Brown Bag opening postponed until Wednesday in Bethesda

There's good news and bad news about Brown Bag. Good news first: the beloved lunch destination is finally returning to downtown Bethesda. The bad news: the return - originally scheduled for yesterday - has been postponed until Wednesday, October 16, 2019. Brown Bag, which used to be in the Apex Building until the Montgomery County Council demolished it, is now located in the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel.

Brown Bag scheduled to open today in Bethesda

The long-awaited return of Brown Bag to downtown Bethesda is scheduled for lunchtime today. According to a sign posted at the restaurant's new location in the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel, Brown Bag's official opening date is today, October 14, 2019.

However, there appeared to be a few final touches to complete inside, and the window coverings were still up this weekend. The entrance from inside the hotel was uncovered, however. Brown Bag was a favorite lunch spot of downtown workers when it was located in the Apex Building, until it was forced to close by the redevelopment of the Apex Building.

Sign installed at Brown Bag in Bethesda

The permanent sign is up at Brown Bag, the restaurant and catering business returning to downtown Bethesda in the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel. Brown Bag started in Bethesda, and their first location was in the now-demolished Apex Building.

Looks from the outside can be deceiving, however. Construction of the interior is far from finished. There isn't even a floor yet, much less walls or counters.

Bethesda construction update: Brown Bag (Photos)

The return of Brown Bag to downtown Bethesda is scheduled to happen this spring. However, as the first day of spring nears, there's a long way to go inside the restaurant's space in the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel. Preliminary construction of interior walls is about as far as the project has gone as of now.

Confirmed: Brown Bag returning to Bethesda

My scoop last month about Brown Bag returning to downtown Bethesda has now been confirmed publicly by the local restaurant and catering chain. As I reported, Brown Bag will be opening in the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 1 Bethesda Metro Center.

The original Brown Bag at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue in the Apex Building was forced to close on December 19, 2016 because the building was being demolished to make way for a Purple Line station, and a new Carr Properties mixed-use development. It was one of the first economic casualties of the Purple Line in Montgomery County. Brown Bag continued to serve Bethesda through catering services, but was greatly missed as a breakfast and lunch spot by downtown workers.

Brown Bag has now confirmed it is "coming back to its roots" in Bethesda, where the chain opened its first restaurant. The company says its new 1710 SF location at the Hyatt will open next spring.

Regal Cinemas Bethesda to close December 15, rest of Apex Building to close the 19th

Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10 movie theater will close forever on Thursday, December 15, according to theater staff. The rest of the Apex Building it anchors will close on December 19, according to The Brown Bag, another tenant closing as the building at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue awaits demolition.

If you grew up here in the 1990s before Federal Realty's Bethesda Row became the center of town, you'll recall that the plaza outside the Regal Cinemas (though it will forever be referred to as "UA" by most of us, as it was United Artists Bethesda for many years prior) was the place to be on weekend nights. It was absolutely packed. Many dined at the long-gone Uno's in the Apex, where even celebrities like Mike Tyson could be found before or after a film.

To have a movie theater in downtown Bethesda was a novelty as the 80s turned into the 90s. The legendary KB Baronet and KB Baronet West theaters had been demolished to make way for the Bethesda Metro Center and associated redevelopment. The latter theater closed in 1988.

For its time, UA was pretty modern, though it was eventually remodeled with improved seating around the turn of the century. A tuxedoed manager ran a tight ship in the 1990s; when he disappeared, the customer experience began to severely decline in the 21st century. The air conditioning regularly would fail during hot summer nights. Theaters were not cleaned as thoroughly between films. Ushers vanished altogether, leaving moviegoers at the mercy of teenage hoodlums. Patrons had to try to settle disputes themselves. Operators in the projection room might turn your movie up to a deafening level it was never meant to be played at, and just leave the room and let it run. Ditto if something was wrong with the picture, such as the whole picture wavering throughout the movie (Man of Steel) or an endless series of lines rising from the bottom of the picture to the top until the end credits (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).

And that was if your movie wasn't prematurely ended by a false fire alarm.

Suffering veterans of these experiences began to find their wallets filled with the low-tech "tickets for another movie of your choice" handed out by the manager if you complained - and by 2006, there wasn't anybody to complain to after a late movie let out. Just the janitors vacuuming the floor. Nice.

New management seemed to improve customer service and cleanliness (at least at earlier screenings) in recent years. But even those of us with nostalgia for UA will have to admit the theater is now out of date, and simply does not provide the experience found at IMAX, ArcLight and iPic.

What it continued to provide, however, was convenience and a magnet to bring people to the restaurants and shops in downtown Bethesda. One study showed a cineplex brings 20,000 more people to a downtown on weekends than would ordinarily be there. Carr Properties, which is redeveloping the Apex Building into a promising mixed-use development with three high-rise towers, has said it is inviting Regal Cinemas to be an anchor tenant. Keep your fingers crossed, as the cineplex is critical to the downtown economy, and particularly to restaurants who rely on the "dinner-and-a-movie" crowd on weekends.

Here are some final scenes from the Brown Bag:

THE BROWN BAG MAY ADD SATURDAY HOURS IN BETHESDA

Popular breakfast, lunch and catering restaurant The Brown Bag has been a weekday fixture for Bethesda workers and residents since the 90s.

Now the small chain may become part of your weekend plans, as well.

After experimenting with Saturday hours at their Arlington location, and now launching a similar test at their DC franchise, The Brown Bag says it is considering adding Saturdays to Bethesda, as well.

Saturday hours would be from 8 AM to 3 PM, but may extend longer in the future.

One change, however.  Breakfast will be served all day, but “Build Your Own” noodle bowls and pasta dishes won't be available. However,  catering will be.

Keep your fingers crossed, Brown Bag fans!