“We believe that if you haven’t had Thai street food, you haven’t had Thai food,” said Chalisa Fitts, of Thai Chef. “We look forward to getting to know the community and showcasing our Thai favorites such as Moo-phing, BBQ pork on skewers and Catfish Dry Curry, fried catfish filet sautéed with spicy curry paste, Thai eggplant, wild finger root, kaffir lime, peppercorn and fresh basil, as well as our handcrafted specialty cocktails.”
The restaurant’s hours will be Sunday – Thursday 11:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. and Friday – Saturday 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. For more information, menus and photos visit Thai Chef Street Food’s website here.
Plaza Oaxaca to Open on May 8th in Rockville Town Square
Plaza Oaxaca is scheduled to open on Saturday, May 8th in Rockville Town Square:
Featuring authentic Mexican fare and hand-crafted cocktails, Plaza Oaxaca is located at 141 Gibbs Street in the Town Square– the former location of La Tasca.
The restaurant’s hours will be Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Pictured below you’ll see a few items from the restaurant’s menu:
Tacos Al Pastor
Tacos de chapulines (cricket tacos)
Tlayuda
Margarita de Jamaica
Per the restaurant’s website, “The menu that we offer in Plaza Oaxaca is elaborated with great dedication and expertise by our highly qualified team, we delicately elaborate one of our specialties, the famous Oaxacan Mole ; Without leaving aside the wonderful drink of the pre-Hispanic gods and named by scientists at the Illinois Institute in Chicago as the best alcohol distillate in the world,
The Mezcal . In Plaza Oaxaca we cook, we share, we toast, but we never forget that Mezcal is for everything bad, for everything good, also and if there is no remedy, a liter and a half.”
Rockville Town Square Announces “The Streetery on Gibbs”
The Streetery is the new open-air urban common space at Rockville Town Square made possible through a partnership with Federal Realty Investment Trust, Montgomery County, and the City of Rockville.
The pedestrian-friendly environment, created by Gaithersburg-based Syzygy Events International, comprises 15,000 square feet with curated seating areas and pods for more than 70 people for outdoor dining and work.
“The City of Rockville is thrilled to partner with Federal in creating The Streetery on Gibbs, a unique outdoor destination for Rockville’s Town Square and surrounding neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton. “Providing people with extended outdoor dining and gathering spaces, as well as supporting our Rockville businesses, and welcoming new ones during this challenging time remains a focus of the Mayor and Council. This includes our continued partnership with Federal and Rockville Town Square.”
Rockville Town Square patrons can enjoy The Streetery while dining at popular restaurants including Finnegan’s, La Canela, First Watch and the soon-to-be opened Plaza Oaxaca.
MoCo Spotlight: Shop Local– An Incubator of Woman Entrepreneurs in Rockville Town Square
In celebration of Women’s History Month (March), we honor women’s contributions to history, culture, society and business by putting a spotlight on Shop Local– an incubator of women entrepreneurs located at Rockville Town Square in Rockville (36-D Maryland Ave).
The number of women-owned businesses worldwide continues to rise and locally, 41.9 percent of businesses in the DMV area are women-owned.
Sponsored by the Maryland Women Business Center, Shop Local hosts startups at zero cost and provides resources and services to help these women grow their businesses.
Shop Local has launched numerous successful small businesses across the region. Many have wonderful stories to share.
Its current set of entrepreneurs include:
• Mel Handcraft – Owned by Martha Vergara, Mel Handcraft creates wearable art for women who share their love of nature, sustainability and are the designers of their own lives.
• Chocolisious – Owned by Silvia Oriani, Chocolisious makes and sells handmade chocolates filled with Brazilian flavors.
• Nature by Trejok – Kenia Garcia sells vintage handmade pieces such as facemasks, home decor, tabletop and kitchen supplies, shoes, bags and skin care products.
• Lamimboutique – Mara Bonilla created a one stop shop for handmade toys, gifts and accessories.
• Violet Red Studio – Violet Barcenas makes colorful art prints and greeting cards.
You can follow Shop Local on Instagram, here.
Please feel free to comment with a wonderful woman-owned business that you enjoy here in Montgomery County.
