Paris In Town restaurant contents being auctioned off in Bethesda

Late last month, I reported on the apparent closure of Paris In Town at 4903 Cordell Avenue in Bethesda. The permanent closure, hinted at by legal action taken by the landlord to seek over $70,000 in unpaid rent, has now been confirmed. Just about everything inside the restaurant is now being auctioned off online. The auction will begin closing today at 11:00 AM, and winning bidders will collect their spoils on Friday at the restaurant.

Lebanese Taverna closing at Bethesda Row

Lebanese Taverna is planning to close at Bethesda Row, perhaps as soon as Sunday night, March 11, according to an online auction announcement. While the listing says the name and address of the restaurant are not yet being identified, the photos show the interior of Lebanese Taverna.

The Capital Online Auctions listing states that the restaurant is "shutting its doors," and making a "complete liquidation." Since the entire contents of the restaurant will be available for pickup by the winning bidders on Monday, March 12, it's pretty clear this will be the last weekend for Lebanese Taverna at Bethesda Row.

Among the items up for grabs are the restaurant's bar, a Sony 42" LCD TV, a 150" library rail ladder, fancy chandeliers and pendant light fixtures, and the ceiling-mounted disco ball. It's quite a loss, as this was one of the most beautiful dining rooms in downtown Bethesda - as well as the best smelling street corner in town, with the wonderful aromas wafting out of the restaurant.

Yamas Grill auctioning off entire contents of restaurant today

Yamas Mediterranean Grill appears to be on its way out at 4806 Rugby Avenue in Bethesda. An auction of the entire contents of the restaurant is being held today. In the auction announcement, it says the restaurant is "making way for a new concept," through a "complete liquidation."

Ovens, flatscreen TVs, security cameras, a deep fryer, gyro broilers, a draft beer system, and much more are up for bid. The Greek restaurant, a popular lunch spot for downtown Bethesda workers, has a 3.5 star rating on Yelp, and a 4-star rating on Grubhub.

Food Wine & Co. contents being auctioned off in Bethesda

Everything must go! Everything inside Food, Wine & Co. in the Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue is up for auction. The highly-rated restaurant closed a week ago, citing Purple Line construction as the cause of the closure. An auction listing calls this a complete liquidation of the restaurant's contents after the establishment "lost its lease."

Up for grabs are a Bakers Pride FC-516 Il Forno Classico brick lined gas deck oven, and a Bakers Pride DS-805 Super deck single deck gas pizza oven (the latter with a cracked stone, the listing notes), each worth around $30,000 new.

What else? A Vulcan fryer, a KitchenAid mixer that looks much like one you'd find on your kitchen counter, walk-in beer cooler, wine refrigerator, and an LG flatscreen TV.

The preview for the auction will be held on Monday, June 13, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the actual auction following the next day at 1:00 PM.

HAMBURGER HAMLET NAME FADES INTO BETHESDA HISTORY WITH BANKRUPTCY, LIQUIDATION AUCTION

EXCLUSIVE!

Bish Thompson's, O'Donnell's, Swenson's, Hot Shoppes, Little Tavern... all legendary names in Bethesda dining history. Today, all are just that: history.

Add one more venerable name to the list this Friday:

Hamburger Hamlet.

The burger brand name that has adorned the Georgetown Square Shopping Center since 1973 is taking a final curtain call.

Around this time last year, Hamburger Hamlet had teamed with California chain Du-par's as a joint, 24-hour restaurant venture. A few months later, the Hamburger Hamlet chain quietly filed for bankruptcy. The Bethesda Hamburger Hamlet business (not the restaurant space itself, for which the lease runs out in 2023) was sold to an unknown buyer on October 30 of this year, according to an online listing. Du-par's Hamburger Hamlet was still open as of Sunday morning, and there is no official word that it will close yet. But by this Friday, "everything must go!" Dining room tables, chairs, booths, banquettes, kitchen equipment, food storage, waiters' trays, restroom toilet paper and soap dispensers; you name it, it's up for auction. 

This leaves the future of Du-par's Hamburger Hamlet in doubt. An employee who answered the telephone Sunday confirmed the Hamburger Hamlet name will be dropped, and that the name will be changed to simply, Du-par's. He said new exterior signs would be installed.

How the renamed restaurant would operate with no tables and chairs, or basic kitchen and restroom equipment was unclear. It certainly raises skepticism, but it is certainly possible they could close briefly, and install all new furniture and equipment. It's interesting to note that the prominently-placed refrigerator case that holds the famous Du-par's pies and baked goods is not among the items up for bid. Was Du-par's the buyer of Hamburger Hamlet?

On the other hand, the Capitol Online auction website states that "Hamlet is shutting its [sic] doors."

So stay tuned, but what I can confirm this morning is that the Hamburger Hamlet name is officially history in Bethesda.

RELIC NIGHTCLUB MOVES OUT - EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS

The final words in the final chapter of troubled Bethesda nightspot Relic were written this week.  After losing its liquor license, and then its home to foreclosure and auction, the club appears to be vacating the premises.

Despite its unpopularity with police and county officials, the club did have a loyal following.  Whenever I pass by that building on Fairmont Avenue, there is almost always someone just discovering that Relic is closed.  Relic will be most remembered for being the first in Bethesda history to offer bottle service and VIP tables.  BlackFinn and The Parva soon followed, and still offer that on specific nights (for example, Thursdays at BlackFinn, and, usually, weekend nights at The Parva).

I'm still holding out hope - albeit a futile one, given our county's rudderless "leadership" - that Bethesda will eventually get a pretentious, Las Vegas-style nightclub.  Complete with rope lines, bottle service, swanky surroundings, and C-list celebrity guest hosts.  Bethesda wallets can afford it, but the question is, will anyone build it?

A SMALL PIECE OF DOWNTOWN BETHESDA HISTORY GOES ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

The ghosts of Bethesda past are haunting eBay this weekend.   A "mint condition" matchbox from Bish Thompson's Seafood Restaurant is on auction, with a starting bid of $4.99.

Bidding ends in about 48 hours.

As a lifelong Bethesda resident, I did dine at Bish Thompson's a number of times in my early years.  Prior to the construction of Bethesda Row, and other new developments, BT's was one of the few major restaurants in downtown Bethesda.

It was located on property now part of the Rosedale Park Apartments.  I was not a big fan of Bish Thompson's myself.  O'Donnell's - a neighboring seafood restaurant - was a bit better, especially the fried shrimp.

My favorite restaurant in the "old days" of Bethesda (a.k.a. the 1980s), was Hot Shoppes, at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and East West Highway.

Oh, well.

If you want to own a piece of downtown Bethesda history, it's possible.

But I wonder how a Bish Thompson's matchbox ended up in Pittsfield, New Hampshire.

BETHESDA HYATT TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION

SHOCKER!

There's no "laugh riot at the Hyatt" today.

The iconic Hyatt Regency Bethesda will be auctioned off on August 14, after owners defaulted on a mortgage loan.

Given that the hotel is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the entire DC area, the auction is sure to draw many bidders.

The Hyatt joins the Relic building as the second prominent property to be foreclosed on in downtown Bethesda in the last 2 weeks.

RELIC NIGHTCLUB BUILDING TO BE AUCTIONED OFF

FORECLOSURE FINAL BLOW TO

SHUTTERED BETHESDA 

NIGHTSPOT

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

The saga of the beleagured Relic nightclub will reach an end on Thursday, August 9, at high noon.  At that moment, the small building that houses the club and office space at 4936 Fairmont Avenue will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, on the sidewalk out front.

Apparently, Montgomery County's seizure of the club's liquor license - which forced its indefinite closure - sent the building into foreclosure when the property owner defaulted on the mortgage, according to Craig Haughton and Nina Basu, who have been named substitute trustees of the property.

The 15,000 square foot property continues to house several offices, as you can tell by scanning the lobby directory.

Thinking of placing a bid?  You'll need $100,000 cash or certified funds if you win.

The property has potential for either a long-term investor, or a large developer.  Someone wanting to run a nightclub or restaurant - and who has the capital and patience to wait 5 years for the rebirth of dilapidated and deserted Fairmont Avenue - will be rewarded with a prime spot in the new Old Bethesda.

Developers might be interested in the property, if they can buy adjoining plots to allow for a larger, mixed use development.

Whatever the future of this building, this block of Fairmont is dead, dead, dead right now, and not a street people like to venture down after dark.  Of course, that's because pro-developer tax and planning policies by the county have indirectly forced out many of the street's tenants.  Although Relic has been the source of many complaints, the tearing-up of its liquor license certainly came at a most convenient time.  The shark fins are circling most of the mom-and-pop shops on the most promising avenues across Old Town Bethesda.

So far, nearby residents have been displeased by the project proposed at Fairmont's corner with Norfolk.  A primary complaint is the developer's plan to have an "inactive" street level (i.e. no restaurants or shops to activate the area after business hours).  I share their concerns.  This block is one of the darkest and loneliest at night in town, and the entrance to the street should not be essentially a Berlin Wall.

As I've said many times, with little room to develop downcounty, it is imperative that the Planning Board ensures the most added value from each and every project it approves.  And the maximum height and density within walking distance from Metro in downtown Bethesda.

Otherwise, many of those projects will suffer the same fate as 4936 Fairmont Avenue, in the not-so-distant future.