In the eyes of many Bethesdans, Woodmont Grill achieved chain restaurant perfection. Despite being a former Houston’s operated by Hillstone Restaurant Group, it went above and beyond with its spinach dip, live jazz, ribs, and always-cold martinis. For many, its abrupt closure last October was one of the saddest restaurant losses in recent memory.
What will take its place is another familiar name: Ted’s Bulletin.
Steve Salis, the prolific entrepreneur and restaurateur who founded &Pizza and owns Ted’s, Federalist Pig, Kramer’s, and Honeymoon Chicken, bought the 6,300-square-foot space from Hillstone for $7 million this month.
He plans to have it up and running as a Ted’s by mid-2027.
“This is going to be a very special Ted’s,” Salis says. “We understand it’s big shoes to fill. I was a diner at Woodmont Grill and I too was disappointed to see it close. But I’m happy to take on this challenge.”
The first Ted’s—which got attention for its housemade pop tarts and other nostalgic comfort foods—opened on Barracks Row in 2010. Salis bought the chain in 2017 from the Matchbox Restaurant Group, and has since expanded it rapidly. The Bethesda Ted’s will be the 10th in the region, after an Alexandria location opens this fall.
The new Ted’s, which Salis says may just become “the best Ted’s that we have built,” will look a bit more like locations in NoMa and Ashburn than like the Capitol Hill original.
Salis, a onetime nightclub doorman turned restaurant mogul, has been involved in all sorts of projects around the DMV—including some troubled new build homes—and has had his eye on the vicinity before. He once intended to open a bakery on the former site of American City Diner in Chevy Chase before the plans fell through during the pandemic.
Will any of the details of the original Woodmont, like the big clock outside, survive? Most likely, Salis says. “I think my track record suggests that when and if we are entering a situation where there is a level of history heritage,” he says, “we do our best to celebrate it.”
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
