At one point bethesda was known for having the highest amount of restaurants per capita or something like that. But, it's had mediocre food for about 20 years. Super disappointing. Persimmon was a good one back in the day, though.

I'm in gaithersburg and it's also slim pickings although there are some good ones: Chennai Hoppers (indian), some good sushi, vasilis.

Silver spring has some good ones, too. El Sapo is great.

Anonymous wrote:It depends on what kind of food you’re looking for. As PP said, Rockville, for instance, has lots of great places. Kiin Imm serves amazing Thai. A&J has delicious dim sum. I personally love El Mariachi for fajitas and tres leches cake. Ema Rossi and Gregorio’s for pizza/Italian. We like Kusshi in Pike and Rose for sushi, or Yuraku (in Germantown).

This is absolutely right. But, the answer is never Bethesda (and I live in Bethesda). There are a couple of places that are passable, but it's just not a good food area.

Wheaton has some of the best Thai food around - Ruan Thai, Nava Thai, Thai Taste by Kob.

Silver Spring for Ethiopian - Langano, Lucy, others

Frankly Pizza in Kensington is terrific, if you're ever in those parts. Dish and Dram is fun for a drink and a bite to eat.

The problem with downtown Bethesda is that the real estate is so expensive that it's hard for independent restaurants to get a foothold, especially when there's so much competition. Kadhai is terrific for Indian. Black's Bar and Kitchen is good. Raku.

People who whine about the dining scene in the DC area don't realize how absurd they sound.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly the DMV is nothing like San Diego. You will have an expensive journey down disappointment lane looking for the gems around here

Oh, please. I'm a San Diego native and call this "DMV is nothing like San Diego" a bunch of BS. Both cities have their gems and the DC suburbs offer more variety than the San Diego suburbs.

+1 Rockville, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring -- some of the most diverse small cities in the country

And I used to live in CA

What kind of food? Annandale or Centreville VA for Korean food.

I have two days off during a week and go looking for restaurants. Last week I went to La Limena Grill and El Patio. Both were nice, but El Patio is more my kind of place with salads, meat and empanadas. They had a lunch special with soup/salad and two empanadas for under $8 I believe.
Tried to get to an Ethiopian place in Silver Spring but parking was non-existent.
Any recommendations in Wheaton/Rockville with easier parking?

Anonymous wrote:Sadly the DMV is nothing like San Diego. You will have an expensive journey down disappointment lane looking for the gems around here

Oh, please. I'm a San Diego native and call this "DMV is nothing like San Diego" a bunch of BS. Both cities have their gems and the DC suburbs offer more variety than the San Diego suburbs.

Loads of good Ethiopian food in Alexandria!

For searfood, Live Crawfish & Seafood Restaurant, in the same plaza as Kinn Imm Thai.

That plaza also has Korean Fried chicken - CM chicken
Two good Latin America/Mexican restaurants
Oms Indian restaurant
A Japanese place I haven't tried


... and IHOP 😆

I'm originally from CA.

I find Rockville, Silver Spring and Wheaton to have some good options.

ITA that Bethesda is over hyped. I don't find it all that interesting.

The best places are "hole in the wall" type places.

For Vietnamese, we like Pho Nom Nom in Rockville.

Sushi - Love Sushi in Gaithersburg/Rockville

We found a little Mexican/Latin American place in Rockville after many years of living here - Las Primos

Latin American -- La Limena, La Brasa

There are some good places in Wheaton/Silver Spring, but since I'm local to Rockville, and I'm a bit lazy to drive, I stay local to here.

One place I am willing to go further out is for 2fiftybbq in PG county. OMG.. hands down the best bbq I have ever had, anywhere.

Sadly the DMV is nothing like San Diego. You will have an expensive journey down disappointment lane looking for the gems around here

Arlington is the worst.

Btw, OP, I live in Chevy Chase and agree with you that Bethesda is a good wasteland. Mediocre food at crazy prices. That said, Planta was surprisingly very good.

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and have never recc’d true food to someone.

Have you tried any of the Indian (Virraj, Heritage or Kadhai)?

I think Casa Oaxaca is better than Gringos. We’ve only tried Cubanos a couple times bcs it opened this location during the pandemic but liked it a lot. Tako grill is pretty good too. RIP Chicken on the Run so need to try Don Pollo.

That said it’s true rents are cheaper elsewhere and if you better Thai you should check out Wheaton (although I am usually fine with Sal Thai) and if you want chinese Rockville has some options (although plenty of people like Q by Peter Chang, or Hollywood East for dim sum).

Well you just broke my heart. That’s my DS’s favorite restaurant (and one of ours), and he comes home from college for the summer on Wednesday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want Vietnamese check out Eden Center in Falls Church

OP - this place looks awesome! Thank you!

Before dark.

Eh, the Vietnamese gang activity has seemed to get significantly better over the years. I think it’s fine for dinner. Back to the food: Rice Paper has a good bun rieu, There’s an amazing Thai place run by Thais inside the mall, the Banh Cuon place has amazing rice crepes with meat filling. Tons of Vietnamese bubble tea to try. I recommend avocado and coconut. For takeaway, Thanh Son tofu has amazing lemongrass tofu. There are tons of shops that sell all kinds of snacks. Gio Cha Ngoc Hung has amazing patties and meat products.