ArcLight gets a new neighbor, Cabin John gets a new gym, still more bubble tea for Rockville

Eighteen months after the closing of MET Bethesda at Westfield Montgomery Mall, a new restaurant is taking over the space across from the popular ArcLight Cinema. Viva Steakhouse, serving a Benihana-style Japanese hibachi menu, will soon begin renovating the space with plans to open in a few months. MET Bethesda, which debuted in 2014 along with the movie theater and the expansive Dining Terrace, lasted less than two years before shutting its doors along with several of the other new restaurants. For more on what went wrong, click here.

Spring is in the air, and with it comes a new crop of tenants to fill some of those empty spaces at Westfield Montgomery Mall. Besides the previously announced Intimissimi lingerie store and Spice 6 Indian restaurant, other new additions will include the skater-inspired clothing store Zumiez, an independent furniture store, and a mini-spa offering facials and mani/pedis. Also: The Pandora store will be doubling in size as it takes over a neighboring space to give shoppers more browsing room. What else is heading to the mall? An outdoor farm market that launches next month. See our April 5th edition for more.

If you’re planning to be a frequent visitor to the upcoming Sweetly Anchored bakery at Cabin John‘s mini-mall, here’s a chance to burn off some of those calories: Biker Barre, a boutique fitness studio from D.C., will be opening this summer just a few doors away. This will be the first Maryland location for Biker Barre, which will offer indoor cycling classes and ballet-inspired toning routines in the former Ballet Petitespace next to My Gym. For more on Biker Barre, click here. For more on the Sweetly Anchored bakery and coffee shop, click here.

Another bubble tea chain is making its move into Montgomery County. Gong Cha, based in New York, has opened its first area location at The Galvan on Rockville Pike and will soon be adding another one in downtown Rockville’s new all-Asian food court. Gong Cha could prove to be a formidable competitor for Kung Fu Tea, which also has been expanding rapidly in this area. For more on the all-Asian food court, click here. For more on Kung Fu Tea in MoCo, click here.