Thursday, August 20, 2015

Bethesda Barbecue Company closed? Part II

Bethesda Barbecue Company remains closed on Elm Street, a month after I first reported it appeared to have closed. Its website is still no longer operating, and its social media accounts have still not been updated. 

I found an auction for an "upscale Bethesda barbecue restaurant", which is "making a complete urgent liquidation" online this week. The auction page is not going to reveal who the seller is until the last minute. In fact, it doesn't even clearly state which day the auction is being held, leaving that space blank as of this writing.

One item listed is a "1 year old new" Old Hickory smoker. The owners of BBC posed with one in a photo posted to their Twitter account this past January.

We won't know for sure until the auction page is updated...stay tuned.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will it be replaced by:

A. Butter coffee
B. Locally sourced kale juice
C. Broth and gluten free toast
D. Another Chipotle clone

Anonymous said...

Disturbingly, none of those replacements would surprise me.

Anonymous said...

Everyone knew they were toast when the owner claimed the Summer is the slow season for restaurants on Bethesda Row. A true WTF moment.

Anonymous said...

What do we do to get Michel Richard to open a Central in Bethesda?

Anonymous said...

8:43am: Everyone knew they were toast when they randomly changed from Newton's Table to Bethesda BBQ!

Anonymous said...

i saw chef dennis earlier today at the bbq restaurant. says they are changing formats once again. moving to a kosher style deli. sorry to scoop u again dyer:)

also studio vape was thrown out on the street earlier this week on cordell ave, maybe an expansion for signature cigars >

JAC said...

How about a Cigar & BBQ joint? Now that's a good use for that new Old Hickory Smoker. Who is backing Chef Dennis anyway? Someone said the BBQ place is his 3rd failed restaurant in a row. Kosher?

Robert, look into this possible Signature Cigar expansion would you? A patio with a grill would be awesome. The Draper cigar store has a loyal following. Outside area but too small.

Robert Dyer said...

1:17: Thanks for the tip - It would be helpful if you could email these scoops to me privately. The public posts give a freebie to my competitors.

Robert Dyer said...

JAC, I don't know who the financial backers are, but you're right - it's very unusual to get 3 chances in a high-rent area like downtown Bethesda. Most places are toast and out if they fail on their first concept.

Anonymous said...

"The public posts give a freebie to my competitors."

LOL, try not sleeping in the middle of the day.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Dyer missed the closing of Monte Carlo. So much for the "must-read blog for breaking Bethesda news, when you want to be the first to know."

Anonymous said...

also would like an update on the old hard times spot, i dont want to scoop dyer again but there are some juicy things going on in 20814, does not seem like dyer is reporting any of of it. maybe i should start up my own site providing the real topics that the community wants to hear , the juicy stuff !!

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha.

Robert Dyer said...

"LOL", who was asleep when I broke the story about Bruce Variety closing "in the middle of the day", Mr. Dumass? You just embarrassed yourself again, moron.

Robert Dyer said...

4:14: Posting a comment like that on one of 3 breaking news stories I was the first to report today makes you even more of a moron, if that's possible.

You'd be real "Dumass material", if you can ever figure out where the doorknob is to get out of the room.

Robert Dyer said...

5:27: Knock yourself out. Apparently, all it takes are some mysterious and anonymous angel investors, and $13,000 to buy a blue check mark on Twitter, and you're all set.

Anonymous said...

So why don't you do it and get into office and make some change happen? You seem to think it's so easy.

Anonymous said...

It'd be cool if 8:40pm was consistent and deplore the weird personal attacks that the one negative guy hurls at Dyer....unless he's the same guy?

Anyway, Bethesda BBQ is dead Jim. Why don't these restaurant owners take the honest approach when they're closing and not make stuff up like that the Summer is the down period for Bethesda Row dining or the Pizza place that was going to operate without furniture or utensils.

Anonymous said...

5:27pm, Yes, why don't you start your own hyperlocal news site? You can call it 31 Flavors and spend 31 minutes a day (after all, it's not a real job ... right?) keeping us too captivated to want to read anywhere else.


It seems that one of the ironies of Progress in current development trends is that in the effort to remove the evils of Suburban Sprawl, we come geographically closer only to not realize we lose a sense of community. It is what happens when something makes sense on paper but in practice, there are some pretty significant but missed intangibles.

What makes this relevant to current subject is pondering the high turnover of restaurants and retail. There is a sense of connection, even belonging, with stores and restaurants we've loved and built memories with [Exhibit A. Bruce's]. How do we do that if the vast majority of places where we are invited to "live, work, play" keep changing every 3 years? If anything, this reinforces a sense that nothing is permanent.

Do you live in a house or high rise, and to your best observation, do you have more memories of being neighborly when you have lived in a traditional neighborhood or in an apartment/condo? I am guessing that the more tightly residences are fit, the greater the psychological need for individual distance. If there is truth to this, then add the consistent turnover of stores, and we are fostering a sense of disconnect, at the least. I am not trying to shoot progress. And this community is pretty amazing. But a greater element of continuity may ultimately contribute to a more satsfactory sense of community overall. What can we do to diminish so much turnover?

Robert Dyer said...

8:38: What does running for office have to do with 5:27's comment, or my response?

Anonymous said...

8:48 PM responded to a comment at 8:40 PM that was deleted without a trace. We can expect his comment to be deleted as well, as part of the continuing, shameful cover-up.

Anonymous said...

7:04AM A "continuing, shameful cover-up" of what exactly?

We're lucky to have Dyer's reporting in the wake of the Gazette shuttering, the Post reducing local coverage, etc.

Anonymous said...

The Gazette has closed. The Post has reduced local coverage. We're still stuck with Dyer.

We're screwed three ways.

Steve D. said...

"Anonymous said...
Everyone knew they were toast when the owner claimed the Summer is the slow season for restaurants on Bethesda Row. A true WTF moment.

8:43 AM"

I have heard the same thing from other restaurants on Bethesda Row. Not surprising that business would be down when half the residents are away on vacation.

Anonymous said...

11:33 AM Things are much busier on Bethesda Row during the Summer. It's dead in the Winter, not Summer. People want to eat outside.