Chuy's Rockville review (Photos)

Chuy's, opening today at 11:00 AM at 12226 Rockville Pike in Federal Plaza, enters a crowded market of Tex-Mex chains and mom-and-pops in Montgomery County. What the Austin-based newcomer hopes will set it apart are its over-the-top interior decor, and - most importantly - an emphasis on fresh ingredients.

Red-shirted "lifeguards"
are veteran Chuy's employees
who help get new locations
up and running

"If you've seen one Chuy's, you've seen one Chuy's," is one mantra among long-time employees of the chain. So while you'll find the standard cacophony of hubcaps and handmade wooden fish, and a shrine to Elvis, you'll also notice some of the fish hanging in the bar are uniquely hand-decorated by employees of this location. You'll realize that the fake palm trees in the main dining room aren't all the same. And you might spend a few days trying to find all two dozen tiny whales that are hidden throughout the restaurant.

In the comfortable bar area, you'll encounter the ubiquitous flatscreen TVs, but also the rear of a vintage Chrysler doubling as a nacho bar. Here, I started off with their classic margarita with fresh-squeezed lime juice. Very refreshing, but I found their frozen strawberry margarita to be even better. Another stand-out is the Texas Martini, which has jalapeno-stuffed olives, and you can actually detect their presence in the flavor.

Chuy's famous
margarita

Made with fresh-squeezed lime juice

The Dog Wall, where
you can bring a framed
photo of your mutt to
add to the collection

This appears to be
your typical nacho bar...

...except it has
Chuy's famous sauces...

...and is in the trunk
of a Chrysler...

...and perhaps most
importantly, is free from
4-7 PM Monday-Friday

One man in Mexico
makes thousands of
these for Chuy's all
these years later (the
first Chuy's opened
in Austin in 1982)

Step up to the bar

Some of these fish are
not like the others

Artificial palm trees
in the main dining room

Each one is distinctive -
this one is bearing
coconuts

And this one sports
a dying, yellow leaf

Seating is vintage
Americana

Neon? Check

Hubcaps? Check

Automotive wall decor
graces the Hubcap Room

The glass-enclosed tortilla
station may be the most
important spot in the
restaurant

All the decor in the world won't help if the food disappoints, though. A team of employees mans a tortilla-making station, where balls of freshly-made dough of flour or corn are rolled and cooked on the traditional comal. As Chuy's likes to say, it's likely your tortilla hasn't been made yet when you walk in the door.

Each Chuy's has a "Pride Wall"
featuring what employees are
most proud of, including
staff members and charity work

Chicken roasting oven

Spices and seasonings
custom-made for Chuy's

Chuy's combs yard
and estate sales on both
sides of the border to
find unique artworks...

...and vintage photos

The entry foyer

I started off with an appetizer of fresh tortilla chips, piping hot, and a selection of Chuy's famous sauces. My favorite was the Hatch Green Chile, the hottest of the lineup. Close behind were the Deluxe Tomatillo and Boom Boom sauces. None of the sauces had heat so extreme that they overwhelmed the fresh ingredients.

Chuy's famous sauces

Classic Tex-Mex Enchiladas
plate with refried beans and
Mexican rice

Standout favorites among the entrees are the 12" Steak Burrito, a hefty cylinder packed with chopped steak that has been marinated in Texas-appropriate Shiner Bock beer and secret spices for 24 hours. Stuffed with melted cheese, and topped with the Hatch Green Chili sauce, the burrito is bursting with flavor despite having only 2 main ingredients.

Tough, dry rubbery steak is my pet peeve in steak burritos. This steak was the best-ever; tender, juicy, and flavorful thanks to quality meat and that marinade. Where I often avoid steak burritos because of the chance of finding a Goodyear tire playing the role of steak, here I will seek this Steak Burrito out, and recommend you do as well. A side of charro beans plays like a chili without beef, and goes well with the other side on the platter, green chile rice. I prefer the green chile rice to the Mexican rice here.

Get a load of that
melted cheese

Pause for a sip
of the Texas Martini

Another dish where the quality of the meat stands out is the Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom Enchiladas. There's plenty of scrumptious Boom-Boom sauce ladled over these enchiladas, but the real flavor surprise is the chicken inside. It tastes like you roasted a high-quality chicken good enough to serve on its own, and then pulled the meat and stuffed it into these tortillas. This is not the dry, shredded and stringy chicken you might find in a lesser restaurant. Cilantro adds a nice accent to the dish, another must-try.

Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom
chicken enchiladas with refried
beans and green chile rice

The best chicken you'll
find in an enchilada

Want Tex-Mex flavor without meat inside the tortilla? I recommend the Classic Tex-Mex Enchiladas, with melted cheese and onion, and chili-con-carne Tex-Mex sauce. The flavor is everything that is right about Mexican food.

Strawberry Frozen Margarita

Fresh tostada chips, crunchy
and piping hot

The Steak Burrito is a
must-try

A side of charro beans is
great on a fall evening

Look at that steak
and melted cheese

I made a point of testing the tortillas by themselves without the filling, and they taste great on their own. Like the meats and sauces, the freshness makes all the difference in the world. The arrival of Chuy's sets the bar higher for Tex-Mex and Mexican food in Montgomery County. Is there radical culinary adventure taking place in the kitchen here? No. But attention to detail and execution on every ingredient and process is. And the effort shows in the final product.

I'm looking forward to trying the two Elvis items on the menu on future visits - Elvis Green Chile Fried Chicken, and the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo. Any place that has a shrine to Elvis is my kind of place. The good news is that I'm pretty sure The King would approve of the food, as well. If you know Elvis, you know he had high standards when it came to food. Fortunately, so does Chuy's. This is the way Tex-Mex should be made. Five stars.

I need one of these

A great American

"Get me one of those
Elvis Memorial Combos"

"Have you seen my
TV glasses?"

"Psst. Ask your server
about Creamy Jalapeno Sauce"

Class 520 Thai ice cream shop opens in Rockville

Class 520 opened on Saturday at 5 Dawson Avenue, officially bringing Thai ice cream rolls to Rockville. The turnout was high on Sunday, as well. It's been a while since this many cars were parked in this shopping center. Fifty people won 3 months of free ice cream each on opening day.

Humiliation: No MCPS school makes 2016 National Blue Ribbon School list

Just months after the Montgomery County Council hiked property and recordation taxes to record highs, and falsely claimed it was to benefit schools (but without any major change in education strategy, meaning we're going to keep going the way we've been going - a.k.a. the definition of insanity), there is more alarming evidence that your tax pain is in vain. The U.S. Department of Education has just released its list of 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools - and not a single Montgomery County Public School is on the list.

Ouch.

We've been told by the Montgomery County political cartel that, while we don't enjoy the booming private sector economic growth of states like Texas, we should still feel superior because we "invest in our schools." Fact check: Montgomery County suffered a humiliating shut-out on the list, while red states like Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana cleaned our clock, with multiple public schools making the cut. In fact, 26 Texas schools in all made the 2016 list. Even a red county in Maryland like Anne Arundel has public school representation on the new list.

It turns out that the excess money spent on MCPS without a plan has been money down the toilet. Ironically, you can be almost certain that grades will rise in MCPS schools in the future - but only because the school system recently adopted an easier grading system for that very reason. Elected officials impotent to solve MoCo's education decline? No problem! Just get rid of final exams and inflate everybody's grades. God help us.

#MoCoTermLimits
#ThrowTheBumsOut

P.S. Congratulations to Montgomery County's St. Patrick's parochial school, which made the 2016 list as a non-public school.

Class 520 Thai ice cream update (Photos)

A sleek and modern interior is taking shape at the future Class 520 ice cream shop at 5 Dawson Avenue. The store will be, as far as I am aware, the first to bring Thai ice cream rolls to Rockville (and possibly, Montgomery County).

They are also now hiring staff. There's a lot more to making stir-fried Thai ice cream than dipping a scoop of vanilla out of a tub, that's for sure.

Rockville construction update: Ourisman Chevrolet (Photos)

Ourisman Chevrolet is expected to move down Route 355 from 15301 N. Frederick Road to Wintergreen Plaza by November. Here is how far construction of the new dealership has progressed. The building is certainly wider than the existing one.

Hear USA, Wingstop coming to Wintergreen Plaza

Two new tenants are on their way to Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville. Hear USA has put up some coming soon signage at their new location, and popular chicken wing chain Wingstop has signed a lease, as well. Wingstop will be near Paisano's.

Lotte Plaza Market lighted sign installed on Veirs Mill Road in Rockville (Photos)

Another lighted sign is now up at the soon-to-open Lotte Plaza Market on Veirs Mill Road in Twinbrook. The international grocery store is replacing the departed Safeway.

Dunkin' Donuts opening this Saturday at The Galvan in Rockville

Dunkin' Donuts will open its newest Rockville location this Saturday, October 1, in The Galvan at Twinbrook, located at 1800 Rockville Pike. During the first day, there will be music, a prize wheel, and a magician/balloonist on hand between 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. To celebrate the opening, the store will be offering a FREE small hot or iced coffee from October 1 to October 8.

MoCo Council embroiled in new scandal 45 days before voters decide on term limits

The Montgomery County Council's vote Tuesday to approve the hiring of attorneys Francoise Carrier and Douglas Bregman - to represent taxpayer interests in negotiations over a White Oak development - was an unforced political error. An astonishing breach of ethics, the 8-1 Council vote plunges the body into yet another scandal, even as a November 8 ballot question will ask voters if councilmembers should be limited to 3 terms.

Carrier and Bregman would represent the County in negotiations with developer Percontee, which is purchasing 115 acres of land from the County at White Oak, a deal already steeped in conflicts of interest for County Executive Ike Leggett.

Why is this a problem?

Herman, set the Wayback Machine for the late 1980s.

Leggett at that time began a close relationship with the developer that Carrier and Bregman will be negotiating with at White Oak. Contributors affiliated with the developer have donated thousands of dollars to Leggett's campaign accounts since that time. Negotiations between the developer and County Attorney Marc Hansen have been contentious and lengthy - in other words, Hansen appeared to actually be doing his job.

Now, mysteriously, Hansen is calling for outside legal counsel to take over the negotiations, citing a lack of resources in his office.

Hansen has 26 years of professional experience in the County Attorney's office. He serves at the pleasure of Leggett, who appointed him County Attorney in 2011, and of the Council, who unanimously approved his appointment. The sudden move to hire Carrier and Bregman creates - true or not - the public perception that Hansen is obeying a directive from Leggett and the Council to do so, or it might no longer be "their pleasure" for Hansen to continue in the position. That's just a fact.

Why is the selection of Carrier and Bregman a problem?

"I'm now on the

developers' side"

That Carrier was Chair of the Planning Board when the White Oak sector plan was passed is just the beginning of the conflicts of interest in this case. After leaving the Board in 2014, Carrier was appointed to the board of directors of a developer-backed non-profit, Communities for Transit. An instrumental figure on that board of directors? Jonathan Genn, Executive Vice-President at...Percontee. Yes, the White Oak developer Carrier will now "negotiate" with.

Look who teamed up
to deliver a presentation
at a development conference
this year

Earlier this year, Carrier and Genn teamed up at a Montgomery County conference to present a developer-friendly PowerPoint presentation on the so-unfair costs to developers (and the uninformed NIMBYs) that make "smart growth" urban development difficult in MoCo. "I'm now on the developers' side of the table," Carrier declared late in the presentation.

Carrier is also close to her now-partner in the Percontee negotiations, Douglas Bregman. Together, they helped stifle an objective, truly-independent investigation into the Farm Road scandal in 2013. As Chair of the Planning Board at that time, Carrier appointed Bregman to "investigate" Farm Road.

The Farm Road debacle began when African-American landowners were cheated out of their property rights in Sandy Spring. A road that served their properties mysteriously disappeared from documents and records, a move that benefited a developer building homes there, but preventing the black landowners from developing their properties.

How did this happen? There was enough evidence of foul play to spur the County Inspector General to call for an investigation of the Planning Department. Activists and Councilmember Marc Elrich were among those who called on Attorney General Doug Gansler to launch a state investigation (Elrich was the only councilmember to vote against hiring Carrier and Bregman Tuesday).

What could possibly go wrong?

It turned out that Gansler would decide whether an investigation was warranted based on the conclusions of Bregman's "investigation." Problem: Bregman had donated $4,000 to Gansler's campaign account. Bregman also contributed to current Attorney General Brian Frosh, and wrote a $1250 check to Leggett's campaign.

When Bregman's report - shocker! - cleared the Planning Department of wrongdoing, Gansler declined to investigate. The local press ceased covering Farm Road, and no true, independent investigation of the Planning Department ever took place.

When Carrier left the Planning Board, she joined the law firm of...Douglas Bregman. I am shocked. Shocked. You can't make this stuff up, folks. This is the proverbial revolving door, now coming around yet again.

Keep all of this in mind when you consider Carrier and Bregman will now represent your interests in this sweetheart deal to sell County land (a.k.a. taxpayer-owned land) to Percontee, "at below market value." God help us. This is happening at a time when developer-beholden County elected officials are telling us there is no money, and no land for new schools or bus depots.

According to a report by Bill Turque of the Washington Post, Carrier and Bregman will be paid $425-$525 per hour, to do the work we are already paying $190,000 a year for Mr. Hansen to do.

How, knowing all of this full well, could eight councilmembers have voted to hire Carrier and Bregman? Couldn't they have simply declined the nominations, and held out for truly-independent outside counsel? And why wouldn't they? Well, for starters, it suggests that they are, along with Leggett, behind the move to hire the pair.

And, let's be honest, this is the same "progressive" County Council that created a federal tax shelter worth $360,000,000 for one of their biggest campaign contributors. The same County Council that - minus Elrich - receives 82% of its campaign funds from developers. And the same Council that, after defeating the once-powerful Columbia Country Club and Town of Chevy Chase in the Purple Line battle, believes they are now invincible and entitled to do anything. In other words, they will intentionally engage in a massive breach of ethics simply because they can. It's just that attitude and chutzpah which have created the wide support among tax-stomped voters for term limits this year.

#MoCoTermLimits
#ThrowTheBumsOut

Mavana Nails & Waxing taking over Acqua Nails space at Rockville Town Square

The sudden departure of the staff of Acqua Nails appeared to spell the end of that salon on Gibbs Street at Rockville Town Square. Good news for Town Square residents who were patrons: Mavana Nails & Waxing is opening in the same space.

German-themed festival to celebrate Rockville Sister Cities Corporation September 24

This Saturday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM, the Rockville Sister Cities Corporation will host a German-themed festival at Rockville Town Square. The event will feature draft beers and food from World of Beer and Gordon Biersch that reflect the German theme, as well as live music by the Rockville German Band.

There will be kid-friendly activities, and appearances by the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department and other supportive community organizations. The event is co-sponsored by the City of Rockville.

What's being celebrated is 30 years of service by the Rockville Sister Cities Corporation, and the impending 60th anniversary of Rockville's sister city relationship with Pinneberg, Germany in 2017.

Chuy's sets opening date in Rockville

Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy's will open at Federal Plaza on Rockville Pike on Tuesday, October 4, according to a spokesperson for the new location.

Hooters closes in Rockville (Photos)

Hooters of Rockville abruptly closed yesterday, more than a month earlier than originally announced. The bar was due to close November 1 after reaching a deal with Montgomery County to not renew its liquor license. That agreement followed the tragic incident in which a patron of the popular Rockville Pike restaurant struck and killed County police officer Noah Leotta after consuming alcohol there.

The driver pled guilty after the wreck, and the future of the restaurant was in doubt prior to the deal being worked out with a Hooters lawyer.

All signage at Hooters was gone by yesterday evening, with a ghostly imprint of their famous owl logo still visible on the window despite its removal.

Rockville construction update: Chuy's (Photos)

The lighted sign has been installed on the front facade of Chuy's, the Tex-Mex chain restaurant opening next month at Federal Plaza on Rockville Pike. Some furniture is in place in the dining room, as well as some stringed, colored lights under the front overhang.

Rockville Florist moves...out of Rockville (Photo)

Rockville Florist has left its 785-C Rockville Pike store location for its new address, 12162 Darnestown Road in Gaithersburg. Montgomery Village Florist is at that location, so it appears the name Rockville Florist is most likely not going to survive. It wouldn't make sense anyway, as the store is no longer within Rockville.