A DMV-favorite Thai spot, a TikTok-viral bagel shop and an indulgent Wagyu hot pot restaurant are among Montgomery County’s best new food offerings.
The last several months have brought no shortage of great dining spots to the area. Here’s your guide to where to visit next.
Genki Wagyu Shabu House
870 Festival St., Rockville
There are almost too many good options on the menu at Genki Wagyu Shabu House, which offers all-you-can-eat Wagyu Japanese hot pot, sushi and more. Guests choose from one of three tiers on the menu: silver ($58 per person), gold ($78) and diamond ($98), which offer differing numbers of appetizers, seafood and qualities of Wagyu cuts. Silver sticks to American Wagyu, gold offers Australian Wagyu and diamond includes indulgent Japanese Wagyu. All cuts are great, but once you try the Japanese Wagyu, it’s hard to go back. Red latticework and faux roofs transport diners to a lantern-lit Japanese street. One note: Certain tables next to server and self-serve stations can get a little cramped.
Agora
1 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda
D.C. and Virginia restaurant Agora brings its upscale Eastern Mediterranean food to Bethesda, now connected to the Hyatt Regency. Highlights include an extensive list of inventive beverages (the house-made honey-thyme foam on the Karpuz mocktail, in particular), a lemony grilled branzino and a cheesy, spicy sucuklu pide flatbread with Turkish beef sausage and pesto.
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Sense of Thai
5314 Zenith Overlook, Bethesda
Virginia favorite Sense of Thai arrives in Maryland, bringing its southern Thai flavors courtesy of executive chef and cofounder Porntipa Pattanamekar to a swanky restaurant in the new Westbard Square development. Name your favorite Thai dish — it’s expertly done here, including a creamy, nutty tofu panang curry, fragrant, basil-y ka pow fried rice and a decadent Chumphon pad thai with shrimp and jumbo lump crab. And don’t skip the desserts: The classic mango sticky rice, Thai tea crème brûlée and waffle with mango ice cream were all must-orders.
The Crab Trap
15211 Frederick Road, Rockville
The Crab Trap food truck offers perhaps the best meal you’ll ever eat in your car. Stationed in a crowded Exxon parking lot, chef and owner Matt Biscoe’s menu consists of jumbo lump Maryland crab cakes (a bit pricy for a food truck at $29, but up there with some of the best in the county), crab hush puppies (featuring extra crispy, sweet batter dunked in an Old Bay mayo), ears of street corn (sweet, salty, smoky and a little awkward to eat in the driver’s seat) and banana pudding (layers of silky pudding, vanilla wafers and brûléed banana slices).
Kitchen Social
203 Crown Park Ave., Gaithersburg
Ohio-based restaurant Kitchen Social makes its Maryland debut in Downtown Crown with elevated American comfort food that won’t burn quite as much of a hole in your wallet as some of its counterparts. Craft cocktails are strong and mocktails are carefully curated. The cheddar and scallion biscuits are a nonnegotiable starter, and it’s tough to go wrong amid the pizza, taco, sandwich and other entree options. (The pimento cheese burger and miso salmon were standouts, though.) Five drinks, one appetizer, four entrees and two desserts wound up costing $155 — which easily could have been $250 at similar restaurants in the area.
Bogotá Coffee House
115 N. Washington St., Rockville
Your new favorite remote working spot has arrived in downtown Rockville courtesy of Colombian shop Bogotá Coffee House. Husband and wife owners Carlos Eduardo Isaza and Marcela Serpa serve up coffee — including a lactose-free milk option — along with a flaky pastel de pollo (a Colombian-style puff pastry stuffed with shredded chicken), pandebono (yucca-based cheese bread) and almojábana (corn-based cheese bread) served in waffle form, topped with savory or sweet ingredients.
Project Suya
8777 First Ave. B, Silver Spring
Prince George’s County-based West African fast-casual spot Project Suya has arrived in Montgomery County, bringing heaping portions of suya (thinly sliced, smoky grilled meat), jollof rice, fried plantains and sweet hibiscus zobo drink.
Beer Trade Co. Cafe & Lounge
6860 Olney Laytonsville Road, Unit 1, Laytonsville
Originally conceptualized in Maryland, founder Chris Sanchez first opened Beer Trade in Florida more than a decade ago before returning home to Montgomery County. The “grab a beer and chill” motto is apt — customers take their pick from a wall of refrigerated and on-tap beers, including several nonalcoholic options, before grabbing Candy Land or Trouble from a stack of board games and sitting down inside or on the covered patio. Order menu items like buffalo wings and cheeseburgers with Old Bay fries from your server, and bring all your empty cans to the counter to pay when you’re finished.
Popup Bagels
7607 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda
The viral bagel chain known for its “grip, rip and dip” method opened its first Maryland location in Bethesda, with plans to continue expanding throughout the DMV. It’s a social media-tailored experience with an unorthodox but workable eating method — and not a sliced bagel sandwich to be found on the menu. Freshly-baked bagels with great sheen and a pleasing chew make PopUp a worthy addition to Bethesda’s high-standard bagel scene, and the chain’s inventive rotating cast of limited-edition schmears (this week’s specials include a chocolate chip pumpkin cream cheese and pumpkin butter) will bring me back.
Teas’n You
838 Rockville Pike Unit C, Rockville
A Tysons staple for almost a decade, Asian fusion cafe Teas’n You has expanded to Rockville with a sleek, Instagram-worthy design and beautiful, tasty treats to match. The bright purple ube tres leches box cake sells out early for a good reason, but a variety of eye-catching pastries, including pink strawberry cupcakes, blue Cookie Monster cookies and lime green pandan-filled doughnuts, are worth an order, too. In a savory mood? The cafe also offers crispy halal basil popcorn chicken and Taiwanese chicken sandwiches.
Wushiland
12266 Rockville Pike, Unit E, Rockville
Wushiland, a popular Taiwanese boba chain, has opened its first DMV location. The cafe offers an extensive menu of boba milk teas, macchiatos and fresh fruit teas. There are no food options, but the drinks, featuring quality tea and chewy mini or regular boba pearls, are plenty tasty enough to land Wushiland high on the list of Rockville’s ever-growing boba empire.
Shotted Coffee
7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda
Just off Montgomery Mall’s food court, the Virginia-founded, Saudi-inspired coffee chain lands its first Montgomery County location and second in Maryland. Beverage highlights include decadent pistachio, caramel and red velvet lattes, plus a fragrant spiced karak chai.
Sushi Masato
4914 Hampden Lane, Bethesda
A sleek dining room in the Shoppes of Bethesda center is now home to a family-owned Japanese restaurant with carefully curated omakase tasting menus and a la carte sushi options. Don’t skip dessert, including soft-serve and a delicate, creamy mango passionfruit crepe cake by pastry chef Amy Yu. The couple also plans to open The One Cake bakery next door soon with even more sweet options.
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