The Dish and Dram

Zena Polin and Jerry Hollinger are the co-owners of The Dish and Dram and also the The Daily Dish, A Restaurant and Catering Company. Their RAMMY winning restaurant is a favorite gathering spot in Silver Spring. Zena has traveled to 75 countries and has written about food and wine for local and international publications. Jerry is originally from Lancaster County, PA and grew up making comfort food for his family of nine before moving to DC where he was the sous chef at Jean Michel before opening The Daily Dish. The Dish & Dram reflects their love of food, drink and travel and reminds them of their favorite places to eat around the world.  Bethesda Magazine calls them The Restaurant Dream Team. 

Perisimmon

They don't come in a red box with a smiley face, but the "Happy Meals" on Persimmon's  happy hour menu are guaranteed to satisfy.  The choices: a nicely charred, cooked-to-order bistro burger; a mini blackened chicken club sandwich with bacon, fontina, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo; a loaded taco, or a short-rib slider.  The extensive happy hour menu also includes "bistro bites," featuring smaller portions of some of the resturants's terrific appetizers (such as the smoked trout spring rolls, the tuna and avocado tartare), as well as reduced price salads, mussels and charcuterie and even dessert.

Scion

There's a fun neighborhood vibe at Scion, a Silver Spring restaurant owned by sisters Joanne and Julie Liu, Scion focuses on modern American cuisine, during happy hour it borrows the baos from next door, which includes flavorful and sometimes fiery fillings of five-spice duck, Korean beef, Kung Pao tofu, pork belly or fried chicken.  The duck and pork belly also show up in sliders.  An eclectic list of draft beers completes this happy hour.

1200 East West Highway, Silver Spring, 301-585-8878

Trapezaria

At Trapezaria, you can down shots of ouzo, nibble on pita with spicy feta and learn Greek from the short tutorial on the happy hour menu, all at the same time.  Dinner from teh mezze selection should include the lamb tacos filled with tender pieces of braised lamb, and kalamakia, skewers of grilled chicken served with tzatziki and chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. 

11 N. Washington Street, Rockville, Md  301-339-8962

Botanero

One of the newest entrants in the tapas takeover is Botanero, a small plate restaurant and wine bar that opened in Rockville's King Farm community in 2016.  Whether its the congenial staff, the comfortably hip decor' or the top notch tapas, there's alot to like here.  Don't miss the deviled eggs topped with strips of julienned salami, crispy beef empanadas oozing with red wine-simmered ground beef and melted mozzarella, or the deep fried chicken croquettes filled with pulled chicken and bechamel.  And by all means, spring for the spicy-icy jalapeno margarita

800 Pleasant Drive, Suite 160, Rockville, Maryland

Sushiko

Beautiful, delicate dishes served in serene surroundings make Sushiko the Zen of happy hours, Ooh and aah (quietly) over the salmon ceviche - a little wooden box filled with cubes of raw salmon and Asian pear hidden under a jeweled mound of salmon rie, Equally lovely is the hamachi Crudo-Slices of yellowtail sashimi fanned across a bed of grapefruit segments in a poo of orange ponzu.  Panko-fried oysters, crunchy spicy tuna handroll, sushito yaki peppers; you can't go wrong.  Wash them down with ginger champagne or a lychee martini, and leave feeling cool, calm and collected.