Wonder food hall now open in Gaithersburg

Wonder food hall is now open at 124 Main Street in the Kentlands area of Gaithersburg. The hybrid food hall and ghost kitchen offers multiple cuisines with celebrity chef branding on one menu. This is the third Montgomery County location to open, if I am counting correctly. A fourth is under construction in Burtonsville. With the heavy cash burn of rapid expansion, it will be interesting to see if this is the next Starbucks, or the next WeWork or Slapfish.

Kareem's Lebanese Kitchen opens in Gaithersburg

Kareem's Lebanese Kitchen opened with a ribbon-cutting yesterday at 212 Boardwalk Place at Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg. The dining room was packed this evening. Specialties include fresh breads, handmade mezze, Lamb Mouzat, Farrouj, and Kareem's signature hummus, which is prepared from scratch in a three-day process. 

"I'm proud to bring Kareem's to Maryland and share the food, traditions and hospitality that have been part of my family for generations," Chef Rachid Eido said in a statement. "Lebanese hospitality is about more than serving a meal. It is about opening your table, sharing generously and making people feel like they belong. That is what we want every guest to experience when they come to Kareem's."

Arby's construction begins at Red Mill Shops

Construction has begun on the future Arby's restaurant at 7200 Muncaster Mill Road at the Red Mill Shops shopping center. So far, they are demolishing the interior of the former McDonald's. They haven't added Arby's to the tenants on the shopping center's monument sign yet, but you can see the blank space where it will go. Here's a look inside:

Empress Coffee & Cocktails for sale in Gaithersburg

Empress Coffee & Cocktails is being marketed as available for sale at 325 Main Street in the Kentlands area of Gaithersburg. The asking price is $250,000. Empress has a lease that expires on April 3, 2034, at a rent of $6200 a month, according to the online sale listing. That listing states that the reason the coffee shop is on the market is that the owner is moving. Empress remains fully open for business at this time.

Sheetz opens second Gaithersburg location

Sheetz is now open at 793 S. Frederick Avenue (MD 355) at the Walnut Hill Shopping Center in Gaithersburg. This is the second Montgomery County location for the convenience store and mega gas station chain. The store model used in the County is smaller than the ones I've been in on the road elsewhere. Sheetz expedited development of this second Gaithersburg location after the first, at 751 Progress Way, quickly proved to be a financial success. This one is convenient to the Rockville and Derwood areas.

Teen stabbed in Germantown

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a stabbing in Germantown yesterday afternoon. The assault took place at the 7-Eleven store at 19786 Crystal Rock Drive at 4:25 PM Wednesday. One juvenile male victim was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, but is expected to survive, police say. The suspect(s) in the incident remain at large as of this writing.

Violent assault in Montgomery Village

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a violent assault in Montgomery Village this past Saturday afternoon. The assault was reported in the 18700 block of Nathans Place at 3:17 PM. According to police, the victim was assaulted by an unspecified number of assailants, and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries as a result. It was a disturbing incident for two reasons: First, it continued the troubling 2026 Montgomery County crime trend of violent crime being committed during daylight hours. And second, it took place only a block east of the Lakeforest Mall site, where developers will soon be attempting to sell homebuyers on an expensive new community in one of the highest-crime hotspots in Montgomery County.