I stopped by last week during a Capitals game, and there were still diehard customers in seats despite the lack of adult beverages. The owner has been engaged in the local community for years, and that's just one reason over 700 people showed up to support him at a fundraiser during a financially-challenging health issue in 2012. So challenging times are not new for Hard Times Cafe.
But yesterday, the restaurant was closed for "spring cleaning" - never a good sign. A sign in the window did not indicate whether they will be open or closed today.
There was no answer on the telephone yesterday.
A source tells me the restaurant is making an honest effort to resolve the issues at hand. Let's hope they can. As anyone in the restaurant industry can tell you, it's very tough to operate without liquor sales, and this is a good local business that is valued by the community.
55 comments:
Sounds like a tax issue. Taxes have to be up to date in order to renew and the renewal date is 4/30.
Greg and everyone there have supported this community for years. I hope they'll re-open soon, or let us all support them if they need it.
...so why don't they have a license? That seems to be, you know, the important part of the story.
"A source tells me the restaurant is making an honest effort to resolve the issues at hand."
The kind of reporting you just can't get anywhere else.
8:30: The kind of reporting that nobody else had done. You're making a fool of yourself.
8:15: You can't get that information when, "you know," they don't answer the phone and there's nobody at the restaurant. The attempts to criticize a report that broke the story are laughable.
2:13: Your comment is as embarrassing as your touting of a report published hours later.
Guy reads Dyer's story, re-writes it under his byline and expects Dyer to give him a pat on the back? Lol. Dyer continues to set the agenda for hyper local Bethesda news.
A report in which the owner was actually interviewed. A report which describes in detail the situation with the liquor license and the tax issues in detail, and the owner's personal situation, and lays out the prospects for the future.
Versus Dyer's "report" that simply shows a sign in the window indicating that the restaurant was closed yesterday, and off-handedly mentions that "they've been operating without a liquor license", with no attempt to figure out why, and ends with "a source tells me the restaurant is making an honest effort to resolve the issues at hand."
Dyer hates it when reporters actually do their jobs.
Another story that Hull and the dream team discovered through vibrations or do they come to him through visions?
Embarrassing the gyrations they go through to not credit Dyer. Crediting is journalism 101 guys.
@ 4:35 PM - What did Dyer actually report? That the restaurant was closed yesterday, that the liquor license had been suspended for several days, and that he had absolutely no idea why either had happened?
"Crediting is journalism 101 guys."
What a strange coincidence that Dyer's shill uses the exact same cliches as Dyer does.
4:29: If they did their job", why are they just reporting it coincidentally a few hours after I did, when the license has been gone for a couple of weeks? If there's no one at the restaurant, and no one answers the phone, what's your suggestion - just make something up? Stop trying to cover dropping the ball on the Hard Times story. They even had the "affordable condo prices" at 7770 this week - 3 weeks after I reported that. And you're criticizing me, punk?
5:44: And what had your site posted about Hard Times before my report this morning? NOTHING.
5:46: What a strange coincidence that Hans Riemer's shill uses the exact same cliches as Riemer does.
How come Metcalf was able to get an interview, on the record, with the owner, and you couldn't?
Even I'm surprised that the promised "expanded coverage" has turned out to be re-tread, old articles that Robert Dyer published days ago (or even weeks ago in the case of 7770 pricing).
Are they still running on print magazine time over there?
7:30 PM The Gazette is just now reporting that Audi is coming to downtown Bethesda. Dyer reported that like a month ago.
Robert is usually ahead of everyone.
Gazette is just laughable these days. All the news.. three weeks later.
6:46: Uh, because the owner wasn't answering the phone yesterday and the restaurant was closed. But there wasn't any story until I broke it this morning. Why you'd be coming in here to claim superiority is baffling.
"If there's no one at the restaurant, and no one answers the phone"
That's odd, Metcalf didn't seem to have any problem finding someone to contact. He not only was able to talk to the owner, but he published an interview with him.
"If there's no one at the restaurant, and no one answers the phone"
That's odd, Metcalf didn't seem to have any problem finding someone to contact. He not only was able to talk to the owner, but he published an interview with him.
8:53: Good for him. Why was he seeking such an interview, though? Right - because I published a story about it earlier that morning. I recall interviews didn't add much to the closure stories of Pizza Pass, Hamburger Hamlet or Naked Pizza, to name a few. Businesses rarely want to admit they are closing.
"Those grapes were SOUR!" said the Fox.
Or, I dunno, he saw the same thing you did?
Funny there's this pseudo competition. The only reason I know of Robert's site is since he gets hat tips at the other sites.
I saw a commenter on another site write about having a block party to raise money. Let's all hope that happens. I really don't want to lose another "normal person" restaurant in Bethesda.
9:20: Help me understand why the guy who broke a story would have sour grapes over one published hours later?
12:05: Now where have I heard that one before?
Other sites hat tip Dyer all the time. Dyer meanwhile deletes legitimate links to other sites and refuses to cite his sources. His right for sure. But shady.
Same rhetoric as your accusations one supposes.
On the front pages of both The Washington Post and The New York Times are stories about the derailment on the Amtek NEC.
Does this mean that one paper stole the story from the other?
5:52am Everyone in Bethesda reads Dyer's site. Welcome aboard.
I agree. As a lifelong Bethesda resident, I have always liked this place as a "normal" restaurant. Always good draft beer selection and decent burgers/chili options. The owner is very nice and always sponsors community events and fundraisers. I really hope it pulls through.
Interested to hear Dyer's response
6:04: The only deleted links have been spam, a violation of comment policy. "Shady"? Shady is hiding behind Anonymous and making fictional, laughable accusations like that. Shady is ripping off others' work and taking credit for it.
6:33: Hysterical comparison. That story was international news on every outlet. There's no similarity between that and 7770 or Hard Times. Did Wolf Blitzer report on 7770 switching to condos?
So you are saying the only difference is the scale of the news story?
6:25: Did Wolf Blitzer hear about the crash from a hyperlocal Philadelphia blog?
This anonymous guy is comparing himself to the New York Times? Hard Times is a sad tale, but it doesn't compare to people dying on Amtrak.
6:04am no offense, but I don't come to Robert's site for links to your site. We're here for his enterprising reporting.
Presumably you can buy an ad on Robert's site if you want to advertise your wares.
Sure it's not the same scale of news, but the point is the same. Dyer isn't answering the question. On any given topic. Regardless of scale.
Hard Times isn't just hyper local is it? Isn't it a national chain?
So where did wolf blitzed hear about the crash? And when he talks about it, is he plagiarizing?
10:12pm..are you serious? Dyer is the only local journo that responds to readers regularly.
I don't see Post or Gazette reporters responding in comments like Dyer does.
Haha he hand picks what he responds to. Then he's not even really answering the question. And then his answers don't make any logical sense. :)
Certainly he is more engaged than most writers. But like he and you point out, he is a hyper local blog, not anything me like a national paper like the Post. ;)
When did I "point out" that this is a "hyperlocal blog"?
I said he's the only local journo that interacts with readers regularly.
Any news yet? I know today is the do or die day.
It's funny to see all the comments about "doing his job', when obviously this site is a hobby.
Up vote.
Agree
Agreed. Until Dyer has a print dead tree hardcopy edition AND a super secret official journalist badge, he is nothing but a hobbyist.
And he needs to cheerlead MoCo council initiatives more.
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