SMASHBURGER AND CAL TORT SQUARE OFF IN ENERGIZED WOODMONT TRIANGLE (PHOTOS)

The Woodmont Triangle area of downtown Bethesda has more energy since the opening of Smashburger this week. There seems to be a slight increase in activity, and possibly in the number of people, for some distance around that intersection of Cordell and Norfolk Avenues.

Some people are just looking in the windows to see what the new place is about. Others notice the employees of the soon-to-open Roof Bethesda scurrying to and fro, through the massive second floor windows of the Norfolk-Cordell II building. Last evening, Christmas music wafted down to the streets below as Roof hosted a corporate holiday party ahead of its December 20 opening.

That Steven Karr-designed building is lighting up what used to be a dark and dreary corner. Which is what I had expected. Just the night before, there was a test of the new LED light sculptures on the future plaza outside the Gallery Bethesda apartments. We're starting to get a very small sense of what's to come over the next 5 years in the transformation of the Woodmont Triangle.

One business noticing the new energy is California Tortilla. Smashburger has a sidewalk sign announcing, "NOW OPEN."

Cal Tort quickly responded with a humorous re-Tort: their own sign facing Smashburger's across Norfolk: "NOW OPEN ALSO."