Del Frisco's Grille closes at Pike & Rose

Del Frisco's Grille closed yesterday at Pike & Rose. According to a sign posted in the window, the charter tenant of the Federal Realty development is "permanently closed." I enjoyed many meals at this location, including the best Thanksgiving turkey I've ever had at a restaurant.

Valentine's Day/Week special at Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose

Starting tonight at Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose, and running through next Sunday, February 18, 2018, you and your valentine can celebrate the romantic holiday with a special 12 oz. Wagyu bone-in steak, topped with rich truffle butter.

This item is not on the regular menu. To reserve your booth, call (301) 881-0308. Del Frisco's Grille is located at 11800 Grand Park Avenue in North Bethesda.

American bourbon dinner at Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose on January 19

Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose will be hosting an American bourbon dinner next Thursday, January 19, at 7:00 PM. Executive Chef Lee Spencer will prepare a four-course menu, paired with hand-crafted bourbon cocktails by the finest America distilleries.

Check out the menu below, and call (301) 881-0308 to reserve your seat. Tickets are $75 per guest, minus tax and tip.

Pairing menu:

Chicken Liver Jar with Toasted Chicken Fat Baguette & Makers Onion Jelly – Maker’s Mark Fig Sour

Neuskes Bacon Au Poivre & Grits with Bourbon Red Eye Jus – Knob Creek Rye Boulevardier

Root Beer Braised Beef “Pot Roast” – Basil Hayden’s Spiced Fizz

Warm Stick Toffee Cake with Bourbon Mascarpone Cream – Knob Creek Kentucky Coffee

11800 Grand Park Avenue

Pike & Rose

Del Frisco's Grille has a gift for Leap Year Babies at Pike & Rose

This coming Monday is Leap Day, February 29. But if it is also your birthday, you'll get something besides an extra day in the year. On Monday, Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose will be giving Leap Year Babies born on February 29 a free serving of one of the best items on their menu, Cheesesteak Eggrolls.

Del Frisco's Grille

11800 Grand Park Avenue

(301) 881-0308

New happy hour at Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose (Photos + menu)

The biggest question for regulars at Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda has been, "When will they add a happy hour?" Now it's happened - choose from a selection of top beverages and small plates for $6 or less.

Asian Street Tacos

Happy Hour is 4:00 - 6:30 PM, Monday through Friday at the bar. See the full menu below.

11800 Grand Park Avenue

(301) 881-0308

Cheesesteak Eggrolls

Restaurants open Thanksgiving 2015 in Bethesda (Photos)

No cooking skills? No time? No family? Not to worry, the annual Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row guide to Bethesda restaurants open on Thanksgiving Day is here.

Make sure to call ahead to reserve your seat, and ensure there are still reservations available for the time you plan to dine.

Positano

Positano has been a fixture in downtown Bethesda since 1977, and is open every day of the year. While known for its Italian menu, you can also get a traditional Thanksgiving day feast with turkey and all the fixings at this spacious restaurant on Fairmont Avenue. They'll be open regular hours on Thanksgiving.

4948-4940 Fairmont Avenue

(301)-654-1717

Butterscotch Pudding Pot,
one dessert option on the
Thanksgiving menu at
Del Frisco's Grille

Del Frisco's Grille

A welcome new entry to the annual list is Del Frisco's Grille at Pike & Rose. Enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with hand-carved turkey, cornbread stuffing, gravy and cranberry relish, a butternut squash bisque to start, and a choice of 2 sides and three choices for dessert. See the full menu for more details.

11800 Grand Park Avenue

(301) 881-0308

Dine with an aerial view of
the holiday lights of
Pike & Rose at City Perch
this Thanksgiving

City Perch

Another new entry also comes from Pike & Rose. City Perch's Thanksgiving menu switches out mashed potatoes for mashed sweet potatoes, gives you a choice from two starters, and plays up the restaurant's semi-secret weapon, renowned pastry chef Sherry Yard. That means not only five-star desserts, but a puff pastry lid on top of your Parsnip + Apple soup.

11830 Grand Park Avenue

301-231-2310

The Capital Grille

The Capital Grille in Chevy Chase will offer their Executive Chef's take on Thanksgiving favorites, as well as their regular menu.

5310 Western Avenue

(301) 718-7812

Founding Farmers

This popular American restaurant at Park Potomac will be serving up popular American Thanksgiving dishes from noon until 8 PM on Thanksgiving Day.

12505 Park Potomac Avenue

(301) 340-8783

La Ferme

Choose from classic turkey, or salmon or New York Strip at this longtime Chevy Chase restaurant,

7101 Brookville Road

(301) 986-5255

Le Vieux Logis

Yes, the revamped restaurant in downtown Bethesda raved about in the Washington Post is entering the Thankgiving sweepstakes this year, from 4:00-8:30 PM.

7925 Old Georgetown Road

(301) 652-6816

Maggiano's

A long-standing fixture on my list, Maggiano's will be serving a traditional Thanksgiving meal family-style.

Chevy Chase Pavilion

5333 Wisconsin Ave NW

(202) 966-5500

Morton's

A veritable Thanksgiving tradition, atop the Bethesda Metro station.

7400 Wisconsin Avenue

(301) 657-2650

Union Jack's Bethesda

Union Jack's will open at 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day, and will be serving its full menu.

4915 St. Elmo Avenue
(301) 652-2561

Oakville Grille and Wine Bar

For those in the Wildwood Shopping Center area, this is an easy drive with easy (and free!) surface parking.

Wildwood Shopping Center

10257 Old Georgetown Road

(301) 897-9100

Praline

Now here is a best-kept secret. Tucked away in the Shops at Sumner Place (better known as Little Falls Mall to longtime residents).

The Shops at Sumner Place

4611 Sangamore Road

(301) 229-8180

Ruth's Chris Steak House

The Thanksgiving restaurant meal that can start with a Louisiana seafood gumbo, if you wish. Another Thanksgiving tradition in downtown Bethesda. Check out the menu here.

7315 Wisconsin Avenue

(301) 652-7877

Urban Heights

Local celebrity chef Robert Wiedmaier is behind this rooftop restaurant also making its debut on my Thanksgiving list. They'll be open from 12:00-7:00 PM with an a la carte menu that will include some special Thanksgiving dishes.

7940 Norfolk Avenue

(301) 312-8282

Happy Thanksgiving

from

Robert Dyer

at 

Bethesda Row!

Del Frisco's Grille offering new lunch menu, deals at Pike & Rose in N. Bethesda (Photos)

Del Frisco's Grille is celebrating its first anniversary at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, and has added a new lunch menu and a special price offer. New selections include Lollipop Chicken Wings, Asian Street Tacos, Fish Tacos, a Chicken Avocado Wrap, and a Butterscotch Pudding Jar for dessert.

A special Grab a Pair section on the menu includes your choice of one of four entrees, which will include a soup or salad, for only $12. The fish tacos are among the four choices there. You'll also find a Lunch Daily Dish each weekday.

Fish Tacos, with tortilla chips
and Roasted Corn Bisque, $12

If you were to order the fish tacos under the $12 section, they would arrive at the table as mine did above, with soup in this case. Tortilla chips complete the platter, and I ordered the Roasted Corn Bisque. I am a soup person, and the bisque passed my test, with plenty of fresh corn flavor and topped off with tortilla strips and crema. The blackened and seared redfish in the tacos could stand on its own, but the jicama tucked into the taco shells really makes this dish stand out with a unique flavor. They also get a drizzle of crema on top, and a serrano pepper dipping sauce.

Asian Street Tacos

Similarly, the BBQ pork in the Asian Street Tacos is good enough by itself, but gets a tender crunch from the daikon pickle, carrot, and cucumber on top, and spice cilantro and chiles hidden inside. If that's not enough, dip them in the hoisin sauce included on the side.

Chicken Avocado Wrap
with housemade potato chips

A chicken avocado wrap was bursting with chunks of white meat grilled chicken, crisp bacon, ripe tomatoes, and layers of crunchy, fresh lettuce. On the side were crispy, thick-cut housemade potato chips.

The Lollipop Chicken Wings are French drumette-style wings with juicy meat, drenched in a thick coating of Buffalo sauce. Cool them down with a dip in the included avocado ranch dressing.

For starters at lunch, you might want to try these tortilla chips with zesty guacamole that only gets made when you order it.

And for the last course, how about a Butterscotch Pudding Jar? I'm a fan of butterscotch pudding, which recently disappeared from the pudding shelves at Giant again. Del Frisco's isn't as sweet as store-bought pudding, balancing the butterscotch flavor with a thick layer of caramel atop the pudding, and finishing the presentation with whipped cream and large salt crystals for a sweet and salty combination.

I couldn't pass up a Samuel Adams Oktoberfest. If I had to pick just one dish from the list above, I would recommend the fish tacos with the corn bisque. Delicious.

All of these dishes except the pudding could be shared, so bring your coworkers along for lunch. Parking at Pike & Rose is free for the first 2 hours. Follow this tip: enter the parking garage from Old Georgetown Road, which will put you on a lower level with more spaces open. Take the Old Georgetown Road elevator up to the lobby level, and you will exit right onto the patio at Del Frisco's Grille.

Del Frisco's Grille

11800 Grand Park Avenue

at Pike & Rose

(301) 881-0308

BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: PIKE & ROSE, INCLUDING GAP (PHOTOS)

Some of the exterior wraps are off at Gap on Grand Park Avenue, in Federal Realty's new Pike & Rose development in White Flint.

Meanwhile, two other tenants have opened this past weekend at the property. iPic Theaters opened Friday, without extending any preview invitation to this blogger, and thereby reaching less total audience. Doesn't seem too smart, given the extensive outreach competitors ArcLight Cinemas and Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema have engaged in prior to opening. The majority of iPic's PR seems to be focused on legacy media like broadcast TV, print newspapers, FM radio and glossy magazines - which probably would strike those who get most of their news via smartphone these days as a bit behind the times. iPic does have a couple of cool promotional spectacles going on at the actual property, though. One was a man on stilts walking around Pike & Rose, and the other was a projection of the Hollywood sign on a blank construction barrier wall.

Women's apparel boutique Francesca's opened Saturday.

With these openings, parking was jammed in the garage off of Grand Park Avenue Saturday. Room to maneuver along the drive aisles inside the garage proved to be quite tight, now that more people are visiting. Parking is indeed free for 2 hours, and no validation is necessary for that. Longer validations for free parking are available from tenants like Del Frisco's Grille and iPic. If confronted with a similar squeeze in the garage, your best bet is to skip Grand Park Avenue, and head to the garage entrance west of it along Old Georgetown Road, just past Del Frisco's Grille's patio.

Stilt walker near
Del Frisco's Grille

AMP sign is lit

"Goodnight from Hollywood"

DEL FRISCO'S GRILLE PIKE & ROSE VIP PREVIEW PARTY (VIDEO)

Here is video from last Thursday night's VIP preview party at Del Frisco's Grille Rockville, opening this Thursday at Pike & Rose. You can see the decor, the cocktail luge in action, and a sample of the dishes that were served from the menu that night. For a full report, and many photos, from the Del Frisco's event, click here for my story last Friday.

DEL FRISCO'S GRILLE AT PIKE & ROSE - VIP PREVIEW PARTY (PHOTOS)

Del Frisco's Grille gave a crowd of VIPs a preview of the first restaurant opening at Pike & Rose last night. Signage had been attached to the facade of the restaurant, which is scheduled to open next Thursday, September 25.

General Manager Rahsaan Stone (L)
greets VIP guests at the tented
entryway erected outside the
restaurant's entrance

Attendees made a red carpet entrance, greeted by General Manager Rahsaan Stone and a free cocktail. Each party posed for photos before a Del Frisco's Grille logo red carpet backdrop. Inside, the spacious restaurant was packed, even with the standalone tables removed from the floor. An open bar finished what the martini glass at the door started, and uniformed servers made the rounds with a selection of appetizers and small plates from Executive Chef Cody Lynch's forthcoming menu.

A mixologist sends another
Apt. 5-D martini
down the ice luge

In many ways, the event had the feel of one held in the District more than in staid Montgomery County. Strawberry martinis with Tito's Vodka, lemon sour, simple syrup, a dash of balsamic, and cracked black pepper - called the Apt. 5-D, and quite good, I must add - gushed down a large cocktail luge, before arriving in their appointed glasses. The spectacle easily commanded the most cellphone photos of the evening, with shots of the frozen sculpture popping up on Instagram. Millennials hammed it up at an electronic photo machine throughout the night, and made up a large portion of the crowd in general. A raw bar with another ice sculpture served up oysters and shrimp just in front of the restaurant's open kitchen.

Striking a pose at
the electronic
photo "booth"

The finished product,
ready to print

The restaurant's main,
wraparound bar was
abuzz with activity all night

So was another kind of
bar - the raw bar

Raw oysters were the
main attraction here

The circulating appetizers got favorable reviews from everyone I spoke to. Dominated in sheer numbers by the restaurant's signature Ahi Tuna Tacos, it featured inventive twists on some popular small plates. My favorite was the crab fritters. Not to be confused with the crab cake sliders, which were pretty good themselves, the fritters have a far-lighter texture than you would expect from a fried dish. Inside the crispy exterior were bits of sweet peppers, tender corn, and - of course - crab. A drizzle of sriracha mayonnaise added a spicy finish to the top.

Cheesesteak Eggrolls

Crabcake on toast

Tomato and mozzarella skewers

Pork and cabbage taco

A fantastic crab fritter

Del Frisco's signature
Ahi Tuna Tacos

Grille Prime Cheeseburger
Sliders

After pursuing another Del Frisco's signature item, the Cheesesteak Eggrolls, without success, I spotted Chef Cody Lynch, who brought out a plate of 4 fresh from the kitchen for me. These were another winner, with the flavors of a fresh Philly Cheesesteak sandwich somehow jammed into an eggroll-like shell. Other good choices were the Grille Prime Cheeseburger, Pork Tacos with cabbage, and a veggie burger. Later in the evening, some selections from the dessert menu began to appear, including Coconut Cream Pie. Beers currently on tap are Stella Artois, Allagash White, Samuel Adams seasonal Oktoberfest, Yuengling and Blue Moon. I'm looking forward to trying some of the full entrees after the opening, because there are quite a few on the menu that sound great.

What's currently on tap;
GM Rahsaan Stone says
the selections will alternate

All in all, the evening was a brief taste of what nights at Pike & Rose could be like in the future. Federal Realty Development Associate Jay Corbalis said that the company is positioning Pike & Rose as an entertainment-centered development, with the AMP by Strathmore live music venue and iPic cineplex both on-site. With similar movie theaters canceled at JBG's North Bethesda Market II, and possibly at Lerner's White Flint Mall site redevelopment, Pike & Rose is primed to become the nightlife activity hub of the "new" White Flint. You need to get dinner with that movie, or a bar to meet up with friends before the show, and Del Frisco's seems poised to fit the bill.

Stay tuned for video from the event! Here are more photos; click to enlarge for greater detail:

This artwork hangs behind the wall
that separates the host stand from
bar area

Warmer installed on the
outdoor patio

The patio was packed
last night

Looking toward Executive Blvd.

A successful evening for
Executive Chef Cody Lynch
and
GM Rahsaan Stone

Oenophiles weren't left out
at the bar

"Do right and feed every man" is
the motto over the kitchen - and
on the back of staff uniforms

Valets line up the VIP vehicles
after the party