#ZGALLERY FURNITURE FREE#

#ZGALLERY FURNITURE FREE#

Did they also give out free samples? That seems right, but my memory is a bit foggy. The Mazza Gallerie store had a sweet scent that I can still conjure up if I close my eyes. This high-end chocolate shop opened in 1977 and seems to still be operating as a mail-order business. Few managed to convince their parents to let them order one even fewer (none?) managed to finish the thing.

(AS) Failing to finish an Earthquake at Swensen’sįor wide-eyed kids, this super-popular San Francisco-themed ice cream parlor served one dish of intense fascination: an eight-scoop behemoth called the Earthquake. It was kind of fun to dig into a molten chocolate cake knowing you’re within the limit (300 calories!), but maybe the whole concept works better with a burger fix than steak tartare? It closed in 2009.

But the goal, as Bethesda Magazine put it, “was to get you in and out with a maximum of 1,000 calories under your belt, including an appetizer, main course and dessert,” with the help of calorie counts and nutritional analyses on the menus. There was some star power behind the kitchen-Ris Lacoste was an early consultant-and dining room flair (a 22-foot faux oak tree at the center). Long before “mindful dining” was a culinary catchphrase and calorie counts dotted every chain menu, there was Rock Creek-a health-centric, finer-dining restaurant that opened on the top floor of Mazza in 2007 (the flagship debuted in Bethesda two years prior). But Game Boutique had plenty of other options-including, if I remember correctly, some rudimentary handheld video games. In 1984, there was a long waiting list for Trivial Pursuit sets, as the Post reported at the time. (AS) Scoring a Trivial Pursuit set at the Game Boutiqueīack when Trivial Pursuit was a big thing and board games were considered a non-lame way to pass the time, Game Boutique-located on the far end of the lower level-was a must-visit during any Mazza excursion. The seats were nicer, too-very La-Z-Boy-esque. There was wine and liquor, and “nicer” concessions like salad (because that’s what you want while watching Gladiator for the first time…bourbon and lettuce). For an additional fee you could sashay past the regular moviegoers to an actual red-carpeted entrance that led to a dark, clubby (in an old-guy kind of way) bar. Springing for Club Seating at AMC TheaterĪMC rolled out its fancy “Club Seating” at Mazza in the early aughts-a predecessor to all the theaters serving booze and offering lounge-like chairs. Two things stick in my mind: The annoying plastic-enclosed conveyor belt that ferried cassettes to the front counter (to prevent theft) and the rack of “Nice Price” tapes of albums released by Chrysalis Records, which let me score Specials, Selecter, and Blondie albums for an amount that didn’t wipe out my entire allowance.

It wasn’t one of the area’s best record stores, but the Disc Shop was a reliable place to pick up mainstream music if you lived nearby. Buying Nice Price cassettes at the Disc Shop We asked a couple of Washingtonian staffers who spent time there in the old days for their top memories. But for those of us who grew up riding our bikes to Mazza Gallerie, it’s a bit sad to see the place go. This is good news for the faded neighborhood, which could use all the help it can get. Plans for a major revamp were recently released, and the familiar white-walled mall in Friendship Heights will soon be transformed into a mixed-use development that looks nothing like its former incarnation. Mazza Gallerie as we know it is going away.

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