Habit Burger in, City Burger out, subs on the way and goodbye Qdoba

 

 

 

 

Burgers & subs on the way to Rockville Pike

Two popular fast food restaurants are on the way to Rockville Pike, opening this fall outside Wintergreen Plaza in the space once occupied by Ted’s 355 Diner. The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-growing chain from California that’s making its Maryland debut, offers a Shake Shackish menu of burgers, fries, onion rings and ice cream-based drinks. Jersey Mike’s Subs, with nearly 200 locations nationwide, has a extensive selection of subs and wraps plus gluten-free and carb-free options.

 

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Adiós Qdoba

Qdoba, a food court staple here for most of the past decade, has cashed in its tortilla chips at Westfield Montgomery Mall. The closing comes almost exactly a year after the arrival of Mexican juggernaut Chipotle, one of the most popular additions to the mall’s recently renovated Dining Terrace. Chipotle, which appears to be on the comeback trail after its recent food safety scare, will now have the mall’s black-bean-and-burrito crowd to itself. Qdoba fans can visit the chain’s Rockville restaurant on Rollins Avenue.

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Goodbye City Burger, hello Fish Taco

Local restaurateur Francis Namin, who’s about to open his second Fish Taco restaurant at Wildwood Shopping Center, has made a surprising decision about where to open Fish Taco #3. Namin tells Store Reporter that he’ll soon close City Burger, his two-year-old eatery on Wisconsin Avenue, with plans to convert it to the Fish Taco concept. The rebranding will take about two months, Namin says, with a grand reopening scheduled for April. The Wildwood location, as we reported in last week’s issue, is expected to open in early March.

 

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Sears says it will close more stores — but not here

This week Sears Holdings announced it would shutter another 50 unprofitable Sears and Kmart stores across the country. This follows several previous rounds of store closings for the once-mighty chain, whose equity now is said to lie primarily in the value of its real estate holdings. But Sears says the closings will not affect its Bethesda location at Westfield Montgomery Mall. “That store will remain open,” company spokesman Howard Riefs told us this week.

 

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Tell us about your kids’ favorite places — and win ArcLight movie tickets

For our upcoming Store Reporter Kids Issue, we’re asking readers to help us choose the best kid-friendly businesses in the greater Rockville/Potomac area. We want to hear about your kids’ favorite restaurants, toy stores, clothing stores, after-school classes… all the local places that you and your kids enjoy. Send us your suggestions, and we’ll also enter you into this month’s drawing for FREE tickets to the ArcLight Cinema! To post your comments on our Facebook page, click here and scroll down to the ArcLight photo. To email them to us directly, click here. Update: We’ve already named the winners for this contest, but stay tuned to Store Reporter for more ArcLight giveaways coming up.

 

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