Black's Bar and Kitchen
Address: 7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-652-5525
Neighborhood:
Bethesda/Glen Echo
Cuisines:
Steaks, Seafood, Modern, American
Opening Hours: Open for lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 to 2:30; Saturday noon to 3. Open for dinner Monday through Thursday 5:30 to 10; Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 11; Sunday 5:30 to 9:30. Open for brunch Sunday 11 to 2:30. A late-night bar menu is available Thursday
Nearby Metro Stops: Bethesda
Price Range: Expensive
Dress: Upscale Casual
Noise Level: Chatty
Reservations: Recommended
Website: Click here to open in new window.
Best Dishes Cornbread with honey butter; mussels with tomato, lemon, and shallot; oysters on the half-shell; hanger steak with chimichurri or béarnaise; pappardelle with wild mushrooms, dates, and cured pork cheek; fried chicken with sweet-potato waffles; seafood ste
No. 83: Black's Bar and Kitchen
When Black Salt opened in 2004, it seemed as if owners Jeff and Barbara Black were forsaking cozy comfort for contemporary swank. With the makeover of their Bethesda outpost, Black’s Bar and Kitchen, the couple took yet another trend-conscious leap forward.The new place is an Architectural Digest –ready showpiece, with its Asian-influenced patio of stone and metal, a wood-paneled bar evoking the wine rooms of the West Coast, and a glowing, orange-suffused triptych of trees stretching the length of the dining room. Even with its trendy roster of raw-bar selections, small plates, and wood-grilled meats and fishes, the plates most worth seeking out call to mind the old Black’s heartiness: sesame fried oysters, twice-cooked chicken (just a marvelous fried bird), a mussel chowder, and pan-roasted cod with clams and chorizo. (The leaden corn dog and duck quesadilla could use retooling.)
It’s the desserts—especially a fig tart with honey ice cream, a fabulous chocolate trio with panna cotta, a fallen-soufflé tart, and a fudgy ice-cream sandwich—that bring together the old and new: They’re as glamorous and good as the visuals.
