Noodles & Company has shuttered its restaurant on Gibbs Street in downtown Rockville, where business was slow and the company says it wanted to focus on its more successful Rockville location at bustling Congressional Plaza. This brings the number of closings at Rockville Town Square to more than a dozen in the past two years, with merchants continuing to complain about slow foot traffic and customers still grumbling about the parking fees. Restaurateur Danny Trehan, who will open a Mellow Mushroom pizzeria in the former Oro Pomodoro space next spring, says he plans to validate parking and wishes more of his neighbors would do the same. “So it’ll take an extra five dollars from my pocket,” Trehan says. “If it brings more people into my restaurant, who cares?” Three other restaurants — Miso Café, Samovar and Finnegan’s Wake Irish Pub — had been scheduled to open at Rockville Town Square in the past few months, but now are expected to arrive sometime this winter.
