MoCo

If you grew up in Montgomery County (anywhere near Gaithersburg), you’ve likely seen Sam Eig Highway numerous times…but maybe weren’t sure to pronounce it (it sounds like I’d with a g instead of a d…i’g ). Most GPS systems mispronounce it to this day, which could lead to a second generation of confusion regarding the pronunciation of his name.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s talk about the man behind the locally famous name. Sam Eig was born in Byelorussia (now Belarus) in 1899, living there for 15 years before moving to the United States in 1914. He lived in Seattle and New York City before moving to the Washington D.C. area in the 20s. Eig owned a grocery store in D.C. before opening Eig Liquor Store when Prohibition was repealed (also in D.C.). At the same time, he was focusing on real estate in the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area and chose to stick with that full-time in the 40s. His real estate holdings were already worth over $100 million before deciding to expand his real estate empire to Gaithersburg in the late 50s/early 60s. He was even one of ten men mentioned as the “vanguard of the postwar millionaires” in a 1952 issue of Fortune magazine. Due to his success with real estate across the county, Sam Eig earned the nickname “Mr. Montgomery County.”

According to the Roy’s Place website, they began serving their 200+ sandwiches in Rockville in 1955. After a couple moves within Rockville, they settled in the Gaithersburg location so many know and love in 1971.

Roy Passin, the original owner, was a huge part of Roy’s Place until his passing in May of 2009 at 87. Many say the restaurant just wasn’t the same during the 4 years it lasted without him. His creative sandwich ideas, based on what his friends enjoyed and the ingredients available in the restaurant, grew the menu from 2 pages to 23, according to a 2009 Gazette article.