Thursday, July 20, 2017

TACOAREPA to open in old Fresh Grill spot in Bethesda

After a renovation and repair of the building, the vacant former Fresh Grill space has a new restaurant tenant. TACOAREPA is moving into the storefront at 4905 Fairmont Avenue. 

Expectations should be high, as this is yet another venture from the growing restaurant empire of brothers Alonso and Alvaro Roche. They already operate several successful restaurants in the Woodmont Triangle: Bold Bite, 202 Donuts and Coffee and Tapabar, with the latter two only steps away from TACOAREPA on Fairmont Avenue.

TACOAREPA will be a fast-casual restaurant, and will also serve beer and wine. As natives of Venezuela, the Roche brothers certainly have the qualifications to produce authentic arepas, an increasingly popular menu item in the D.C. area.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

No mention of the lawsuit?

Anonymous said...

Their other places have been good, so I'm hoping this one will too. I'll certainly try it for lunch when it's open.

Dyer got the scoop -- expect this to be reported on the other website later today.

Roald said...

I love tacos! Great addition.

Anonymous said...

Glad something is finally filling that Greenhill vacancy.

Skippy said...

Looking forward to this.

Tim said...

Yummy! Great scoop!

Tim said...

Tim at 6:16am, please stop posting as me! This wasn't a scoop, all media got the same press release #FAKETIM

Robert Dyer said...

7:32: Sorry, there was no press release for this, old sport. Just old-fashioned shoe leather journalism.

Anonymous said...

Now that Greenhill is closer to getting a settlement from Bainbridge, how much longer will it be before this building is torn down and replaced with a high-rise?

Robert Dyer said...

7:43: I believe they already settled, but don't hold me to it, I don't have it in front of me. The latest decision was in regard to legal fees. There's a short term plan to do a low-density renovation and redevelopment of the whole Lot 667, which is what is already underway now (this building, former BlackFinn, etc.).

Anonymous said...

BOOM!

Anonymous said...

I heard they decided to pause that plan because the county didn't agree with their partial wall counting as a renovation vs new construction or something like that?

Anonymous said...

Do you know if Experimac down the street is officially closed for good? It hasn't been open in months.

Anonymous said...

What an ugly building! Glad it's finally getting a tenant though.

Anonymous said...

I concur.

Robert Dyer said...

12:41: It hasn't closed, but according to a business-for-sale ad, the owner has health issues and was trying to sell the business a few months back.

Robert Dyer said...

9:10: I think that just covered the part on St. Elmo. 4901-A Faimont and these are already done.

Anonymous said...

Ah so we're going to have an Exxon empty lot situation with the St. Elmo side for how long do you know?

Anonymous said...

Yeah this empty lot is just as bad if not worse for downtown Bethesda, especially since it's right smack in the middle of Woodmont Triangle.

Anonymous said...

Tell the county to reduce the financial burden for a 2500 square foot building or tell Bangkok Garden to sell. They are holding up the sites max density

Anonymous said...

What can the county do to reduce the financial burden for a 2500 square foot building?

And what about Greenhill selling instead?