Tastee Diner reopens in Bethesda (Photos)

Tastee Diner has reopened this morning in downtown Bethesda. The landmark diner temporarily closed December 15, 2020, after the Montgomery County Council banned indoor dining, as it has no outdoor patio space. Now that the ban was lifted to 25% capacity for indoor dining, the diner has reopened.

Bethesda Tastee Diner to temporarily close in response to proposed MoCo indoor dining ban

The fallout from the proposed ban on indoor dining expected to be approved by the Montgomery County Council today continues. Tastee Diner plans to temporarily close its Bethesda location at 2:00 PM today, December 15, 2020. If the Council passes the order, it will go into effect three hours later at 5:00 PM.

"We hope to reopen as soon as they remove this executive order," landmark diner said on a GoFundMe page set up to support Tastee employees who will be out of work until then. That could be a while, as the pandemic is expected to worsen in the coming weeks and months before it gets better.

Tastee Diner: "We're open"

A top priority for Bethesda's venerable Tastee Diner during the lengthy construction of Marriott's relocated headquarters has been to broadcast it is still open amongst all the work and heavy equipment around it. Early on, Marriott provided a small sign to declare the diner was open during construction. On Thursday, the landmark business added a new banner reading, "Come in - We're open."

Tastee Diner reopens in Bethesda

The venerable Tastee Diner has managed to survive Wave 1 of the coronavirus pandemic. Tastee has reopened at 7731 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Masks are required to enter, and you must stay 6 feet apart from others inside the diner.

A rare phenomenon in downtown Bethesda - did you witness it?

Here's something you almost never see in downtown Bethesda - the Tastee Diner closed. But it happened for about seven hours last night. As I reported over the weekend, water was cut-off to buildings all around the Marriott construction site for three hours Monday evening, so pipes could be attached to the new development.

Tastee Diner in Bethesda is one of the few 24-hour businesses remaining after the Montgomery County Council's "Nighttime Economy Task Force" effort ending up tanking the nighttime economy - and running 18 nightspots out of business in downtown Bethesda alone. A moribund nighttime economy was even tougher for mom-and-pop businesses like Tastee Diner that lost water service Monday night.

Fortunately, the diner reopened at 5:00 AM this morning, and in a couple of years will probably benefit from the hotel guests and Marriott employees who will by then be located on their block. Optimism isn't as strong for the nighttime economy, however. That will likely require replacing our clueless County Council.

Noisy night outside Tastee Diner in Bethesda (Video+Photos)

Utility crews stirred up quite a racket outside the Tastee Diner last night in downtown Bethesda. Let's take a look.

Tastee Diner adds banner for visibility (Photos)

Tastee Diner has a new advertising banner along the Marriott HQ construction fence on Wisconsin Avenue. A "Diner open during construction" road-style sign has already been in place for several months on the other side of the diner at Woodmont Avenue.

Sign posted to promote Tastee Diner amidst Marriott HQ demolition in Bethesda

Standing in the shadow of a bombed-out-looking office building with boarded up windows isn't the best atmosphere for the venerable Tastee Diner to lure customers, but the diner is still operating as normal. I wasn't aware there was any confusion about that fact, but apparently someone thinks there is. A small metal sign has appeared on a utility pole at the corner of Norfolk and Woodmont Avenue, which says, "DINER OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION." It's a pretty unique, and obviously custom, sign. Next door, the roofless Blackwell Building awaits demolition to make way for the relocated Bethesda Marriott International headquarters.

Something new at Tastee Diner?

Most fans of Tastee Diner in Bethesda like the fact that it doesn't change. But this week, they made what passes for a drastic change at the venerable eatery at 7731 Woodmont Avenue. The white board outside with specials was replaced by an old-fashioned chalk board.

Tastee Diner assembles team to protect their property interests during Marriott HQ construction

Downtown Bethesda landmark Tastee Diner will have a front row seat for the imminent excavation and construction of the new Marriott headquarters and hotel at 7750 Wisconsin Avenue. Deep excavations that go right up to the property line can sometimes be too close for comfort, and tower crane overswing agreements have to be worked out with adjoining property owners. To that end, the ownership of the diner is retaining a team of professionals, to watch out for the best interests of the property during the construction.

The diner will be represented by the law firm of Silver, McGowan & Silver, P.C. Local architect Steven J. Karr, AIA, is being retained as the owner's representative, agent and project gatekeeper. Rogan Stearns, P.E. of Stearns Engineering will be the consulting structural engineer, and the geotechnical engineer for Tastee will be Gerry Davit, P.E. of Professional Consulting Corporation.

Karr will play a key role in assisting Tastee's legal representation in negotiating a Support Structure and Crane Overswing Agreement with The Bernstein Companies and Boston Properties, who own the Marriott site. He will also review project plans, and coordinate with both Tastee's attorney and the Marriott project team throughout the excavation and construction. Karr will also monitor any physical impacts of the Marriott work on the Tastee building and property.

Tastee Diner is located at 7731 Woodmont Avenue, at the rear western corner of the Marriott site. Marriott actively sought to assemble the diner and Woodmont Grill properties into its headquarters site, but the plan was scuttled after the latter declined to sell.

Marriott "excited" about new downtown Bethesda HQ and hotel (Photos)

Woodmont Grill scuttles plan

to acquire Tastee Diner corner

for project

Marriott Corporation and landowner Bernstein Companies are moving quickly to develop the new Marriott headquarters and hotel in downtown Bethesda, with groundbreaking now expected to take place in the third quarter of 2018. "We're excited to locate our new headquarters and flagship hotel in downtown Bethesda," Jim Young of Marriott said at a community meeting last night. Among the breaking news was that the reported agreement with Tastee Diner to sell their corner property to Bernstein now cannot be realized, because they were unable to also obtain the Woodmont Grill property. "The train has left the station," a Bernstein representative said of the potential assembly of that corner of the block.

Woodmont Grill can stay, but they will lose their private parking lot to the Marriott project, as the lot is also owned by Bernstein, which has owned 7750 Wisconsin Avenue for about 40 years. Boston Properties is now a co-owner of the property. The design will include a public plaza and cross-block pedestrian connection between Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenue. Architecture firm Gensler said the project is a great opportunity to create a "set piece of urban design."

Site plan

The renderings shown last night are works in progress, not the final design. What is known, is that the 21-story, L-shaped office building will be mostly glass and metal, with 18 floors atop a 3-floor podium. The 238-room hotel will be 12 stories, and both buildings are expected to earn LEED Gold certification.

Aerial view of plaza

Marriott wants to plant a large specimen tree on the plaza, to further represent the firm's commitment to the environment. To ensure the plaza is activated around the clock, the hotel bar and headquarters will both open to the plaza. The hotel restaurant will also be on the ground floor, and there will be suspended light fixtures above the plaza.

Plaza looking east

In a time of highly-controversial sidewalk closures, Marriott is promising to keep a covered walkway along Wisconsin Avenue throughout the construction process. The hotel is expected to deliver in October 2021, with the Marriott headquarters building following in July 2022.

View from Woodmont Avenue
at Cordell Avenue

Another controversial issue is parking. Marriott has signed a 10-year, $2 million-per-year agreement with Montgomery County to have full use of the Woodmont Corner garage across Woodmont from the Marriott site during business hours. Marriott said this is a transitional plan; they believe their workers will switch to transit over the next decade, and may not extend the garage agreement if that happens.

View from Bethesda Metro

That didn't convince some attendees last night, who said Marriott needs to communicate directly with businesses in that area about the loss of parking. The garage is often packed during business hours, and currently, 2500 of Marriott's 3300 employees drive and park at their existing headquarters north of downtown Bethesda in Rock Spring.

View from Norfolk Avenue

Other concerns expressed included traffic impacts and the lack of ground floor retail in the project, which one attendee said was a lost opportunity. One other problem with the failure to assemble the Tastee and Woodmont Grill properties: the new, wider sidewalks around the future Marriott project will end on both sides of the corner at the old, narrower sidewalks in front of those restaurants.

Green roof plan

On the positive side, Marriott promised a high bar of quality for the hotel and restaurant, noting that the CEO of the company will literally be looking down on them from the next building. The third floor of the hotel will be used as an "innovation lab" to test new concepts, designs and furniture for all of Marriott's hotel brands. There will be 100 bike storage units and lockers for Marriott employees in the headquarters building, and an 8000 SF meeting space in the hotel.

Plaza view

Young of Marriott said the company is delighted to be able to remain in Bethesda after 60 years here. He said the company will have a 20-year lease on the property, with rights for 20 more after that.

Attorney Bob Dalrymple said a concept plan for the project was filed for technical comments, and for a head start on design. He said Marriott and its partners intend to file the sketch, preliminary, and site plans together soon, and be before the Planning Board with all of those by the end of 2017.  Last night was a required pre-submission meeting for those plans.

Dalrymple said he expects a hearing before the Planning Board in mid-December, and to have approvals by the end of the year.

View from Veterans Park

View from Lionsgate condos

Illustrative site plan

Stormwater management plan

Properties assembled for the
Marriott project outlined in red

Source: Tastee Diner agrees to sell, will be acquired for Marriott HQ site in Bethesda

A source tells me the owner of Tastee Diner has agreed to sell the venerable restaurant's property, to make way for a larger Marriott headquarters and hotel to be built on that block in downtown Bethesda. After several months of negotiations with the Marriott site property owner, Tastee Diner has reportedly agreed to sell for $7 million. That is $2 million more than the offer they received in February.

Whether the diner would move to a new location, remains to be determined. If the deal goes through, Montgomery County officials should insist that a Hot Shoppes restaurant be included in the future hotel to balance out the nostalgia factor.

The Marriott headquarters project is a partnership between the hotel giant, property owner Bernstein Companies and Boston Properties. It is expected to deliver in 2022. Tastee Diner is located at 7731 Woodmont Avenue, a corner of the same block as the Marriott site, which is addressed as 7750 Wisconsin Avenue.

Source: Marriott wants to buy Tastee Diner in Bethesda

According to a source, Marriott Corporation has made an offer to buy the landmark Tastee Diner at 7731 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. The Bethesda-based hospitality giant is preparing to build a new headquarters and hotel just down the street, where the vacant Tako Grill, Bethesda Court Hotel and Connor Building property are. In an apparent acknowledgement of the constrained size of that site, it appears the company is exploring the potential of buying up the rest of the north end of the block.

Aerial view of
Tastee Diner; the tall
building next to it
reflecting the neon light
is the Blackwell Building;
to the diner's right is the
Woodmont Grill

Reportedly, Marriott's current offer to the owners of Tastee Diner is $5 million. Of course, they would need to also buy up one of the most popular restaurants in Bethesda to connect to the Tastee Diner property, Woodmont Grill. There is also the Blackwell Building at the corner of Wisconsin and Norfolk Avenues.

The Marriott project is about 5 years off from completion, and the Connor Building was just recently demolished.

Bethesda restaurateurs make final push for term limits ahead of Tuesday election (Photos)

Two of downtown Bethesda's most popular restaurants are endorsing term limits, encouraging customers and passersby to vote "YES" on Question B on Tuesday's Montgomery County ballot. The venerable Tastee Diner, and more recent arrival Gringos & Mariachis, are both displaying "Vote YES on Question B" signs. If successful, the question would limit the County Executive and County Council to a still-whopping three terms (12 years) in office.

Signs at Tastee Diner
(above and top)

Roberto Pietrobono, co-owner of Gringos and Olazzo, is supporting term limits in part because of the current County Council's refusal to end the County's government liquor monopoly. YES on Question B signs are also posted at the Silver Spring locations of Olazzo and Tastee Diner.

Sign at
Gringos & Mariachis

As the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring says, "It's Time" for term limits. Our incompetent and impotent County Council must go. Even if you have tuned out the presidential election, please go to the polls tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8 and vote YES on Question B, so we can "throw the bums out."