Sunday, August 12, 2018

TacoArepa, 202 Donuts & Coffee, 202 Next Door close

It was a strange 72 hours on Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda. On Wednesday night, a very solid source told me TacoArepa, 202 Donuts & Coffee and 202 Next Door - all located in a row on Fairmont Avenue - had permanently closed, and that employees were beginning to pack up and move out. Yet, when I went by early the next morning, 202 Donuts was open for business, and the furniture and equipment remained inside all three establishments. Sources in a position to know were unable to confirm the closures on-the-record at that time.

Later Thursday, TacoArepa and 202 Next Door opened as well. Over the next 24 hours, TacoArepa was even still promoting itself on social media, urging folks to come in. Needless to say, this was a confusing series of events.

Then Saturday, the original tipster was vindicated. All three restaurants, founded by brothers Alvaro and Alonso Roche, served their final meals. Messages in the windows announced this was it, for now, for the Roches' downtown Bethesda restaurant empire that began with Bold Bite on the same street seven years ago.

But anyone who has dined at Bold Bite or TapaBar will have to predict that this is not the last we've heard from these talented brothers in Bethesda.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

No comprende

Anonymous said...

They should move into Community and reopen 202 Donuts. At night time offer tacos/arepas as part of the menu.

Anonymous said...

"Yet, when I went by early the next morning, 202 Donuts was open for business"

Their opening time was 7:30 AM (Eastern Time). That apparently is the last hour of Robert Dyer's day.

Robert Dyer said...

6:58: No, just proves what a dumbass you are. Come out from behind that keyboard, say these things like a real man in person on the streets of Bethesda, and you'll be hauled away in a trash can like the bum you are.

Anonymous said...

bold bite in DC lasted a couple of months.

Rugby said...

It's too bad so many places are now closed in that key area of the Woodmont Triangle (including Community). Community was a great concept.

Anonymous said...

Community was such a great "concept" that it didn't even last 10 months. Followed by its successor One Burger which lasted only two months.

Rugby said...

Community served all three meals. If you don't want Tastee, there aren't many breakfast options around.

Anonymous said...

"Community served three meals."

Fixed it for you.

Anna said...

I don't think the Roche brothers are part of The Cartel Conspiracy.

I've never seen them at the Thursday morning meetings.

;D

Anonymous said...

Thursday morning meetings are past Robert Dyer's bedtime.

Sad!

Anonymous said...

It's Sunday and readers are dissecting the news on the most recent restaurant closures. It must be Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row.

Anonymous said...

Dyer's haters are on his page before his fans. They got Dyer on post notification. You know they really love Robert.

Anonymous said...

My WTF moment today: reading the editorial in the Washington Post complaining about not being able to use cash at Amazon Books.

I imagine the writer feeding in 50 wrinkled dollar bills at the Giant self check out.

Legacy media at its best.

Anonymous said...

202 Donuts was good, and seemed to do a good business. Hope it finds another place to open up.

Community was a good concept horribly executed.

Anonymous said...

Giant still has cashiers. And if you're buying more than $50 of groceries, it's still more convenient to use cashiers than self-checkout. Also, $1 bills are not the only unit of currency.

Anonymous said...

@ 11:19 AM - #Dyer'sLittleHelper does not think The Help should be allowed to shop at Amazon Books.

Anonymous said...

11:31 AM is one of the Real Housewives of Potomac weighing in about her "Help".

We've got the all cash contingent weighing in. To get the benefits of Amazon Books, you need to be a Prime member and that makes this "I only pay cash" argument irrelevant. Strange that this is the hill folks want to die on- being able to use cash at Amazon Books.


Anonymous said...

#Dyer'sLittleHelper is so cute when he pretends to be a "Coveted Millennial".

Is he really any younger than the Late-Boomer Dyer?

Steve said...

How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?

Anonymous said...

And now, the always knee-slapping "interns from Frederick" schtick.

Coming up next - "my dentist's office".

Anonymous said...

Brian 6:54 u r a certifiable jackass. Read your comments on beth beat. You don’t know anything about business or the mere fundamentals of of the realestate business, or construction codes.Better to be thought a fool,
then incompetently and incoherently participate in a blog and be confirmed as such.

Boyce Bowles said...

Robert Dyer's troll always goes back to whatever perceived grievance he has with Robert.

Anonymous said...

For the record Mr brian douche bag the tenants built out their own space.

Anonymous said...

"For the record", he writes anonymously. LOL

Anonymous said...

Because they sucked that's why.

Anna said...

1:18PM But...Dyer always goes back to his perceived grievance about...Riemer, MoCo Council, WaPo, other bloggers...and on and on

Your critical thinking skills aren’t too sharp, are they, BoBo.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Anna, Baloney Concrete and other archivists of Bob's Hobby Blog...

I compiled some statistics on Bob's commenting patterns for the month beginning July 14 and ending August 13:

(ALL TIME STAMPS CONVERTED FROM DYER TIME, UTC-7, TO EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, UTC-4)

6:00-59 AM – 2 (earliest comment 6:40 AM)
7:00-59 PM – 1
8:00-59 AM – 1
9:00-59 AM – 0
10:00-59 AM – 1
11:00-59 AM – 1
12:00-59 PM – 1
1:00-59 PM – 0
2:00-59 PM – 2
3:00-59 PM – 0
4:00-59 PM – 1
5:00-59 PM – 2
6:00-59 PM – 0 (12)

For the 13 hours between 6:00 AM and 7:00 PM, there is an average of just under 1 comment for each hourly period during the month, more or less evenly distributed.

7:00-59 PM – 3
8:00-59 PM – 4
9:00-59 PM – 4 (11)

10:00-59 PM – 10
11:00-59 PM – 11
12:00-59 AM – 3
*** latest comment 1:01 AM (25)

0 comments between 1:01 AM and 6:40 AM

TOTAL COMMENTS - 48 in 31 days

12/48 (25%) between 6:00 AM and 6:59 PM (13 hours)
11/48 (23%) between 7:00 PM and 9:59 PM (3 hours)
25/48 (52%) between 10:00 and 1:01 AM (3+ hours)

Thus, Bob's "office hours" appear to be from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM.