Chef Jose Andres is replacing his Bethesda, Maryland, outpost of popular tapas restaurant Jaleo with a version of his Spanish Diner, a casual Spanish restaurant that Andres opened in Manhattan last year as part of his Think Food Group’s Mercado Little Spain food hall at the Hudson Yards development.
The Bethesda Spanish Diner, at Federal Realty’s Bethesda Row at 7172 Woodmont Ave., will open in spring 2021. The Bethesda Row Jaleo has been there since 2002.
Spanish Diner will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Bethesda Spanish Diner will feature larger portions of Spanish dishes, traditional specialties to share, and selections of Spanish cocktails, beer and wine.
It calls itself an Iberian take on the classic American all-day restaurant.
A staple of the Spanish Diner menu is Huevos Rotes Casa Lucio (broken eggs) — fried eggs in olive oil with crispy potatoes — as well as Catalan beef stew and Iberico pork meatballs.
“I like to say that Spanish Diner is the place to go for food that a Spanish grandma would cook for you right in her kitchen. Simple food made with love,” Andres said.
“Bethesda is where my wife and our family have called home for many years, so for me it is very special and maybe a little selfish to bring Spanish Diner right to our backyard.”
Think Food Group operates more than a dozen restaurant concepts, including Oyamel, Zatinya, minibar and The Bazaar.
Andres himself has been personally active in disaster recovery efforts around the globe in recent years through the nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
