Restaurants in Gaithersburg

Antonio's menu is stocked full of moderately priced eats, including multiple savory vegan options. Their jerk chicken is so well loved it is available in nearly every form—on a sandwich with lettuce and special sauce ($5); atop a salad ($6.95); as a straight-up entree with rice, peas, and salad ($8.95); or mini-sized as a sandwich for kids, Polly Pockets, and other mini-eaters ($3.50). Other main plates include stewed oxtail ($10.75), vegan shrimp with coconut-mango salsa ($13.95), and curried shrimp roti with potatoes ($12.50). Add a side of fried sweet plantains ($2.75), among other sides, or a sip-tastic imported or domestic beer.

The Melting Pot transforms date nights and friendly outings into rich, sensory experiences by gathering diners around communal pots of fondue and adorning their tables with sumptuous four-course feasts of cheese, salad, chocolate, and steakhouse fare. Bubbling pots of emmentaler, lager-laced cheddar, and creamy fontina quell urges to engage in skewer swordfights as guests eagerly dip and slather slices of crisp granny-smith apples or crusts of artisanal bread. Creamy peppercorn ranch and decadent burgundy-shallot vinaigrette drape plates of crispy salad greens and roma tomatoes before servers parade out the pièce de résistance—fresh shrimp, sesame-crusted ahi, and succulent slices of filet mignon that bathe in roiling pools of coq au vin and bourguignonne. As a tasty digestif, dessert-savvy diners coat brownies, marshmallows, and unlucky car keys in cauldrons of milk, dark, and white chocolate.

The chefs at each Copper Canyon Grill, a mid-Atlantic favorite, craft their regional American dishes from scratch every day. Their kitchens fill with flames and savory aromas as they roast meats and vegetables over hardwood fires, making customers happy, but leaving behind bare earth at local basketball arenas.

The kitchen yields hearty servings of grilled prime rib and filet mignon, ahi tuna and Atlantic salmon, and Delmarva-style crab dip and Eastern Shore jumbo lump crab cakes. It also tempts with a signature rotisserie chicken and jalapeño- and serrano-pepper cornbread baked in an iron skillet.

Potomac Pizza’s chefs toss and stretch fluffy, nonfat, and cholesterol-free dough into pizzas lauded by the Washington Post for “returning pizza to its good name” in a world of national chains. The DC-area pizzerias dapple each pie with freshly-made sauce and a selection of 24 toppings, such as grilled chicken, eggplant, feta cheese, and Canadian bacon. Potomac Pizza’s kitchens also whip up calzones, and other Italian specialties such as lasagna and veal parmesan, served in Potomac’s dining rooms or nestled into boxes for takeout and delivery orders.

Nando's Peri-Peri, founded in South Africa in 1987, hopped continents to bring a toothsome menu of sandwiches, pitas, wraps, and salads starring Portuguese peri-peri flame-grilled chicken to diners north of the equator. Introduced to Western palates by Portuguese explorers perambulating Africa in the distant days of maritime exploration, peri-peri is a fiery chili pepper that adds a kick of capsaicin to any meal or trick chewing gum. Nando's fresh chicken luxuriates in its peri-peri marinade for 24 hours, resulting in dishes with a quartet of Scoville-scale-scorching spice levels including mild lemon and herb, medium, hot, and the daredevil-only extra hot. Noshers can fuel up for feeding frenzies and practice their dunking prowess with nibbles of the peri-peri hummus with pita appetizer ($3.95). For the entree, meat eaters can enjoy a grilled-to-order peri-peri half chicken with a side such as spiced rice or hearty coleslaw ($10.95), and vegetarians can fill mouth caves with veggie burgers ($6.25) as well as a host of premium salads ($5.75–$7.95). Alternatively, a toasted peri-peri chicken pita ($6.25) eliminates the need for a utensil-pilot’s license with a handheld dish full of salad and special Nando’s mayonnaise.

Owners Bruno and Jimmy fill Mamma Lucia’s kitchen with housemade Italian family recipes. At each of the eight locations, chefs mix and match myriad pastas and sauces such as penne in pink sauce or chicken pesto ravioli in a creamy pesto sauce. Chicken and veal can be dipped in egg and sautéed in a lemon-and-wine sauce or prepared in any of 15 other ways. In the dining room, servers happily deliver New York–style pizzas to tables or to passing taxicabs full of lost Brooklyn residents.