Royal Farms to open Silver Spring location

Royal Farms was the first mega-gas-station-convenience store to open in Montgomery County, beating competitors Wawa and Sheetz to the punch when it opened its Gaithersburg location in 2022. Ironically, it is now the last of the three to announce its second MoCo location. That will be at 9475 Georgia Avenue, in the Montgomery Hills area of Silver Spring, a prime "last gas" location just before the ramps onto the Capital Beltway. 

A Montgomery County construction permit for the new Royal Farms has been posted, but the location does not yet appear on the "Coming Soon!" section of the Maryland chain's website. There's a gas station on the property already, which will be demolished to make way for the Royal Farms. Expect an increase in the number of gas pumps, and wonderful fried chicken aromas.

Honduran restaurant for sale in Wheaton

Baleadas Grill at 2304 Price Avenue in Wheaton is available for sale. The asking price for the business is $100,000. Monthly rent for the space is $5600 a month, according to the online listing. The Honduran restaurant has been open for about a year, and has a 4.4 out of 5-star rating on Yelp. It remains open for business.

Chido's Tex-Mex Grill applies for liquor license in Silver Spring

Chido's Tex-Mex Grill is taking another step toward opening at 931 Ellsworth Drive at Downtown Silver Spring. The chain has applied for a liquor license from Montgomery County for this location. It now has a hearing on the license approval scheduled for May 2, 2024 at 10:30 AM. Chido's, which is filling the high turnover spot recently vacated by The Eleanor, is anticipated to open this summer.

New street art on Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring (Photos)

The pedestrian-only block of Ellsworth Drive between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street is abuzz with new street art for (Silver) spring. Paint was still drying when these photos were taken. A honeycomb pattern of various colors is populated with insectoid and plant life. Not for the melissophobic!

Prodigal Comics now open in Silver Spring

Wonderful news for comic book fans and collectors: Prodigal Comics has opened in the former Alliance Comics space at 8317 Fenton Street in downtown Silver Spring. They're gradually getting up to speed in meeting the bar set by Alliance/Geppi's Comic World over the years, and are buying as well as selling comics. Here's a chance to restore that trifecta of incredible downcounty comic book stores - Barbarian Books (a.k.a. Barbarian Comics) in Wheaton, Big Planet in Bethesda, and now...Prodigal Comics? Stay tuned, true believers. Excelsior!

Isaac's Poultry Market to open Burtonsville location

Isaac's Poultry Market is expanding to Burtonsville. The original location has been named the best restaurant in Gaithersburg by Bethesda Magazine, and its popular signature sandwich - The Isaac - the best sandwich in the state by the Maryland Restaurant Association. Founder Rob Gresham has leased a space for his second Isaac's location at 15785 Old Columbia Pike, at the Burtonsville Crossing shopping center. The 1710-square-foot restaurant will open later this year.

The Isaac sandwich

The Burtonsville location will be slightly smaller than the original, as Gresham says takeout orders have been 90% of the Gaithersburg store's sales. There will be 25 seats inside, and 20 seats outside. Gresham says this is just the start of a planned expansion of the brand throughout the Washington, D.C. region.

Photos courtesy Isaac's Poultry Market

Massage parlor bust in Kensington

Chang Liu

A six-month investigation of alleged illegal massage parlors in Maryland has ended with the arrest of two women at Elegant Spa at 10555 Metropolitan Avenue in Kensington. Montgomery County vice squad detectives, working with Anne Arundel County and Laurel City police, determined that a woman who owned spas in all three jurisdictions was operating illegal massage parlors out of all three locations. Vice detectives obtained confessions from multiple male clients at Elegant Spa admitting they had traded cash for "illicit sexual activity" inside the business. 

Police also allege that an Elegant Spa employee tried to bribe a Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services inspector to not shut down the spa. Presenting the evidence collected throughout the investigation, detectives obtained a search and seizure warrant for Elegant Spa, which was executed on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

Yinlian Wu

Chang Liu, 34, of Columbia, was located inside the spa, arrested and charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking and prostitution. Yinlian Wu, 50, of Philadelphia, was also arrested. She was charged with attempted bribery of an HHS inspector, and multiple counts of prostitution. Detectives learned that Chang Liu, Yinlian Wu, and two other females were living inside the spa at various times throughout the investigation. Vice detectives seized numerous items of evidentiary value, a "large amount" of U.S. currency, and a vehicle.

Liu and Wu were transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. They have been released after posting bond. Detectives are concerned there may be additional victims whom Chang Liu employed. If you believe you were a victim of Chang Liu, you are asked to contact the Vice and Intelligence Unit at 240-773-5958.