Chevy Chase has two commercial ends, and this October they are in very different places. On Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase Lake has spent the past 15 months filling its storefronts and now runs its own weekend events. On Wisconsin Avenue, The Collection lost two restaurants in the space of a week and is waiting on a Virginia restaurant group's first Maryland locations, due by the end of 2026. The Capital Crescent Trail, which would link the two ends on foot, is still closed to the public. For the next few months, the neighborhood's weekend runs east.
The Connecticut Avenue side finished filling in
The quickest way to see the change at Chevy Chase Lake is to line up the opening dates. Each tenant on this list arrived within roughly the last year and a half:
- Dok Khao, 8551 Connecticut Ave., opened in July 2025, according to Bethesda Magazine's review that November.
- Ro Sushi Co. officially opened on October 16, 2025, inside Elena James at 8551 Connecticut Ave. That makes this month its first anniversary. Its website now lists Suite 205 and takes reservations and pickup orders.
- Sarah's Handmade Ice Cream took over The Charmery's former space at 8551 Connecticut Ave. It opened in late February 2026 and held a grand-opening weekend April 4 and 5. It is Sarah's fourth Montgomery County shop.
- Molly's Dog Care, 8525 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace, Suite 302, was still under construction in the developer's March 2025 announcement. It now posts daily hours.
These sit alongside tenants the center's directory lists as open: Elena James, the café and market with coffee and all-day dining; Playa Bowls and Uncorked on Chevy Chase Lake Terrace; StretchLab; RTR Pilates; SEV Laser; CVS; and a Truist branch.
Two spaces are still listed as coming soon. Osteria Divina, an Italian restaurant first announced in February 2025, was placed at 3820 Chaplin Place in a December 2025 MoCo Show report, which said no opening timeline had been set. The center's directory still shows it as "Coming Soon." Femi Salon has the same label and no date.
The 2025 tenant list is out of date. The developer's March 2025 roster included The Charmery and Amazon Fresh, and neither appears in the current directory. Anyone whose picture of the center dates from last year is picturing a different lineup.
One Saturday shows the shift
A full set of tenants is one thing. Holding events is another, and the center is now doing both. Saturday, October 10, shows how much of a Chevy Chase weekend now happens east of Wisconsin Avenue:
| Time | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Taylor Street, between Georgia Street and Brookville Road | Chevy Chase Section 3 farmers market |
| 10 a.m. to noon | 8525 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace | Lake Buddies Fall Festival |
| 2 to 5 p.m. | 8525 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace | Harvest Fest, free, with music, craft drinks, pumpkin decorating, games and crafts |
Lake Buddies is a monthly series held on the lawn at Chevy Chase Lake, and October's edition is a fall festival. A monthly series means the center plans to host something every month, so this is not a single promotion.
The Section 3 calendar fills in the rest of the month. The farmers market runs every Saturday in October, on the 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st. Gazebo Park hosts a Halloween movie night with a food truck on Friday, October 9, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. A Green Gardening Program and Community Plant Swap is set for CCUMC on Sunday, October 11, from 4 to 5 p.m. The Oktoberfest and cornhole tournament is at Gazebo Park on October 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. The Halloween Parade leaves Gazebo Park on October 31 at 5:45 p.m.
From Friday night through Sunday afternoon, October 9 to 11, there are five scheduled events within a few blocks of Connecticut Avenue. Chevy Chase Library adds weekday programs ahead of that weekend: Family Storytime on Tuesday, October 6, a nonfiction book club on Wednesday, October 7, and a Handcrafters' Meetup on Thursday, October 8.
Wisconsin Avenue is between restaurants
At The Collection, this fall is a gap between tenants. Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery closed in late August. The Hunter's Hound at 5471 Wisconsin Ave. closed on September 3, nearly five years after owner Jason O'Brien opened it in December 2021. The Hunter's Hound's tables, chairs, kitchen equipment, televisions and projectors are in an online auction run by Rasmus that closes Thursday, October 22, at 2:07 p.m. Pickup is in Chevy Chase on Monday, October 26, from 1 to 7 p.m.
The replacements are already named. Metropolitan Hospitality Group, a Falls Church, Virginia, company founded in 2005, plans to open two concepts at The Collection by the end of 2026. Open Road, an American restaurant with a nautical theme, will take The Hunter's Hound's space. Cove, a new all-day café and wine bar, will move into Junction's former spot. Cove is a new concept for the group. These will be its first Maryland locations, adding to more than a dozen restaurants in Northern Virginia and Washington that include CIRCA, Él Bebe, Trio Grill and Heirloom.
MHG President Matthew Carlin said Friendship Heights "immediately stood out" as the right fit for the company's Maryland debut, according to the Bethesda Beacon.
At the group's existing Open Road locations, the menu runs to burgers, steak frites, fish tacos, wings, pizza and grain bowls, Bethesda Magazine reported. Exact opening dates and Chevy Chase menus have not been announced.
This is the latest in a series of changes at the center. Joy by Seven Reasons closed in December 2025 after more than three years, and The Heights food hall closed in August 2025. Clyde's, Sushiko and Potomac Pizza are still serving. The center's big October event is a retail one: the Couture Fall 2026 fashion show on October 24, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., featuring Sareh Nouri and Brooks Brothers.
Down the block, Kneads Bakeshop is headed for 5330G Western Ave. in The Shops at Wisconsin Place, the former Peet's Coffee space. Its own locations page still says "Coming Soon." If the dates hold, Wisconsin Avenue's dining options should look quite different by January. Until then, most of the new openings and scheduled events are on the Connecticut Avenue side.
The trail between them is still fenced
The two ends would be easier to combine in one outing if the Capital Crescent Trail were open. It isn't yet. The Purple Line's updates page lists the Georgetown Branch Interim Trail as closed from September 2017 through December 2026. Crews are building the Purple Line and the trail between Elm Street Park and Rock Creek Park, with work allowed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and weekends through fall 2026. Utility relocation and retaining wall work at the Jones Mill Road underpass runs on the same schedule.
The project's FAQ says paving between Bethesda and Connecticut Avenue makes up about one-third of the total paved trail area. It estimates construction will finish in 2026 and says the trail will open "as soon as it is safe and feasible." It gives no date. Until then, construction vehicles use the trail, and walking and cycling on it are prohibited. Test trains are already running between the Lyttonsville Operations and Maintenance Facility and Bethesda Station. The project warns that they may move at any time of day or night and asks the public to stay outside the work limits.
The official opening dates for the line itself don't quite match. The FAQ says the Purple Line is expected to open for service in "Winter 2027," while the project overview says "late 2027." Neither gives a separate date for the Connecticut Avenue station at Chevy Chase Lake. In Bethesda, Montgomery Parks reported on September 16 that its 47th Street trail segment was about 90 percent complete and expected to finish in October 2026, with the Elm Street Park renovation continuing into 2027. That work is progress at the western end of the corridor. It does not reopen the Chevy Chase stretch. For now, getting from Sarah's on Connecticut Avenue to Clyde's on Wisconsin Avenue still means taking the roads.
Changes like these, with new tenants on one block and a trail and transit line on the way, show up in how buyers think about a specific street. If you own near Connecticut Avenue or The Collection and want to know how the next year of openings might affect your home's value, Betsy Schuman Dodek and The Schuman Team are glad to walk you through it, starting with a look at your home's value.
