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Addie's, Modern American - Reopen Once Again in Park Potomac, South Rockville - Closed


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We had dinner at Addie's last night, and while it's still cute and one of the few non-chain, non-ethnic restaurants in Montgomery County, it has slipped, and slipped a lot, since were there last year. Addie's is a sentimental destination for us; we ate there the night before our daughter was born and as a parent it's hard to forget your last carefree, kid-free meal, before high chairs or babysitters become part of your life.

There is an informal, cozy feel to the reataurant (located in a converted house), which is charming when the cooking rises to the level of the prices they are charging (apps $8-13, entrees $21-28), and the service is warm and polished as it has been in the past. When the food is pedestrian and the service unpolished, as it was last night, you are left to puzzle over what exactly was worth $80 a person.

Addie's strength has been its appetizers, so it was shocking to look over the menu and not see a single appetizer or salad that appealed to me. I ended up ordering the field greens with Maytag Blue, walnuts, pears, and a slightly-too-sweet champagne vinaigrette. It was competently executed but almost every restaurant nowadays has this same salad on their menu. The soup was black bean with creme fraiche, which sounded perfect for lunch entree but too heavy for a dinner app. One of our friends had the mussels with tomato, shallots, and garlic. The mussels were very high quality, as I would expect from a Black restaurant but were overwhelmed by the amount of garlic in the sauce. Scott had a special, duck confit salad, which must have been good since he cleaned his plate.

My entree was the "Black Pearl" salmon with Spanish chorizo rice, grilled rapini, apricot chutney, and Romesco sauce. The salmon was by far the best thing about the dish, lovely fresh and sweet and served medium. It went downhill from there. The rice tasted like it had been made hours before; it was dry and the slices of chorizo had been cooked until devoid of all juiciness and cut too small to impart much spice. The "grilled" rapini had never seen the grill, it was merely cooked until not quite done so that it was bitter and tough. The apricot chutney, of julienned dried apricot, pieces of kalamata (or a similar tasting) olive, and sliced toasted almonds, sounded intriguing and was what made me pick that particular entree, so it was disappointing that it never came together. It might have been better if the individual elements had been cut smaller and allowed to mingle maybe with some olive oil. As it was, one bite was sweet with just apricot, another salty with olive, but it was hard to get a bite that combined the flavors. The Romesco sauce combined better with the fish.

I didn't taste anyone else's entree so can't comment on those. We drank a Malbec that was pleasant, fruit forward, not too heavy, and served much too warm. mad.gif It worked with the fish but it would have been improved by a few minutes of chilling.

The dessert menu offered cinnamon-chocolate ice cream, raspberry sorbet, apple crisp, some kind of chocolate mousse thing, and a carrot cake with creme anglais and caramel sauce. We opted for the carrot cake and it was tasty and suprisingly light, but needed more spice (cardamom would have been lovely in it), a little more frosting and a brighter sauce, maybe with lemon, to set off the richness.

Little things would have improved the service. Letting us open the wine list before asking for our drink order. Replacing silver that had been taken away. Asking if we were done before clearing appetizers. Reciting the specials slowly, so that we could understand and not have to ask her repeat things. Bringing forks with our desserts. Asking "Are you finished?" rather than "Are you still working on that?" rolleyes.gif

We had a pleasant evening with good friends that we hadn't seen in a long time, but expected more from Addie's. Not sure if we would go back.

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We had a pleasant evening with good friends that we hadn't seen in a long time, but expected more from Addie's. Not sure if we would go back.

Heather, this is remarkably similar to an experience I had a few months ago. I was looking for fresh fish, innovative cooking, with a very good wine list for someone staying at a hotel in Gaithersburg, so I wanted a place that didn't require a drive into Bethesda or beyond, (think that's easy? think again) and "someone" recommended Addies. I have enjoyed Blacks and BlackSalt so I gave it a go. My overall impression, without going into detail, was that the whole place really could stand a major makeover / update - both the rooms themselves and the menu, and yes, the menu prices. It's supposed to be retro-quaint, but it is faded and tired. Service was hard to comment on because our server admitted it was only his second night. He managed to break the wine cork, the salmon arrived raw inside and had to go back, and things went down hill from there. Clearly Jeff Black was not in the kitchen - on to other projects, leaving Addie's on cruise control. It's got a great location and demographic, so a little makeover should go a long way.

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I've been convinced to go to Addie's this weekend.

Anyone been recently? Are the upthread comments still current or has Addie's gotten back on track?

Did you get there? If so, how did you find it? We are planning on going there in a few weeks, and I would welcome your input.

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Did you get there? If so, how did you find it? We are planning on going there in a few weeks, and I would welcome your input.

A girlfriend and I had lunch on a rainy Saturday April 8th at Addie's. It's an old favorite (from 3+ years ago) and we went in a nod to nostalgia and in spite of the comments above.

The most memorable issue was the poor service. Personable server, but I don't think diners were "cared for" in a way we'd been in past years. I felt horrible for the elderly (75+ y.o.) women sitting next to us. We ended up reading the menu to them because the server was MIA for an extended period of time and later had to give them our creamer/sugar because their coffee was delivered w/o condiments (for >10 minutes they tried to flag down some coffee help). OK, I've seen service in small places where servers notice that you're missing a utensil before you do or anticipate when you might need, oh say, cream/sugar - not here.

The creepiest thing was that the tall busman wouldn't indicate his presence behind me before reaching straight down in front of my face to clear plates - it's really startling - even the third time.

Foodwise I have to confess that my previous steak at been at Ray's (Farewell Dinner Version 1.0) and most places' Steak Frites would pale in comparison -- but hey -- Addie's steak was sliced down like London Broil, close to room temp (over-rested?) and coupled with hot fries that were soggy in au jus. The dessert was OK, but can't remember what it was...

We'd eaten at Black's Market nearby (in Garrett Park) a couple of months ago and would choose to eat there in the future.

Hopefully Addie's dinner service is ready for primetime.

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Over the past three weeks we have had two very good dinners at Addie's. The new chef, Nate Waugaman, who has been there since since the start of the year, is sourcing local ingredients (goat from the same farm as Komi) and cooking in an interesting, flavorful manner. Three weeks ago it was well-roasted goat.Tonite for the two of us it was a beet salad with Pipe Dream goat cheese, pecans, and fig oil with a little balsamic, fried Chincoteague oysters with red peppers, pork chop with eggplant lightly fried with Mexican spices and uncooked slices of heirloom tomatoes, and twice-cooked suckling pig with beets and roasted potatoes. All delicious. The patio is a very pleasant place on a soft summer evening; tables there are allocated on a first-come basis. The restaurant was full, so the word must be getting around.

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A rather underwhelming meal before the Woodstock show at Strathmore last night. The charcuterie selection was pretty good though a couple of the meats were fairly bland. My main course of semi-tough grilled veal in a gelatinous sauce with undercooked vegetables was disappointing. My wife's fried green tomatoes were sliced too thickly and were tasteless though the cornmeal batter was not greasy. Mexican chocolate creme brulee was decent. Service was excellent and Maya (sp) asked us whether we were headed to Strathmore as soon as we were seated (no wait with no reservation at 6PM) so we had a well paced meal and made the curtain. A $32 malbec was a decent value-good news given the Montgomery county wine markups. Overall, I can't say we will be back anytime soon. Dinner was $109 plus tip so not over priced just blah.

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A rather underwhelming meal before the Woodstock show at Strathmore last night. The charcuterie selection was pretty good though a couple of the meats were fairly bland. My main course of semi-tough grilled veal in a gelatinous sauce with undercooked vegetables was disappointing. My wife's fried green tomatoes were sliced too thickly and were tasteless though the cornmeal batter was not greasy. Mexican chocolate creme brulee was decent. Service was excellent and Maya (sp) asked us whether we were headed to Strathmore as soon as we were seated (no wait with no reservation at 6PM) so we had a well paced meal and made the curtain. A $32 malbec was a decent value-good news given the Montgomery county wine markups. Overall, I can't say we will be back anytime soon. Dinner was $109 plus tip so not over priced just blah.

EC Nate Waugaman has contacted me about our meal and I appreciate his followup!

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I've been lax in posting about a recent visit here. Not because it wasn't a good experience, though. Just been a bit busy...

We had reservations for 6pm so we could have ample time to dine before the Bela Fleck concert at Strathmore, as an early birthday celebration for my SIL. However, life intervened and due to a mishap with cellphones and bad traffic, we were late to meet up with our dining partner, and unable to contact the restaurant about our delay until around 6:20. I asked if they would still be able to accomodate us and they were more than generous in letting us know that they were holding our table for us, and not to worry. We arrived around 6:30 and were seated immediately.

We started with a lovely app of fried green tomatoes, with a hidden schmear of goat cheese. Chef Nate was incredible in dealing with my allergies and came out several times to make sure everything was to our liking. The regular app is topped with a salad that I couldn't eat, so when it was mistakenly served, he pointed it out and brought a second app of fried green tomatoes (sans the topping) gratis. Not that I needed it, as we also ordered the bone marrow. Rich, unctuous and oh so good.

Mains were:

Locally Raised Pork Chop

House Cured Bacon, Sautéed Arugula, Nobb Hill Apples,

Sweet Potato Puree, Grain Mustard Cider Jus

Vegetable Lasagna

Grilled Squash, Fava Beans, House Made Pasta, Fresh Herbs

Special of the day-Mackerel, which I believe was served atop a bed of squash. (sorry can't recall all the details and as it was a special it's not listed on the menu)

My dining companions shared the mackerel and the lasagna, the latter which was a sort of deconstructed vegetable pesto lasagna. Both were deemed to be very tasty and filling. My pork chop was almost flintstonian in size, and perfectly cooked to medium throughout. The sweet potato puree was incredibly smooth and rich in flavor, but not overly so. The entire dish worked very well together. Even though we were going to the concert, leftovers could not be left behind and all three of us took packages home.

Due to our delay we ran out of time for dessert. The dessert menu looked enticing so I guess we'll just have to go back and try it on another day! All in all our dining experience was more than satisfying and very moderately priced. Chef Nate was gracious and welcoming, and our server was exceptional as well. Definitely worth another visit. And the concert was the icing on the cake, as it were; the perfect ending for a birthday celebration.

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Jeff Black here. Just wanted to mention we have a new G.M. at Addie's. His name is Gregg Sczudlo, He comes over from Black's Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda. He has already invigorated the staff and will no doubt be a success. Min will continue to expand the wine program and as always Nate will be rockin the kitchen JB

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I managed to score a late lunch reservation for yesterday afternoon to meet a friend AND use my Groupon. Although I had confirmed the reservation, there was no record of it when we arrived. Luckily they seated us quickly and that was the only smudge on a lovely afternoon.

I was impressed by the food. My Caesar salad was lightly but evenly dressed. It hit all the right notes for me. I had the mussels as my main and I was delighted with them. Fresh, plump and the sauce of tomato, garlic and red pepper flakes was refreshing without being too spicy.

The brownie ice cream sandwich was way too big but wonderful.

My guest had the portobello sandwich. It was huge and little messy but she enjoyed it.

I will note that our server did seem to have issues hearing the older women seated next to us. Just as I was about to flag him down to say they had asked for bread 3 times, he finally heard them.

I really enjoyed the afternoon and would go back and pay full price in the future. A groupon success story!

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Was able to grab a table for a good lunch without a booking recently.

Service was very good. Had a very nice oyster po-boy with maybe half a dozen perfectly fried and just lightly crisped oysters, remoulade (a very tasty orange-ish variant; I'm a bit more used to yellow or red but enjoyed this one), some red onion and light slaw on a nicely charred baguette. The char translated to flavor more than the norm in addition to looking the part. Shoe string fries couldn't have been crispier or hotter. And, a mushroom barley soup and had nice bits of mushroom, was well seasoned and had a velvety texture...without cream. About $20 all in.

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Was there for dinner the other night, and had a good experience. I had the caesar salad as a starter; the dressing had a pleasant bite, and the garlic chips and white anchovy were there in just the right amounts as accents. As a main, I had the sautéed atlantic hake, which was perfectly cooked; at that point where the fish is firm, yet flakes apart easily with the light touch of a fork.

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Was just here for a business lunch a couple of days ago and didn't have nearly as good as experience as my previous visit last October (upthread).

A calamari starter ($11) had too much breading relative to squid with a chipotle remoulade with nearly absent pepper. Likewise, my roseda tri tip steak & frites ($17) was underseasoned, veering over the edge from moist to dry and topped with a not-so-appealing pile of soggy, limp sweet potato fries. The place was much busier than my last visit; maybe part of the problem. Pacing was a bit off.

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Nice lunch here yesterday. The soup of the day was a sweet potato with ginger accented with pieces of portobello. It had a nice warmth that lingered. The mussels were very good with a spicy tomato based sauce at the bottom of the bowl worth sopping up.The place was quite busy and still seating tables when we left around 1:30pm. The service was efficient and attentive.

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Has Applebies taken over the Addie's kitchen?

Dinner there this week was quite a dissapointment. The food was overcooked, or should I say, left on the warming table for 20 minuites beyond when it should have been served. Both tables beside us, who sat down after us, were served well before we were, and though they appoligized for the wait time, when the food came, they did not appoligize for the dried meal.

The fish looked as if it was one of those pre-made frozen single serve portions that you get at a chain plance, the veggies had enough salt in them to make the ocean seem fresh water. And the pork chop was tough, so tough that one of our guests lost a bridge

What a let down, and all the other times, the food, has always been superb. For a $400 dinner for four, I expected more than what I would get at a Chain place in the mall.

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Addie's is our favorite of the Black Group's restaurants (or, at least tied with BlackSalt).  So sad to hear it's closing.  From our experience, it was reliably consistent in providing good food and a cozy ambience.  The patio was really nice -- after awhile, you didn't even hear the traffic on the Pike.  And, it was the perfect spot before an event at the Strathmore.  What a gem.  Hope the Blacks make good on their promise to reopen somewhere else.  Of course, the atmosphere won't be the same without that funky old house.

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I too am saddened by this, particularly since it's less than a mile from where I work.  The Blacks say they want to reopen it somewhere else, but not saying Rockville.  if it is in DC and not in that cute house, it won't matter to those of us who appreciated the restaurant because it was so unique in MoCo.  I haven't been to Addie's for at least a year, which now I regret.  Will try and go before its final demise.

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A girlfriend and I had lunch on a rainy Saturday April 8th at Addie's. It's an old favorite (from 3+ years ago) and we went in a nod to nostalgia and in spite of the comments above.

Last night, the same friend and I had a "farewell to Addie's" dinner. The food was better than I remember and the Acorn Squash with ginger soup is worthy of return visit. My meal ended with the sweet potato pie - it's a smooth mousse with a torched meringue encircled by a ribbon of butterscotch sauce and crumbled pralines. Sweet dreams on a great dinner.

Our server was personable and hit the right notes. I was glad to hear that she'll be moving over to the Black's soon-to-open Republic restaurant in Takoma Park.

Please note: At lunch-time, Addie's In & Out lunch menu (similar to the Lickety-Split at Eve) is no longer available. The lunch menu will be "old favorites" including dinner entrees - unfortunately, their website hasn't been updated.

I hope the Black's can find a new site for Addie's that keeps the both the cozy and the warmth.

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Addie's was to become "Crave by Helen," and then "Helen's The Bar" - to be run by the sister of one of our members. I assumed the project might be canceled, but then just found this:

"Helen's The Bar Begins Building Renovation on Rockville Pike" by Andrew Metcalf on bethesdamagazine.com, published in March of this year (it's going to take a *lot* of renovation to get Addie's looking anything like the drawing in that article - that place was extremely decrepit).

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I believe the sign at Park Potomac just says "coming 2017". I will say that having it as retail space in the bottom of an office/apartment building (not sure which) next to several other restaurants in an overbuilt "walkable community" versus the old, more isolated setting (even if set back from busy Rockville Pike) would make me question whether some of the magic will be gone and if it will essentially feel like more of an additional "Black's" location or at least something other than a revitalized Addie's.

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24 minutes ago, jdc said:

I believe the sign at Park Potomac just says "coming 2017". I will say that having it as retail space in the bottom of an office/apartment building (not sure which) next to several other restaurants in an overbuilt "walkable community" versus the old, more isolated setting (even if set back from busy Rockville Pike) would make me question whether some of the magic will be gone and if it will essentially feel like more of an additional "Black's" location or at least something other than a revitalized Addie's.

Refer to EatBar.

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I was thrilled to join a friend on opening night of "Addie's 2.0".  They plan to start taking reservations in about two weeks and will be on Open Table.  Expect lunch to start in a month or so.  And brunch will be added at some point.  Seating at the new restaurant ins't much more plentiful than the old one. However, there's a nice two-sided bar (one side outdoor, one side indoor).  There are several original craft cocktails on the menu.  The two we tried were quite nice.  But these are a bit complex to put together and I can see the bartenders getting backed up on a busy night.

When we arrived at 5, the bar was already hopping.  The dining room opens at 5:30 and was full by 6pm. The room is simply but elegantly dressed with very high ceilings.  The only issue we had was the heat.  There are fans over the bar area, but not over the dining room; given a whole wall of the restaurant was open on one of the hottest days of the summer, we were uncomfortably hot.  They did turn up the AC upon our request, but that didn't do much to alter the temperature in the rear area we were seated in.  As we left, we could feel the AC in the front part of the dining room, it seemed much more comfortable there.

The menu is quite small, with one whole page devoted to the raw bar/seafood tower selections.  The seafood tower comes in three sizes (starting at $78 for 7 choices) and can be composed from a lengthy list of selections.  The remainder of the menu is split between appetizers and 8-10 entree choices.  My companion chose the crab cakes for dinner. While these are only listed on the menu as an appetizer (two 2oz cakes for $22), you can order three for $33 to make it an entree.  She said they were excellent.  I chose the tuna as it was a favorite of mine from Addie's 1.0.  The tuna was extremely fresh and high quality.  It was a very large serving as well.  My only complaint is that the tuna, the roasted romaine salad and the radishes and avocado that accompanied it were all HEAVILY dusted with chili powder.  There was no element on the plate that didn't taste of the chili powder.  It was a bit overwhelming.  We finished the evening by splitting an order of beignets.  6 piping hot, deep fried dough balls served with a trio of dipping sauces.  These were very good and I would definitely order them again. 

While there were certainly some tell tale opening night issues going on, overall our experience was smooth and free of any significant snafus.  For that alone, Addie's gets a gold star.  

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Pleasant dinner at Addies last night.  Both Addies mussels and fried Oysters were as good as I remembered.  Also shared seared scallops and an Addies salad, both very good.  Overall one of the better places in Rockville/Potomac/Call-it-what-you-want area.  Very large place, I hope they get a good lunch crowd so they stay in business as I am sure rent is high and build out wasn't cheap.

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I was unaware of some of the history of Addie's that appeared on this topic, so Lady KN and I took her elderly father there for dinner. It was very good.

The bread basket was a paper bag in the shape of a school bus, filled with decadent biscuits. The story to accompany the biscuits was that Mr. Black's grandmother was the namesake Addie, and she made him these same biscuits as he went to school on the bus, devouring the biscuits along the way.

I enjoyed the octopus appetizer, which was a generous tentacle, lightly fried, and served on a bed of house-made and olive-heavy tartar sauce.I would have been content with another tentacle or two of this dish as a main course. It was delicious. My main was the special of lightly dusted and fried rockfish on a bed of white green beans and polenta, and it was the best rockfish dish I've had this year. The fish was cooked perfectly, and the crunch of the fried coating gave way to the tender fish beneath. Lady KN also had it and loved it. Her father started out with a half order of mussels and then the seared scallops. He happily cleaned his plates, which was not a bad performance by a 92-year-old who claims to have no appetite.

With a $48 bottle of Chalk Hill Chardonnay, the total bill without tip came to $180 for 3 covers. Or $220 with tip.

Service was very gracious and smooth. Our server mentioned that starting soon, Tuesdays will feature half-price bottles of wine and Wednesdays will feature reduced price oysters of 5 varieties.

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