Since its closing in 2013, the absence of Roy’s Place has left a hole in the hearts of many current and former Montgomery County residents. According to the now-defunct Roy’s Place website, the restaurant first opened in Rockville in 1955, offering more than 200 sandwiches. After a couple of moves within Rockville, it relocated to 2 E. Diamond Ave. in Olde Towne Gaithersburg in 1971, where it became a local institution.
Menu staples reflected the restaurant’s quirky personality, with creations like “The Bender Schmender” (corned beef, turkey, roast pork, chicken liver pâté, and golden brisket with lettuce, tomato, golden sauce, and “a psychiatric appointment”) and “The Raunchy Raymond” (ham, crab salad, Swiss cheese, bacon, tomato, and golden sauce, broiled on bread of choice).
Founder Roy Passin remained the driving force behind the restaurant until his death in 2009 at age 87. Many longtime patrons felt Roy’s Place was never the same in the four years it continued after his passing. His imaginative sandwich ideas, inspired by friends’ preferences and available ingredients, expanded the menu from just two pages to 23, according to a 2009 Gazette article.
By all accounts, Roy was a larger-than-life figure. Stories about his colorful personality abound, including one tale that he once chased a man out of the restaurant wielding a meat cleaver. In a 2003 Frederick News-Post interview, Roy clarified the rumor with characteristic humor: “It never happened in Gaithersburg…it happened in Rockville.”
Several years ago, one of our readers, Brad Herson, was kind of enough to send in photos of the entire Roy’s Place menu from 1973, which can be seen below. An online copy of the menu circa 2012 can be found here.
