Levain Bakery Opens On Bethesda Row, Serving Up Gooey Cookies

BETHESDA, MD — Next time you head over to Bethesda Row, be sure to have an empty stomach. Levain Bakery — a NYC-based chain known for its decadent cookies — opened its latest location on Bethesda Avenue.

On the menu is a collection of cookies nearly an inch thick, along with coffees, teas, pastries and, for the summer only, ice cream sandwiches made with Dolcezza Gelato. Levain Bakery opened a store in Georgetown, and the owners explained they wanted to expand further.

"Because after more than 25 years of satisfying NYC’s sweet tooth, we want to share the joy with more cookie lovers across the country," said founders Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes in an announcement. "We had such an enthusiastic response to our Georgetown opening, we’re excited to bring more cookie joy to Bethesda and Montgomery County."

Choose from the following cookie flavors:

• Chocolate Chip Walnut
• Two Chip Chocolate Chip
• Oatmeal Raisin
• Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip
• Chocolate Chip Walnut (with gluten free ingredients)

Levain's cookies have to be the thickest and gooiest around — which eases the $4.50 price tag a bit, since each cookie could actually be two or three servings.

The bakery says its cookies are about 6 oz each, and have been since the founders started baking them in 1994 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Now, there are location in New York, Georgetown, Brooklyn, eastern Long Island and, of course, now Bethesda.

"We’ve hosted Bethesda customers at our flagship bakery in New York for years. The tight-knit community here makes us feel right at home," the founders said in their announcement. "We’re excited to continue our thoughtful retail expansion into the Mid-Atlantic now with a bakery in Maryland.”

Find Levain Bakery at 4844 Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814.