Dawson's Market, Rockville, MD

[goodeats]

A new, small, local-sourced market opened up on September 29 at the Rockville Town Center. Dawson's Market is apparently named after the Dawson family, who owned the farmed land under the current structure, though they are an off-shoot of a market in Richmond, VA.

It is slightly higher-priced for some things compared to WF (ie. Alden's is $7.29 here), but meats are from farms, they carry Trickling Springs dairy, offer Blue Sky cane sugared soda, local farm apples, etc. I was very happy.

The only gimmicky thing they are doing is offering these "Envirocredits" if you walk or bike here. Not sure how it pans but might be helpful for some. Free 1 hour parking in its immediate lot.

http://www.dawsonsmarket.com/

[Choirgirl21]

Thanks for sharing this. Do they have any prepared food, hot coffee, things like that? I occasionally have meetings in Rockville and tend to stop at Balducci's on my way to grab coffee, lunch, and/or some groceries - would love to check this place out next time.

[goodeats]

Yes, they have a coffee bar, hot bar, and salad bar. So far, they source a local VA roaster called Blanchard's; I believe that is the roaster served at their coffee bar. I bought one of their Columbian roasts that has actually been really good, using 205F water...recommend buying. Coffee bean-wise, they carry Blanchard's, Mayorga, Counter Culture, and Fair Trade ones.

[Choirgirl21]

Yes, they have a coffee bar, hot bar, and salad bar. So far, they source a local VA roaster called Blanchard's; I believe that is the roaster served at their coffee bar. I bought one of their Columbian roasts that has actually been really good, using 205F water...recommend buying. Coffee bean-wise, they carry Blanchard's, Mayorga, Counter Culture, and Fair Trade ones.

Sounds great, thanks!

[jayandstacey]

The only gimmicky thing they are doing is offering these "Envirocredits" if you walk or bike here. Not sure how it pans but might be helpful for some. Free 1 hour parking in its immediate lot.

The envirocredit is worth 25 cents off your bill. If you drive and buy something, parking is validated, worth $3. Hmmm...

Anyway, I look forward to checking it out; I meant to last weekend. I hope they do well and that RTC continues to improve.

[JMac]

I went there on Saturday 10/20. I hadn't planned on it but I was in Rockville running errands and thought I would stop in. I wasn't favorably impressed. On the plus side I was looking for a good steak and got a nice skirt steak. I am not sure where it was sourced but it was well priced and very good. The wine selection is especially good for Montgomery County or anywhere, some nice French from importer/distributors Potomac Selections and Elite plus some other really good choices from California and Oregon. Much of the wine is under $20 and imo priced right, but there were some $50 Burgindies which will probably have a hard time selling. Nobody offered to help me with the wine, but I didn't ask for help either. The average wine buyer might want some guidance.

On the minus side, Dawson's was practically empty mid-afternoon on a Saturday. Every other place I went that day was jammed, this is the time of year when people are in town and shopping on Saturdays. Granted, the place only opened two weeks ago, but I think it's a bad sign especially in light of their high rent and overhead. The service was really, really lackluster. The guy at the meat counter was pleasant but seemed pretty clueless, he wasn't familiar with a skirt steak. Plus I was looking for fresh green beans in the produce section which they did not have. I got a nice big celery root, they guy at checkout had no idea what it was and had to send someone to figure it out, they also couldn't ring up a bag of potatos for me because it wouldn't scan.

All in all, I probably won't be going back. I like to stop at Gordon Biersch, practically next door, to get a growler of beer. The next time I do that I probably won't go back to Dawson's even though it's convenient.