Macdara’s Grille (Wheaton)

Macdara “Mac” MacTigue has been in the restaurant and hospitality industry for decades. In Dublin, he worked at the Burlington Hotel (many consider it the Ritz or W of Ireland). He was the co-owner of Flanagan’s Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda. Last month, he and his partner, Stephen Godbout, opened Macdara’s Grille in the heart of Wheaton.

The restaurant is located at 2405 Price Avenue, in the old Rock Creek Chophouse location. It’s a very cozy spot, and fits the warm and welcoming description Godbout told me the restaurant was going for.

The cuisine is Classic American “with a dash of Irish charm.” Their chef is vegan trained and offers vegan options for most menu items when possible (including some of the specials).

We walked in and enjoyed the “bow wow wall”– a collections of portraits of some of the dogs that belong to a fewnof the regular customers. Bring in your photo and they’ll place it on the wall!

The bar was being tended by Macdara himself. He and Stephen fill in whenever and wherever necessary.

As we mentioned earlier, the restaurant is cozy and has a great atmosphere.

We started with a Devil’s Backbone and their Sauvignon Blanc.

We started with the bacon wrapped sweet potatoes.

Next came the honey ham croque-monsieur sliders. Highly recommended! A little of the mustard goes a long way.

What I’m about to say is bold, but I stand by it. We had their BBQ chicken mac ’n’ cheese, and it was the best mac n cheese I’ve ever had (mentioned in episode 8 of The MoCoShow podcast).

A little Caeser salad prior to the main course.

There aren’t many places you can find a $19 filet. The price is right on this one, and I was a fan of the red onion marmalade that came with it as well. We got the sautéed green beans as a side.

The crab stuffed flounder fillet, stuffed with crab, garlic, and peppers was awesome. The loaded baked potato was almost like a meal in itself!

We finished off our meal with the traditional Irish bread pudding. The family recipe comes from Macdara’s mother, and it was a great way to end the meal!

I was told about their brunch that’ll start this Sunday (9/2/18) from 11am-3pm. They shared with me this coupon that’ll give you 20% off your next brunch. If it’s anything like dinner, I recommend giving it a shot!