Pearl Lady tea shop opens in Rockville

The new Pearl Lady bubble tea shop and Yamachan Ramen have opened at 201 E. Middle Lane in Rockville Town Center. They are in the ground floor of the Cambria Suites hotel. This is the first Pearl Lady location outside of Japan, and among the drinks the Rockville shop is highlighting is their Amber Boba. The ramen menu is also available.

Yamachan Ramen to open in Rockville...and Pearl Lady Harajuku Bubble Tea Shop!

Another ramen eatery is coming to Rockville, this time to the heart of Rockville's Town Center. Yamachan Ramen has leased a prime corner spot next to Supercuts at The Upton/Cambria Hotel and Suites development, at the intersection of E. Middle Lane and Maryland Avenue. The restaurant will use the ramen noodle products of the Yamachan Ramen brand.

Pearl Lady Bubble Tea Shop logo
stenciled on the restaurant's window

Even more interesting, is that stencils on the doors and windows of the restaurant are touting Tokyo's famous Pearl Lady Harajuku Bubble Tea Shop as part of the new establishment. What a great addition to the Town Center, and definitely something to set it apart from the many competing bubble tea options in town. Pearl Lady is regularly named one of the top 5 bubble tea shops in Japan, and as far as I can tell, this would be the first Pearl Lady shop outside of Japan. A must try!

Rockville garage entrance closure throws another monkey wrench into Town Center parking problem

The temporary closure of the Monroe Street garage entrance of 255 Rockville Pike has sent Rockville officials and business advocates scrambling to reduce the impact on businesses at Regal Row. Assistant City Manager Jenny Kimball says Colonial Parking informed the City that the entrance should reopen on August 10.

To assist Regal Row businesses, Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) has printed up posters that Regal Row merchants can post in their windows about parking alternatives. The organization is also assisting Colonial Parking in creating a sign to be posted at the Monroe Street entrance during the closure.

City staff will present the first results of their efforts to respond to the parking crisis Town Center merchants described to the Mayor and Council on June 13. Chief among them are data on available spaces near Regal Row, improved signage, and designation of 15-minute "pick-up" spaces along E. Montgomery Avenue and Maryland Avenue, for patrons picking up carry-out orders from restaurants at Regal Row and Rockville Town Square.

Staff determined that the remaining surface parking in front of the Regal Cinemas is the first to fill at peak times. In working with the operator of the garage in the new Cambria Suites/Upton building, staff has identified many available spaces there. Between 2:00 and 11:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, July 15-16, the Cambria garage had between 55 and 96 spaces open at any given moment.

As a result, staff is recommending adding signage to alert drivers to the new Cambria garage entrances. They propose adding 4 new signs to the 3 that are already in place in the vicinity of the building.

They also recommend designating two currently-metered spaces along Regal Row as free parking for 15 minutes, as well as adding two such spaces to Gibbs Street, and converting the 5-minute book drop-off spaces by the Rockville Memorial Library on Maryland Avenue to 15-minute free parking spaces. Success of the spaces would be measured by consulting with merchants in three months, to determine if the free spots are helping the situation or not.

All of the proposals will cost money, and the suggestions will be discussed at the Mayor and Council meeting this Monday, August 1, at City Hall. Please note that this meeting will begin earlier than usual at 6:30 PM, due to the size of the meeting agenda.

Signs pop up all over Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Signs have been installed at three soon-to-open businesses in Rockville Town Center: Old Line Bank and Panera Bread in the Cambria Hotel and Suites/Upton apartment building, and a new additional sign above Mellow Mushroom in Rockville Town Square.

Music was blaring from speakers outside Mellow Mushroom yesterday afternoon, but the window coverings remain on.

Rockville construction update: Supercuts (Photos)

The storefront of Supercuts has been revealed in the ground floor of the Cambria Suites and Hotel, facing E. Middle Lane in Rockville.

World of Beer to open in mid-April in Rockville

World of Beer, the new tavern coming to the Upton apartment building in Rockville town center, is targeting a mid-April opening, Marc Dubick, Principal and President of Duball, LLC, said last night. The business is promising the miracle of offering 500 beers, and operating 50 taps, under the arcane Montgomery County liquor monopoly rules. Can't wait to see them pull this off.

Another opening on the horizon is Panera Bread, which Dubick says could be ready to go in about 45 days. Like World of Beer, it is currently under construction on the Cambria Hotel & Suites side of the building.

Supercuts coming to The Upton; Panera Bread starting construction; World of Beer update (Photos)

Supercuts is coming to the Duball project in Rockville Town Center on E. Middle Lane. A banner has been installed on the building's facade outside of the Cambria Suites hotel.

Meanwhile, building permits have been issued for the future Panera Bread in the same building.

Panera Bread

In other Upton news, construction is still slow-going at World of Beer:

Cambria Suites celebrates Grand Opening in Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Cambria Hotel & Suites
logo projected onto
the hotel last night in
Rockville

The new Cambria Hotel and Suites celebrated its Grand Opening in Rockville's Town Center last night, with a level of spectacle not usually found at Montgomery County openings. Developer Duball LLC, parent company Choice Hotels (headquartered across E. Middle Lane from the hotel), and Crescent Hotels and Resorts threw what they described as a vintage carnival party, complete with circus tent outside the hotel.

Guests enjoyed several open bars, menu selections from the hotel's socialCircle bistro, and a variety of performance artists ranging from clowns to jugglers to an aerialist who soared above the crowd.

Michael Murphy, SVP of Upscale Brands
at Choice Hotels, prepares to open
the ceremonies, with Helen Heneghan Way
stretching into the background toward
Regal Cinemas

Master of ceremonies was Michael Murphy, Senior Vice President of Upscale Brands at Choice Hotels International. He welcomed several elected officials from the City of Rockville, including Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, and Councilmembers Tom Moore and Virginia Onley.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton
with City Councilmembers
Tom Moore and Virginia Onley

"There's been no bigger supporter of Choice Hotels in Rockville than Mayor Bridget Newton," Murphy told the enthusiastic crowd. Newton commended Choice for agreeing to not include a full-service restaurant in the hotel, so that the many close-by restaurants around it would get a boost in business from guests. Newton and Murphy were also both enthusiastic about another recent turn of events surrounding the property.

Mayor Newton addresses
the crowd

"Something magical also happened these last five months," Murphy told the crowd. "It took collaboration with the city," to rename the placeholder Renaissance Street - which runs in front of the hotel - Helen Heneghan Way. Heneghan was a highly-regarded former city clerk and fixture in the community, who passed away a few months ago. Her name rose to the top of hundreds submitted to rename the street, whose original moniker was too close to a competing hotel brand's name for Choice's comfort. The tent in which the event was held stood atop Helen Heneghan Way itself.

Heneghan's husband, Frank, was in the tent as Murphy and Newton spoke. "We are thrilled to be part of this legacy," Murphy said of Helen Heneghan's service to Rockville. The "Way" designation of the street "couldn't be more apt," Newton said, "because there actually is a Helen Heneghan way, which also the Rockville way." The mayor said the hotel and Upton apartments "continue the positive growth" in Rockville's revitalized town center.

"There's no better night than when we're opening a Cambria Suites," Murphy enthused, "except when we're opening a Cambria Suites in Rockville. This is the most amazing time in the last ten years of my career."

Steve Joyce, CEO of
Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce shared Murphy's feelings, saying that Cambria Suites are designed to be "upscale, contemporary, and convenient," and to have major appeal to the ever-coveted millennial segment of the market. Joyce said the brand is expanding in the near future to Times Square, Miami, Nashville and New Orleans, among other cities.

MD State Senator Cheryl Kagan
presents a citation from the
General Assembly

State Senator Cheryl Kagan (D-District 17) presented Joyce with a citation from the Maryland General Assembly, congratulating Choice on the opening and its role in the "revitalization of downtown Rockville."

"That was the best citation Steve Joyce has received in the state of Maryland," Murphy joked when he took the mic back. Murphy also congratulated Don Swedberg, General Manager of Crescent, on the Rockville Cambria Suites distinction in having the highest customer satisfaction score in the chain.

Other luminaries in the crowd included Ms. Maryland U.S. 2015 Amber Schroen, Miss Teen Maryland U.S. Ardelle Dickerson, Josefina Simpson and Ilaya Hopkins of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, and a host of officials from Choice and its partners. Also attending were lucky hotel guests, including business travelers from General Dynamics and Merck, Murphy said.

Marc Dubick, Principal and
President of Duball, LLC,
which developed the hotel

Then Murphy directed guests' attention to the center ring - literally - as performers proceeded to divert and entertain the crowd.

But wait, there's more. A tour of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, rather than a cookie-cutter hotel room, the suites actually continue the Gothamesque-Modern theme of the building's facade indoors. Your room actually looks more like a swanky, retro Manhattan apartment than the typical lodging quarters. And the latest technology combines with old-fashioned perks like microwaves and personal refrigerators, and Wolfgang Puck coffee.

Conference Room for
business meetings 

Mirror in
conference room 

Now up to an actual
hotel suite 

Hidden fridge

Below ground was another surprise. In addition to a sizable business meeting/conference center space, there is also a decently-sized room for events. "You could do a very nice wedding in this room," the hotel's Senior Sales Manager Renee Grant said. 75-80 people could fit in a table setting for a wedding reception, for example. Up to 125 might fit if you held a meeting or marriage ceremony using theater-style seating.

Back upstairs in the lobby-level bistro, guests watched Monday Night Football on a large widescreen, while enjoying adult beverages from the bar, and carnival-themed treats on an old-fashioned popcorn cart. The carnival performers wandered about the hotel, continuing to entertain. "Is that a clown car?" a clown asked, after a seemingly endless number of guests poured out of an elevator.

Monday Night Football in
the lobby 

The bar in the lobby's
bistro restaurant

One of several Rockville-themed
artworks I came across
inside the hotel; does anyone
know what this depicts from
Rockville's past?