Taylor Gourmet to reopen Pike & Rose location

Taylor Gourmet, which not long ago was on the verge of disappearing entirely, has announced it will reopen three of its shuttered sandwich shops. According to the chain's website, one of the revived locations will be at Pike & Rose. The others are Dupont Circle and Pennsylvania Avenue in the District. All three are expected to open before the end of this summer, according to the announcement.

Rockville Barnes & Noble hosting "Escaping Gilead" Handmaid's Tale event tonight at 7 PM

The Rockville Barnes & Noble will be hosting "Escaping Gilead," a discussion for fans of The Handmaid's Tale tonight, Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 7:00 PM at 12089 Rockville Pike, in the Montrose Crossing shopping center. According to the store's announcement, the discussion will cover both the book and television adaptation, and will also be an opportunity to meet other fans of the series. It's sure to be a popular draw in Montgomery County.

Syd's Cakes + Bakes opening at Montgomery Mall

Shilla Bakery in the Dining Terrace at Westfield Montgomery Mall has been dark for weeks, appearing to have closed for good. A new bakery tenant is taking over their space. Syd's Cakes + Bakes will keep this food court stall in local hands, as Syd's Bakery is a family-owned business.

Friendship BBQ construction underway at Rockville Town Square

Construction on the interior of the future Friendship BBQ is underway at Rockville Town Square. There's a long way to go, as you can see. The restaurant has a liquor license hearing scheduled for August 15.

MoCo residents to protest County Council ADU vote Tuesday

The Montgomery County Council will try to ram through revised Accessory Dwelling Unit zoning rules that will allow tiny homes to be constructed in backyards countywide, in many cases without requiring additional parking spaces. It is the first step in the Council's effort, driven by the developer sugar daddies who funded all nine members' 2018 campaigns, to end single-family home zoning in the County. Residents, over a thousand of whom have signed a petition opposing the ADU scheme, will protest outside the County Council building tomorrow morning, Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 9:00 AM, at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.

Councilmembers, led by Hans Riemer, plan to introduce another zoning scheme that will allow duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, boarding houses, and even assembly of single-family home lots into stack-and-pack apartment complexes, in currently single-family home neighborhoods. Too incompetent to address the County's moribund economy, failing schools, and rising violent crime, the Council's Maoist-inspired strategy is to bring down successful neighborhoods and school clusters via allowing multifamily development in every neighborhood countywide, and through forced busing of children to schools outside of their neighborhoods.

Residents who have seen the results of similar radical strategies in Seattle and San Francisco are saying, "No, thanks" to the ZTA plan. The ZTA plan will increase school overcrowding in desirable school clusters, and the ultimate multifamily rezoning will more than quadruple existing school overcrowding. Protesters will ask the Council to delay the ZTA vote tomorrow.

West Elm opening this fall in Rockville

More "coming soon" signage has been posted in the windows of the future West Elm storefront on Rose Avenue at Pike & Rose. The modern furniture and decor retailer is expected to open this fall in the Pinstripes building. As you can see, they are now hiring, as well.

Interestingly, on a recent weekend night (not the same evening these photos were taken), the crowd at Pike & Rose exceeded the number of people out around Bethesda Row in downtown Bethesda. The loss of the Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10 and Barnes & Noble have been truly devastating, just as I warned the Montgomery County Council and Planning Board, both of which declined to require a replacement cineplex despite having the authority and responsibility to do so.

McDonald's testing Blueberry McGriddles at Washington, D.C. area restaurants - here's my review

McDonald's is testing Blueberry McGriddles at select Washington, D.C. area locations, including some in Montgomery County. The new McGriddles have the same sausage or bacon, cheese and egg fillings found in the original McGriddle sandwiches, but swap the maple syrup-filled pancakes for blueberry pancakes.

The blueberry pancakes retain the
McDonald's Golden Arches imprint
of the original McGriddles

This is a rare event, as the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area is rarely used as a test market for potential menu additions by fast food chains. McDonald's did test Mighty Wings at the former 4500 East-West Highway location in the 1990s. The chicken wings were introduced briefly nationwide almost twenty years later, in a fancier box than the plain white one the test wings came in.

The Blueberry McGriddle came with a
thick, folded scrambled egg, but
deletes the maple syrup filling found in
original McGriddles pancakes

Should Blueberry McGriddles be added to the permanent menu? Watch my review for my thoughts and a detailed look at the test item, which comes in sausage and bacon versions, and is only available during morning breakfast hours.