The Flaming Pit Restaurant & Piano Lounge, Gaithersburg

History is built into The Flaming Pit Restaurant & Piano Lounge building—literally. The historic building was constructed back in the 19th century before it transitioned into a tavern in the 1940s and an Italian restaurant in the late 1970s. Now, the landmark eatery—nestled on the "The Great Road," which travels from the tobacco port of Georgetown through Montgomery county—plays host to lively piano-bar acts every night of the week (7:30 p.m.–11 p.m.) as diners sing along while enjoying upscale homestyle cuisine. Savory meats, such as roasted prime rib and filet mignon, and seafood platters, such as Alaskan king-crab legs and Australian lobster are accompanied by housemade bread and a tossed salad while desserts are baked fresh in the restaurant's onsite bakery instead of over a backyard tire fire.

Even though The Flaming Pit building has a colorful past, it doesn’t show its age because most of the building is new. Still, diners can easily be taken back to the building’s past by gazing at the stone fireplaces, barroom arches, and second-story windows, which double as time-machine portals.