The restaurant scene at Rockville Town Square is heating back up.
Federal Realty announced Thursday two new restaurants are planning to open at the Rockville retail center this summer and fall.
Miso Café, a Korean fusion restaurant, is planning to open in a 2,200-square-foot space at 33-E Maryland Ave. This will be the second Miso restaurant. The other location is in Annandale, Virginia, and features menu items like signature Korean side dishes, teriyaki and katsu—lightly breaded and fried pork, chicken, flounder or beef.
“We’re really excited about it,” Arnold Lee, one of the two owners, said. Lee said they’re planning to fully renovate the restaurant’s interior and hope to open between four to six months from now. He said he and his partner in the restaurant have about 19 years of experience.
Miso will replace the former Pho & Rolls restaurant, which closed last summer.
Samovar, a Russian restaurant, is planning to open in July. Solijon Nasimov and Ika Nasimova, a father-daughter team with more than 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry, are behind this concept, which will feature Russian cuisine with Eastern European and Central Asian influence. The restaurant will be located in a 3,300-square-foot space at 201 N. Washington St. and the owners are planning to offer live music on weekends. This will be their first restaurant in the Washington, D.C., area, according to Federal Realty.
Samovar will replace the former Cosi sandwich shop. Its owners, who are from Tajikistan, currently serve as the caterer for the Tajikistan Embassy in Washington.
“The additions of Miso Café and Samovar nicely complement the current mix of casual and ethnic dining options that are so popular at Rockville Town Square,” Joseph Byrnes, leasing director for Federal Realty, said in a statement.
The two additions represent a big boost for Rockville Town Square, which saw Cosi, Pho & Rolls, Oro Pomodoro, Taste of Saigon and No. 82 Steak Out close in the past year.
Since those restaurants closed, the venerable Chinese chef Peter Chang announced he plans to open a new restaurant in April in the former Taste of Saigon location and Ev & Maddy’s, a locally-owned French bistro, opened in the former No. 82 Steak Out location.