Friday, August 28, 2015

Bethesda Barbecue Company cleared out (Photos)

The contents of the now-closed Bethesda Barbecue Company were being emptied out into a rental truck Thursday evening on Elm Street. Rumors that the restaurant owners will try a third concept in the space (it previously was Newton's Apple) are hard to believe. Such a restaurant would have to function with no kitchen, no seating, no appliances, and no toilets. That's right. Workers were even carrying the commodes out of the restaurant. Stay tuned.
Here comes a commode
On to the truck it goes




21 comments:

JAC said...

Let's not beat a dead horse. He's done and all remaining so-called bbq in town stink. I look forward to reading about the next crappy place that goes in there because we all know yet another substandard restaurant will join the rest of the embarrassing food district.

JAC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robert Dyer said...

JAC, I have to say I found the discussion in the comments on my earlier posts informative, when people were recommending favorite BBQ spots around the region.

Anonymous said...

Is Dyer outside of Smashburger, still waiting for a moving van to show up there?

Anonymous said...

Next up to close????

my guess is urban heights after a long cold winter

Any other guesses?

Chase said...

Wiedmaier may have spread himself too thin with all of the outposts in Bethesda. Villain & Saint stopped serving lunch inside. They say visit the food truck, of course that takes less resources than opening up the restaurant earlier in the day.

For Bethesda Row, I wonder about Roosters, not a restaurant, but not much activity there.

Anonymous said...

Next up is Steamer's.

Oh, wait, that closed a few weeks ago. But you wouldn't know it if you relied on only Dyer for your "news".

Anonymous said...

Wrong...Dyer covered Steamers closing. Try again :)

Anonymous said...

Discussion was a good one about bbq no doubt. Few good ones mentioned though. Those who are taking about Urban Heights, etc. Boy, are you on the money. Weidemier just didn't have that It factor. Villain's and Saints has had to resort to a food trailer to attract attention. Not a good sign there either not to mention Urban Heights which just got pretty tepid review and that's being generous.

Anonymous said...

A commode? Really, do we need to see that, no. This is what makes your reporting crap.

Robert Dyer said...

6:50: Hitting the booze this early on a Friday? Smashburger wasn't my story. Did "Frank" get his pizza at Pizza Pass yet?

Robert Dyer said...

10:38: Actually, you do, because it is directly related to the rumors of whether or not the restaurant was going to reopen as a new concept. So when the basic fixtures are being removed, that is indeed newsworthy. Journalism 101.

Anonymous said...

Dyer breaks the news and then follows the story. Basic journalism guys.

Anonymous said...

You really should wait more than five minutes after your hero posts, so as not to make it so obvious.

Anonymous said...

Actually this is a fun game -- Bethesda restaurant deadpool. Here's my predictions:

1. Yamas Mediterranean Grill. MD placed a tax lien on them a few weeks ago for unpaid taxes.

2. Villain & Saint. As the other poster noted they dropped their lunch hours and now offer just 6 items from their food trailer.

3. Urban Heights. I'm not certain on this one. They are slowly building up a following, and Wiedemaier has a big bankroll to keep it funded at a loss... but at the same time they need to up their game to really make money.

And now some out in left field that I'm not certain about:

4. 4935. It could be they make all their money from renting out the banquet hall for bar mitzvahs and the like. Otherwise, it's doomed.

5. Gusto. Ok, they're not open yet, but they're doing basically what the failed Vapiano's did across the street, and they're in a Greenhill space = double doomed.

6. Heckmann's Deli. While it's the only real "deli" in Bethesda, the quality isn't that great and it's never full. They tried opening until 3am to get the party crowd but that isn't working either.

7. Yogurt Place at Bethesda Row. Forgot the name, but we already saw one frozen yogurt place go under (next to Urban Heights). This fad is over.

8. Georgetown Cupcake. Cupcakes are out of style. The cupcake place in Wildwood already went under, and there are no longer lines out the door like a few years ago.

9. Quiznos on top of Bethesda Metro. Awful location, and I've never seen them packed at lunch. If you can't make money from the office lunch crowd when surrounded by office buildings, you're doomed.

10. Pines of Rome. Bland Italian at its worst. Popular with the older crowd who remembers it from years ago. My only guess why this place is still in business is that they own the property so have low operating costs.

Anonymous said...

Re #1 - Sorry to hear that. I like that place. Hopefully they can address that issue soon.

Re #10 - Probably for the same reasons that the Exxon station/Jerry's has not been torn down yet.

Anonymous said...

It's too bad we have to play that game at all.
Georgetown Cupcake is a bona fide hit. They aren't going anywhere. There's still lines from time to time. Otherwise, you're on point.

Anonymous said...

I was hesitant to put the cupcake place on the list. On the one hand, cupcakes are going out of style as fast as frozen yogurt places. On the other hand, they run a very low overhead operation there, and it's high margin ($3 for a cupcake). I think they bake it all in Georgetown then just truck them over each morning, so it's just a few teenagers to work there.

I do think they'll be gone in the next 5 years though. Cupcakes just won't survive.

Anonymous said...

* Villain & Saint advertises it as a "food truck"...it's just a trailer as mentioned in the comments here.
* I don't see Gtown Cupcake going anywhere. I still see lines and it's a small space.
* Pines of Rome and the bar on the other side (hampden) are both doomed since that space is going to be redeveloped.

Steve D. said...

"10. Pines of Rome. Bland Italian at its worst. Popular with the older crowd who remembers it from years ago. My only guess why this place is still in business is that they own the property so have low operating costs."

Hey, the place is a Bethesda institution. Anyway, the food is no different from Olazzo, and people seem to like that place.


"I do think they'll be gone in the next 5 years though. Cupcakes just won't survive."

I... what? Perhaps you mean specialty cupcake shops won't survive. Cupcakes aren't going anywhere.

jade said...

That is how I would describe the pork ribs. The sweet rub and smoke were balanced to perfection. Best Food Truck In LA