Sad, breaking news: Nicaro is closed.
I heard some disquieting news this morning: Last night was Nicaro’s last night of operation. The Georgia Avenue restaurant had been a hot spot of fine dining in Silver Spring for what seems like a couple of years now, attracting the likes of Lebron James. News reports have it that the business was sold, and Executive Chef/Owner Pedro Matamoros is opening a new restaurant in the former Luau Hut near the Silver Spring Metro and will offer a similar menu.
Hope to have additional details soon, but please feel free to comment if you have any other news.
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First, nice scoop!
Second, it would be nice if Nicaro did stick around Silver Spring, and the old Luau Hut would be a good spot, despite the construction.
Especially if they kept a similar menu. Food was great. On the plus side, my boys at Olazzo might get more business in the interim. Still, I’m a bit perplexed at the whole thing and wanted some sort of confirmation.
I ate at Nicaro a couple times and thought the food was good but the portions were tiny for the price. I don’t mind blowing $100+ on a good dinner for two, but I should leave full. That reason alone kept me from returning.
Luau Hut location, eh? Maybe they’re positioning themselves now for the new and improved Metro station area, while the getting is good. I do hope something moves into the Georgia Ave location; it’s nice to have a class alternative to Hellsworth.
Well, Nicaro may be done for, but the new owners are supposed to re-open 8229 Georgia Ave in a couple weeks. At least this is what I hear from the staff. I also did a post this morning with some additional detail.
What?! No! I walked by there last night. Wish I had stopped in for a drink. I’m sad to hear this as I think that it was the closest thing to true fine dining that Silver Spring had. I always thought their food was great, and I liked Pedro’s experimentation with different meats and sauces. I also liked how their menu was seasonal. Every month or so when I visited there would be new items.
I hope the new place lives up to Nicaro’s quality.
SoCoBlogBoy – awesome. Thanks for the additional details. Last night was the first I heard about it, and I wondered if they really didn’t release any information until yesterday.
As of Tuesday evening, the hand-lettered sign on Nicaro’s door says, “Closed for two weeks for renovations”. Is the closure truly permanent though?
The shift in ownership is. So I feel like the “closed for two weeks” sign is a bit of a red herring. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a new restaurant if the owner/executive chef sells the establishment to open something else, especially nearby.
My guess is that the new owners bought the Nicaro name and will try to use its past success to lure people back. We’ll see what happens.
Loved Nicaro. Hopefully Pedro’s new place is even better. And hopefully the new owners of the GA Ave. address get it right.
I just went by Nicaro’s to check out the menu and reserve a table for a birthday dinner. I have heard such good things about the place and was saddened to find out they were closed, especially after seeing nothing about it online.
Well, the new place is now called “Amada’s Bistro”. They are apparently open for dinner (at 4pm) but they seem to still be doing renovations/painting, etc. The manager/owner/etc told me that they are opening next week (Aug. 3) for full operation – lunch/dinner/bar and the price range is $8 – $22.
Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with Nicaro’s menu, but Amada’s Bistro has a small & diverse selection of food: from proscuitto to jambalaya to mustarded pork chops to wasabi crusted ahi tuna & sesame shrimp.
Guess we’ll see what the future holds for Amada’s.
Wow. Interesting and timely scoop. Thanks, Danielle. Have also passed this along to SoCoEats, who does a great job of covering food-related news in the area. He may have more info. I hope they do well!