Dining in Beltsville and Laurel

[Pool Boy]

Interesting things continue to be afoot in Laurel/Beltsville, both on the food and development front.

Near Behke's there was a Wonder Bread factory store. That has been razed. Behkne's is currently attempted to lease the building that was at different times the home to its landscaping department and florist department, but before that was a pub of sorts called 'Donrose' or 'Dawnrose' or 'Don Row's' or something.  Down by Ikea-ish, there used to be a Dairy Queen that has also now been razed and a Patient First is rising from the ashes there.  There is a Mexican/Salvadoran/Central American restaurant on the northbound side of Route 1 just after you pass Powder Mill Road heading north (keep meaning to try, but restaurants rotate in and out of there pretty quickly).

The redevelopment of the former Laurel Mall is almost complete now as they have begun construction of new apartment buildings on the SW corner of the parcel. There is a place on the northbound side of Route 1 heading north that I think was called CJ Ferrari's. It's been closed for a good while now and has had a sign on it for maybe 12 to 18 months saying 'Chicken Loco Coming Soon'. I'll believe it when I see it. On the ashes of the been razed for a few years Bay and Surf site is an Advantage Health Urgent Care facility going up instead. Laurel Meat Market has coninued to tweak its internal footprint, mostly my replacing ancient freezers and refrigerator units with modern ones and fixing flooring issues. They have gotten a bit more modern with their meat cut descriptions too. Also, they have gotten used to requests like mine wanting 2" thick ribeyes and now they have them displayed there regularly.

The Konterra development is chugging along. Mot of the activity is centered in three places - at the intersection of Virginia Manor and Konterra Road right near the bridge over 95 (2 different large apartment complexes), on the very west end of Konterra Drive where it meets up with Old Gunpowder Road (lots of single family houses, now being advertised with bright yellow 'Montgomery County School district') and then the central core of what 'downtown' Konterra will be (mainly infrastructure work). I think it will be an active development zone for at least the next 5 years if not longer.

Lastly, I have to say I am pretty happy having a Harris Teeter just 5 minutes from my house. I pretty much only go there unless I want to make a Wegmans run to Columbia. There is a new liquor store right next to the Harris Teeter which is an improvement over most of the other (non-Total Wine) liquor stores nearby. It is not great, but it is a good place to get some decent wines and cocktail supplies.

 

[Choirgirl21]

On 6/5/2016 at 10:25 AM, DonRocks said:

Whoa ... that intersection is shaped like a "pound sign" (#), with a patch of land in the middle separating both divided roads, and Pasta Plus was in there. Is *this* the piece of land you're referring to?

There are several little strip malls in that space between North and South bound Route 1. The one with Pasta Plus is still there. As is the one virtually next door to the Walgreen's that has a CVS. Somehow they manage to co-exist, which I find slightly odd. 

[Pool Boy]

On 6/7/2016 at 6:24 PM, Choirgirl21 said:

There are several little strip malls in that space between North and South bound Route 1. The one with Pasta Plus is still there. As is the one virtually next door to the Walgreen's that has a CVS. Somehow they manage to co-exist, which I find slightly odd. 

True but that used to be the site of a Frank's Nursery and crafts that got torn down to be redeveloped in to that.

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My Las Delicias Deli (Toogs)

[Pool Boy]

My wife and I have been doing carryout from this Thai place that appeared in the re-done Laurel town center (or whatever they call it - on the torn down remains of the now gone Laurel Mall). It's actually quite good. We had them again tonight and we decided that we need t make a point of going and having dinner there in person. Soon. It's worth trying out if you are in the area for sure.

http://www.thaiatlaurel.com

 

Also, the Brickhouse development is almost completely built out and should be done by the end of 2018. Lots of road tweaks and fixes in the Cherry Lane area west of route 1. Waiting to see what housing development there pops next. It seems like all of the Montgomery County section of what is Konterra has almost been completely built out. Waiting to see what side developments appear closer to the nexus of the Konterra 'town center' that will likely appear in the next 3-4 years. Given that there is precious little land left to develop in Laurel proper, it will be interesting to see what gets messed with next.

[nelumbo]

Just moved to south Laurel - I'm familiar with most of the Beltsville options, but have only sampled a few places around Laurel before (Pasta Plus, Curry Leaf, Sapphire). Definitely want to check out Amber Spice (used to live near Udupi Palace back in the day) and Thai at Laurel. Can anyone comment on whether any of the pho options are good or if it is better to drive down to Beltsville? I am also intrigued by Famous Kabob and Karahi.  Presumably there is not much in the way of Chinese unless you want to drive down to College Park (or further), although I have had dim sum at Mai Dragon in Hanover some years ago and see that they have a Cantonese chef with some specialties on the regular menu as well. Any other suggestions, since this is an old enough thread that some of the recommended places have closed or moved, and new ones have opened?

[Pool Boy]

Mango's has good central american food - better as dine in than carryout. They are local and great hosts.

Definitely hit up Amber Spice, very much recommended.

Grace Garden up in Odenton recently sold when the owner retired - I loved it so, but cannot recommend or non-recommend the new place - no idea. 

Thai at Laurel is pretty solid, worth a look. Been mostly for carry out instead of dine in. See what you think.

The kabob place is one of a few -have not tried that one to be honest but looks busy whenever I drive by.

I assume you know about Yia Yia's in Beltsville.

[DanielK]

Kabob N Karahi was very good when I last visited - but that was years ago.

[Shaho]

Tacqueria Los Primos in north Laurel is legit, and I second the vote for Mango's. I believe the chef at Amber Spice is the former chef from Curry Leaf as well? That was my go-to back in the day. I still dream about the pound cake at the Dutch Market... 

[nelumbo]

2 hours ago, DanielK said:

Kabob N Karahi was very good when I last visited - but that was years ago.

I've been to the Kabob N Karahi that is on New Hampshire, any idea if this one is related? The goat karahi was really good at the other one.

[DanielK]

1 hour ago, nelumbo said:

I've been to the Kabob N Karahi that is on New Hampshire, any idea if this one is related? The goat karahi was really good at the other one.

Shoot, that's the one I thought we were talking about. No idea if the place in Laurel is the same owners.

[nelumbo]

On 1/22/2020 at 3:16 PM, DanielK said:

Shoot, that's the one I thought we were talking about. No idea if the place in Laurel is the same owners.

I have done some research, and they are not related. The owner of the Laurel Famous KnK previously owned Bano Kabob on Cherry Ln.

[Toogs]

Oh man thanks for the research.  Love the K&K on New Hampshire and just assumed this was an expansion. I guess that's why they changed the name.

I think Thai at Laurel is very good, and they deliver.  You can order right through the website rather than Grubhub or similar, and they really appreciate it.  

None of the pho places in Laurel are worth much, and it's definitely worth the drive to Beltsville for the broth at Pho 88.

Anyone tried the new KBBQ in the newish laurel center where Thai is?

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Kogi Underground (Pool Boy)

[nelumbo]

I have not had a chance to get out much lately, but I have heard of two interesting developments:

1. Manila Mart was closed for remodeling last winter, and is now open again with an expanded space. I plan to stop by and take out a halo halo soon.

2. A new Vietnamese place has apparently bravely opened this summer at Contee and Rt 1, near Cold Stone/Sardi's on the corner with Shoppers Food, "Lulu's Gourmet Vietnamese Cuisine" . Their online menu lists banh mi including an "Op La" egg version, plus the usual pho, bun, bubble tea, and an odd waffle section that has a photo of a classic waffle but describes two "Hong Kong bubble waffle" dishes, one with the expected candy toppings, and the other a sort of banh mi waffle. The website is here: https://pholulu.com/our-menu/

I intend to investigate the banh mi situation, as options have been extremely limited since the closure of the banh mi place in Langley Park a few years back.

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Gah Rham (Pool Boy)

[Pool Boy]

On 1/22/2020 at 11:27 AM, Shaho said:

Tacqueria Los Primos in north Laurel is legit, and I second the vote for Mango's. I believe the chef at Amber Spice is the former chef from Curry Leaf as well? That was my go-to back in the day. I still dream about the pound cake at the Dutch Market... 

I'll second the suggestion of Taqueuria Los Primos in North Laurel (apparently they have several locations, kind of a micro-chain).

Their al pastor, barbacoa and chorizo tacos are great. The asada we ordered with guacamole that it kind of overwhelmed the taco - better to order some guacamore on the side and add a bit at a time so you can control the amount better. The lengua was very good, but I have had better. Overall - it was take-out and online ordering was easy - it was a good experience and I'll be back [We had a craving after watching the Taco Chronicles on Netflix - recommended.]

One thing that is important to note - these are not the sparsely populated tacos I normally expect where the ration of filling to tortilla is in my mind more in balance - these are tacos with a lot of filling, so 3 of them is easily enough to fill you up a good bit.

[nelumbo]

I noticed while playing with google maps that there is a Nigerian restaurant listed as being just off of Cherry Ln. It is called "Truly Spicy", has a few google reviews all within the past couple of months, and no other online presence aside from a menu on doordash. The confusing part here is that the address listed seems to be in an apartment building (The Emerson at Cherry Lane), and street view is unhelpful.

The menu is interesting, although with the door dash format and my unfamiliarity with some of the items, it is kind of a guessing game. Maybe the "make your own spaghetti" is Jollof Spaghetti? Other choices include Peppered Snail, Eja Kika, and Pomo, and a stew with goat, cow leg, chicken, turkey, egg, Eja Kika, and Pomo.

https://www.doordash.com/store/truly-spicy-laurel-978554/en-US

These apartment buildings usually have restricted parking and very enthusiastic towing policies, so I am a little leery of trying to park and wander around. Is anyone familiar with that area to know if there is any retail mixed in with the apartment building? It is hard to tell if they even have a retail front or just a delivery service with the complete lack of online presence.