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Dining in Rockville (and Rockville Town Center)


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This is contrasted with Rockville town center, where only Spice Xing and Bobby's Crabcakes are locally-owned non-chains.

Ummm, wrong.

Of the 24 places to eat and drink in Rockville Town Square, fully 12 of of them are either sole proprietor shops (such as the two you name), or small locally owned chains (such as Primo Italiano or Lebanese Taverna).

Kentlands has it's share of Buca di Beppo, Cosi, etc.

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This is contrasted with Rockville town center, where only Spice Xing and Bobby's Crabcakes are locally-owned non-chains.


Ummm, wrong.

Of the 24 places to eat and drink in Rockville Town Square, fully 12 of of them are either sole proprietor shops (such as the two you name), or small locally owned chains (such as Primo Italiano or Lebanese Taverna).

Kentlands has it's share of Buca di Beppo, Cosi, etc.

I count 6 independent, non-chain restaurants out of the 24:

Berrycup, Bobby's Crabcakes, Carbon Peruvian Chicken Grill, La Canela (debatable), Spice Xing, and Thai Pavilion.

So I think the answer is neither two "locally-owned non-chains," nor twelve (which spuriously added locally owned chains to the original count), but six. And in a development like Rockville Square, 6 out of 24 locally owned non-chains isn't bad.

Will Berrycup become a chain one day? Gosh, how can it not at least try? But for now, it is what it is. And I see three gems here: Bobby's Crabcakes, Spice-Xing, and La Canela. Are there more?

Don't be surprised if you see (or hear about) me walking around outside one day, handing out leaflets directing people to Bobby's, Spice-Xing, and La Canela. I cherish these three restaurants.

Cheers,
Rocks.

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Oro Pomodoro is local. The owners have other restaurants in the area, but it's not a chain.

And three more places have only 2 locations, hardly a chain: Primo Italiano (both local), Taste of Saigon (both local), Sushi Damo (one in NY).

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Oro Pomodoro is local. The owners have other restaurants in the area, but it's not a chain.

Make that seven, and thanks for the correction.

And three more places have only 2 locations, hardly a chain: Primo Italiano (both local), Taste of Saigon (both local), Sushi Damo (one in NY).

And with that, we'll just have to agree to disagree (as I think a chain consists of two-or-more links). But I can easily see how someone else might not - you've done your diligence, for sure.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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OK, so technicalities, corrections and debates aside....

My original point was going to be that Kentlands had an edge over Rockville TownSquare as an area that was a kind of incubator for local, creative restaurants. I'm happy to be proven wrong, and concede that both have their charms. I was going from memory, where I read when Bobby's opened it was the only non-chain in the place (maybe that wasn't true) and a more recent article where the owners of the buildings were more comfortable renting to chains for a number of obvious reasons.

So "edge" isn't the right word, and Kentlands has a handful of chains. I'm just happy to have both as options that didn't exist 10-20 years ago.

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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

La Canela is very good, and their sister chicken joint (also on Gibbs) is good as well.

On the square, we also go to Oro Pomodoro, and occasionally, Lebanese Taverna. Taste of Saigon is fine, if nothing remarkable.

The rest of the places are indeed crap.

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La Canela is very good, and their sister chicken joint (also on Gibbs) is good as well.

On the square, we also go to Oro Pomodoro, and occasionally, Lebanese Taverna. Taste of Saigon is fine, if nothing remarkable.

The rest of the places are indeed crap.

I'll admit, I haven't been to La Canela because it's pretty light on vegetarian options. I have heard good things about it. I was disappointed in Oro Pomodoro the time I went. I didn't think it was terrible, but I wasn't eager to return. Lebanese Taverna is ok, agreed, but a very different restaurant from Bobby's in terms of quality (even price-adjusted).

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I'll admit, I haven't been to La Canela because it's pretty light on vegetarian options. I have heard good things about it. I was disappointed in Oro Pomodoro the time I went. I didn't think it was terrible, but I wasn't eager to return. Lebanese Taverna is ok, agreed, but a very different restaurant from Bobby's in terms of quality (even price-adjusted).

Yeah, vegetarians would have a hard time at La Canela.

We happened to eat at Oro Pomodoro this evening. While I can't say that my margherita was as good as say Orso or Pupatella, I was quite satisfied. Good char on the chewy, flavorful crust, sauce not much more than crushed tomatoes, and excellent buffalo mozz.

And definitely agreed on Lebanese Taverna. I wasn't trying to compare any of these places to Bobby's, which we were frequent visitors to, just that there are other non-crap options in RTC. laugh.gif

Bottom line - everyone go make extra trips to Spice Xing and tell your friends, or I'm afraid they'll suffer the same fate buried over on Gibbs St.

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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.

I have been to buffalo wing, The kids thought it was really cool eating at a restaurant with fifty televisions. I liked their honey mustard sauce.

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I'll admit, I haven't been to La Canela because it's pretty light on vegetarian options. I have heard good things about it. I was disappointed in Oro Pomodoro the time I went. I didn't think it was terrible, but I wasn't eager to return. Lebanese Taverna is ok, agreed, but a very different restaurant from Bobby's in terms of quality (even price-adjusted).

 
Smokey, it's not technically in the RTC (just across the street) but Sichuan Pavillion is amazing -- I drive up regularly from Bethesda to dine there or to carry out. I can't help but significantly over-order -- and then I have great leftovers for several days thereafter. A vast menu, with many treasures, including vegetarian and seafood. Highly recommended. (P.S. Free parking, and I get the impression it's doing great business-wise.)

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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.

You know, that's the root of it - the RTC was picking up steam as the economy was losing it. Along with the economy went the chance of filling up the apartments at the asking price, and thus the grocery store doesn't come in. But I believe it continues to fail as the owner of the empty apartments and stores isn't willing to drop the prices enough to fill the place. There needs to be a certain "critical mass" for such a place to succeed, as it is so self-contained and not able to bank on passers-by to sustain businesses.

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You know, that's the root of it - the RTC was picking up steam as the economy was losing it. Along with the economy went the chance of filling up the apartments at the asking price, and thus the grocery store doesn't come in. But I believe it continues to fail as the owner of the empty apartments and stores isn't willing to drop the prices enough to fill the place. There needs to be a certain "critical mass" for such a place to succeed, as it is so self-contained and not able to bank on passers-by to sustain businesses.

Agreed. Also, many of the initial stores in the development were the kind of places you might buy something 1-2x/year, MAX (at least, that's as often as *I* would). If all of the condos and apartments were filled up, there might be enough sales from those folks, people in the community, etc. to make the one-off purchase type of business succeed. But those condos and apartments aren't moving. And, I agree with what Chef Sudhir said--the lack of a grocery store anchoring Gibb St. has hurt both Gibb St. and RTC. I don't think a grocery store is going to go in there. To the extent that it gets covered in the Gazette, I don't feel as though there is much effort to bring a different grocery store or other, similar business into that site. And as long as the site formerly meant for Superfresh sits vacant, it continues to depress foot traffic on Gibb St.

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Agreed. Also, many of the initial stores in the development were the kind of places you might buy something 1-2x/year, MAX (at least, that's as often as *I* would). If all of the condos and apartments were filled up, there might be enough sales from those folks, people in the community, etc. to make the one-off purchase type of business succeed. But those condos and apartments aren't moving. And, I agree with what Chef Sudhir said--the lack of a grocery store anchoring Gibb St. has hurt both Gibb St. and RTC. I don't think a grocery store is going to go in there. To the extent that it gets covered in the Gazette, I don't feel as though there is much effort to bring a different grocery store or other, similar business into that site. And as long as the site formerly meant for Superfresh sits vacant, it continues to depress foot traffic on Gibb St.

No, a grocery store isn't going there anytime soon. The trend in groceries is bigger - note the harris teeters and wegmans approach. Not to say a small one couldn't survive - but at this point, the landlord would have to give that space away (and frankly, I think they should...for now)

My ideal, as posted elsewhere, would be to give it away temporarily for a kind of coop food market or live-above arrangement for a family grocer. The space isn't making money anyway, so why not let it enhace the sales of the apartments and other storefronts with a tenent instead of deterring business without one? There may be a tax reason, IDK.

If not that, something. Give it to Joe's Crab Shack, Jos A Bank or a small Old Navy store. Something with traffic, even if a "lower rent" kind of place. Of course, I get the other side - that such chain places have strict guidelines for growth and locations. But SOMEONE would take it for free. SOMEONE would be willing to take the chance on setting up a store in exchange for free rent. IN the Kentlands area, such spaces are generally filled with services - music lessons, pottery, kung-fu classes, etc. At least open it up for community use - art displays, meetings, etc.

In the meantime, the brightly painted-over windows are just lipstick on the pig.

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I think Roots or MOM's could do well there, especially if they could do some sort of validated parking thing. I much prefer shopping at MOM's and at Roots but they are just enough out of my way that I don't frequent them. Or I schlep up to Frederick for Common Market and MOM's in one swoop.

During the summer we are there often for the splash fountain. Dinner was usually Bobby's or the tapas place. Now that Bobby's is gone, we are going to Spice Xing the next time we are there. But with winter coming, I can't see us there much without the lure of some sort of anchor store to bring us in.

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I drove around RTC today as I was on Rockville Pike and I read this thread last night. Just my 2¢ and I am probably stating the obvious but . . . things don't look too promising there. Lots of for rent signs at RTC and nearby. Bobby's and Gifford's are probably the most discussed ones on this board but there seem to be pretty many other vacancies along North Washington Street not in RTC. Also note that Harris Teeter is now at 270 and Montrose Rd. in a place called "Park Potomac Luxury Community". This is a relatively big store, relatively close to RTC with easy access and parking. At the risk of overstating the obvious, I tend to think that the Rockville area in general is overbuilt right now and it will take some time before there is enough demand for all of the shops and restaurants at RTC. Personally, I have always enjoyed the two Asian grocery stores which have been near RTC for a pretty long time. One is on 355, the other is on N. Washington. Also a little further up 355 is a nice place called Mama Wok & Teriyaki. It has been there for a very long time and has a sister store on 28 which I have not visited. The one on 355 is next to a gun store, but I am probably getting way too far off topic.

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Visited family in Rockville last week and of course headed to as many restaurants as possible.

Againn: Very good hamburger, very good old-fashions that tasted more like Manhattans but I didn't care, creamy, potted pork came with delicious onion chutney but I still would have preferred the pork to have been tastier. Bangers and mash were judged fair and cheddar soup too salty.

La Canela: Tender calamari appetizer with good tartar sauce and sliced red onions, Mixto was very spicy hot, lamb shoulder was falling off the bone tender and its sauce was very tasty and complex, two different Piscos were great.

Lebanese Taverna: Will not return, chicken was dry and tough, baklava small and dry.

Bob's Noodles: Great as usual. Taiwanese Hamburger came in a sweet bun and filling was sweet and tasty. Ginger chicken casserole very good as was whatever noodle dish I chose. Oyster appetizer is a stand by order. In the past, I've had their flounder steaks---very fresh, cooked perfectly, yummy sauce.

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No, a grocery store isn't going there anytime soon. The trend in groceries is bigger - note the harris teeters and wegmans approach. Not to say a small one couldn't survive - but at this point, the landlord would have to give that space away (and frankly, I think they should...for now)

My ideal, as posted elsewhere, would be to give it away temporarily for a kind of coop food market or live-above arrangement for a family grocer. The space isn't making money anyway, so why not let it enhace the sales of the apartments and other storefronts with a tenent instead of deterring business without one? There may be a tax reason, IDK.

If not that, something. Give it to Joe's Crab Shack, Jos A Bank or a small Old Navy store. Something with traffic, even if a "lower rent" kind of place. Of course, I get the other side - that such chain places have strict guidelines for growth and locations. But SOMEONE would take it for free. SOMEONE would be willing to take the chance on setting up a store in exchange for free rent. IN the Kentlands area, such spaces are generally filled with services - music lessons, pottery, kung-fu classes, etc. At least open it up for community use - art displays, meetings, etc.

In the meantime, the brightly painted-over windows are just lipstick on the pig.

So to respond to myself, looks like the tide is actually turning to smaller, urban groceries. Maybe there's hope in Rockville after all. While the housing market is fitful at best, the trend is convincingly less new construction - which should also help established locations like RTC.

What the MD suburbs really need? Someone with the guts to make a place like the Pittsburgh 'strip district' or other such gritty but functional place. Don't sanitize it too much, just get some decent, different offerings, some personality, some activity...

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New places coming to Rockville Town Center in the next few months:

American Tap Room - local DC chain (this is the 4th location)

Pho n Rolls - looks like a non-chain? could be interesting.

Vie de France - (don't they specialize in truck stops?)

Bar Louie - locations in all states that contain a vowel.

Most importantly, "Dawson's Market" is coming to RTC, an organic grocery with one other location in Richmond. This could be a game changer for the area - I believe it has been discussed here before but not on this thread. Things seem to looking up - too bad bobby's crabcakes didn't survive to see (if) the changes help.

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New places coming to Rockville Town Center in the next few months:

American Tap Room - local DC chain (this is the 4th location)

Pho n Rolls - looks like a non-chain? could be interesting.

Vie de France - (don't they specialize in truck stops?)

Bar Louie - locations in all states that contain a vowel.

Most importantly, "Dawson's Market" is coming to RTC, an organic grocery with one other location in Richmond. This could be a game changer for the area - I believe it has been discussed here before but not on this thread. Things seem to looking up - too bad bobby's crabcakes didn't survive to see (if) the changes help.

Good luck to Dawson's et al, but this game has been changing for quite some time - in the wrong direction - and at this point, the dealer has an ace upcard to the player's 16. First Clarendon, then Columbia Heights, now Rockville Town Centre. It's ugly out there. And I mean that quite literally.

Real estate developers are right alongside car salesmen and personal injury attorneys on the Rockwell List of Subspecies of Pond Scum. "Fuck 'em and retire to Florida before they realize they've been fucked." That's my creed.

And if the DC area gets one more restaurant that serves chicken wings, calamari, Caesar salad, half-pound burger, grilled salmon, house-cut fries, all alongside a token vegetarian pasta dish in a cream sauce, then I'm moving to Guinea-Bissau, but I'm going to puke before I do.

Good morning to everyone.

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Good luck to Dawson's et al, but this game has been changing for quite some time - in the wrong direction - and at this point, the dealer has an ace upcard to the player's 16. First Clarendon, then Columbia Heights, now Rockville Town Centre. It's ugly out there. And I mean that quite literally.

Real estate developers are right alongside car salesmen and personal injury attorneys on the Rockwell List of Subspecies of Pond Scum. "Fuck 'em and retire to Florida before they realize they've been fucked." That's my creed.

And if the DC area gets one more restaurant that serves chicken wings, calamari, Caesar salad, half-pound burger, grilled salmon, house-cut fries, all alongside a token vegetarian pasta dish in a cream sauce, then I'm moving to Guinea-Bissau, but I'm going to puke before I do.

Good morning to everyone.

A good morning indeed!

I should have clarified that I thought Dawson's was a game changer in terms of filling the RTC finally - mostly the residences.

I also still contend, as I did far, far above in this chain, that RTC is chain friendly and not mom-and-pop friendly, and thus didn't mean to imply that things were looking up from a restaurant perspective.

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And if the DC area gets one more restaurant that serves chicken wings, calamari, Caesar salad, half-pound burger, grilled salmon, house-cut fries, all alongside a token vegetarian pasta dish in a cream sauce, then I'm moving to Guinea-Bissau, but I'm going to puke before I do.

You forgot lobster rolls

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To add a data point--we had dinner at No. 82 Steak Out on Saturday night about 8:00 PM, and they were full. Nice to see them have a busy restaurant--when we've been at other times (mostly off-hours), they've been mostly empty. They are a friendly bunch.

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Well, in the last year RTC has lost Cosi, Pho&Rolls, Oro Pomodoro, Taste of Saigon, No. 82 Steak Out, Potomac River Running, and Carbon. Apparently.

Meanwhile, moving in are "Miso Cafe" and Samovar, a Russian restaurant that will be run by a couple of folks from Tajikistan. Link

Also open now is Ev & Maddy's, which is apparently "contemporary, French-inspired cuisine in a trendy, yet cozy atmosphere."

I wonder how many more years Jin River and Bob's will continue to be able to exist in the area? Development has been pretty slow, but those buildings are going to get torn down sooner or later.

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I wonder how many more years Jin River and Bob's will continue to be able to exist in the area? Development has been pretty slow, but those buildings are going to get torn down sooner or later.

I'm wondering, in the shorter horizon, how Jin River will fare after Peter Chang's opens essentially across the street.

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The new Pike & Rose area is Rockville, to those who grew up in this area, but now totes itself as North Bethesda. (I see Don has noted it as South Rockville in the City Perch thread) So I am wondering if anyone has been to any of the restaurants there yet. A couple from the Lettuce Entertain You group, Stella Barra Pizzeria and Summer House Santa Monica, plus Del Friscos, the aforementioned City Perch, and a one "coming soon" from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Also a ShopHouse Asian KItchen is there--that's quite an assortment in a relatively smaill footprint, compared to the RTC.

Thus far I've only had a snack or two at the theater, and I understand the food is catered by City Perch. I'm seeing a film there this afternoon and will post if we eat dinner at any of these places. If anyone else has tried any of them out yet, I would love to have the input!

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The new Pike & Rose area is Rockville, to those who grew up in this area, but now totes itself as North Bethesda. (I see Don has noted it as South Rockville in the City Perch thread) So I am wondering if anyone has been to any of the restaurants there yet. A couple from the Lettuce Entertain You group, Stella Barra Pizzeria and Summer House Santa Monica, plus Del Friscos, the aforementioned City Perch, and a one "coming soon" from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Also a ShopHouse Asian KItchen is there--that's quite an assortment in a relatively smaill footprint, compared to the RTC.

Thus far I've only had a snack or two at the theater, and I understand the food is catered by City Perch. I'm seeing a film there this afternoon and will post if we eat dinner at any of these places. If anyone else has tried any of them out yet, I would love to have the input!

Stella Barra is worth trying (for now) - with Joe's Stone Crab in the area, it may even be worth getting a Lettuce Entertain You card for some people.

I refuse to call anything north of Old Georgetown Road "North Bethesda." It reminds me of when developers/realtors in Gaithersburg/Derwood came up with "North Potomac," even though it was east of Route 355! I'm sorry, but stop deluding yourselves: You live in Derwood.

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I refuse to call anything north of Old Georgetown Road "North Bethesda." It reminds me of when developers/realtors in Gaithersburg/Derwood came up with "North Potomac," even though it was east of Route 355! I'm sorry, but stop deluding yourselves: You live in Derwood.

Possibly you mean Darnestown instead of Derwood, which is north of Rockville between Gaithersburg and Olney.  "North Potomac" is surrounded by Gaithersburg to the north, Rockville, to the east, Potomac to the south, and Darnestown to the west.

Did you know that zip code 20854 was once called Rockville?  I think it was the early '70s when it started to be called Potomac.

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I refuse to call anything north of Old Georgetown Road "North Bethesda." It reminds me of when developers/realtors in Gaithersburg/Derwood came up with "North Potomac," even though it was east of Route 355! I'm sorry, but stop deluding yourselves: You live in Derwood.

I think we should call that part of Rockville "North North Georgetown"?

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The new Pike & Rose area is Rockville, to those who grew up in this area, but now totes itself as North Bethesda. (I see Don has noted it as South Rockville in the City Perch thread)

Pike & Rose area (+ White Flint and really all of 20852) is not really Rockville though. Since Rockville is an incorporated city that does not begin for another half mile or so up the Pike at Rollins Ave/Twinbrook Pkwy. 20852 has long needed a name. I mean, is Georgetown Prep in Rockville? Is Strathmore?

People have used Rockville because of Rockville Pike (which is not even the name of 355 in downtown Rockville) and USPS defaults to Rockville for 20852. Of course realtors and developers are going to pick up the slack if no one else comes up with a more official name. Now people are trying to push "The Pike District." Not happening. I like Don's humbler South Rockville :P

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Pike & Rose area (+ White Flint and really all of 20852) is not really Rockville though. Since Rockville is an incorporated city that does not begin for another half mile or so up the Pike at Rollins Ave/Twinbrook Pkwy. 20852 has long needed a name. I mean, is Georgetown Prep in Rockville? Is Strathmore?

People have used Rockville because of Rockville Pike (which is not even the name of 355 in downtown Rockville) and USPS defaults to Rockville for 20852. Of course realtors and developers are going to pick up the slack if no one else comes up with a more official name. Now people are trying to push "The Pike District." Not happening. I like Don's humbler South Rockville :P

I think you pretty much summed it up, but there is a difference between City of Rockville and Rockville.  Something can be located in Rockville and have a Rockville zip code, but not lie within the City of Rockville limits.

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My business card says North Bethesda, MD 20852. I still tell people that I work in Rockville. North Bethesda is a figment of the "developer of the townhouses that I can see out my office window's" imagination.

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Real Estate values are relative, and the name is important to setting the "tone" for the property values of the area.

I therefore propose either "East Beverly Hills", "North Boca Raton" or "South-south Manhattan".

That or go with the Jon Taffer approach with Piratz Tavern and call it "Corporateville"

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Thank you for this thread.  I find it interesting, specifically that I used to lease retail and restaurant space, albeit most of the retail/restaurant space I did was in the 1980's and early 1990's.....a lifetime ago with regard to the life span of most restaurants.  Some observations:

1.  Specifically in the 1980's and continuing for at least 2 decades Rockville Pike and certain areas immediately adjacent and readily accessible were considered one of the gold mine retail corridors in the entire country.  I have no idea how it would be viewed currently, but I bet its still at least a highly desirable location.  Compared to most parts of the country there is enormous wealth and density along Rockville Pike, meaning tons of disposable income.

I represented a number of "chains" of various types that were national (and local operators) who were desperate for locations specifically on Rockville Pike.   From the perspective of the national chains they were always stunned by the relatively high rents.  Its a high rent corridor now; its been a high rent corridor for decades.

At least back in the 1980's into the early 1990's Rockville Pike was considered to be superior to virtually all Virginia locations save Tysons Corner... a retail goldmine yet a specific node that to a certain extent sucked retail business and dollars away from many vital towns and corridors within Northern Virginia.    My guess is that more parts of  Northern Va are seen as more vital now, though I am far from current on that issue;  its a stab in the dark.

2.  As vital and as much money is spent along the Rockville Pike corridor on food the competition is simply astounding.   The fact is that as you travel along parts of Rockville Pike basically from what was traditionally described as North Bethesda or roughly a little South of the Whiteflint Mall site to roughly North of where Rockville Town Center is located there are Hundreds of places that compete for the public's dining dollars.   HUNDREDS!!!!!

I used Yelp as a tool.  (sorry Don)    Its actually a great retail directory despite its issues as a review site and a bully.   Start at what Yelp (or google maps) describes as North Bethesda area and eventually scroll up to just North of the area around Rockville Town Center (RTC) and you will count hundreds of places that compete for the dining dollar from fast food joints to sandwich places to finer dining.  The competition is ferocious and its far more voluminous than it was decades ago.

Rents were high decades ago.  They must be far higher today.   For RTC I'm sure the landlord has expensive Common Area Maintenance charges--Common Area Maintenance=CAM.   That makes it more expensive.

In any case I find it "sad" to see the turnover at RTC as described above and over the last 5 years....but I'm sure its a function of competition, high occupancy costs, and frankly a bunch of restaurants or places to eat that simply don't stand out enough to draw the crowds that would make it work.

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I live in 20850 but outside of Rockville city limits. Sucks when it snows as the county forgets about us. Fairly close to Cava and accross from Lakewood Coutry Club. my neighbor like to call itself The Willows of Potomac, but we are not Potomac.

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FWIW, when White Flint opened, and when I worked there in the 80's it was in Kensington, MD. Didn't need to have the North Bethesda moniker initiallly but that eventually changed. But where Korvettes was, and where Pike and Rose is now, at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike, it was still considered Rockville. (Rockville, like Silver Spring, covers a large expansive area that includes areas beyond the city limits.) Having spent many a Saturday afternoon after religous school at that Korvettes, that area will always remain just plain old "Rockville" to me. Now I feel like such an old fart, stubborn and resistant to change, reminiscing LOL. :blink:

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Possibly you mean Darnestown instead of Derwood, which is north of Rockville between Gaithersburg and Olney. "North Potomac" is surrounded by Gaithersburg to the north, Rockville, to the east, Potomac to the south, and Darnestown to the west.

Did you know that zip code 20854 was once called Rockville? I think it was the early '70s when it started to be called Potomac.

No, I mean I have a good friend who's a realtor, and who bought his "dream house" about twenty years ago, east of Route 355 off the Shady Grove Road exit (you take the Redland Blvd. Spur), and he calls it - no, he gloats, that it's North Potomac; I don't ever want him to read this, because it's Derwood, and I've never had the heart to tell him.

post-2-0-24710800-1427781203_thumb.png

The Jerry's spot on Gibbs Street still remains vacant, albeit the Federal Realty brass has decided to keep the ugly yellow lights on since a couple of weeks. thank God for small mercies :)

Oh, Sudhir. Your "Member Group" is such tacky humor. Truly. Aren't you ashamed? Do you feel no loss of dignity?

(Hit the "Snapback Arrow" on Sudhir's quoted text to be transported to Sudhir's post, #24.) Oh, the shame.

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I used Yelp as a tool. (sorry Don) Its actually a great retail directory despite its issues as a review site and a bully.

I swear to you all that it doesn't bother me if you cite *any* other website here, including Yelp! If you used it to find out information, I *ask* that you give it proper citation. I use Yelp quite a bit - it helps me: 1) check websites, 2) sometimes check months of openings and closings 3) get owners' names - actual, useful, stuff, and I'm glad I have it as a reference tool. If anyone uses it as a review tool, I ask you to cite it, just as I've always asked everyone to cite the original newsbreakers of things (which is generally not Eater; in fact, it's generally the organizations that scour public records which I just haven't bothered to do - it's just *so much* easier to cite them! :)).

I have no problem in saying that what I don't like about Yelp! are the underhanded ways they used to get so big: threatening and harassing businesses, planting reviews both positive and negative - especially for thinly populated parts of the country, but mainly using threats as extortion. Of *course* their reviews are lame, but I don't hate them for that, and never have, and never will.

Unfortunately, we have hauntingly similar business models, once all the ritz and glitz has all been stripped away, and the two companies should be valued much, much more closely than we are, but the fact is that we aren't, and it's because I've never "gone the last mile" in making a nice-looking website that is thrown in peoples' faces, and I've never harassed businesses for money. Unfortunately, very, very few of the small businesses in the past ten years that I've supported have supported us back; when, in fact, we needed them desperately; instead, once they grew beyond the point where they needed us, they simply walked away. This has happened dozens and dozens of times, both with businesses and with individuals. Members of the press who recognize what we are, and what we do, give us enormous respect - up until the point when they're told not to by the companies they now work for (writers inevitably change jobs, and wind up at the three or four biggest publications which deliberately ignore us because we're "competition," and these once-honorable individuals just end up selling out - instead of being loyal to the one publication that lauded them when nobody knew about them, they just walked away, and never looked back).

I'll be making an announcement soon, and this all is going to come into play. It's something I've thought about for a long, long time, and the time is right: Matt is going off to college, I'll probably need to be moving, and I have no restraints whatsoever on where I need to be living, or what I need to be doing. I could possibly stay the course, and play the game of PR, advertising, and, of course, harassing struggling businesses and charging for employee placement (the average headhunter charges a month's salary; I always did it as a favor, both to the business I was helping, and to the individual I was supposedly friends with). Very few people have even said thank you, and one very famous individual didn't even tell me he had hired the person I hooked him up with - I wasn't going to charge him, so what difference would it have made?

Our so-called "core membership" of about thirty people bailed on us about ten years ago, mainly due to the work of one, particularly psychotic individual who shall remain unnamed. That one individual has more recently been joined by another, and also has several "friends" (to whom she does a splendid job of appearing perfectly normal), and this outcast made it her life's ambition to malign me personally, and to keep this website underwater. Oh, we've had a couple other complete, unadulterated, crazies, too, but nobody was as dangerous as this one particular person was. I've never complained about it, but I have retained all the evidence should I ever need it (and I suspect that one day, I just might - we're talking *that* level of crazy). It takes months - literally months - of hard, focused work - to recover from the damage that these crazies do, even though this is completely invisible to everyone here because I've made it as such. I once had a conversation with Jim Leff of Chowhound - we compared notes, and we were both horrified to find out that he, too, had suffered at the hands of this deranged individual. He wrote a very interesting article that, while not exactly applicable to us, isn't all that far off the mark: "Always Talk To The Mask."

I'd like to end this little rant which this post turned into, by saying that I genuinely love (truly, love) well over 99.9% of the people here; it's those several looney tunes - bonafide crazies - condemned into existence by the laws of mass statistics - that I would do anything to stay away from for the rest of my life. It is for you, the 99.9%, that I have kept the fire burning - to help you out in any way I could, to make your lives better, more entertaining, easier, more fun, and just to give you a little something to look forward to. I truly love you all, more than you know.

As for the businesses who should have been here, supporting us, no hard feelings - it's your call and your call alone. *I* would have done things differently, but even though I know full well that you're not my friends, and never have been, I understand it's all about money, and money does really fucked up things to people who would otherwise be genuinely decent human beings.

As for the PR, marketing, and "look" of this website, I have no one to blame but myself. There's a reason it couldn't get done, and I tried to explain that reason for over two years, and not one person showed any interest; actually one person did - she committed to me, and I told her the deepest, darkest, most private things of my entire life, only for this child to fall in love with some guy and move away. Yeah, I don't call that commitment, and to her credit, she's never used the personal information against me. The mistake I made was not to force her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and that was a big mistake - I am way too trusting of people. And a very similar thing happened recently too, although with a different subject matter.

Ten good years, and with a little tweaking, we could have been a multi-multi-million dollar company; with a little luck, the right connections, and some hard work, we could have been a billion-dollar company, but it was not to be. People want Yelp? That's what they'll have - consumers, businesses, media outlets, and everyone else: They'll have Yelp, and vague, nagging memories of what could have been. As for the people who have stolen my hard work and unparalleled expertise over the years, using me to benefit their careers while having one foot planted firmly atop my neck? They've got their own set of problems, and I wish them the best of luck - they're going to need it.

I have always said that this resource will not be fully discovered until after I'm gone, and by then it will be too late, and it will merely be a learning tool for the students of the future, and the historians of the past.

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Rockville Rewards launches on Sept 9, 2015. Rockville non-profits sell a $25 rewards card good through August 2016. Participating businesses offer discounts to reward cardholders. Some DR-mentioned restaurants include:  Ev & Maddy's (10% off dine-in, excludes HH), Quench (20% off at lunch), and Spice Xing (10% off entire check, excluding lunch buffet, max discount $20). Here is a list of the participating businesses. Non-profit partners keep 100% of card sales.

On opening day, Sept 9th, the cards will be on sale at these locations for $15 versus the regular $25. A $10 savings up front!

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