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Hank Dietle's Tavern, a Dive Bar in Rockville Now Selling Curly's Q Tue-Sat 5-8PM - Destroyed in a Fire on Feb 14, 2018


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Hank Dietle's Tavern seems to have been ignored...last outpost of "old" Rockville....great hamburgers, interesting clientele. Gone but not forgotten.

From the AOL guide:

Just across the Pike from White Flint shopping, Dietle's little bar charges less for a beer than most people pay to tip the valets in Rockville's most upscale mall. Though it's "Cold Beer" sign and country house style look a little quirky among the fast food joints and neon lights on Rockville Pike, Hank Dietle's Tavern is Montgomery County's last true roadhouse. It's a welcome retreat -- a no-nonsense neighborhood bar with cheap beer and cheap eats.

The old wooden floors still creak when you walk across the room, but nobody inside seems to care about the history. The tavern is rumored to have once been a schoolhouse or maybe a country store that dates back to the early 1900s. There's no chance you'll be wowed, but 8 wooden booths (whittled with old names), a jukebox (country and classic) and a couple of pinball machines give the place character. It's a great place to catch a game or chat with a friend. -- Denise Iacangelo

and then there's this:

One Rockville restaurant, Dietle's Tavern, contends it has closed because Montgomery County's smoking ban caused them to lose substantial business.

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One Rockville restaurant, Dietle's Tavern, contends it has closed because Montgomery County's smoking ban caused them to lose substantial business.
What a damned shame. Bet part of it is that Rockville is now an officially "affluent" area, and slumming it at Dietle's just doesn't have the attraction it once did once you've acquired the McMansion and 2.5 kids.
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What a damned shame.  Bet part of it is that Rockville is now an officially "affluent" area, and slumming it at Dietle's just doesn't have the attraction it once did once you've acquired the McMansion and 2.5 kids.

I miss the hamburgers the most...took me back to my youth (way too many years ago) and the ones I used to get at a snack bar beside the Paramount theater in Charlottesville....gone but certainly not forgotten.
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There was also a Dietle's Tavern in Silver Spring, on Seminary Road--next to Snyder's grocery--that closed after the smoking ban. It may have been one of the first places to go under. It was the quintessent dive, a bar with a jukebox, a neighborhood joint with no need to pretend otherwise.

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One Rockville restaurant, Dietle's Tavern, contends it has closed because Montgomery County's smoking ban caused them to lose substantial business.

What a damned shame.  Bet part of it is that Rockville is now an officially "affluent" area, and slumming it at Dietle's just doesn't have the attraction it once did once you've acquired the McMansion and 2.5 kids.

I'll bet Heather's closer to the truth. I've NEVER seen more than 2 cars parked out in front of this place in the last 10 years, even before the smoking ban. Blaming the smoking ban seems a convenient excuse for a lack of a business plan.

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I see your point, but every time I passed by, there were several patrons on their porch smoking. I assumed there were more inside but I might be wrong. :)

Under the new law, they could still sit on the porch and smoke.

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Then they must have gone out of business due to lack of demand. Thanks for clarifying!

Every time I went, there were always people eating and drinking (especially drinking)...I don't think there was ever a time I was there that there weren't at least 10 or more people in the place...(some of them looked like they came once and hadn't left in years) and while the front parking lot was never crowded, the one in the back always was...I think the demographic Dietle's patron was chased out by over-urbanization (if that is a word).
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What a damned shame.  Bet part of it is that Rockville is now an officially "affluent" area, and slumming it at Dietle's just doesn't have the attraction it once did once you've acquired the McMansion and 2.5 kids.

Slumming it at Dietle's hasn't been an attraction for very many people since the '40s and '50s. My home is a block away and I drive by it every day. The cars in back are for Addies, not Dietle's.

While I sympathize with the plight of the independent restaurant owner, in this case, the place was a filthy hole that should have closed decades ago. I'm all in favor of nostalgia, but Dietle's offered very little to very few. If "cold" beer was a competitive edge, perhaps things would be different.

Tastee Diner in Bethesda has survived hundreds of restaurants catering to suburban tastes and still has a line to get in during most hours of the day.

Successful people in million dollar homes raising their families don't need those who don't know any better blaming them for the demise of an outdated package store.

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Successful people in million dollar homes raising their families don't need those who don't know any better blaming them for the demise of an outdated package store.
I used to have a beer there quite often in the late 80's-early 90's, BK. (Before Kids) But I was never "succesful" so what the hell do I know, right?

The Bethesdafication of Rockville is nearing completion so it will surely be torn down soon. There's got to be room for at least five "Luxury Townhomes" on that lot. Or a high-rise. Or maybe we will get another of Jose Andres' expansions.

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I drove by yesterday and it looked open (although I was driving on the Pike in traffic, so wasn't able to do a careful analysis).  Are reports of its death premature?

Looked closed to me yesterday when I drove by ~6 PM. Usually there are few smokers out on the porch and the front door open. Yesterday; no smokers, doors closed, and the general parking area was pretty much empty.

I could see a sign on the front door this morning, but couldn’t read it from the Pike. Could have been a "We're closed for good sign", or a "No smoking by order of...." sign. I hadn't noticed it before today.

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When I drove by last night about 7:20PM they were clearly open for business, with about 4 people inside and about 4 people outside enjoying their cold long-necks.

Dietle's lives (at least another day.)

That said, I have heard for months that the man who owns the Addies property did not renew their lease (or maybe that's bs and Jeff just didn't want to renew). Just speculating here, but the two combined parcels together would be ripe for development, especially with the 4 building, 24 story complex going in up the street, directly across from White Flint.

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The "Neighborhood Bars" topic had a link to this one - I had forgotten about it. Hank Dietle's is still alive and kicking, no doubt much to the chagrin of those successful people in million-dollar homes, like Pappy.

I was here for the first time about 6 months ago as the "roosters" escaped the "hens" having a baby shower. I was surprised to learn they don't serve food. They had about 20 take out menus that you could order from, but other than the bags of chips clipped to the wall, they weren't cookin' nuthin. I said to bartender I was surprised a bar could be open in MoCo without serving food, and then quickly added that I guess they were grandfathered. The bartender does smirked and nodded at the Bethesda yuppie interloper.

I think they had only 2 beers on tap, Bud and some other swill.

Pax,

Brian

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A friend and I went to Dietle's a few weeks ago because Curley's Q is now selling its barbecue there Tues-Sun 5-8.  I had the brisket sandwich and cole slaw.  The brisket was not as smoky and moist as I had hoped and the bread was dry.  In fairness to them, we got there when they had shut down for the evening, so the quality (other than the smoke) may not have been representative.  The slaw was good and the different sauces were fine.

I'm happy to report that the beer is still cold and reasonably priced.  Curiously, there were a surprising number of hipsters there.

Dietle's and Jonathan's may be the last of the divey MoCo bars.

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4 hours ago, Al Dente said:

A couple of doors down from my office and I never went.  :(

Also a couple doors away, but did get to go a few times (working on the same block for 6 years).  Enjoyed the casual, cheap vibe but not a big beer drinker, so didn't do much for me. Will miss seeing people's reactions when we took them there for the first time.

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