Restaurants in Rockville

Brightwood's menu is packed to the gills with seafood and other classic items, crafted and dished out by an amiable staff. Warm up dormant appetites in the airy dining room, lined with large windows, by sampling esculent appetizers such as the sautéed shrimp and rice-noodle soup, which is served in thai lemon-grass broth with fresh veggies ($8), or jump right in with a po' boy sandwich, featuring remoulade sauce on crisp french bread, with a choice of chicken ($10), shrimp, oyster, or catfish ($12). Sample the house pride and joy with the crab-cake entree—jumbo lump crabmeat partnered with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach ($24). If that still isn't enough, simply order the Brightwood burger, an Angus beef burger with red-pepper mayo ($12), and ask for it to be wrapped in a larger Angus beef burger.

Americans have a longstanding tradition of unsuccessfully bringing the outdoors inside:

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.

Though they sound like names for Paul Bunyan's fists, redwood and burlap are two of the key components for crafting bagels at Ize's Deli & Bagelry. When Angie and Lee Greenberg move their bagels from a broiling kettle to a stone oven, the two materials work to form a pleasantly crispy bagel exterior. Angie and Lee also prepare handmade spreads and cream cheeses to schmear their doughy creations in flavors like strawberry and scallion. This process is a family endeavor—Angie's parents assist in the kitchen to ensure that all bagels are prepared in small, fresh batches.

Guests seated in the cozy dining area reap the benefits of the Greenbergs' lunch and breakfast labors. In addition to their New York–style bagels, the owners serve up omelets, knishes, soups, and deli sandwiches stacked with savory meats. On some of the sandwiches, they swap bread for the venue's namesake: the Empire, for example, features layers of hot roast beef, cheddar, and horseradish mayonnaise on an onion bagel.

Though the staff delights in passing out meals to their countertop customers, they also arrange artful platters for catered events. The gourmet smoked-fish platter nestles lox, whitefish, and tuna salad amid lettuce and imported cheeses, and party servings of bagels and subs accommodate feasting groups.

The chefs at Oro Pomodoro have earned the right to call themselves "pizzaioli," or pizza makers, by upholding the traditions set forth by the Neapolitan authorities on pie creation. Their wood-burning brick ovens are set precisely to Vesuvius-like temperatures, their dough is blended just so, and their ingredients all meet strict standards for authenticity and freshness. Oro Pomodoro's preparation earned their pizza an official certification from the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association for its authenticity. Like actors wearing white shirts in detergent commercials, the chefs liberally sprinkle San Marzano tomato sauces, gorgonzola cheese, prosciutto, kalamata olives, and fistfuls of sun-dried tomatoes. That same palette of time-tested Italian ingredients, which also includes Caputo flour and buffalo mozzarella, lends itself to ravioli, fettuccine, and other pastas are made fresh daily in the kitchen.

Every dish is served in a cheery bistro-style dining room, which combines glossy expanses of mahogany with playful polka-dotted upholstery on the benches and bar chairs. Sinuous wine racks stretch up from a counter between rows of benches, hinting at a carefully curated wine list featuring elixirs from the Tuscany and Veneto regions.

Exercising high standards and the great restraint needed to not eat their own products, the family owners of The Bean Bag have been pleasing the palates of area eaters for the past two decades. The savory menu features mainly New York–style deli sandwiches ranging from the basic to the behemoth. Super sandwiches ($5.99 to $7.99) come filled with your choice of protein (roast beef, baked ham, tuna, turkey, veggies, and more) served atop bread selections like rye, wheat Kaiser, or a bagel. More-advanced creations (dubbed "colossal combinations," $6.99 to $10.99) include the hummos and tabouli sandwich (with cucumber, sprouts, and tomatoes) and the New Yorker (corned beef, pastrami, Swiss, and coleslaw on rye). Visit relatively greener pastures with a tasty salad ($4.99 to $8.49) or spoon-sip a variety of soups (four to six daily) or homemade chili.