MoCo

Whenever we do a post looking back at MoCo restaurants from yesteryear, the first place that pops up in the comment section is Little Tavern Burgers (photos below).  A little backstory from a 2017 article: In the 1940s, there were almost 50 Little Tavern location in the D.C. and Baltimore Metro area. By the early 90s, that number dropped to 20. The last one closed about a decade ago. Through the years there were 4 MoCo locations (2 in Silver Spring, 1 in Bethesda, and 1 in Wheaton). Most MoCo folks remember the one across from Wheaton Plaza best. One Montgomery County native told me that in the 50s you could buy their famous burgers for .5 cents each, but most people remember the $5 bag of burgers from the 80s/90s. The best part…they were open 24 hours a day.

Today we’ll be recreating the famous “buy em by the bag!” burgers. The most circulated version of the Little Tavern Burger recipe is this one found at food.com. It calls for:


Ashton

Smoketown BBQ, Formerly Urban BBQ, Closes Permanently in Sandy Spring. Route 108 Pizza & BBQ Taking its Place

Smoketown BBQ has closed permanently and will be rebranding under new management. Smoketown took over the Urban BBQ in Sandy Spring (805 Olney Sandy Spring Rd) back in early 2019.


Burtonsville

Ohh ohh Jeffrey’s? You read it correctly. The Burtonsville Jerry’s on Old Columbia Pike has undergone  a re-branding that has lead to a name change.

Owner Jeffrey Marcus has owned the restaurant for over 30 years and has decided to part ways with Jerry’s branding, due to franchising fees associated with keeping the brand. Going forward the restaurant will be called Jeffrey’s, and we are told some other Jerry’s locations in the DMV could also be rebranding for the same reason.


Downtown Silver Spring

Spice Street plans to open next week in Silver Spring for takeout and delivery, according to a post on its social media.

A new Indian restaurant in downtown Silver Spring announced plans to open by next week. After developing their new building at 8242 Georgia Avenue, Spice Street is preparing to start their delivery and curbside takeout operation for hungry customers. The owners of the new establishment also own and operate the DC restaurant, Cafe of India.


Gaithersburg

MoCo Hidden Gems: Gardenia’s Café

When you enter Gardenia’s Café in Gaithersburg you are immediately given a warm welcome from owner, baker, and lifelong Gaithersburg resident Gardenia Ortega. She, along with her parents Fernando and Maritza, opened Gardenia’s Café this past February. Gardenia says “walking in those doors is just like walking into my house. From the bright colors, cleanliness, flowers, the smell of fresh food, and fresh ingredients.”


Restaurant

Popular Wheaton Thai restaurant, Nava Thai, will reopen on December 3rd, according to a Facebook post from late last night. The Thai restaurant closed back in January for plumbing maintenance and was supposed to reopen in early March. In February, they addressed rumors of a permanent closure by assuring customers the restaurant would be returning, but that was the last message posted for over 9 months.

In July, the building was listed on LoopNet as being available for lease or rent, which further fueled speculation that the beloved restaurant would not be returning. All of those rumors were put to rest when the restaurant announced it would be returning with a limited menu for “takeout, limited dine-in, and delivery.”


View More Stories