Silver Spring Tastee Diner Closes For Good To Make Way For Development

SILVER SPRING, MD — After 80 years, the Tastee Diner on Ramsey Avenue in Silver Spring closed its doors for the last time on Wednesday, according to news reports.

The closing occurred within 24 hours of Roadside Development LLC signing a deal to purchase the restaurant property located at 8711 Ramsey Ave. for an undisclosed sum, according to a Washington Business Journal report.

With an eye on redevelopment, a Roadside affiliate paid $2.7. million last August for the adjacent Capitol One bank branch at 8676 Georgia Ave., WBJ reported. Roadside previously announced that it planned to build a new multifamily residential-over-retail project on the site.

"This comes as a surprise," Montgomery County Executive March Elrich said on Twitter Wednesday. "I feel for the owners who feel they have to close and the employees who worked at Tastee Diner. I wish them the best. We'll miss our Downtown Silver Spring institution."

The first Tastee Diner established itself in the D.C. area in 1935, according to the restaurant's website. In 1994, the Montgomery County Council designated Tastee Diner as an historic landmark.

Six years later, the dining car was moved from its original space on George Avenue to Cameron Street ahead of construction by Discovery Communications.

Although the Silver Spring restaurant is permanently closed, the Tastee Diner locations at 7731 Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda and 118 Washington Blvd. in Laurel remain open.

Read the Washington Business Journal's full report.