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Bobby's Crab Cakes, Bob Bloch's Wonderful Crab in Rockville Town Square - Closed


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I have always found that Gibbs is as inviting as a back alley, and all the beauty of one.

Yeah, especially on the north half. The south half is OK looking, and "First Watch" has a line every weekend morning I've been - but I've only been on weekend mornings :)

Id say two other factors are at play here:

1. The lack of tenants in the town center. I recently heard that less than 50% of the units built there are sold so far, years after completion. Of the sold ones, it is possible some aren't occupied, but you see the issue - not enough "walkables" to help sustain the businesses. Now, a business in that area will need more than just walkables - but small, one-off restaurants will have a hard time pulling in drivers compared to the chains, especially when they don't face a busy street. They need to quickly build a reputation or will fade, and need to survive on the neighborhood business in the meantime. If the neighborhood is only 1/2 what it should be - that's a challenge.

2. The lack of a grocery store on the north side of Gibbs - that alley feeling is due to that missing store. The space is too small (and not enough tenants yet) to support a Safeway or such chain. I've advocated that the owners, or even the city, should consider subsidizing a small grocery if it has too - but get a small grocery in there. A kind of all-purpose, family run place. Give the owner a free place to live. I envision something like the Strip district in Pittsburgh or the eastern market - more about the food and freshness than about bright lights and wide isles. That's my opinion - but the fact remains that without an anchor on that street, it becomes alley-like and hurts other businesses. There's a hair cuttery on the north side of La Tosca - I'm surprised they exist at all - if they still do. They're in neverland.

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The space is too small (and not enough tenants yet) to support a Safeway or such chain. I've advocated that the owners, or even the city, should consider subsidizing a small grocery if it has too - but get a small grocery in there.

Ever been to the Safeway in Rosslyn? Granted it attracts commuters and local residents, but it is quite small, but shows that the chains would be willing to downsize their footprints if they believe they will get customers.

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Ever been to the Safeway in Rosslyn? Granted it attracts commuters and local residents, but it is quite small, but shows that the chains would be willing to downsize their footprints if they believe they will get customers.

And there in lies the rub...

The customers aren't demonstrably there. A chicken and egg thing.

Someone had a lease on it before - FreshFields maybe? And paid the lease but never built the store because the surrounding occupancy rates never materialized. (and probably other factors too - but once you sign the lease, that would be one of the few reasons to actually withhold a build-out.) I understand they finally got out of the lease somehow...and I can't recall details past that...but I do get the sense that it is available for someone to move in, if someone wanted.

Bobby's and the rest all took the chance on the population.

I think it'll be OK there in the long run - but once the economy turns, there will be some new and exciting neighborhood that rockville town center (RTC) will have to compete with, Probably the best thing that could happen to RTC would be a spike in gas prices, making their metro proximity more appealing. But that's just a guess.

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I think it'll be OK there in the long run - but once the economy turns, there will be some new and exciting neighborhood that rockville town center (RTC) will have to compete with, Probably the best thing that could happen to RTC would be a spike in gas prices, making their metro proximity more appealing. But that's just a guess.

And come from where exactly? The suburbs are woefully underserved by Metro (but that is not a new argument), but think about where people will be coming from via the Metro to use this town center. How many people live within walking distance of Shady Grove, Twinbrook, or White Flint? Why would someone drive to Shady Grove and not just continue on to the free parking at the town center? Would someone from other parts of the system pass by all the other choices just to go to what is quickly becoming another suburban bastion of chain blandness?

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Like most of the rest of MoCo, parking only free after 10pm and Sundays. :) :)

So to further entice people to visit, they charge for parking, while at the same time (at least in the evenings and Saturdays) Bethesda, Arlington, and Alexandria offer free parking – sounds like a great way to attract customers to your commercial tenants.

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And come from where exactly? The suburbs are woefully underserved by Metro (but that is not a new argument), but think about where people will be coming from via the Metro to use this town center. How many people live within walking distance of Shady Grove, Twinbrook, or White Flint? Why would someone drive to Shady Grove and not just continue on to the free parking at the town center? Would someone from other parts of the system pass by all the other choices just to go to what is quickly becoming another suburban bastion of chain blandness?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant that if gas prices were to shoot up and stay up, RTC might become a more appealing place to live - given its proximity to Metro. These people would therefore be residents of RTC, filling in the unsold units and (ideally) supporting the businesses there, even more so if they rely heavily on public transportation.

But that's just a theory and has a number of assumptions in it.

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..... to go to what is quickly becoming another suburban bastion of chain blandness?

And BTW, in another thread, I argued that RTC has a more "chain" feel than the Kentlands area. It was pointed out that both had chains. True, but I think the "powers that be" in the RTC are chain focused and in the long run that will keep it from being a unique or special place - rather just an outdoor version of the Rockville Mall. Pity, really.

I'd love to hear from the Bobby's owners, I think Mrs. Bobby posts here. I suspect the developer has such a heavy hand that the entire RTC suffers for it.

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I'm SO bummed about the loss of Bobby's. In looking upthread, i see I didn't post about my 2-3 experiences there in the past 6-9 months, but they were all fantastic. There was a lobster roll that I LOVED. Their crabcakes were fantastic. The fact that I went 2-3x in the past 6-9 months is actually saying something about how much I like it. I prob don't eat out more often than 1-2x/month, so I was spending a reasonable amount of my dining dollars there.

The whole thing bums me out not just because I thought bobby's was a good restaurant, but also because I so much wish that RTC would pull together into something, and instead it's falling apart into shit. bobby's and spice xing were/are the places that really sing there. almost every other restaurant that I've tried in RTC is either crap, or I don't need to bother with it, because I'm sure it's crap (buffalo wings sportz bar, I'm looking at you). I live nearby, so would be really pleased if it had more to offer.

ugh.

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Bobby and Saree (sp) stopped by for dinner at SpiceXing and had a nice long chat with them. For some reason this part of Rockville Town Center has been really hit hard with this economic downturn; as per Bobby this area never really took off - a long promised Food store has not materialized till date. There is no anchor store. Spice Xing has received great reviews but still has its empty days. Hoping some kind of direction will emerge after today's elections and the sputtering government will JUMP start itself.

God bless us all.

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