The two restaurant spaces at The Collection now have new tenants on the way, but those tenants have not opened yet. For the rest of November, Friendship Heights weekends move to the sidewalk along the 5200 block of Wisconsin Avenue and to a community room on the Maryland side.
While the storefronts change hands, the neighborhood's social calendar is being run by groups that don't depend on a lease. These are a small food-and-market production company, the Friendship Heights Alliance, and the Village of Friendship Heights' Village Center. Between Thursday, Nov. 12, and Wednesday, Dec. 2, they have scheduled a street festival, the season's last Sunday market, two evening programs, a film screening and a gingerbread party.
One Vendor Team Shows Up at Both Weekends
Both outdoor events left this fall involve the same small company. Sunday Commons Market started in 2025. It is produced by Trishtan LLC with support from the Friendship Heights Alliance. The Alliance organizes its own event, and Trishtan Foods picked the vendors for the Holiday Edition Makers Market & Street Festival on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The two events are scheduled around each other. Sunday Commons ran every Sunday from Aug. 30 except Nov. 15, which it gave up because of the Makers Market the day before. So the Saturday festival and the final Sunday market fall eight days apart.
The two events also use different stretches of sidewalk:
- Holiday Makers Market & Street Festival, Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It runs along the west side of Wisconsin Avenue from Booeymonger's to Rodman's, between Jenifer and Garrison Streets NW. The Alliance lists local artisans, small businesses, prepared foods, giveaways, crafts and live music. Red Panda Art Studio is running the art station and crafts, and Pipkin Creative is producing the event.
- Sunday Commons Market, Sunday, Nov. 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the last date of the fall season. It sets up on the sidewalk in front of the Pepco Harrison Substation at 5210 Wisconsin Avenue NW, at Harrison Street. The Alliance's listing describes prepared foods, baked goods, produce, flowers and live performances.
The Makers Market listing asks visitors to RSVP through its Eventbrite page. Sunday Commons posts featured vendors on its Instagram account, and its listing notes that vendor details can change.
The Indoor Half of the Calendar Is on the Maryland Side
After Nov. 22 the sidewalk season is over, and the calendar moves inside to the Village Center. The Village of Friendship Heights' November 2026 newsletter lists a full set of evening programs after publication day:
| Date | Village Center program | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Screening of Government Girls of World War II, followed by a Q&A | 7 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Nov. 18 | Concert with World Jam Club | 7 to 8 p.m. |
| Thursday, Nov. 19 | Movie night with The Big Sick | 7 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Dec. 2 | Gingerbread-house decorating party | 4 to 5 p.m. |
The gingerbread party requires registration and an $8-per-household kit fee. The newsletter also shows no concert on Wednesday, Nov. 11. That leaves Nov. 18 as the only Wednesday concert between this week and the end of the month.
Taken together, the two calendars cover most of the next three weeks. The Alliance and Trishtan handle the weekends outdoors, and the Village Center handles weeknights indoors. The commercial buildings along the avenue are where the schedule is still open.
Why The Collection Is Quiet for Now
The clearest example of that open schedule is one address. Between late August and mid-September, 5471 Wisconsin Avenue at The Collection at Chevy Chase lost two restaurants. The MoCo Show reported that Junction Bistro, Bar, & Bakery would close its Suite 206B location after service on Aug. 28. On Sept. 10, PoPville reported that Hunter's Hound, the Irish Americana restaurant and bar around the corner, was also closing, with a sign saying a new concept was on the way.
That concept turned out to be two. According to Bethesda Magazine, Metropolitan Hospitality Group will fill the spaces the bakery and the pub left. The landlord's press release, published by PoPville, says the group is bringing a new Open Road, its American restaurant, "with a nautical spin," plus a brand-new all-day cafe and wine bar called Cove. Both are slated for the fourth quarter of 2026.
The same release says this is the group's first investment in Maryland. MHG opened CIRCA at Dupont in 2007, and its other restaurants are Open Road, Él Bebe, TRIO Grill, SALT and Heirloom, along with Open Road Distilling Co. Here is how MHG president Matthew Carlin explained the choice in that release:
"It is an established community with a strong sense of place, excellent connectivity and residents who value quality dining and genuine hospitality."
A few doors down, The Collection added a retailer this season. PoPville reported that Le Creuset opened at 5481 Wisconsin Avenue in late August, and its grand-opening celebration ran Sept. 10 through 13. The center's cookware store is new. Its restaurants are still turning over.
The Rest of the Avenue Is Partway Through the Same Reset
The Collection is the most visible example, but the same pattern shows up along the rest of the commercial strip. Some spaces have new tenants, others are under construction, and a few have plans that reach into next year.
Opened this season:
- Just Salad, 5300 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. It opened Aug. 20, according to the company's announcement. The Alliance listed a ribbon-cutting for Sept. 8.
Coming to The Shops at Wisconsin Place:
- Toastique. The center lists the toast-and-juice cafe as coming in fall 2026. The MoCo Show reported in October that Toastique had a permit for a $578,000 buildout, its first location in Montgomery County.
- Kneads Bakeshop, 5330G Western Avenue. The bakery's locations page shows the Chevy Chase shop as coming soon, and Wisconsin Place lists it for fall 2026.
Further out:
- 5000 Wisconsin Avenue NW. Rome Pizza & Sub stopped serving there on Aug. 15. A notice in the window said Flavor World Exotic Snacks is planned for the space in spring 2027, according to PoPville.
Put the list next to the market calendar and the timing is clear. The sidewalk events and Village Center programs run through Dec. 2. The restaurant and cafe openings are scheduled for "Q4," "fall 2026" or "spring 2027."
The Largest Change Is Happening Off Wisconsin Avenue
The biggest project in the neighborhood is a block off the retail strip. At 5260 Western Avenue, on the former GEICO headquarters site, demolition started this summer and site work for EYA's Friendship Commons is underway, Bethesda Magazine reported in October. The approved plans for the 26.5-acre site include 356 apartments in three buildings, 180 townhouses, several pocket parks, pedestrian connections to Brookdale Park, and a trail along the property's border with Brookdale.
The project is still in court. The same report says residents dropped an earlier lawsuit. The Village of Friendship Heights, the Brookdale Citizens Association and two residents then filed a petition for judicial review of the Planning Board's July 30 approval, which is the usual way to appeal a final Planning Board decision.
The appeal matters for this calendar because one of the petitioners also runs the Village Center programs listed above. The Village of Friendship Heights is challenging the approval while it hosts the neighborhood's November concerts, films and gingerbread party.
On the D.C. side, the Makers Market sets up on Saturday from Booeymonger's to Rodman's, and the last Sunday Commons follows on Nov. 22 outside the Pepco substation at Harrison Street.
If the openings at The Collection have you weighing what your own home is worth in a changing Friendship Heights, Abrams Residential can walk you through it with recent local comparables and a pre-listing plan built around your timing. Schedule a complimentary home strategy consultation.