First Look at Good Ducking Burger; Now Open

Good Ducking Burger is now open, replacing Bethesda fine dining staple Duck Duck Goose. Like its predecessor, Good Ducking Burger is owned and operated by French-trained chef Ashish Alfred. It’s located at 7929 Norfolk Ave. and our very own Mr. MoCo gave the new restaurant a glowing review (see preview video below).

Times change, tastes change, prices fluctuate and the one who chooses NOT to evolve is the one that sinks. For Duck Duck Goose Bethesda, it all came down to the numbers. Despite having a packed dining room most nights, the rising costs of doing business caused DDG Bethesda’s profit margin to plummet. While Alfred’s four other restaurants in Baltimore and DC are both spacious and busy, Bethesda was just busy. Cozy and intimate at about 1100 square feet total (counting interior and the seasonal outdoor patio), and unable to add any more seating, it became obvious that the business was just no longer sustainable as is and, according to Alfred, he was putting an increasingly unfair demand on his employees.

Immediately, the French brasserie was a bonafide success. There were lines, waits for tables and Southern Living Magazine even named it the Best Restaurant in Maryland. More than a commercial success, Chef Alfred, who is a MoCo native and 2005 graduate of Magruder High School, credits the intimate, 27-seater for saving his life – this was his first venture after kicking an almost life-ending drug and alcohol addiction. And he feels Duck Duck Goose Bethesda put his career on the map. It was also because of DDG Bethesda that Alfred was named Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Maryland and the restaurant was named Best Brunch by Washingtonian Magazine three years after opening.

Enter Good Ducking Burger. Alfred’s new fast, casual American burger joint with an Indian twist. “Growth can be painful but it’s the right decision for the business,” says Alfred. “I can keep trying to make things work – I mean business is still good – but when it’s time to change, it’s time to change.” Good Ducking Burger isn’t completely a new concept. It has made wildly successful appearances at Alfred’s restaurants in Baltimore and DC as a delivery-only ghost kitchen, focusing on American classics like burgers, chicken and fries… all with a nod to Alfred’s Indian heritage.

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