When Addie’s closed in November, the owner of the restaurant, Jeff Black, said it would reopen in a new location in the D.C. area.
Black is now looking for that location. Specifically, he’s looking for an older building near Addie’s former home on Rockville Pike in North Bethesda.
“I just want it to be in proximity to the original location,” Black said Wednesday. “It could be anywhere. Put a small circle around [the former site] and that’s where it could be.” Black said he’s looking for something with character because “new construction tends to be boring.”
Black said he was forced to close the original Addie’s—the first restaurant that he and his wife, Barbara, opened in 1995—because of the building’s condition. He described a situation in which the walls were crumbling and joists were rotting. He estimated the building needed $1 million in repairs. Black said he was ready to invest money to update the building, but the landlord declined to sign a 10-year lease, so he decided to close the restaurant.
Black doesn’t have a timeline for bringing Addie’s back, but he is committed to reopening it with the same concept—quality food in a comfortable space.
“It’ll happen when it happens,” Black said. “We tend to take a more organic approach to our restaurants.”
Addie’s helped the Blacks kick start Black Restaurant Group, which now includes Black’s Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda, Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park, Republic in Takoma Park, as well as BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant, Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Black Jack in Washington D.C.
