67 Things We Love About Bethesda

Bethesda Magazine’s editors pick the things they love about Bethesda.

1. Bethesda Row Cinema. Finally, an adult theater that’s not XXX.
   
   
2. Café Monet in Kensington. It’s cozy, locally owned, the baked goods are homemade, and it’s not Starbucks.
   
   
3. The Birchmere coming to Silver Spring. The missing link in the Bethesda-area’s arts and entertainment scene. Finally, a place to hear top-name musical performers in our own back yard.
   
   
4. Eating your way around the world on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda. On one two-block section of the street, you can eat Japanese, Afghan, Irish, American, Middle Eastern, Italian, Thai and Indian.
   
   
5. The new Rockville Town Square. It promises to do for Rockville what Bethesda Row did for Bethesda. And that’s saying a lot.
   
   
6. The Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCA/Rotary Club annual “Turkey Chase” Thanksgiving road race. Run 6.2 miles, help a great cause, and eat Thanksgiving dinner guilt free.
   
   
7. The teenage throngs that hang out at the Regal Cinema on a Friday night. At least they’re not at home.
   
   
8. Bruce Variety. Defining the word “variety” since 1953. If you can’t find it there, you probably don’t really need it after all.
   
   
9. Poole’s Store in Poolesville—a reminder that there’s a big part of the county that’s not like Bethesda. Poole’s Store is Bruce Variety for horse people and farmers. It carries so many items that not even owners Raymond and Billy Poole are sure of everything they have (although we can say with certainty that they have salt lick for steer and llama food). 
   
   
10. Strathmore Concert Hall. It’s everything that CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl promised. His programming from around the world draws new audiences to the arts (and Strathmore), and opens the eyes and minds of regular audiences.
    
    
11. Damian Salvatore, owner and chef of Persimmon, voted “Best Restaurant” last year by Bethesda Magazine’s readers—proof that nice guys can finish first.
    
    
12. The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. How can an all-volunteer squad be among the best in the country?
    
    
13. Rockville Pike. Yes, Rockville Pike. Everything is there, which means it doesn’t have to be anywhere else.
    
    
14. Gifford’s Double Scoop Swiss Chocolate Sundae. Your stomach says “Yes” and your mind says “No.” But your stomach—and a Lipitor—usually win.
    
    
15. Glen Echo Park. Fully restored, the park includes a majestic carousel, puppet playhouse, children’s theater, swing dances in the Spanish Ballroom and Discovery Creek Children’s Museum.
    
    
16. Garrett Park. How can you not love a town that doesn’t deliver the mail because they want residents to congregate and meet each day at the post office?
    
    
17. Grapeseed Chef Jeff Heineman’s hands. They’re so big a family of four could live comfortably in them—and they cook pretty well, too.
    
    
18. Chevy Chase Supermarket. The anti-Giant, there’s always a cashier and a bagger available, and they’ll even unload your cart for you.
    
    
19. Strosniders. It’s expensive, it’s crowded, it’s claustrophobic, but you’ve got to love a place where knowledgeable adults help you find the right tool or part, and spend as much time with a person looking for a screw as a $5,000 grill.
    
    
20. The mai tais at Shanghai Village in Bethesda. We don’t understand why owner Kwok Cheung won’t reveal his secret recipe. After one of his drinks, who could remember it?!
    
    
21. Robin Ficker. Come on, politics wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without him.
    
    
22. The Montgomery County Road Runners Club. Hundreds have trained in the club’s First-Time Marathoner program. And more than 50 couples have married after meeting on one of the club’s runs.
    
    
23. Dave Dabney, head of the Bethesda Urban Partnership. The unofficial “mayor” of Bethesda does more than any other person to make Bethesda the special place it is.
    
    
24. Lunch at Redrock Canyon Grill in Silver Spring. Sit at the bar and order one of their terrific salads. Jason, the bartender, introduces himself, shakes your hand, and provides terrific, friendly service.
    
    
25. The Kentlands. We know, we know, it’s a planned community. But if more planned communities were like this, they wouldn’t have such a bad rap.
    
    
26. Bethesda’s Alan Meltzer. One of the nation’s top-selling insurance agents, Meltzer makes a lot of money—and gives a lot away. He’s 5’3”, but larger than life.
    
    
27. Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg. In one place there’s a water park, skateboard park, rec center and miniature golf—and because they’re operated by the city, they’re inexpensive.
    
    
28. The Barnes & Noble fountain in Bethesda. The closest thing we have to a town square. Musicians entertain us; dogs and children play; and visitors meet, greet and watch the world stroll by.
    
    
29. The “baby bagels” they give away to kids at Bethesda Bagels. Just the right size for little hands.
    
    
30. Ginanne Italiano, the director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce. A true force of nature (with a smile), Italiano has transformed the B-CC Chamber into one of the most active—and effective—in the country.
    
    
31. The Republican Party in Montgomery County. If we don’t love them, who will?
    
    
32. Thomas Wootton and Richard Montgomery high schools. Usually overshadowed by their Bethesda brethren, the Rockville high schools placed ahead of all other county schools in Newsweek’s rankings.
    
    
33. Jeff and Barbara Black. With Black’s Bar and Kitchen, Addie’s and Black Market, the dynamic duo does more than anyone to raise the level of dining in the area.
    
    
34. The Mormon Temple. First mocked, now a part of our scenery, vocabulary and traffic reports. If you’ve been away, you know you’re home when you come around the bend on the Beltway and see the temple’s majestic spires.
    
    
35. Dining outside on Bethesda Row on a warm weekend night. If you can find a parking space and get a table, it doesn’t get any better.
    
    
36. A Bethesda Big Train baseball game at Shirley Povich field in Cabin John Regional Park. Everyone is friendly, from the gentleman selling an arm’s length of raffle tickets for $20 (no counting necessary) to Homer, the mascot. 
    
    
37. The Montgomery County Historical Society Library in Rockville. Stop by, and in words and pictures you’ll be transported to another time.
    
    
38. The Billy Goat Trail. Great hiking, terrific vistas and occasional deer, but no goats.
    
    
39. Opera night at Trattoria Sorrento in Bethesda. On the first Thursday of each month, listen to the beautiful sounds of Italian opera and eat some of the best traditional Italian cuisine in the Bethesda area. 
    
    
40. Lake Amoco in Chevy Chase. Remember when you’d pull into a gas station and men would come running out to service your car? OK, the service at Lake Amoco isn’t quite like that…but it’s not far behind.
    
    
41. The Alan Scott Band. Irrefutable evidence that the line between playing the Bethesda club scene and making it big is very thin indeed.
    
    
42. Bella Italia on Bethesda Avenue. A friendly, beautiful store for lovers of all things Italian. The owners, Suzy Menard and Wendy Goldberg, regularly travel to Italy and bring back gourmet goodies and beautiful Italian ceramics.
    
    
43. The Capital Crescent Trail. A downhill bike ride, walk or run all the way to Georgetown. (Of course, there’s also the uphill ride, walk or run all the way back to Bethesda.)
    
    
44. The shed at Walter Johnson High School. Each year WJ seniors paint their names on the shed. Driving by on Democracy Boulevard, you see your child’s and their friends’ names emblazoned in white. Then, when it’s painted over by the new class, you feel—with a pang—the inevitable passage of time.
    
    
45. Bethesda Crab House. Everything else in Bethesda seems to change, but the crab house never has—and hopefully never will.
    
    
46. The Clayboys cart. How can something so simple (shaved ice and flavoring) taste so good and be so popular?
    
    
47. The cherry blossoms in Kenwood. Forget the Tidal Basin, the best place to see stunning cherry blossoms in April is in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chevy Chase. The trees form a lush pink and white canopy over the roads and the fallen pedals create a sumptuous carpet.
    
    
48. Raku. You have to wait an hour to be seated and hope and pray you don’t get a tiny table crammed between two others, but the food is worth it.  
    
    
49. The Gildenhorn/Speisman Center for the Arts at the Jewish Community Center in Rockville. Strathmore gets all the attention, but the Center for the Arts is a vibrant cultural Mecca.
    
    
50. The Montgomery County Humane Society’s Dances With Dogs fundraiser. Not the usual charity ball, the events draws over 400 people, many of whom bring their dogs. A king and queen are named—a four-legged king and queen that is. Be sure to look before you eat. Some of the appetizers are for canines.
    
    
51. Kensington’s Labor Day parade. If Norman Rockwell were alive, he would most certainly paint it.
    
    
52. Chef Geoff Tracy. When he opened Lia’s last fall, Chef Geoff brought star power and inventive Italian cuisine across the county line to Friendship Heights.
    
    
53. The C&O Canal towpath. Walking or running along the dirt path, you can’t help but relax and forget your troubles—except when the mountain bikers nearly knock you into the canal. 
    
    
54. Potomac Pizza’s sense of Manifest Destiny. Montgomery County is there, so it must be conquered. And Potomac Pizza is doing the conquering. With a new restaurant in Friendship Heights, Potomac Pizza is now serving its amazing pizza in four locations. Look for more in the future. It’s a big county.
    
    
55. The jelly-filled donuts at Breads Unlimited in Bethesda’s Bradley Center. Enough calories to help you recover from spinning class. Forget Gatorade.
    
    
56. Great Falls. The incredible force of surging waters is worth the trip and the $5 parking fee. Plus, you get to point at the poor schlubs across the river on the Virginia side, who don’t have anywhere near as good a view.
    
    
57. Montgomery College. Overlooked and underappreciated, MC is a springboard to careers and four-year colleges for 35,000 full- and part-time students every year.
    
    
58. The Bethesda Community Store. Shades of the “Seinfeld” Soup Nazi episode? The greeting here may be gruff, but the sandwiches are great.
    
    
59. Mamma Lucia’s “Two for Tuesdays.” Buy one large pizza, and get the other one for $1.99. One more night you don’t have to cook.
    
    
60. L’Academie de Cuisine. One of the nation’s top 10 culinary schools, L’Academie urns out the area’s best professional chefs and delights amateurs with courses like “Let’s Make Beautiful Mousse Together” and “Teen Night Out—Knife Skills.”
    
    
61. Imagination Stage. One of the top children’s theaters in the country, Imagination Stage’s performances keep kids rapt and parents awake.
    
    
62. The parking meter Cash Key. The only thing worse than trying to find a parking space in Bethesda is finding a space and then realizing you don’t have change for the meter. Worry no more. Plug the key into a meter and you’re on your way.
    
    
63. Congressman Chris Van Hollen. Get a glimpse of him now because he’s going places—and fast.
    
    
64. The meter maids in Bethesda. Imagine how high our taxes would be without them.
    
    
65. The flatbread at  Levante’s in Bethesda. Thick, hot and, oh, so delicious.
    
    
66. The new NIH Heart Center at Suburban Hospital. NIH docs trek across Old Georgetown Road to help create one of the area’s most advanced and innovative cardiac treatment centers.
    
    
67. Bethesda’s annual Literary Festival. Dozens of novelists, poets and journalists descend on Bethesda the last weekend of April to lecture, read from their works and interact with local residents. It’s like going to college, but  without the exams, tuition and hangover.