Passion Bakery Cafe has closed its Rockville location, and a Colombian snack and dessert concept called Sweet and Sour Cafe is lined up to take over the storefront. The storefront is at 9613 Medical Center Drive.
The closure and upcoming replacement were first reported by The MoCo Show, which detailed Sweet and Sour Cafe's plans to move into the vacated bakery space after previously operating a food stand at Westfield Wheaton. According to the outlet, the new concept specializes in Colombian snacks and desserts, including cholados, salpicón con helado, açaí bowls, and smoothies. No opening date for the Rockville location has been announced.
What Sweet and Sour Cafe Is Bringing To Shady Grove
Cholados and salpicón con helado are among the Colombian desserts offered by Sweet and Sour Cafe, according to AmigoFoods. The menu marks a distinct shift from Passion Bakery's pastry case, and it lands in a county where demand for specialized Latin American food concepts has been building for years. Montgomery County has a significant Colombian community, per data cited by George Mason University's Institute for Immigration Research.
The county's Hispanic community provides a local context for the concept's expansion. A Colombian-focused concept previously confined to a mall food stand would look to expand into a standalone storefront in Rockville.
A Bakery Rooted In A 1990 Arrival At The Watergate
Passion Bakery traces its roots back to 1990, when Melvin and Huber Mendoza arrived in the United States and worked at Watergate Pastry in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., before eventually launching their own bakery business, according to the bakery's own account on its website. The company grew from there, opening its first storefront in Sandy Spring, Maryland, and its second storefront in Beltsville, Maryland, before adding a third location in October 2019 at the Plaza del Mercado shopping center in Silver Spring's Aspen Hill area, as reported by The MoCo Show at the time.
The Rockville location at 9613 Medical Center Drive closed this month. Passion Bakery continues to operate its locations in Aspen Hill, Beltsville, and Olney, per The MoCo Show's report on the Rockville closure.
Legal Trouble For Co-Owner Surfaced In 2024
In August 2024, Passion Bakery co-owner Jose Melvin Mendoza was charged by Montgomery County Police with multiple counts of misdemeanor sexual assault involving alleged inappropriate touching of employees at the Silver Spring location, according to Montgomery Community Media.
A Building Full Of Foot Traffic
The storefront is in a mixed-use facility, according to property details from JBG Smith.
Details on the financial terms of the lease transition between the two businesses have not been disclosed.
