RUTA Ukrainian Restaurant has closed its Bethesda location after a little more than two years in business.
A representative from RUTA’s Washington, D.C. location confirmed that the Bethesda restaurant will not be reopening. The Bethesda location has also been removed from RUTA’s website.
RUTA opened at 4862 Cordell Avenue in August 2024, taking over the former Momo Chicken space. At the time of its opening, the restaurant billed itself as Maryland’s first Ukrainian restaurant.
The Bethesda restaurant was RUTA’s second location. Its original restaurant opened at 327 7th Street SE in Washington, D.C., where it became the city’s first Ukrainian restaurant. That location remains open.
RUTA’s menu features traditional Ukrainian dishes including varenyky, Ukrainian dumplings; Chicken Kyiv; and meat holubtsi, stuffed cabbage served with sour cream.
The restaurant takes its name from the Ruta flower found in Ukrainian folklore. According to RUTA, legends from the Carpathians tell of a yellow flower that turns flaming red for only a few minutes on the magical night of Ivana Kupala. The person who finds and picks it during that brief period is said to find true love.
