The Eleanor, soon to be Silver Spring’s newest hangout, has the feel of a modern restaurant and bar upon walking in. There is a dining area with tables and chairs around a bar decorated with bowling pins.
Off in one area is a five-lane duckpin-style bowling alley illuminated by neon lights. Toward the back, there is more seating where customers can see into the kitchen.
But there are also relics of more traditional arcades mixed into the sleek contemporary venue, such as a Pac Man game for two, a Skee-Ball machine and three old school pinball machines. Rather than insert coins into the games as in arcades of the past, customers purchase a plastic card and swipe at each of the games.
The Eleanor is near the Silver Spring fountain at 931 Ellsworth Place, in the space formerly occupied by Lincoln’s Bar-B-Que, which closed in early 2018.
The venue officially opens on Feb. 24, although it may have a “soft opening,” starting Wednesday, Adam Stein, the venue’s managing partner, said on Monday during a media tour.
Stein opened his first Eleanor venue in Northeast Washington, D.C., two years ago, he said. Soon after that, he began to look at Silver Spring for a second location.
“We did D.C. obviously and my broker kept begging me to come up here and look at some spots in Silver Spring. At first, I wasn’t all that excited about it, but I remembered that a lot of my friends were getting married and having kids and were moving to Silver Spring to buy houses,” he said.
Stein said he liked the space once he saw it, particularly because all of the infrastructure was in place.
Stein said the Silver Spring venue can seat 165, and has a capacity of about 300 people. It is significantly larger than the D.C. location, which has two bowling lanes, he said. This venue, he added, has a wood-fired oven.
The restaurant features meat-based entrees such as Coulotte steak, lamb shank and roasted chicken, as well as seafood. The sandwiches include lobster roll, po boy and spaghetti sandwich, as well as more traditional variety such as a spicy fried chicken sandwich and turkey club.
The bar offers appetizers such as wings and nachos, along with salads. Menu items range between $10 and $27, depending on the size of the portion.
The drink menu includes wine by the glass, beer on tap and specialty cocktails. The more expensive cocktails are around $10 to $12, but beer, wine and mixed drinks start at $5.
Stein said the hours for The Eleanor will be 4 p.m. until 1 a.m. starting this week, but will hopefully expand after a couple weeks.
“We’re gonna do dinner only for the first two weeks, and then we’ll roll right into lunch and brunch,” he said.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
