Bartaco adding mural to exterior at Pike & Rose

Bartaco is adding a mural to the exterior of its restaurant at 950 Rose Avenue at Pike & Rose on Rockville Pike. Artists have been out working on the addition over the weekend. The new public art piece prominently features the chain's dragonfly logo. Overall, the imagery and colors reflect the brand's "coastal vibe" aesthetic, inspired by Brazil, Uruguay, and Southern California. The mural stands out on a block that has very nice looking storefront designs, but not much in the way of public art.

Assault in parking garage in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault inside a parking garage in Bethesda early Thursday evening, August 6, 2026. The assault was reported inside the parking garage in the 5300 block of Zenith Overlook at the Westbard Square development at 6:42 PM. That garage became a hot spot for smash-and-grab thefts from vehicles last year, until property owner Regency Centers installed security cameras it said police would have access to. This is the fourth known assault at the development so far this year.

Ay! Mama Taqueria opening at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Ay! Mama Taqueria is heading to Bethesda. It will be located inside Westfield Montgomery Mall. The taqueria has leased a space in the Dining Terrace food court, right by Chick-fil-A. Ay! Mama started as a tenant inside the ill-fated Solaire Social food hall, which abruptly closed last fall, evicting all tenants. A true family business, Ay! Mama is best known for their rich birria recipe, as well as their fresh corn chips and breakfast menu.

Celebrity wall inside PopUp Bagels in Bethesda

PopUp Bagels has postponed its opening at 7607 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda once again, this time to August 14, 2026. But I have a sneak peek for you right now, of the celebrity photo wall inside. How many famous faces can you recognize? And which local celebrities might be added once it opens?

Trattoria Sorrento closes for annual summer break in Bethesda

Trattoria Sorrento at 4930 Cordell Avenue in Bethesda is temporarily closed for its annual late-summer vacation break. The Italian restaurant will reopen on Friday, August 14, 2026. Still family-owned after 35 years in business, Trattoria Sorrento is one of several small businesses in downtown Bethesda that schedule time off in the summer.

Taco Bamba "coming soon" to Bethesda

Taco Bamba has posted coming-soon signage at its future storefront at 4905 Fairmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. This was Casa Oaxaca until very recently. Taco Bamba will be doing extensive construction and design work on the interior, so it will not open until sometime in the fall. If you can't wait until then, Taco Bamba has a location "just up the Pike" at Congressional Plaza in Rockville.

Taiwan's MedVoyage Global chooses Virginia over Maryland for U.S. headquarters

Is Northern Virginia tired of winning yet? No! And fortunately for them, Montgomery County and Maryland elected officials aren't tired of losing. Thus it is that the Taiwanese firm MedVoyage Global has chosen Virginia, not Maryland, for its U.S. headquarters. The MedVoyage HQ will be at 10300 Eaton Place, at the Mason Enterprise Center (MEC) in Fairfax City. MedVoyage is a leading firm in the future of healthcare, using a low-Earth-orbit satellite network to deliver telehealth and pharmacy services to remote areas in 40 countries, to ships at sea, and to over 80 bricks-and-mortar medical centers across the globe, as well as connecting these remote customers with emergency response units.

Now MedVoyage is expanding into the North American healthcare market, and has chosen Northern Virginia as its base to scale up system and sales operations, as well as to navigate federal regulatory red tape. "Over the next two years, the company plans to scale its local workforce with systems engineers, clinical compliance specialists, and commercial sales executives," the Fairfax City Economic Development corporation said in a statement this morning. FCED added that this latest victory "further strengthens Fairfax City’s role within Northern Virginia’s innovation economy."

"Selecting Fairfax City for our U.S. headquarters is a foundational step in our global scaling strategy," MedVoyage Global CEO Nemo Teng said in a statement. "MEC Fairfax offers the ideal soft-landing environment and unparalleled access to the Northern Virginia tech ecosystem, placing us minutes away from critical federal and defense stakeholders such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense. This facility allows us to rapidly build strategic U.S. partnerships, access premier regional engineering talent, and deploy our emergency and maritime telehealth solutions across North America."

Anyone familiar with local geography will realize that Montgomery County is also in close proximity to these same federal and defense stakeholders. So, why does Northern Virginia keep winning, and Montgomery County keep losing?

You can look at the most obvious difference, which is the low tax environment of Virginia versus Montgomery County, which weighs down its residents and businesses with the highest total tax and fee burden in the region. But let's again go a step further, and see how once again Northern Virginia's superior infrastructure triumphs over Montgomery County's incomplete master plan highway system and poor airport access.

MedVoyage Global's new U.S. HQ will sit right beside an on-ramp to Interstate 66, and directly adjacent to U.S. Route 50. That will give MedVoyage a straight shot to Dulles International Airport via Route 50, or even faster with tolls via I-66. In contrast, Montgomery County and Maryland elected officials continue to block construction of the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing of I-370 from Gaithersburg to Dulles. 

As much as Northern Virginia enjoys winning, so do corporations that need to make something called profits. Winning is contagious. And winners like to have direct access to the only airport in the region with the frequency and variety of flights to international destinations that international businesspeople require to compete - Dulles International Airport. Thanks to our anti-business, Marxist "leadership," Montgomery County continues to lack that strategic advantage - by choice!!

In another delicious coincidence, did you know that Montgomery County's unfinished master plan highway system would have also extended I-66 access into Bethesda? The unbuilt Northwest Freeway, which would have paralleled Wisconsin Avenue through Bethesda, Friendship Heights and Tenleytown, would have crossed the Potomac on the also-unbuilt Three Sisters Bridge and (surprise!) also-unbuilt I-266 near Georgetown University. And you wonder where Montgomery County got all that land for tiny parks and big parking garages between Wisconsin Avenue and the Town of Chevy Chase!

By learning to love losing.

Squatter discovered in downtown Bethesda home

A squatter was found inside a vacant home in downtown Bethesda yesterday afternoon, August 3, 2026. The squatter was discovered at 5:28 PM Monday inside a home in the 4800 block of West Lane. According to Montgomery County police, the suspect gained entry to the home through a window, and had been living inside for an unspecified period of time. Nothing was stolen from inside the home, police said, but they did not indicate if the suspect managed to get away.

Call Your Mother opens in Bethesda

Call Your Mother has opened at 4828 St. Elmo Avenue in Bethesda. This is the popular local deli chain's second Montgomery County outpost, with the first having opened several years ago at Pike & Rose in Rockville. It's actually their fourth in Maryland, where they also have locations in Annapolis and Riverdale Park. You can check out the menu below, which includes their most popular signature items, but also sleepers like the Chicago Dog on a pretzel bagel bun.