In 2026 the Maryland side of Friendship Heights lost the two businesses that used to draw people in. Amazon Fresh at 5463 Wisconsin Avenue closed on Sunday, February 1. In March, Saks Global put the Saks Fifth Avenue at 5555 Wisconsin Avenue on its closure list. By June, the Chevy Chase Village newsletter was calling it the "former Saks Fifth Avenue property."
Nothing replacing them is a destination. The new and coming tenants are a toast and smoothie counter, a bakery café, an all-day café and wine bar, a neighborhood American restaurant and a cookware boutique. These are places you can stop into for twenty minutes on a weekday. Taken together, they look like a small, privately built version of what Montgomery Planning heard during the Friendship Heights Sector Plan outreach. Lead planner Atara Margolies said community members wanted "third spaces" where people of all ages could meet and spend time.
The Collection's Two Empty Restaurant Spaces Already Have a Plan
The quickest turnover happened at The Collection at Chevy Chase. Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery served its last meals at the end of August. MoCo Show gave the date as Friday, August 28, while the Bethesda Beacon reported Saturday, August 29. A few days later, on Thursday, September 3, The Hunter's Hound at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue closed after nearly five years. Owner Jason O'Brien had opened it after running Irish restaurants in New York City and Jersey City. The menu included beef and Guinness stew, fish and chips, and sticky toffee pudding.
On September 9, less than a week after The Hunter's Hound closed, replacements for both spaces were announced. Metropolitan Hospitality Group is bringing Open Road to 5471 Wisconsin Avenue. It's an American restaurant and gathering place, and this location will have a nautical twist. The group is also launching Cove, an all-day café and wine bar that will debut at The Collection. Both are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the announcement gave no menus or exact opening dates.
These will be MHG's first restaurants in Maryland. The group was founded in 2005 and opened CIRCA at Dupont in 2007. Its D.C. and Northern Virginia portfolio now includes Open Road, Él Bebe, TRIO Grill, SALT, Heirloom and Open Road Distilling Co. MHG president Matthew Carlin explained the choice of location: "It is an established community with a strong sense of place, excellent connectivity and residents who value quality dining and genuine hospitality."
The type of concept matters here. An all-day café and wine bar works across the whole day: coffee in the morning, a laptop table at midday and a glass of wine on the way home. The Collection's other recent arrivals keep similar hours. Burn Boot Camp scheduled its grand opening for April 25 at 5425 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 313. Le Creuset announced an August 28 opening and a September 10 to 13 grand-opening celebration for its Signature boutique at 5481 Wisconsin Avenue. Le Creuset's own store page now lists regular weekly hours and calls it the brand's newest Signature boutique.
Across Western Avenue, The Capital Grille Is About to Get Company
The Shops at Wisconsin Place has been slower to change. On October 1, Bethesda Magazine reported that The Capital Grille is the only full-service restaurant and dining option open in what it called the "once-bustling shopping center." Two smaller places are on the way.
Toastique, the D.C.-based toast, juice and smoothie shop, has a "Coming Soon!" sign up in the space below The Capital Grille. This will be its first Montgomery County location. The center's directory lists it as "Opening Fall 2026." The menu includes avocado smash, smoked salmon and spicy crab toasts, smoothie bowls and protein waffles. Toastique's fall items include a spiced pumpkin smoothie and a pumpkin cheesecake waffle.
Kneads Bakeshop & Café is the other arrival. Its space at 5330G Western Avenue was first targeted to open in the second quarter of 2026. That window has passed, and the bakery's own locations page still says "Coming Soon." Once both open, Wisconsin Place will have a full-service dining room with a bakery and a breakfast counter nearby, which is a better fit for errand-day traffic.
Where Each Address Stands as of Early October
| Address | What was there | What's next | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5555 Wisconsin Ave | Saks Fifth Avenue | No replacement named | Closed; site under discussion in the sector plan |
| 5463 Wisconsin Ave | Amazon Fresh | No replacement reported | Closed since February 1 |
| 5471 Wisconsin Ave | The Hunter's Hound | Open Road | Expected Q4 2026 |
| The Collection, former Junction space | Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery | Cove | Expected Q4 2026 |
| 5481 Wisconsin Ave | New space | Le Creuset Signature boutique | Brand page lists regular hours |
| The Shops at Wisconsin Place, 5310 Western Ave | New space | Toastique | "Opening Fall 2026" |
| 5330G Western Ave | New space | Kneads Bakeshop & Café | "Coming Soon" |
Several of these dates may still move. Openings slip, and a Q4 target can easily become January. Until the doors actually open, treat every "coming" item in this table as a plan.
The Sundays Are Already Busy, Just Across the Line
While the restaurant spaces are being built out, the Friendship Heights Alliance is keeping the sidewalks busy. The Alliance was formed by the area's property owners to promote placemaking and economic development. Its fall programming runs mostly on Sundays, a short walk south of the Maryland line on the D.C. side of Wisconsin Avenue.
- Sunday Commons Market: October 11, 18 and 25, and November 1, 8 and 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the sidewalk at 5210 Wisconsin Avenue NW by the Pepco substation.
- Paint Your Own Pumpkin: October 18, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the same Sunday Commons sidewalk.
- Milk Tree Open Hours, a creative space by Robin Bell: October 11 and 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 5221 Wisconsin Avenue NW.
- Artist Workshop, "The Photograph You Keep": Thursday, October 15, 6 to 8 p.m., at Pavilion Pop-Up, 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW.
- Makers Market: November 14. The Sunday market skips November 15 to make room for it.
Two events this month are on the Maryland side. The Collection Couture Fall 2026 Fashion Show takes over the second floor of 5471 Wisconsin Avenue on Saturday, October 24, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., featuring Sareh Nouri and Brooks Brothers. The weekend before, on October 17 and 18, Ch/Art's free 7th Annual Art Walk runs from noon to 5 p.m. It covers 35 homes in Chevy Chase, Maryland and D.C. and features 86 local artists. A mid-October Sunday could start at the Commons market and end at the Art Walk without getting back in the car.
What the Sector Plan Means for the Saks Block
The biggest building on the Maryland side is still dark. The Friendship Heights Sector Plan covers what happens to it over the long term. In April, Margolies explained that the Saks parking lot is currently zoned residential. Planners proposed rezoning the property to commercial-residential mixed use to match other properties along Wisconsin Avenue. The draft also raises the proposed maximum building height along Wisconsin Avenue to between 200 and 250 feet. Current limits range from 60 to 145 feet. Montgomery Planning now lists its July working draft as the Public Hearing Draft.
Margolies was direct about the timeline: "Right now, market conditions are tough. We're not seeing tons of new development projects in and around the region. If things shift, the opportunity will then be there for something different to happen." No developer or replacement tenant has been named for 5555 Wisconsin Avenue. Margolies also said that because most of the land in Friendship Heights is privately owned, new public amenities would have to come from new development.
That leaves the current wave of tenants to fill the gap for now. Cove, Toastique and Kneads are no substitute for a plaza or park, but each one gives people somewhere to sit down on a weekday. If the Q4 targets hold, the Collection's two restaurant spaces and both Wisconsin Place storefronts will be open before the sector plan reaches a final vote.
If you live near Wisconsin Avenue and want to talk through how the sector plan's proposals for the Saks block and The Collection might affect your street over the coming years, Mandana Tavakoli is glad to go over the drafts with you and keep you posted as the hearings move forward. Let's Connect.
