Bottleworks Lane Park Gave East-West Highway a Daytime. Its Evening Is Still Under Renovation.

The stretch of East-West Highway between the 1100 and 1200 blocks in South Silver Spring now has a one-acre park and a café run by a culinary nonprofit. Montgomery Parks set the ribbon-cutting for Bottleworks Lane Park for Friday, Sept. 18, from 5 to 7 p.m., with beer, food trucks and live music from the School of Rock. Emma's Torch has been serving breakfast and lunch a short walk away since June.

Both businesses keep daylight hours. The park's dog areas follow the county's dawn-to-dusk rule, and the café closes at 4 p.m. The business that could carry this block past sundown is Dacha Beer Garden, planned for directly across the street, and it has not opened. For now, this is a daytime block.

A Tire Shop With a Bottling Plant Under It

The site had a long industrial life before the swings went in. Bottleworks Lane Park sits on what used to be a National Tire and Battery auto center, between East-West Highway and Kennett Street. The Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission bought the land for $7.5 million in 2021. Construction started in 2023, and the work included cleaning up contaminated soil.

The name won a public vote with 71 percent. It beat "South Silver Spring Urban Park," the project's working title, and "Kennett Street Urban Park." Montgomery Parks planning supervisor Henry Coppola explained the choice last year:

"Bottleworks Lane Urban Park references the park's industrial roots while honoring the former Coca-Cola Bottling Works plant on the site and the nearby former Canada Dry Bottling Works plant."

It is the second small urban park to open downtown in recent years. The first was Gene Lynch Park, the triangle at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue. Its design came from the Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan and from public comments collected at a 2022 open house and an online survey.

One Acre, Packed for Short Visits

The planners fit a lot onto one acre. Between the Source of the Spring and Bethesda Magazine reports, the park includes:

• A multipurpose court for basketball, futsal and open play
• Outdoor fitness equipment for all levels
• Ping-pong, cornhole and bocce
• A multi-age playground with a nature play area
• Separate dog runs for large and small dogs
• A central lawn, picnic area, shelter and terrace
• A community plaza, a stage and a pollinator garden

Most of these work for twenty minutes as well as for an afternoon: a pickup game, a round of cornhole, a dog run before work. Bethesda Magazine visited on Sept. 11 and found fencing still up around the site. Montgomery Parks said the fences would come down within the week and the park would open to the public after the Sept. 18 ceremony. The park's Montgomery Parks directory page, updated Sept. 24, lists its court, playground, dog run, fitness station, picnic seating and game areas.

The directory page does not list hours for this park. Montgomery Parks' general dog-park rules apply. Dog areas are normally open dawn to dusk unless a sign says otherwise. Each handler can bring up to three dogs, must keep a leash within reach and must pick up after them. As the days get shorter in October, the window for a dog run gets shorter too.

The opening party is the only event the county has posted for the park so far. The stage is built, but no fall programming has been announced for it.

The Café That Closes at 4

Emma's Torch fills the same daytime hours. The New York-based nonprofit leased 1200 East-West Highway, which had been home to Scion Restaurant and NaiNai's Noodle Dumpling Bar until both closed in 2019. It opened the space as a café and its flagship Culinary Training Center on June 12.

Kerry Brodie founded the organization in 2016 and serves as its executive director. It runs a paid, 11-week culinary workforce program that ends in job placement. According to spokesperson Hallie Angelo, students come from more than 75 countries. She said the Montgomery County location lets the program reach the refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, the Congo and other countries who arrive in the county each year.

The Silver Spring site replaces the group's Brookland café in D.C., which closed last year. It is more than four times that location's size, with seating for about 60, a bigger kitchen for catering and room for more than 185 students a year.

The opening menu leaned toward weekday breakfast and lunch: an Egg & Cheese Biscuit made with in-house biscuits, avocado toast on ciabatta and a Crispy Chicken Sandwich with harissa mayonnaise. Weekend brunch added a Brown Butter Pancake with blueberry compote and a vegan chickpea shakshuka. In June, the café was open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. The café's website now lists 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and promotes eating lunch outside. Its private-dining FAQ mentions seasonal patio access and says the Silver Spring location serves beer and wine. Hours change, so check the website before a weekend visit.

The Block by Address, as of Late September

The middle row, the one evening business, is the only one still empty.

The Evening Tenant Across the Street

Dacha Beer Garden plans to open at 1115 East-West Highway, in the former Denizens Brewing Co. space across from the park. Co-owners Ilya Alter and Dimitri Chekaldin opened their first Dacha in D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood in 2013 and later added a location at Navy Yard. The county approved its beer, wine and liquor license in 2025. In April 2026, Source of the Spring reported that demolition of the indoor and outdoor structures was underway. No opening date was set, and Alter said he hoped to open in summer 2026.

Summer has now passed. When Bethesda Magazine covered the park on Sept. 11, it said Dacha was still renovating and its timeline was unclear. Source of the Spring's park story notes that the park sits across from "the upcoming Dacha Beer Garden." Once it opens, people will be able to go from the park lawn to a beer garden without leaving the block. Until then, the block mostly empties out after dusk.

Eastern Avenue lost a business this spring. Reggae Vibes Qzine at 7821 Eastern Ave. closed April 10. In April, no replacement tenant had been named.

Where the Evening Lives for Now

Until Dacha opens, evenings mean a walk north into the downtown core. Several spots there changed this month.

Commas Food Hall, on the third floor of Ellsworth Place on Colesville Road, held its grand reopening on Saturday, Sept. 26. New vendor Kellem Coffee joined returning vendors Tokoa Cheesesteaks and Tato's. The roster also includes C³ Bar, J&J Mex-Taqueria, MoMo Hub, The Champs Kitchen and Claude Have Mercy. Nips Juice House closed its Cameron Street storefront in August after five years and is moving into Commas. As of Sept. 24, the stall was still waiting on permits.

Momiji Sushi & Izakaya is hiring ahead of its opening at 1201 Fidler Lane, the former Cubano's. It filed for a use-and-occupancy permit in mid-August but hasn't set an opening date. Easy Like Sunday, a Baltimore-area brunch spot, opened at 8455 Fenton St. in the old El Sapo space. Its menu includes ricotta-stuffed French toast and short-rib hash.

Two dates on the downtown calendar fit an early-October weekend:

1. Friday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m. An AFI Latin American Film Festival screening and reception.
2. Saturdays, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Freshfarm Farmers Market at Veterans Plaza.

On Saturday, you can shop the market in the morning, cut south for lunch on the Emma's Torch patio and head to the Bottleworks dog run before dark. All three fit within daylight, which is the only time this end of East-West Highway is fully open right now.

Bottleworks Lane Park is the kind of change that shifts how buyers see a few blocks, whether or not a beer garden opens across the street. If you own near East-West Highway or Kennett Street and want to know how a new park and a planned beer garden could show up in your home's value, Steven Huffman and The Limitless Group can walk you through it. Get Your Free Home Valuation and we'll prepare a value estimate for your address.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.