Sorry, Meh (Yelp's word not mine) this time. Â Got there at 10:05 PM and they were on Late Night Menu, no more wings b/c the wings are not on the Late Night Menu. Â Whaaa?? Â I've had late night wings here for years. Â Now I get that things change and that's the way of the world, but if the fryer is on for Fried Calamari, why can't they make Wings? Â Makes no sense. Â Where I will give them props is that the item that I then ordered was 86'd, the manager came to me personally to apologize and then took the replacement off my check. Â Completely unnecessary but very nice, and I'll remember that. Â Still, I now need to get there before 10:00 PM now. Â Very disappointed.
Review Source:Rock bottom is right. Waited over 10 minutes for them to bus a table before leaving for another place. Terrible customer service. Hostess kept saying it would "just be another two minutes" instead of just bussing it herself. When we said we were leaving, she didn't even have the courtesy to apologize. Happy to take our business elsewhere and I'd encourage others to do the same.
Review Source:Went here for Father's Day dinner, and every moment of this experience was great. Just walking through the door we were instantly greeted, as we were being walked to our table, one of the wait staff saw my father and made sure to tell him "happy father's day, sir!" I was already impressed. They sat us in this giant booth with more than enough room for the 6 of us. Our waiter quickly came over and took our drink orders, my parents got some wine, my brother got the beer sampler, I got the dragonfruit strawberry mojito, and the sis-in-law got a beer. The waiter was funny and very descriptive when explaning the beer sampler to my brother. My mojito was incredible, every sip was delicious. For appetizers, we got the nachos (no meat) and chips with guacamole and I can safely say their nachos have usurped Uno's as being my favorite restaurant nachos. They had black beans, lots of tomato, jalapeños (which I didn't eat, but the sis-in-law liked), and some mix of cheese which was incredible. Seriously, I don't know what their cheese combination is, but it's to die for. For entrees, my mother got Salmon which came on rice and black beans, brother and boyfriend got chicken fried chicken, sis-in-law got the cobb salad, I had the veggie tacos, and I don't remember what my father got, but I think he also got salmon since he said similar sides to my mother's. My boyfriend and brother loved their chicken fried chicken, which came on a big bed of mashed potatoes and a side of appleslaw. Since my boyfriend won't eat coleslaw, I did. It was pretty good, but the apple was a bit odd to me, but I could see how it would be great with some BBQ. The sis-in-law said her salad was wicked good, and my mother liked her salmon. Now for my tacos, the tacos came with rice and blacked beans and every bite was incredible. They have the type of tacos where it's a soft shell wrapped around a hard shell, and I'm not entirely sure what was actually in the taco besides black beans, that awesome cheese blend, and avocado, but it was excellent. I was so stuffed at the end. Somehow my parents and brother/sis-in-law still had room for dessert when they were done. My parents split a giant slice of carrot cake and my brother/sis-in-law had the donut holes. My boyfriend also tried one of the donut holes, but he wasn't a huge fan, but the sis-in-law liked them and the caramel dip they came with. Almost 24 hours later, I'm still drooling thinking of how awesome the food was.
TL;DR
It's incredible, just go. You won't regret it.
Ashton is an awesome server/bartender always very nice and friendly!
ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR SUNDAYS! thats just an awesome deal all around!
The pretzels are awesome, the shrimp toast is pretty good, the calamari is soso. The pretzels are where the money's at dip in the cheese sauce and its amazing.
I came here for brunch the omelet wasn't bad, the steak taco's aren't that great.
P.S Will be back sunday nights seeee me here!
We enjoy going here when people are in town visiting, although it is also a good place to meet up with friends. It's not really a place we go just to go. The food is pretty good - though their "cajun" seasoning on the fish tacos really isn't very cajun-y. All of the burgers are delicious (and huuuuuge) - go out on a branch and try the 2AM. Service is decent - not over the top but not terrible. The lighter brews are a bit underwhelming, and I'm generally a light brew fan. The irish red ale is great, though. The upstairs area with billiards is neat, and there is a room to the side downstairs where a large party could sit or a meeting could be held. It's a loud enough place that children shouldn't bother the people at surrounding tables.
Review Source:This used to be my favorite hang-out spot in Bethesda but has declined drastically in recent months.
One experience is pretty exemplary of the new Rock Bottom: I take all of my employees out every quarter and last quarter we decided to go to Rock Bottom. We had booked a table for a dozen people for lunch a few days in advance but when we arrived, there was no table for us. The GM's response was that he didn't have a table for us and that we could either wait for an hour (the restaurant was pretty empty) or get three four-tops apart from each other. We decided not to deal with it and told him we're just going to put some high tops from the bar together. Not even looking at us, he stormed towards the bar and told the only waitress that the tables needed to be put together. In the meantime, we already started putting the tables together, to which he told we couldn't do that (after we were almost done and only needed two more chairs). There was no apology, no comped beers, nothing aside from a nasty look. Needless to say, there are enough other restaurants in the area where I'll take my employees instead.
Athmosphere:
  In the past few months, a lot of the regular staff and even new people have been fired on the whim of the GM, so a lot of people are scared they are next and looking for other jobs, which makes for a tense mood at times. Nonetheless, the regulars bartenders that are still left and some of the new ones always try to do an excellent job to lighten the mood and stay positive.
Drinks:
  It's a brewery and brewmaster Geoff does an excellent job. Why they started selling "guest beers" such as Miller Lite is beyond me, however.
Food:
  It's essentially a pub, so the food is accordingly - it's not bad, but not spectacular either. Just like the wait staff, a lot of the kitchen staff has been fired in recent months by the GM, so special requests that didn't use to be a problem are all of a sudden an issue and food service has slowed down overall.
Executive Summary:
  The problem here is clearly the GM who doesn't know how to manage people and doesn't know how to treat customers. The direction he has been trying to push the bar-restaurant has not been well-received and a lot of the former regular now hang out at Brickside or Harp and Fiddle. If it wasn't for the beer and some of the people, I wouldn't go there anymore because the food is better in most other places in the area.
I ordered dinner to go at the a Rock Bottom. Great sports atmosphere and venue. The customer service was superb. However, I had the mac and chicken and I specifically asked was the dish spicy and the bartender said no. I could not wait to try this house dish. I was extremely disappointed that the dish was spicy and it really took away from my dining experience. Thank God, I had ordered a side salad or I would have been hungry the rest of the night.
Review Source:My girlfriend and I were in the area after a long day of work and decided to just pick the most random place that had the most people. We saw this, and decided to go in because it was packed. We thought it was a fairly good sign. Now after have coming here... I would only return for the happy hour.
So... we were seated immediately. It is a brewery and has your typical steak/bar food kind of menu. I typically would have ordered a steak, but wasn't hungry enough and decided to go with appetizers. I ordered the fried calamari as our appetizer, and the grilled tilapia street mini tacos as my entree. My girlfriend had the lobster & shrimp enchiladas. For drinks, we had an angry orchard cider and the strawberry lemonade. Again, any other day I would have ordered a beer on tap, but this night I was just not feeling it. And didn't want to make the feeling worse.
The food was decent. I thought the mini street tacos were pretty good. The calamari was gummy and not well made. Had a funny aftertaste. The enchiladas were okay. Wouldn't order them again. We didn't realize that happy hour was still going on and were able to get happy hour prices on our food - which made it more worth it. In addition, our server hooked us up with a $10 discount for signing up with some rewards card thinga-ma-jig. Our meal ended up being pretty cheap.
I don't really see us coming back to eat, just to grab a beer and chat. They had a pretty good selection on tap and brews. But.... food was okay. Portions are pretty generous. Service was good.
Happy hour is great here, as well as late night happy hour. Trivia is fun on Wednesdays. Dishes/drinks I've had:
best I've had - chicken/spinach/andouille burger. with a side of green beans instead of fries. YUM. great flavors!
Brewer's cobb salad is your standard cobb, but the chicken is cold.
the Paloma (grapefruit-tequila drink)
Sangria is pretty good, but nothing special.
Wine spritzer is "meh".
I've also had a acai-berry cocktail which was strong and yummy!
From others who I've gone with...
Special chipotle raspberry salmon is really good.
Blackened shrimp mac n cheese is really good.
From word of mouth (one of the waitresses!) don't get the jambalaya.
i've been to rock bottom on and off for many years now, and i recently had my best experience yet. Â We made reservations for a birthday party of 28 and many more than that showed up. Â They handled everything with grace and patience and we really appreciated it. Â Everything came in a timely fashion, the waiters were nice. They blocked off a whole section for us. Â The beer is great, we had a great time i only wish i could remember my servers name. Â
the only reason i can't bare to give them 5 stars is that 1. the seem to open up the patio in the winter for no reason and don't staff appropriately, which is stupid  2. one of my favorite waitresses seems to be missing i haven't been able to catch her on her normal days and 3 management seems hit or miss.  sometimes when i want to talk to a manger to compliment the staff they re awesome, sometimes they are just unresponsive weirdos
they should get wi-fi!
Restaurant - I've only been here for the food. I can say that I loved their Chicken Fried Chicken (see photo). The mashed potatoes and gravy were delicious and the chicken was warm and tender. My friend got their tacos with lobster and shrimp. The food was okay. The waiter we had was nice... nothing to spectacular about this place and the prices just seemed like a moderate place. A place to go if you're nearby but not a place to go out of your way for.
Review Source:Okay, I've only been to this location twice, so they get one star for the first time I was there and one star for last evening. Â I sat at the bar with my girlfriend on the very end. Â Needless to say, the 3 bartenders hardly ever made it down to our end because they were too busy chatting it up with people on the other end of the bar. Â My girlfriend waved her arm high in the air for about a minute to get their attention.....didn't work. Â I wanted to film this with my phone. Â They place was not busy at all. Â So after I finally got a refill on my beer, they disappeared to the other side again. Â We needed to get out of there because we were parked at a meter. Â Luckily, one of them spotted my gf waving again and came over. Â The beer was okay, the pretzel was pretty good, but the service at the bar was far less than desirable.
I have no need to come to this place again because luckily, the town I just moved to, Bethesda, has plenty of other establishments to frequent.
My husband and I, and a group of friends have been coming to RB for years, typically twice a month.  Love the beer selection, and the price per pint is very reasonable.  The food is pretty decent, chicken fried chicken being my particular favorite!  With usually 4-5 of us coming in, we typically order a nacho (or two).  A few years ago, they changed and I feel cheapened the nachos, the old style was so  much better!!  Would love to see them go back to their original nacho recipe.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Â 5 stars period!!! Â As soon as we walk in and sit down, our waitress Helen is there, with a smile, EVERYTIME! Â We usually try to sit in the same area because of her. Â She is kind, warm and very attentive, great people person for sure. Â Two weeks ago, we were there and found out she was fired! Â We are so shocked and very saddened by this. Â A big mistake on Rock Bottoms part in my opinion.
Oh I hit rockbottom! The white ale was seriously gross it tasted like cigarettes don't ask! I asked the bartender if I can have my beer served in a glass but she said no after 10 they only give plastic cups ahhh come on I'm not 21 & crazy give me a real cup so I can enjoy my drink lady! Anyways I ended up getting a cocktail I didn't like the beers at all.. I didn't have to wait in line bc I came early but this place always has long lines not sure why so come early to avoid lines
Review Source:It has taken me 7 times visiting this place to write this review, however the simple fact that I have been her 7 times bodes well for it. Â I have never eaten anything but dessert here, but the rotating and cask beer selection can be beat at these prices ANYwhere. Â All the staff is super nice and even though it is a chain, it still feels like a part of the neighborhood. Â Maybe one day I'll drink enough beer to warrant a looksy at the menu.
Review Source:It's a Rock Bottom - there are one or two in every big city. Â Met some friends who live nearby for beers and appetizers. Â Okay beer, decent nachos, very friendly server. Â Pretty good for Bethesda. Â There are some better places in the neighborhood, but I've been in plenty of bars & grills that are much worse, too.
Review Source:I came on a day when I wasn't feeling well so I may be biased. All I wanted was something soothing, so I ordered the clam chowder since it was the soup of the day. The food took awhile and mine arrived at our table last, even though they're only ladling it from a large pot. Also, it was lukewarm, so I think they just forgot about it. Taste-wise, it was way too salty. And while it was thick, it wasn't thick in a rich 'n creamy way, but more of a starchy from too much cornstarch kind of way.
The two friends whom I dined with were happy as a clam with their food, so mine may just be a fluke. It put a damper on my already gloomy day. If someone drags me here again, I would rereview, but i wouldn't voluntarily visit anytime soon.
They recently "refreshed" this location. Â They have new taps located front of the bar (instead of the back), got new floors and carpet and totally renovated the disgusting restrooms. Â They also have a new menu. Â Sure, the menu is looking more like Gordon Biersch, but that's a good thing since the food was passable before.
Review Source:I'm a huge fan of fantastic customer service. When the kitchen got our order wrong, the server offered a sincere apology and offered to throw in a free beer or dessert. We declined at first, but after the server insisted, we decided to take a slice of Carrot Cake to go. EXCELLENT CHOICE. The cake was moist, complex and flavorful. The cream cheese frosting is among the best I've had.
My Wedge Salad was average-to-good, Rocktoberfest beer was excellent. My husband liked his Mac and Chicken. Pretzel with cheese dip app was great.
I got the Southwest Salad, and loved every bite. Â The beer is always good and cold (unlike some breweries I have been to). Â The waitress was also nice, and very attentive, but not overly so. She was cracking jokes and making us feel right at home.
A big minus to this place is the fact the the bathroom is UPSTAIRS. Â SO, be prepared to take a hike to use the pissah.
Either way, go here for beers if you have some time. Â I know you will like it...
I have been to this Rock Bottom even before I went to the one in Arlington. Â I frequent the one in Arlington, and that is only because of the fantastic trivia night with Jay on Tuesdays. Â In general, the food at Rock Bottom is not very good and we first noticed this when eating in the Bethesda location. Â In particular, the chili that they served up was pretty gross, nor did anyone like their nachos. Â Rio Grande is right down the street, so Rock Bottom should work on at least making their nachos edible to compete. Â The menu needs work - not many choices for picky eaters. Â A lot of their stuff seems to be pre-made so if you ask for their shrimp tower without mayonnaise for instance, they can't accomodate you because apparently the dish has already been made and frozen or something. Â Too bad, because without the mayonnaise, the shrimp tower is something I would order.
I DO like Rock Bottom's beers. Â But that doesn't make up for its lack of good food, and there are tons of other places in Bethesda where one can get great food and beer. Â Rock Bottom Bethesda, and frankly, Rock Bottom in general is a big "skip it," despite my complex relationship with the Arlington location.
Two and a half stars. So this is what it's like to hit rock bottom in Bethesda. I half-jest, but this is definitely one of the busier venues away from the Row. Street and garage parking in the area. Upstairs bar is prioritized for banquets, and the lower level is more restaurant seating than bar seating. The bathrooms upstairs are roomy and acceptably clean.
Seat yourself and be prepared to aggressively compensate for spotty service. Pours are heavier after happy hour specials are over. Pretzels are dense and fresh from the oven, but the garlic wasn't detectable and I preferred them without the jalapeno spinach cheese dip. The housemade chips are more memorable than the guacamole and salsa they come with. Calamari was alright, with marinara and sweet/spicy saucing options. Overall this location seems like less of a hot mess than their Arlington location, but that's not saying much.
I guess I'm totally indebted to this place because it's where my boyfriend shamelessly hit on me the first night we met.
That being said, I don't know that I would come here as often as I do if it weren't for the fact that it is my boyfriend's favorite place to hang out and we know a few of the bartenders and regulars... it kind of feels like home now, and it's a good spot to have a group get together on Friday or Saturday night because the bar area is so large. District trivia on Wednesday nights is also a favorite, and it gets crowded so get there early.
The restaurant is also a brewery, and I do like several of the regular beers (the red and the stout), and also the fact that they have rotating selections (love the Fire Chief Ale, Highland Courage, and Brown Bear Brown). The bar staff is friendly and on top of their game.
The food is basic bar food and is only so-so... service at the tables is fine, but not great. The meals are kind of over-priced in my opinion, especially considering they have a tendency to leave off items that are indicated in the menu (from salads, sandwiches, nachos, etc.). The portions are huge...definitely easy to share. It would be nice if they had half-portioned, cheaper menu items.
Crowd is usually older; less 20-somethings and more 30, 40-somethings.
Overall, an alright place with personal value.
Ive only come to the bar at Rock Bottom, so my review is a little biased. Â
They have a nice and friendly bar tending group. Â It can get quite busy in there especially during the recent power outage across the DC Metro region in June/July 2012. Â Alot of the bars/resturaunts in Bethesda were without power that day we went. Â Luckily Rock Bottom saved the day. Â
They offer many unique brews and seasonals. Â They even sell them for home in bottles known as Growlers which are about $20 or less. Â They are 64 fl oz and are a good way to save bucks when you come back also because they refill them for only $10! Â There were about 5-6 glasses worth of beer in a Growler so it was a great deal.
For a weekday lunch, this place could be just about any American chain restaurant. Â Pretty standard fare of burgers, sandwiches, and continental entrees. Â We ordered the appetizer sampler platter - Southwest egg rolls, wings, and chips and queso, all of which was just fine. Â I also got their house IPA which was nothing special, but still nice for a mid day beer. Â I ordered the Laredo burger which has guac and pico de gallo. Â None of it was particularly flavorful; I would have preferred some guacamole with some spice or strong flavor in SOME direction. Â The fries were also okay. Â
If you haven't gotten the picture, Rock Bottom is a perfectly adequate restaurant. Â However, Bethesda is filled with above average places to eat, so why limit yourself.
I've been coming here for years. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Bethesda. Â Even after they got bought out by Gordon Biersch (which I really don't like) and lost a little bit of their local flair by losing the beer names (Raccoon Red became just Red), they have managed to stay at the top of my list.
They have 5 beers that are always on tap plus an additional two or three that rotate throughout the year. Â All of the beers are brewed in house, which, as a homebrewer, I can appreciate. Â Unfortunately they got rid of a couple of beers that I used to like when the ownership switched but they kept my favorite (the IPA).
The food is usually good. Â A few items that I enjoy are the Texas Fire Steak, the Ahi Tuna Salad, and the Mac and Chicken. Â Recently they have been overcooking fish a little bit so be wary of that. Â All of the portions are pretty big, especially the nachos, so bring your appetite.
Service is generally fair. Â I try to sit at the bar whenever possible, otherwise I go to the bar area and ignore the waitress and go straight for the bartender. Â You get service much faster that way. Â The waitresses seem to have too many tables usually so they can be hard to track down.
This Rock Bottom has been a mainstay in my Bethesda palate since I was too short to reach the cookie jar.
I always get the macaroni and cheese here, if not that AND a burger. It's consistently good mac, definitely share-able if you prefer to consider it a side dish. It's doused with a delicious layer of bread crumbs on top and the cheese is delicious. As my spoon dunks in and out, I truly get lost in the bowl of creamy macaroni. It's only hours later when I realize my friends have all left and I've been eating mac & cheese for the entire afternoon.
As I often come with large groups here, I've also gotten to try their pizza which I can say is legitimately delicious (coming from a pizza enthusiast from NY). They also whip up a fine caesar salad!
This place is great for watching sports as well, I've watched countless baseball games here and they always have plenty of teams on their many screens. If you are a fan of a team no one cares about, perhaps it will be playing upstairs where you'll find a nice bunch of billiards tables and another bar.
There is also a projector on the main floor which is a nice touch. They usually show the biggest game on there. This is great during football season if you're a local fan. However I am a fan of the Denver Broncos so I've been allocated to the lonely upstairs on game day.
The "Mug Club" here is for all you beer drinkers out there. The Lumpy Dog has always been the talk of the town at our family dinners here. That large mug plops on the table and that swishing Lumpy Dog begs for your thirsty mouth.
Parking can be tricky here because of the time limits of street parking on Norfolk Ave. Always be aware of how long you've been parked outside because you might need to send someone how to move the car. Not too big of a deal, though!
Overall this place has never failed me. I'll keep coming here until the day it closes, but hopefully that is after I die! In which case my ghost will enjoy a pint.
I don't like the new beer. It's not that it's bad (it's not great either), it's just that I *really* liked the old stuff. I can appreciate them trying new things, but isn't that what the rotating seasonal/special beer is for? Why get rid of my Raccoon Red entirely? Do not like.
The food, however, is still good. At least they haven't managed to screw that up. Yet.
This place is always packed with the crowds i usually avoid, but I keep crawling back on bended knee....
Why?
1835 calories of pretzel and queso goodness.
Yes, I have a problem. Â And his name is Pretzel. Â
I have now taken to lurking on the second floor and sharking on the pool tables to pay for my habit. Â
I sadly can't comment on any thing else on the menu. Â Since I'm always stuffed with Pretzel. Â And not being a beer drinker or a sports fan, I really have no business being in here.
And yet, here I am. Â Every week. Â See u there.
My co-workers generally have a lunch rotation of Subway-Chipotle-Brown Bag, so when they suggested Rock Bottom this afternoon my eyebrows shot up. Sit-down service on the other side of Bethesda? Hrmmm. Turns out they wanted to buy me lunch before I leave next week (awww).
We were seated in a mostly empty section with a very attentive waiter. RB offers several lunch options (half sandwich with side soups/salads and smaller versions of their dinner salads) for $7.95, which I felt was a pretty good deal.
When our food came, my salad was enormous. Â I joked about what the dinner portion must look like, only to find out they accidentally *had* given me the dinner portion. I got to keep it, and was only charged for what I had ordered. Bank error in your favor!
One of the women I was eating with is notoriously picky about food, and she was raving about how lean and delicious her ruben was to our server. I was allowed to swap grilled chicken slices for breaded and fried, so I felt pretty good about my giant meal (and no, I didn't finish it).
So, great service, tasty food -- why only 3 stars? I started getting stomach cramps several hours after we returned to the office. I don't want to assume it was the food, but I'm too chicken to try the leftovers in case I start feeling awful all over again. I guess I'm calling this one a draw.
The strong scent of stale beer greeted me at the door but still I remained optimistic about the lunch that lay ahead of me. Though, looking back, I'm not sure why.
The Ball Park pretzels were unoffensive and I forged ahead ordering the chili and a Caesar salad. The chili was decent but the salad was pretty much inedible.
Stick to beer and bar food at Rock Bottom and you'll be okay. Or better yet, try Union Jack's down the street.
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