Rockville Town Square is taking on steam

We strolled by Gordon Biersch and heard a passerby remark, ‘‘This looks like restaurants at the beach, where you just walk right up to the windows.”

Another replied, ‘‘I’ve got my mug, and I’m ready.”

Together, they described the place in a nutshell. The double-sided, open-air bar faces both the covered al fresco dining space and the interior. In the wintertime, huge glass garage doors between the bar and the outdoor space are rolled down and the focus turns to the warm wood and leather inside. And, of course to the huge brew tanks where five types of beer are brewed all year round, with a seasonal brew added four times a year.

Regional Manager Joe Cominsky tells us that the full-time brewmaster on the premises takes great pride in the freshness of his ingredients and the quality of his beers, and he thinks he has the best job in the world. The restaurant opened Monday.

Ten Thousand Villages steamed into Town Square silently. It was not listed in any of the advance information that we got about who was coming to Town Square, yet there it is, right on Gibbs Street.

Manager Béa Stratner opened the store on April 20 and she shares the shop’s vision with quiet passion. Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade store. All it carries are hand-made items from artisans who receive a fair price for their work.

Stratner describes the 63 Guatemalan women who not only live better individually with their earnings, but were also able to build a medical clinic and start a Montessori school in their village. The many countries the store works with are stenciled on the walls.

The Papery’s doors swirled open on April 19. It’s the place for the wrapping paper for your Mother’s Day gift and unusual greeting cards that have visitors laughing out loud. Visit the back room for invitation ideas; the Papery prints your message on your choice of unique notepaper right on premises.

The excitement of Town Square is spilling across Middle Lane, and has spawned the opening of a new nightclub. On Saturday, Miss Saigon extended its hours to 3 a.m. on Saturday nights for music and dancing.

Owner Trung Do said, ‘‘I think Town Square is great. We’ve been waiting for three years for it to open. It will bring lots of people in.”

Do’s club is open to adults 21 and over starting at 10 p.m., and will feature Latino music by Deejay M.C. Castro, an Asian appetizer menu and a full bar. At last, a place to play late in downtown Rockville.

People on Regal Row are riding the wave, too. The new owners of California Tortilla, Jong and Soo Im, look forward to their neighbors.

‘‘Competition is good; it makes everyone work harder,” Jong Im said. ‘‘We will need to provide better service. It’s good for everybody. Eventually Rockville will be like Arlington Courthouse and Bethesda, with more people coming and enjoying better entertainment.”

Sally Sternbach is executive director of Rockville Economic Development Inc., the private-public economic development arm of the City of Rockville.