Fallsgrove Village Center, on Shady Grove Road and Fallsgrove Boulvevard Across from Shady Grove Hospital - Rockville

[DonRocks]

Fallsgrove Village Center is operated by Lerner Retail (yes, those Lerners), and is the closest sign of civilization - assuming you can call this civilization - to Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical, i.e., Shady Grove Hospital: It's right across Shady Grove Road from it.

The hub of this large, modern, "village-looking" shopping center is a huge Safeway, and you'll see in a minute why it will come in handy, should you ever be laid up at the hospital.

There is *nothing* - and I mean nothing - of culinary interest in the entire shopping center. Not one thing.

About the only "novel" thing is a California franchise, Melt Gelato, but don't be fooled into thinking you've stumbled upon a mom-n-pop; you haven't: 

Well, I suppose it's "novel" that Krispy Kreme has a drive-thru window (which it does): 

Food-wise, even though it's gone seriously downhill in the past 25 years, you might as well try Moby Dick: 

Or, if it's for a hospital patient, then Smoothie King: 

If you're in college, there's a WingStop: 

I'd always wondered if Taipei Tokyo was a hairstylist or a restaurant: 

And I have Cheeburger Cheeburger ranked among the *worst* hamburger chains in the DC area: I've eaten there precisely once, nor will I ever go back: 

DanielK says there's one Mamma Lucia that's good in Rockville, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean this one: 

It should come as no surprise what your other four choices are: 

But, I did save the one-and-only best bet for last. Never has a shopping center needed this place as much as FallsGrove Village Center does: 

 

[pras]

About a block away, as the crow flies at 9210 Corporate Boulevard, there is a very good breakfast/lunch counter on the ground floor called LJ's.  I used to work in that building (3 years ago).  The owner Johnny is a good guy.

[DanielK]

It's one of the more consistent Moby Dick locations.

Wingstop makes perfectly good wings, and will happily hard fry. Their mobile ordering is brilliant.

That is NOT the good Mamma Lucia location - the good one is in Federal Plaza on Rockville Pike.

[LauraB]

We lived in Fallsgrove for 5 years and I can mostly confirm that the dining options in the shopping center are pretty awful.  The only place that we frequented (for carryout) was the Chipotle and I have to say that it was the best Chipotle that we've ever been to -- and we've been to a few.  The food was consistently good and the service was always good.  My data on this is 3 years old, so things might have changed.  We just know that after we moved away, any Chipotle that we tried suffered by comparison.  

The worst thing about the Fallsgrove center is the parking lot.  It's universally reviled by anyone having to frequent this center.  We mostly walked to the center because it was just a few blocks away, but when we did drive, we almost always parked either on the street, or in the hidden section next to the Liquor Store.  The main lot is a nightmare due to bad design and very narrow lanes and spaces.  And too much traffic!  Don't even attempt to drive into this parking lot during the lunch rush!

The good news: just a 2-minute drive west on Shady Grove will deliver you to the original Cava Mezze.  We were regulars there.  Don't know how it has fared since they've undertaken their major expansion into numerous Cava Grills and a couple of other Mezze locations.  

[silentbob]

On 7/8/2016 at 2:41 PM, LauraB said:

We lived in Fallsgrove for 5 years and I can mostly confirm that the dining options in the shopping center are pretty awful.  The only place that we frequented (for carryout) was the Chipotle and I have to say that it was the best Chipotle that we've ever been to -- and we've been to a few.  The food was consistently good and the service was always good.  My data on this is 3 years old, so things might have changed.  We just know that after we moved away, any Chipotle that we tried suffered by comparison.  

The worst thing about the Fallsgrove center is the parking lot.  It's universally reviled by anyone having to frequent this center.  We mostly walked to the center because it was just a few blocks away, but when we did drive, we almost always parked either on the street, or in the hidden section next to the Liquor Store.  The main lot is a nightmare due to bad design and very narrow lanes and spaces.  And too much traffic!  Don't even attempt to drive into this parking lot during the lunch rush!

+1 to all of this, especially the hidden parking lot.  Until last year, I had lived in Fallsgrove since its inception in 2002, and ate in the shopping center no more than a handful of times during that period.

The Starbucks was fine, as was the County liquor store, but that's about it.  Even the Safeway was meh.  Having the Kidville for our toddler's music/gym classes and the Haircuttery a block away was convenient though.

[bookluvingbabe]

Cheeburger's burgers are forgettable but the onion rings are quite lovely.  And having a krispy kreme just across the street from the pediatrician comes in handy on those days when a vaccine is due.

Beyond that, it is pretty meh.