Smashburger marketing manager Christine Ferris says Smashburger is "not closing our location in Bethesda. We love the area and have no plans on closing that location in the future."
Original report
Local dining expert Don Rockwell is reporting that Smashburger will close its downtown Bethesda location at 4903 Cordell Avenue. While there have been signs of the burger fad waning, and beef prices rising, I am somewhat surprised by the news. My reviews of many menu items were positive, and the prominent location and nice window views of the Woodmont Triangle made it a sign of the future redevelopment and vibrancy of the neighborhood.
The only negative I found was that they don't have special, limited-time menu items. That's not really any different from Five Guys, which has been extremely successful. But it does put them at a disadvantage when market competitors like BGR and Bobby's Burger Palace are constantly offering new burgers to lure burger fanatics in every month.
Given the recent closure of Roof upstairs in the same building, and that both restaurants lasted only about a year, one might wonder if there is a common issue that might have impacted both. The bigger picture suggests otherwise. Its Dupont Circle location closed last month, suggesting the issue could be with the chain itself, rather than a Bethesda or building-specific problem.
23 comments:
Honestly, the smell outside that building is horrendous. And it wouldn't kill them to spray down the area outside their garbage area - I cringe every time I walk by and see their bread delivery sitting on the ground a few feet from the run-off.
"I am somewhat surprised by the news. My reviews of many menu items were positive..."
LOL, the Kiss of Death again.
That said, I liked their burgers but I won't miss their stinky ventilator.
Can we have an ordinance passed, banning whatever they used to create that terrible odor outside?
This is clearly a failure of the nightlife task force....
Dirty inside, and smelly outside. The employees smoked cigarettes outside the side entrance and left the "butts" on the ground right outside the door -- disgusting. Good riddance gross place.
Someone tell me how this is Reimers fault! QUICKLY!!
Is this another Greenhill property!!??!?!?!?!?!?
There also seemed to be a job requirement that the employees be morbidly obese.
Kudos to Dyer for not trying to twist this particular blog post into some political BS.
Agreed. This is the scooping Dyer we like.
Don Rockwell had the scoop losers....
"Local dining expert Don Rockwell is reporting that Smashburger will close"
A one-sentence comment on a three-year-old thread, from someone I never heard of. My BS meter is moving rapidly to the left.
I'm celebrating by eating a Smashed Burger several levels below Woodmont Avenue in the new Crescent Trail garage. Washed it all down with an Honest Tea.
We may lose Smashburger, but it will live on forever with Bob's video review.
And the terrible smell of Smashburger exhaust system will linger in our noses.
Hello my name is Josh Kern, Chief Marketing Officer for Smashburger. We LOVE Bethesda and have no plans to close!
Now, the smell issue seems to something we need to discuss pronto.
Thanks for your support
Good news! I really like the BBQ bacon cheeseburgers.
Actually, on the smell issue, it smelled much better than usual when I went by there this afternoon.
Apparently Dyer is a fan of The Howard Stern Show. Who knew?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Dell%27Abate
LOL, now Dyer is not only deleting comments that note how badly he screwed up, but he's not even indicating that they were deleted.
COVER-UP!!! DYERGHAZI!!!!!!!
7:52: I didn't "screw up." I shared the report of a highly-respected dining critic, and printed the response of the business in question which denies the reported plans to close. There's no journalistic requirement to announce you're deleting a spam comment by a troll on your own blog.
Robert,
I take any and all responsibility for this information being incorrect. No matter what happens, you have done nothing wrong.
Best regards,
Don Rockwell
The space is being shopped by local brokerages. They are most definitely closing. We toured the site yesterday.
The space is being shopped by local brokerages. They are most definitely closing. We toured the site yesterday.
And now it IS actually closed.
we lost the bethesda smash!!!!!! what happened?!!!!!!!!!
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