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.

R Family Kitchen and Bar to be replaced by 202 Next Door on Fairmont Avenue

Alvaro and Alonso Roche, the prolific brothers behind many downtown Bethesda and D.C. dining ventures, have announced that their R Family Kitchen and Bar at 4901-A Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda has closed this weekend. They will reopen the space on May 29, 2018 as 202 Next Door.

202 Next Door will take the area's most-Instagrammable donuts, breakfast sandwiches and Vigilante coffee from next door's 202 Donuts & Coffee, and add a new menu of light lunch and dinner options, snacks designed for sharing, and a craft cocktail bar. The Roches say 202 has outgrown its small space next door, and the expanded 202 Next Door will be able to accommodate the crowds in a more comfortable setting with couches and free WiFi.

More details on 202 Next Door will be coming soon, as the menu and concept are finalized. Given the quality and inventiveness of the food at each venture the Roches have launched, I'm surprised at the last two closures (this and the well-reviewed TapaBar), but look forward to what they've come up with this time.

Signs of new Roche Bros. dining ventures in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

Signs of the next culinary ventures of Alvaro and Alonso Roche have been popping up on Fairmont Avenue in the last few days. Their Pho pop-up in the former TapaBar space at 4901-A Fairmont now has new signs and menus announcing a fusion/hybrid concept called R Family Kitchen & Bar. The menu keeps the Pho, but also adds American, Venezuelan, Argentinian, European and Mediterranean dishes and influences.

This means you can start with a piquillo pepper and chickpea hummus, have a bowl of pho, and then one of their western main courses - chicken, steak, or Norwegian salmon. Sides skew Euro-American, but sometimes with a Spanish twist of serrano ham or pimenton butter added. Interestingly, R Family's steak is of the coulotte variety, the cut that across-the-street rival Medium Rare has made its trademark in the D.C. area.

Menu for R Family

The difference? For $20.45, Medium Rare gives you steak with Secret Sauce, fries, bread and a salad; R Family's includes chimichurri, mojo picon and your choice of one side for $19.75. R Family also promises your main course will be served on a sizzling plate. In terms of flavor and portion size, that debate can only be settled with a taste test at both restaurants. R Family will be serving lunch and dinner.

Two doors down Fairmont, in the revamped space that once belonged to local favorite Fresh Grill, workers were applying the sign for the Roches' TacoArepa. That fast casual spot will draw on Venezuela, Cuba and the Caribbean for culinary inspiration. In the alley alongside the building, construction for the associated beer garden is also underway now.

Beer garden under construction
in back of the future TacoArepa
on Fairmont Avenue

Artist using stencil to create
logo for TacoArepa at
4905 Fairmont Avenue

Stencil removed, et voila!

TapaBar to close as owners experiment with new concepts

Despite positive reviews, TapaBar owners Alonso and Alvaro Roche have concluded "it is not quite the right fit for the neighborhood." With customer traffic declining, the brothers will close the restaurant at 4901-A Fairmont Avenue after its last night on New Year's Eve. On January 2, 2018, they will open a Pop Up Lab in the space, alternating concepts and cuisines in a search for the ideal replacement.

Whatever final concept is chosen, the Roches expect the resulting restaurant will be more family-friendly. With temperatures low, they feel the time is right for a pho pop-up in downtown Bethesda, so that will be the first experiment starting January 2. “Alvaro and I are Pho fanatics, and we figured there was no better way to utilize this great space during the cold winter months than by sharing one of our favorite comfort foods with our neighborhood,“ Chef Alonso Roche said.

The brothers expect to be busier than ever this year, with the planned opening of TacoArepa and its accompanying Sirena Beer Garden a few doors down on Fairmont Avenue.

TacoArepa to pay homage to owners' childhood in Venezuela

TacoArepa, the new fast-casual concept from restaurateurs Alonso and Alvaro Roche, will lean heavily on nostalgia from the brothers' childhood in Venezuela. Expected to open by October, the restaurant will serve a fusion of Caribbean and Latin American tacos, arepas, bowls and salads.

Alonso Roche, the chef and co-owner of the operation, will draw from memories of his Cuban grandfather, and of West Indies curry dishes, to create the flavors for the 50-seat space. An industrial interior design will also pay tribute to the kind of Caribbean street vendors who inspired the brothers' first venture, Bold Bite, and outdoor dining will be available on a 16-seat patio.

As I reported yesterday, the restaurant will also serve beer, with a list combining local and Latin choices. TacoArepa will be located at 4905 Fairmont Avenue.

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.