Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery has permanently closed at 7900 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda, according to a sign posted in the window yesterday. Workers were unloading kitchen equipment out of the restaurant around lunchtime Sunday. The closure was not announced in advance, but it was also not a total shock, as their building's landlord has been marketing the Rock Bottom space as available for lease for six years now. Rock Bottom's exit likely means a new tenant has been found at last.
Operating for 29 years, Rock Bottom was a remnant of the last golden age of Bethesda in the 1990s, following 90s stalwarts like Pizzeria Uno, United Artists Bethesda, and Cooker into the ether. That golden age ended with the rise of the Montgomery County cartel, which seized a majority of seats on the Montgomery County Council in 2002. Since then, we have seen the total collapse of three major public gathering spots (Bethesda Metro Center, the Apex Building plaza, and the plaza outside of Barnes & Noble at Bethesda Row), the loss of the Regal Bethesda 10 movie theater (when the Council declined to require a replacement cineplex in the minor master plan amendment governing redevelopment of the Apex Building site), a drop in downtown customer traffic so steep that the County had to turn off the "spaces available" counters at the Bethesda Row garages out of sheer embarrassment, and the closure of about 25 nightspots following the Council's disastrous 2012 "Nighttime Economy" initiative. Over the last 23 years, the Council has discarded the 1980s-1990s agenda of growing a vibrant city of the future, in favor of developing a soulless Ballston downtown of ridiculously-overpriced, cookie-cutter "base-tower" luxury apartment buildings (which are sporting many, many vacant units as a result), while pocketing the generous donations of their developer sugar daddies. Rock Bottom is merely the latest casualty.
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| Rock Bottom workers unloading equipment from the restaurant midday Sunday |
Rock Bottom was also the only brewery in downtown Bethesda. The Council had boasted that its Nighttime Economy initiative would bring more breweries to downtown Bethesda, but it failed to attract even one. A small consolation for craft beer lovers is that BabyCat brewery of Kensington will be opening a taproom in Bethesda at 4800 Rugby Avenue, in the Gallery Bethesda II apartment tower, this summer.
The Rock Bottom chain had changed hands a couple of times in the last 15 years. It was most recently sold to Kelly Companies this past December. A number of Rock Bottom locations around the country had closed under previous owner SPB Hospitality since 2016.
47 comments:
Not too many can say that they l had that long of a run. It was good for may years. Their other concept, District Chophouse, was excellent down by Verizon Center. That building will be knocked down more than likely. That was once offices for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before they moved to White Flint.
JAC, I agree. The beer and pasta were always good, not to mention that very few places still have a brownie sundae on the menu.
5:39 - Excuse the typos. I agree, Robert. And also, they really introduced the area to micro brew. Few had any idea. We really that for granted today but they were way ahead of their time. They first opened in the basement of the Prudential Building in Denver hence the name, Rock Bottom.
"[A] soulless Ballston downtown" -- trenchant, mordant, perfect.
Well played, Robert!
It really is the end of a particular era of Bethesda.
I remember seeing the lit Rock Bottom sign from inside the Triangle Towers in the 90s.
This is a place that was buzzing 15 years ago. It had it all - pool tables, was a brewery, had friendly staff, huge space downstairs for events and did good lunch business.
The warning signs were there - including cutting back hours. A bar that closes early!?
Who'd think we'd lose José Andrés longtime Jaleo/Spanish Diner and Rock Bottom in the same few months?
Rock Bottom opens 1996.
“MoCo Cartel” “takes over” 2002.
So, it looks like they thrived for 23 of their 29 years (80%) under the “MoCo Cartel”.
And I love your trashing of NoVa’s Ballston.
We did have the luxury of two, two microbreweries at the same time. Cap City Brewers occupied the corner of Arlington Rd & Fairmont St for a few years, closing due to the absence of sufficient foot traffic.
There are now only ten RB's in the entire country. Looks like the "cartel" influenza beats out COVID. /s
This place had it's day. But wow it was a total P.O.S the last 5 years or so. Staff couldn't have been less friendly, food was absolute garbage and even the beers were terrible by the end. I won't miss it. Hopefully an upgrade coming.
You don’t consider the plaza outside of Anthropolgie (the former Barnes & Noble) to be a vibrant public plaza? I see tons of people there all the time. Certainly more than Veteran’s Plaza.
You also fail to mention the wonderful new privately owned public spaces at Wisconsin and Bethesda, by the Starbucks; at the future Purple and new Red Line entrances by Tatte; the new plaza under construction east of the Hampden House, by the future Food Market restaurant and the new Avocet Plaza and Corella Restaurant. And of course the future Capital Crescent Civic Green, the future Market Parks new the Farm Women's Market. All of these are or will soon be great gathering spacing in downtown Bethesda.
Meh. As a beer lover, the brews at Rock Bottom were mediocre at best. And the menu was boring. Hoping that Baby Cat will be a success.
They survived the Chinese Virus but still can't get enough business to make it worthwhile. I frequented the place a decade ago and loved their beers.
And Robert, I just don't think Bethesda will ever have much of a nightlife anymore. Things have changed and this is not Arlington. I don't know where the bar crowd goes but clearly, they aren't in Bethesda and I guess for good reason. There aren't many spots that are worth going to.
@8:03 -- Any chance you might be connected somehow to developers or CRE? (Hint: using "vibrant" to describe a glorified street corner is a tell, as is your apparently knowing every inch of turf in the area that hasn't --yet-- been built upon.)
Says a developer's shill.
Is it a coincidence that "night life" declined in Bethesda after the Council focused on it?
Most people commenting are saying nightlife was better in 2010, before the various nightlife county task forces, etc. Nightlife was still booming back then. Lines out the door to get into the VIP second floor at Blackfinn. A vibrant social sports scene during the week at bars.
Were people coming from the up county and now they have better options closer at Rio, Crown and Pike & Rose?
1:46 - I don't know, but as I mentioned, it's simply not there now and there's just no indication it'll return. I agree that there was great nightlife in the past. I go back to Durty Nellie's. Great bar scene and great live music. And there were many more at the time. Anyone remember Flaps Up? Nantucket Landing? Same building. It's now Barking Dog. It's dead in downtown after 9pm. No one will open a 5 million dollar or more restaurant/bar under those circumstances. Lastly, Purple Line definitely won't help, it'll hurt if anything.
It finally hit Rock Bottom. . .
Very disappointed to see Rock Bottom has closed. We have been going there for years and were there just a couple of weekends ago. The place was packed, as usual.
Nope. Just a resident who appreciates Al the great public spaces in downtown Bethesda. Of course Bethesda can always get better, but it’s already a world class, walkable, transit oriented area. Some people seem to only focus on a few restaurant closures as evidence of the demise of Bethesda.
Nope, just a humble citizen who follows existing, new and proposed projects in downtown. These are easy to track at the county planning websites. A one who appreciates how cool Bethesda has become. It is often ranked as one of the best examples of transit-oriented design in the country.
I still contend that the Purple Line will exceed ridership predictions. So many people live close to this badly need transit option. As always, it is too expensive, too messy, to disruptive and is taking way too long, but in the long run, will in my opinion will be worth the effort. As an example, I bet that many folks like JAC probably thought the Metro was a bad idea. Try to imagine the nightmare DC would be without it now.
You all sound so old.
5:14 is betting on their feelings for the PL which is how the left justifies vanity project spending. When projections fail to materialize, they won't remember what they said.
It's only millions of other people's money...
5:14pm Purple Line will be nice to have.
But the biggest transportation crisis is still 270 down to the Legion bridge. Maryland hasn't budged in providing relief there.
Never went in there during all those 29 years, but glad it was there since it gave activity to the block especially during concert Friday's. The one silver lining will be the reduction of having to see all those various non 2 hour drive radius NFL team jerseys coming & going on game day(s).
We are
You must be the breath of fresh air!
5:14 - No, subways are almost universally supported and successful around the world. I don't recall any mention of anti- METRO subway. The Purple Line is different. We'll see.
I can only imagine that many of the folks that comment on this site to lanent the loss of nightclubs, discos and dive bars in Bethesda, are now 20 to 30 years older than when they put on their fancy clothes and went out to party starting at 11:30 PM. I bet that most of these folks are now well beyond the target age of any “night time economy”, and are likely comfortably asleep by midnight, and not paying a bottle fee at some slick new club. Old people shaking their fist at the clouds and dreaming of their youth me thinks.
Is the retail/restaurant vacancy rate high in Bethesda? I don't understand how the MoCo cartel is destroying Bethesda by allowing development and retail/restaurants that can pay higher rentals.
The council has essentially removed the possibility of small independent restaurants of survival. Only conglomerate chains have deep enough pockets to test the waters.
Started a while ago when Louisiana Express moved to the other side of Bethesda and tried to make it as Louisiana Kitchen. The only survivors are those who own buildings or have locked in long term leases. Add spending millions on the PL instead of helping retail infrastructure which has killed off nightlife in Bethesda and the only ones celebrating are council members patting each other on the back.
The menu only became boring after the original corporate owners sold RB. The initial restaurant had excellent food choices that kept people coming back for over 15 years.
@5:05 - "AI" ??
@4:52 - BINGO! Spot on.
4:52 - Where are the slick, new clubs you speak of in downtown Bethesda? The downtown sector never was and still doesn't seem the type of place where you see bottle service, etc. Great bars with DJ and/or live music work be great
Young adults are less likely to drink alcohol now, primarily for health reasons. The Nighttime Economy was focused on drinking alcohol and that was a miss. It ignored all other entertainment options. And it failed on the alcohol point - the remaining bars close earlier and offer less options.
It's a huge space. I wonder if it will sit vacant for years, like the current On St. Elmo and La Catrina did before those respective tenants moved in.
6:23am Think of it - The Bethesda restaurant scene is in such bad shape that even Bethesda resident Jose Andres shuttered his Bethesda Row restaurant. Affluent Bethesda should be his core audience for expensive small plates.
The rich folks in Georgetown were the only faction that I can recall whom were against Metro.
Louisiana Express / Kitchen was the best. It was a real loss when it closed.
8:56, not trying to look too obtuse here, but what else besides 'eating out' or just plain shopping us there to do WHICH the current layout of Bethesda has to capitalize on? More small format movie theaters (when there are so many horrible movies?) More night gyms? More nightie 'walkability? (Need to get a better handle on crime, then).
Woodmont needs more retail in order to add more foot traffic. Wonderland Books is a good start. Baby Kat will be great. It would help dramatically if parking was free; at least for an hour or two, but can't imagine MOCO ever going for that since they simply don't get promoting commerce. If parking were free, the sportswear chains in the ROW would migrate to lower cost WMT in a second but the council would lose their FRIT "subsidy". I say do it in the ROW and WMT, bet it would still be a boon for WMT retailers.
Check out The Big Chill on 30A, something similar at the Bethesda Metro plaza would be a hit, IMHO.
Ugh! We’re looking for a new place for our weekly Saturday comedy show that was at Rock Bottom for past 4 years.
If you know someone/someplace in downtown Bethesda that can host us plz email CurtShackelford@verizon.net with “New Home for Laugh Riot” in subject line.
Thanks!
Curt Shackelford
Dictator
www.StandupComedyToGo.com
“It’s all in the delivery”
8:01 - Curt - How bout the old theater on Wisc? They even have concerts there. Used to be a cinema and Drafthouse. Or upstairs at Barking Dog is huge
Good ideas JAC!- i'll check those places out
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