Haraz Coffee House opens in Burtonsville

Haraz Coffee House has opened at 15775 Old Columbia Pike at Burtonsville Crossing. This is the chain's second location in Maryland. Haraz was founded in 2021 in Dearborn, Michigan, by Hamzah Nasser, who wanted to share Yemeni coffee and culture with the rest of America. Operating hours in Burtonsville are 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The opening of Haraz was first reported by The MoCo Show.

Burtonsville Quickway Japanese Hibachi construction update (Photos)

Another "sign" of progress has appeared at Quickway Japanese Hibachi at 15616 Old Columbia Pike at Burtonsville Town Square. Permanent signage has been installed above the storefront of the restaurant. An opening date still has yet to be announced. Quickway's menu offers hibachi dishes, bento boxes, and sushi, but not the ingredient MSG.

Quickway Japanese Hibachi under construction in Burtonsville (Photos)

Quickway Japanese Hibachi is now under construction at 15616 Old Columbia Pike at Burtonsville Town Square. The addition of the restaurant was announced almost a year ago, but construction is still only in the very early stage. Quickway's menu offers hibachi dishes, bento boxes, and sushi. The chain touts that it does not use MSG in its cooking.

Buffalo Wild Wings GO opening Burtonsville location

Get ready to GO wild in Burtonsville. Buffalo Wild Wings GO will be opening a Burtonsville location this year. It will be located at 15500 Columbia Pike, in the space recently vacated by Subway. What an upgrade! 

Buffalo Wild Wings GO features a slimmed-down menu comprised of some of BWW's customer favorites. An "innovative cooking process" is able to churn out the same crispy wings you find at a regular BWW at a speedier pace, the company says. The interior set-up is designed to get customers in and out of the smaller-scale GO store as quickly as possible, especially when ordering ahead. GO also has some exclusive flavors not found at the full-size BWW.

Spicy McNuggets, Spicy McCrispy return; Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry debuts at McDonald's

McDonald's has new, limited-time only menu items in Montgomery County, whether you are seeking something hot or cold. The fast food chain's popular Spicy Chicken McNuggets return for a third time. Also back for an encore are the Spicy McCrispy and Spicy Deluxe McCrispy chicken sandwiches. And for the first time, McDonald's is offering a Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry. It combines vanilla soft-serve ice cream with "strawberry flavored clusters," and shortbread cookies. 

McDonald's BTS Meal arrives in Montgomery County (Video+Photos)

The McDonald's BTS Meal officially arrived nationwide yesterday. In partnership with the K-pop boy band, the meal includes a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, a medium Coca-Cola, and two sauce packets: Cajun and Sweet Chili. 

While most media outlets have lauded the sauces as both being new to the United States, McDonald's actually offered Sweet Chili sauce some years back. The Cajun sauce is brand new, however. Watch my in-depth review on YouTube.

BTS fans have reacted enthusiastically to the promotion on social media, but there has been significant dissatisfaction among them that McDonald's did not provide BTS-branded packaging for the meal nor any BTS-themed prize, cards or toys in the United States. Some overseas countries have received special packaging for their BTS meals, which led some fans to ask why an American restaurant chain did not provide this BTS packaging for its American customers.

Popeyes chicken sandwich returning November 3

Popeyes has announced the return of its "sold-out" chicken sandwich. The sandwich will be available starting November 3, 2019. Popeyes intentionally chose a Sunday to bring back the chicken sandwich to emphasize that chicken sandwich king and arch competitor Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays, likely in hopes of reigniting the chains' Twitter feud for publicity purposes.

The Eleanor opening Silver Spring location

Dave & Buster's is getting some competition in Silver Spring. The Eleanor, a bowling lounge and restaurant currently operating at 400 Florida Avenue, N.E. in the District is opening a Silver Spring location. It will take two vacant restaurant spaces at the Peterson Cos.' Downtown Silver Spring development, including that of Lebanese Taverna, which is moving to the former Taylor Gourmet space.

The Eleanor's District location also offers other games, including skee ball, and serves brunch on weekends. Like Dave & Buster's, The Eleanor also features creative cocktails. Cuisine is mostly American, with a few Italian, Mexican and Asian selections, as well a raw bar.

Car Wash Coffee targeting June opening in Kensington (Photos)

Car Wash Coffee has been in the works for a while at 10700 Connecticut Avenue in Kensington. Now, after more than a year, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A sign posted in the window is promising a June 2018 opening, and there's a lot of work going on inside.

I have a lot of nostalgia for this building as a Roy Rogers in decades past. I've always been perplexed as to why various fast food chains were never able to take the ball from Roy's, and run with it at this prime, "last gas" location. Thousands of people pass by here daily heading to or from the Beltway, and a drive-thru could have really cleaned up with megacash.

The establishment is owned by the owner of the adjacent Mr. Wash car wash, hence the name, and why you see the familiar and trusted Mr. Wash character cheerily raising a piping hot cup of coffee on one of the shop's Coming Soon banners. Prepare for a cup of coffee like you've never had before at Car Wash Coffee: they will be serving Vigilante Coffee. But wait, there's some breaking news, as well: they'll also be selling Gaithersburg's famous Neal's Bagels, authentic New York-style bagels.

Burtonsville could get drive-thru Starbucks

A drive-thru Starbucks store is being planned at 15600 Columbia Pike in Burtonsville. The developer, Burtonsville Towne Square, LLC, must first obtain a conditional use approval for the drive-thru function. A similar approval was granted to the nearby Roy Rogers restaurant in 2012.

The Montgomery County Planning Board will take up the matter at its January 12 meeting. Planning staff is recommending approval of the drive-thru, with conditions.

For Burtonsville news 24/7, be sure to follow our @Burtonsville Twitter account.

Kung Fu Tea hoping to open soon at Ellsworth Place in Silver Spring (Photos)

Kung Fu Tea is hoping to open this month at Ellsworth Place mall in downtown Silver Spring. The window coverings have been removed from the space.