Buffalo Wild Wings GO coming soon to Rockville

Buffalo Wild Wings GO is coming soon to Rockville. It will be located at 16256 Frederick Road at the Rock Grove shopping center, at the southwest corner of MD 355 and Shady Grove Road. Buffalo Wild Wings' "GO" concept took off during the pandemic, when the chicken wings chain sought to capitalize on an explosion in demand for takeout orders, as well as a chance to muscle in on carryout-focused competitors like Wingstop. Rockville and Gaithersburg both have traditional, full-scale Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, which are more like sports bars, competing with sit-down competitors like Hooters.

You'll find a slimmed-down menu at Buffalo Wild Wings GO, comprised of some of BWW's customer favorites. An "innovative cooking process" is able to churn out the same crispy wings you find at a regular BWW at a speedier pace, the company says. The interior set-up is designed to get customers in and out of the smaller-scale GO store as quickly as possible, especially when ordering ahead. GO also has some exclusive flavors not found at the full-size BWW.

One of the exclusive flavors at GO locations

Watching Wingstop's tremendous success surely has BWW concentrating even more on growing the number of GO locations around the country. CNBC reported just last week that the preference of sports television viewers for wings while watching the game has allowed Wingstop to avoid the recent sales downturn experienced by McDonald's and Starbucks. Sports fans don't favor the latter two for their game day smorgasboards, the network found, and Wingstop has kept its prices relatively low while McDonald's customers have been ravaged by the Hamburglar's inflation-jacked price hikes.

It's interesting that Rock Grove also has a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins store, as those brands are also in BWW parent company Inspire Brands' portfolio. That might have played a role in the development scoring another popular brand. Buffalo Wild Wings GO will be next to Qdoba Mexican Eats at the property. Construction on the Rock Grove location is expected to begin early this fall, so we might expect a winter opening. Just in time for the Super Bowl!

Photo 1 & 3 courtesy Inspire Brands

Gordon Biersch closed at Rockville Town Square, Buffalo Wild Wings temporarily closed

Gordon Biersch has closed at Rockville Town Square, perhaps the deepest blow to the struggling property so far. And a temporary closure of the neighboring Buffalo Wild Wings was providing another unneeded jump scare for RTS patrons Monday night. It turns out the chicken wing chain has only closed this location through this Thursday, for "equipment upgrades and installation."

Buffalo Wild Wings is temporarily closed
at Rockville Town Square; it will reopen Friday

Both restaurants have remained highly popular even as some of the center's longest-standing anchors have departed in recent years. The Rockville Gordon Biersch was dark Monday night. Large Home Depot packing boxes could be seen inside. A sign in the window thanked longtime customers, and directed GB fans to their not-so-convenient Annapolis location.

The closure is another body blow to the County's cratered nightlife scene, which collapsed in the wake of the Montgomery County Council's disastrous Nighttime Economy Task Force debacle, which saw eighteen nightspots shutter in downtown Bethesda alone. Gordon Biersch's demise is a rare one that isn't the direct result of County Council incompetence, however. The chain has closed many other locations, as well. Finnegan's Wake on Gibbs Street now finds itself the beneficiary of one fewer nightlife choice at RTS, as they gear up for their biggest day of the year, St. Patrick's Day.

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