Another sushi option is on the way in downtown Bethesda, particularly for those who reside in the Bradley Boulevard/Crescent Plaza/Seasons area. Douglas Development has just filled one of the vacant spaces at the under-renovation Shops of Wisconsin mall at 6831 Wisconsin Avenue. No, it's not Shake Shack.
Maki Bar, a sushi restaurant, has leased #300 at the retail center. The 1551 SF space also adjoins an outdoor terrace that will allow patio dining. Owner Xiong Li is a Montgomery County resident.
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Build-out of Maki Bar's
interior is underway |
Other recent additions at the Shops of Wisconsin include very cool LED lighting that was just installed on parts of the facade, including the space-age elevator.
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Watch the colors
change |
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Purple LED strip looking
toward the future Maki Bar |
On the less-positive side, one of downtown Bethesda's most notorious parking situations has gotten worse. Quite a few spaces are currently taken up by the construction work going on in the parking structure. You may want to sit down before I finish this paragraph, however. A source tells me the parking construction will be done in sections, and will be ongoing over the next year.
It may be time to stash some of those stress-relief balls in your glove compartment, Trader Joe's fans.
The parking is an absolute mess on weekends now, on the lower 2 levels. It used to be that each "entrance" was one way, so one was for exiting cars, the other for entering cars. Now they've moved both directions of traffic into the one entrance since the other is being renovated.... but that entrance isn't really wide enough for 2 cars to get by if the drivers are timid.. then add to that cars backing out of parking spaces, and cars stuck on the ramp going up/down to the lowest level, and it's a full on cluster-f.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, I like the changes they're making by adding a dining option and sprucing the place up finally.
Anyone taking bets on how long that dental place will last? They started off a few months ago as cosmetic dentistry, and now they switched to emergency dentistry.
The H&R Block must have a sweet long-term lease deal, because few landlords want a tenant where the office is open only a few months per year.
Judging by the name I am going to guess that the "Maki" Bar is the same sushi restaurant now located at 8023 Wisconsin Ave. If it is you could have pointed that out in the article and perhaps whether the old location is closing or not.
ReplyDelete7:10: The name is slightly different, and there are a lot of "Maki Bar" variations located all over the world. I'm aware of the place across from the Doubletree, but unless the owner or name is changing, it's not the same business.
DeleteDyer just busted his own scoop!
Delete9:50: How? The entire article is correct, and I had the scoop. You sound desperate.
DeleteThis building was a nightmare before and now it's a hodgepodge of different nightmares.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I live pretty close to this TJ's but shop at the one in Rockville when I absolutely can't avoid going anymore. This one...the parking...can't deal...
ReplyDeleteThe parking at the one in Rockville is also horrible.
ReplyDeleteI just walk to the Trader Joe's. It is only about a mile away.
Why is this guy obsessed with Shake Shack. We have like 5 other burger places in town.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a true Robert Dyer article unless it references either the moribund Montgomery County economy, Reimer, the failed nighttime economy task force, or Shake Shack. :)
ReplyDelete"Maki" is the Japanese word for a sushi roll, so quite a generic name. It would be like calling a hamburger place "Burger".
ReplyDeleteIt would be awful to lose the Trader Joe's. That said, it's nice to see this little center coming together. And it's especially nice to see that it's been done without building up. The heights here, at St. John's, and at the CVS/Staples building on the opposite side of Wisconsin are yet another argument to keep the buildings at this end of Bethesda in line with the principle that greatest heights and densities should be in the activity centers, and should step down as they move toward the edges. There's no need to give the owner of the CVS building or the fire department any additional height.
ReplyDelete7:10: Update: It may be the same owner, but new name. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteMy biz senses were on to something then, when they tingled. Even if the term is generic, you would be foolish to open a "Burger" joint next to a "Burger" joint, if you had any sense.
ReplyDelete7:20: You can't jump to conclusions after that whole Red Tomato Cafe vs. Red Tomato Pizza scandal a few years back.
DeleteI walked by today and one of the permits posted on the front was issued to a guy with the last name Huang (forgot the first name.. maybe John). Maybe that will help track down if it's related to the other Maki in Bethesda.
ReplyDelete