2010 Clarksburg High School graduate Jon Thompson opened his food truck, Fifty Fifty, last year. He specializes in half-beef and half-bacon smash burgers, with the bacon ground right into the beef so they’re cohesive. Following the success of the food truck in the last year, Fifty Fifty will now open inside of Olde Mother Brewing Co. at 526 N Market St in Frederick. Construction just started on ithe kitchen inside of the brewery and they’re hoping to be open before the end of the year.

“We do double smash patties to get 4 layers of crispy seasoned bacon and beef with layered creamy cheese in ever bite. We focus on unique and creative toppings like roasted poblano cream cheese, spicy peanut butter or even authentic Belgian waffles as a bun for a one of a kind burger experience.” Thompson told us.


Update: The opening of La Catrina has been postponed. A new date will be provided soon.

Back in August we let you know that La Catrina Bar & Lounge is coming to 4935 Cordell Avenue in Bethesda, taking over the location that was formerly home to George’s Chophouse, 4935 Bar & Kitchen, The Loft at 4935, Tragara’s, and others. The restaurant has now set an opening date, sharing on social media that it’ll be open on Friday, November 18th.


Back in April of 2021, we let you know that Firepan KBBQ started construction at the old Pete’s New Haven Style Pizza location at 962 Wayne Avenue Suite L-B in Downtown Silver Spring. Firepan had its Montgomery County ABS alcohol license hearing on November 4, 2021 previously announced an August 1st, 2022 opening date on its website, which was pushed back several times Not to worry, as Source of the Spring reports the restaurant is holding its soft opening today (Saturday, November 12).

Restaurant hours:


Slapfish at 12033 Rockville Pike in the Montrose Crossing shopping center closed permanently last week at and no time was wasted in removing signage and clearing it out. The restaurant had occupied the space for a little over 4 years, opening in July 2018, but was a “discrete listing” for a sub-lease for over a year. Now we know the replacement will be RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant with four locations in DC and Virginia.

The restaurant, founded by Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman (combined to create the name, RASA), opened its first location in Navy Yard in 2017 before opening a location in Mt. Vernon Triangle in 2020, Crystal City in 2021, and Fairfax this past summer. The menu offers seven chef-curated bowls under the “We Got You” portion of the menu, that includes their signature bowls like the “Tikka Chance on Me”, “Open Sesame”, “Eat Your Veggies”, “Home Cooking”, “Goa Your Own Way”, “Aloo Need is Love”, and “Caul on Me” or the “You Got It” portion of their menu that allows customers to “DIY” and design their own bowl using the assembly line format of a base, main, sauce, veggies, toppings, and chutneys/dressings. The full menu can be seen here.


Foxtrot announced today that its fifth DMV-area location at Bethesda Row (7262 Woodmont Ave.) will officially open to the public on Friday, November 18. Visitors who download and use the Foxtrot App opening week will receive a gift while supplies last. Guests will be able to celebrate the grand opening with an all-day celebration on Friday, November 18, from 4-7PM, featuring live music, food, and drinks. The 4,000-square-foot space’s renovation was reimagined by Foxtrot’s in-house design team in partnership with Studio Saint as interior designer.

Foxtrot offers its signature all-day café experience, complete with thoughtfully sourced coffee, seasonal café drinks, fresh smoothies, breakfast tacos, chef-prepared salads and bowls, and delicious grab-and-go meals for lunch and dinner. The store also contains everything from local craft beers and fine wines hand-selected by an in-house sommelier to everyday essentials. All of its offerings are available to enjoy in-store, for pickup and with on-demand delivery through the brand’s proprietary app.


Many may have noticed the deconstruction of Silver Diner’s outdoor patio in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront, but it is just temporary and a new patio is on the way. We were told by an employee this morning that the diner is planning on constructing a new outdoor patio that can remain open in any weather. The patio will be covered to protect customers from precipitation and will have the ability to be heated in colder months. Silver Diner has experienced delays because the patio is situated above water and supports must all go beneath the water, but the diner expects the new patio to be ready to go in about a month.

Rockville-based Silver Diner, which opened its first restaurant in Montgomery County back in 1989, recently opened its first DC location at 1250 Half Street, SE (Ball Park/Navy Yard) on October 5th. Silver Diner co-founder/CEO Robert Giaimo and partner/executive chef Ype Von Hengst opened the first Silver Diner in Rockville in 1989. The duo visited over 500 diners across the country to prepare for the opening of Silver Diner, which was located in Mid-Pike Plaza, where Pike & Rose stands today. The Rockville location later moved to Federal Plaza, in the location that was previously home to Bennigan’s, where it remains today.


Many Taylor Swift fans were left disappointed when the singer announced her upcoming “The Eras Tour” and didn’t include a stop in DC, coming as close as Philadelphia, PA for three shows in May. One fan, Bethesda’s Jose Andres who is considered one of the best chefs in the world, has made Swift a tempting offer to add a DC show to the tour:

.@taylorswift13 Taylor? And @washingtondc please? I’ll cook for you?🙏🥹👨‍🍳😇 https://t.co/XifaZvYtTs


Slapfish, whose only MoCo location was at 12033 Rockville Pike in the Montrose Crossing shopping center, has closed permanently, according to its Google listing and signage recently posted on the door. The restaurant opened in July 2018, when it gave away 107 lobster rolls as part of its grand opening celebration.

The “modern seafood shack” is a fast casual restaurant with locations primarily on the west coast and Southwestern United States, but has recently opened location across the country. It has been called “the Chipotle of Seafood.” The Rockville location was their first on the east coast, as it joined Cava, Honeygrow, and MOD Pizza at Montrose Crossing. The strip where the restaurant is located was constructed over the previous home of Timpano Italian Chophouse, the restaurant that was demolished to make way for the current structure that was home to Slapfish and is currently home to other fast-casual eateries and stores.


Each month, Eater DC puts together a list of the “15 Hottest New Restaurants Around DC” to make note of any buzzowrthy restaurants in the area. In this month’s list, they include recently opened MoCo restaurant, Joy by Seven Reasons. The restaurant opened at 5471 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 a couple weeks back, serving Latin cuisine, and has been a hit in the area.

Per Eater DC: “Venezuelan chef Enrique Limardo and co-owner Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger, the partners behind D.C.’s pricey Latin standout Seven Reasons, just added a casual, a la carte counterpart in Chevy Chase. The more affordable, family-friendly spinoff cracks open with refreshing ceviches, crudos, tequeños, a pile of head-on prawns punched up with guajillo chile, a “Colossal” ciabatta sandwich flanked with slow-braised short ribs, and bright ube soft serve. Eye candy is everywhere, between ceramic animal heads jutting out of a white brick wall, rainbow-hued ropes dangling over diners, and a leafy bar stocked with sake, pisco, and rum.”


Nick’s Diner at 11199 Veirs Mill Rd has announced it will re-open on Mondays beginning November 7.  The Wheaton staple had announced via social media in September that it would begin closing on Mondays and Tuesdays, citing a staff shortage as the reason.  The restaurant will continue to remain closed on Tuesdays.

Nick’s recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and serves diner classics like pancakes, French toast, omelettes, hot & cold sandwiches, chili, souvlaki, and gyros.


View More Stories