Vince and Dominic's Pizza, Pizzeria and Sub Shop Behind Montgomery Mall in Bethesda for 31 Years - Closed

[pras]

Somewhat surprised that there wasn't a thread already for Vince and Dominics.  Around since 1983 in Bethesda behind Montgomery Mall, and closed on May 30.  Here is the message they posted on facebook:

"Vince and Dominic's would like to thank our loyal customers for supporting us for 31 years! As of 5:00 today Home Depot would not renew our lease and the doors are closed for good. Until yesterday we were lead to believe that a new lease would go through, so we were surprised and deeply saddened by this turn of events. We love you all."

Their departure will surely be missed.  Great pizza, great service, great people.

[DaveO]

Very sorry to hear about that.  When my ex and I lived in that neighborhood we considered Vince and Dominic's to have the best pizza in the area, along with some other reasonably tasty treats.  We ate there reasonably often and did take out from there more regularly.

Definitely locals and certainly better than any other pizza in the North Bethesda area that I recall in the 90's.

One other little tidbit.  That strip of stores was built and owned by the Hechingers.  They used to buy some extra land when they built new stores and would build and lease a strip of retail alongside or nearby the large Hechinger stores.

When I started in commercial real estate, my group did either all or most of their retail leasing.  When I started I was the last of four members in retail and would only pick up the dregs or fill in with existing clients.  I did work on some of those Hechinger properties.  I recall them being in Montgomery, PG, Northern Va, and in DC.  I bet one of my old colleagues originally leased that space to Vince and Dominics.

One nice thing about the Hechingers was that they wanted some local merchants.  They would work to get some national chains for financial security reasons but would target spaces for local merchants, including food.

I worked on one space where we targeted local food merchants.  The space and the Hechingers were broad minded but we were really looking for BBQ.  It was a reasonably strong space and we finally focused on one BBQ operation.  A deal with rent and other basic terms was made and agreed to.   A lease was drawn and sent to the tenant.  The tenant's attorney marked up that lease with hundreds of comments and changes.  That response was red lined up and down this longish lease of probably 20-40 pages of legal gobbledygook.

We had quite a few tenants interested in the space but the Hechingers really wanted a local independent merchant with a "unique feel".  But we had no tolerance for the efforts of the tenant's attorney.  We had plenty of other options.

Hechinger's attorney got back to them.  The basic response was "we'll give you 5 comments Max to possibly negotiate."   Any more than that --> no deal.  Tenant's attorney got back in kind.  A deal was finalized.

Unfortunately the tenant's implementation inside the space was pretty poor.  The presentation and their other locations were far better than the one that we leased to them.  The restaurant failed.

C'est la vie.  Another local food operator got the space and did better.

Back to Vince and Dominic's:   Very sorry to see them go.  I probably spent about a decade on their pizza and during that time spent a lot of time in the area looking for better pizza.  Couldn't find anything better.

(I reference the leasing part, because if you read the comments on V & D's facebook page, so many of their fans express outrage at Home Depot.  For whatever transpired between V & D and Home Depot's real estate group recently, the location was originally built and leased by Hechinger's...and the Hechinger's and their team did make efforts to save spaces specifically for local merchants)

[DonRocks]

Somewhat surprised that there wasn't a thread already for Vince and Dominics.  Around since 1983 in Bethesda behind Montgomery Mall, and closed on May 30.  Here is the message they posted on facebook:

"Vince and Dominic's would like to thank our loyal customers for supporting us for 31 years! As of 5:00 today Home Depot would not renew our lease and the doors are closed for good. Until yesterday we were lead to believe that a new lease would go through, so we were surprised and deeply saddened by this turn of events. We love you all."

Their departure will surely be missed.  Great pizza, great service, great people.

"Vince & Dominic's Closes After 31 Years In Bethesda" by Aaron Kraut on bethesdanow.com

And the original announcement on Vince & Dominic's Facebook page.

[DaveO]

The comments on their Facebook Page are interesting to read.  V & D had a lot of fans.

[DanielK]

I never understood the appeal. Went a few times for kid pizza parties, but wouldn't choose to return on my own dime. Giuseppi's and Mamma Lucia's make far better NY-style pies.

[MarkS]

The appeal was there.  Different then Giuseppi's, V&D did make some very filling giant slices. After hockey at Cabin John, my son found it close, warm and filing.

[pras]

According to a an employee at home depot, they are converting the space into some sort of tool rental business.