A corner building on Woodmont Avenue, a short walk from the Bethesda Metro station, now holds two kinds of storefront. One is empty. Ooh La La Bakery ran a French bakery at 8231 Woodmont Ave. until Oct. 31. Next to it is a space that will soon have a new tenant. Paws & Relax Cat Lounge plans to open at 8227 Woodmont Ave. by winter or spring 2027. The Bethesda Beacon lists Ooh La La among the existing tenants of the same building.
Something similar is happening a few blocks over on Cordell Avenue, and on more blocks across the Woodmont Triangle this fall. What these blocks need is people walking past the storefronts. The bakery said that is what it was missing. The neighborhood's holiday events, run by Bethesda Urban Partnership and Montgomery County over the next six weeks, are designed to bring them in.
What the bakery said was missing
Ooh La La opened its Bethesda shop in late February after a long renovation that turned a former salon into a bakery. It closed eight months later. The co-owner told Bethesda Today that the reason was a lack of foot traffic: "We tried for eight months, and it never got to the point where we were sustainable … on a daily basis." In the same interview he called parking in Bethesda a "hassle." He also said the business may not have marketed itself well, and he took responsibility for how things went.
The bakery's first location, at 2600 University Blvd. in Wheaton, opened in November 2020 and is still open. The owners have said they welcome Bethesda customers there. Anyone who came to rely on the croissants, kouign-amann and sourdough from the Woodmont Avenue counter can still find them in Wheaton.
The bakery's explanation fits the rest of the fall calendar. Its two complaints were foot traffic and parking, and those are the problems the county and Bethesda Urban Partnership target in the weeks ahead.
Cordell Avenue, door by door
On the 4800 block of Cordell Avenue, two neighboring addresses are heading in different directions.
At 4862 Cordell Ave., Ruta Ukrainian Restaurant opened in September 2024. It served borscht, varenyky and holubtsi in a 2,000-square-foot room with a 12-seat bar, a patio, and hand-painted floral designs by Ukrainian artist Nina Shostakovska. On Nov. 5, Bethesda Today reported that the restaurant was dark, with a note on the door saying it was "currently closed." Ruta's original location on Capitol Hill, open since 2023, is still serving.
Next door at 4856 Cordell Ave., the space that once held an Ensemble ghost kitchen food hall is under construction. San Pancho, the Mission-style burrito shop from Takoma Park, is building its second location there and aims to open next spring. Co-owner Carolina McCandless, who grew up in Bethesda, told Bethesda Today that the new space is bigger than the original and includes an outdoor patio. The extra room will allow a full café menu, "which we don't have the space for at the current location," and a larger kitchen will let the restaurant start catering.
With a patio and a café menu, San Pancho is planning for diners to sit down and stay at an address that was most recently a ghost kitchen.
The rest of the turnover, address by address
Most of the fall's changes cluster within a few blocks, and several of them affect the same streets where the Dec. 5 event will be held.
| Address | Business | Status as reported |
|---|---|---|
| 8231 Woodmont Ave. | Ooh La La Bakery | Closed Oct. 31; Wheaton shop remains open |
| 8227 Woodmont Ave. | Paws & Relax Cat Lounge | Planned for winter or spring 2027 |
| 4862 Cordell Ave. | Ruta Ukrainian Restaurant | Door notice said "currently closed" on Nov. 5 |
| 4856 Cordell Ave. | San Pancho | Under construction, targeting spring 2027 |
| 7776 Norfolk Ave. | Bob's Soup Dumplings & Bar | Targeted November, pending county inspections and permits as of mid-October |
| 4925 Fairmont Ave. | No Regrets Pizza | Targeted November, construction about half complete as of early October |
| 7755 Old Georgetown Rd. | Old Georgetown Grille | Closed in early October; demolition expected in early 2027 |
Bob's Soup Dumplings & Bar is the one most connected to the holidays. It sits on Norfolk Avenue, one of the two streets the Dec. 5 market takes over, and it set a November target, according to Bethesda Today. Bethesda Today also reported that the developer of the Old Georgetown Grille site plans a 17-story building with 270 apartments there. That is a different way to add foot traffic to these blocks, but it is years away.
Outside the Triangle, True Food Kitchen at 7100 Wisconsin Ave. served its last meal in October. The fall's changes are mostly a Woodmont Triangle story, but they are not limited to it.
Dec. 5 puts the whole event on Norfolk and Cordell
Bethesda Urban Partnership holds Bethesda's Winter Wonderland & Holiday Market on Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 4 p.m., on Norfolk and Cordell avenues. Those are the same streets where Ruta went dark, San Pancho is under construction, and Bob's set its November target.
The afternoon runs in this order:
- Noon to 1:30 p.m.: A live ice sculpting demonstration opens the event.
- All afternoon: The Holiday Market, with URBN Market and about 50 artisans, along with face painting, games and live music.
- All afternoon: Arts and crafts led by neighborhood businesses and arts groups, including Bach to Rock, Encrypted Escape, Imagination Stage, Kidcreate Studio, Round House Theatre and Village Edu.
- 2 to 4 p.m.: Visits with Santa Claus.
Three Bethesda restaurants will have food on site: Cubano's, Olazzo and The Red Bandana. Organizers ask attendees to bring a new toy for Toys for Tots.
The county is paying for parking on two of the busiest Saturdays
The bakery said parking was a hassle, and Montgomery County is addressing that for two days. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is offering free parking in county-managed garages and lots in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton on two shopping days:
- Small Business Saturday: November 28, 2026
- Super Saturday: December 19, 2026
Neither date is the Winter Wonderland Saturday. Each one is a separate chance to shop the Triangle without watching a meter. Small Business Saturday falls two days after Thanksgiving, which makes it an easy time to bring visiting family to the shops still open on Woodmont, Norfolk and Cordell. Super Saturday comes the weekend before the winter holidays.
The rest of December's calendar
A few more dates fill in the month. Bethesda Urban Partnership's December Art Walk on Friday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m., is a self-guided evening tour of downtown galleries and studios. The Paint Bethesda Exhibition runs Dec. 3 through Dec. 22 at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh St., according to BUP's December calendar.
Put together, the calendar gives a resident four reasons to walk the area in six weeks: Nov. 28, Dec. 5, Dec. 11 and Dec. 19. All four fall before San Pancho and Paws & Relax are scheduled to open in 2027.
Our team follows the changes on Bethesda's commercial blocks closely, from Norfolk Avenue to Old Georgetown Road, because they shape everyday life for people who live nearby. If you want to know how the Woodmont Triangle's newest arrivals and upcoming redevelopment may affect your part of Bethesda, Premier Partners DC is glad to talk it through. Contact Us.