From barbecue with Jewish and Mediterranean influences to Korean fried chicken sandwiches to a food hall filled with international cuisines, there are a plethora of new dining spots expected to open in Montgomery County in 2025. Plus, with several popular grocers planning to open new branches in the county, there is much to look forward to in 2025.
Here are some of the restaurants, eateries and grocery stores to keep an eye on this year:
New dining spots
Bethesda
Jarrad Silver, the owner and chef behind Silver and Sons BBQ, a local food truck serving barbecue inspired by Jewish and Mediterranean cuisine, is planning to open the eatery’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bethesda’s Westbard Square in January.
The location will offer a different menu than what is available at the business’s two food trucks – including weekly sandwich specials and a rotating menu based on seasonal local ingredients. In December, Silver told Bethesda Today that he is eyeing the weekends of Jan. 10 or 18 for an opening at 5362 Westbard Ave.
Silver did not immediately respond Bethesda Today’s inquiry regarding the upcoming opening Tuesday evening.
Kensington’s BabyCat Brewery has plans to open a location in downtown Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle neighborhood this year. Co-founder Terry Redmond told Bethesda Today in an email this month that the brewery is eyeing a spring opening. The new location at 4850 Rugby Ave. will have a kitchen, 4,400-square-foot taproom and a brewhouse.
“We’re super excited about it. We really like our concept, and it seems to resonate really well in the community of Kensington. We’re hoping to do the same thing in Bethesda,” Redmond said in August, referring to the brewery’s focus on creating a neighborhood gathering space.
Potomac
Bethesda Bagels, a staple of the Montgomery County community for decades, has plans to open a new, larger location in Potomac’s Cabin John Village shopping center in late summer. The shop will be at 7951-A Tuckerman Lane.
“We have an extremely strong customer base in the Montgomery County area … and we just want to make it as convenient and easy for our customers to get to Bethesda Bagels whenever they want,” co-owner Danny Fleishman told Bethesda Today in November.
Rockville
Pelicana Chicken, a Korean fried chicken restaurant, is planning to open a Rockville location in January, according to manager Patrick Jay Moon. The dine-in eatery will be at 4 N. Washington St. in the Courthouse Center shopping strip near Rockville Town Square. The space was previously occupied by Woodside Deli, which closed in August 2022.
In October, Moon dubbed Pelicana the “pioneers of Korean fried chicken” and said the fast-food chain is a household name in South Korea.
Bao Bei, a Taiwanese ghost kitchen with an outpost in North Bethesda, is expected to open its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Rockville’s Montrose Crossing shopping center in early 2025. The new restaurant, founded by owner and chef Kevin Hsieh, will be at 12055 Rockville Pike. Hsieh is a graduate of Gaithersburg High School and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
News of the opening came after the Bao Bei participated in the 17th season of Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race. The season aired this summer, and Bao Bei made it to the finale, winning second place.
Silver Spring
Roaming Rooster, a family-owned fried chicken restaurant chain, is coming to downtown Silver Spring and signage is already up at the 8537 Georgia Ave. spot. Jerusalem Tilahun, director of marketing for the eatery, told Bethesda Today in an email in late December that the chain is aiming for a late winter or early spring opening for the new location.
Commas, a new food hall, is also coming to downtown Silver Spring and will be inside Ellsworth Place at 8661 Colesville Road. According to its website, Commas will have a variety of vendors serving cuisines from around the world such as from Nepal, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The opening timeline for Commas is unclear. However, on social media, the food hall says it will open in 2025 and has recently posted it is now hiring. Commas food hall did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment in early January.
Supermarkets coming to Montgomery County
Three national and international supermarket chains are in the process of opening new stores in the county: Lidl, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans.
Lidl
German supermarket company Lidl is looking to open a downtown Bethesda store in the near future. In February a Lidl spokesperson told Bethesda Today the company anticipated the new store to open in late 2024 at 7625 Old Georgetown Road. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment in early January on the store’s opening timeline.
The 43,227-square-foot supermarket will replace the former Safeway at Bethesda Place Apartments, a mixed-use apartment building. After 27 years in Bethesda, the Safeway closed in March 2018 due to underperformance, Bethesda Today reported at the time.
Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s has plans to open a second Rockville-area location in the former Dawson’s Market space at 225 N. Washington St. in Rockville Town Square. Dawson’s Market closed in June. In October, the California-based grocery chain began site work on the new supermarket after the company filed permits with the city to begin construction.
A spokesperson for Trader Joe’s did not have an opening timeline to share as of early January but said the store would open in 2025.
Wegmans
In December, a Wegmans spokesperson told Bethesda Today that the supermarket company expected to open its new location at 1590 Rockville Pike in the “second half” of 2025. The opening timeline came more than four years after the New York-based supermarket chain announced plans to open as a key tenant of the Twinbrook Quarter Development.
