Pike & Rose’s Caruso’s Grocery Lands on the Washington Post’s 40 Best Restaurants List

Oct 14

2 min read

Caruso’s Grocery at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda has been named one of the 40 best restaurants in and around D.C. by Washington Post food critic Elazar Sontag, according to The MoCo Show. It came in at No. 34.

What the Washington Post Said

Sontag credited chef Matt Adler with cooking that stirs nostalgia and respects it. He singled out the chicken parmesan, pesto gnocchi, Caesar salad and tiramisu. He also noted that the newer North Bethesda dining room lacks some of the warmth of the original, despite the family portraits and leather booths, and concluded that the cooking more than makes up for it.

A Run of Recognition

The Post list adds to attention the restaurant has been collecting. In September, critic Tom Sietsema included Caruso’s on his list of five favorite D.C.-area dinners for $25 or less, as The MoCo Show reported. The spaghetti and meatballs, priced just under $25, was the standout value, and he also pointed to the calamari, chicken parmesan, veal francaise and the complimentary bread.

Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants 2026 list places Caruso’s at No. 39. According to The MoCo Show, it was also named to OpenTable’s 2025 Top 100 Restaurants in the United States, the only Maryland or D.C. restaurant on that list.

About the Pike & Rose Location

Caruso’s Grocery sits at 11820 Trade Street in the Pike & Rose neighborhood, where it opened in late 2023. The original is in D.C.’s Hill East neighborhood. The menu is built around classic red-sauce Italian-American dishes, including penne alla vodka, chicken parmesan, sole francaise, mozzarella en carozza and garlic bread with four cheese sauce.

What It Means for North Bethesda

A restaurant that earns this kind of citywide attention gives people a reason to come to a neighborhood from outside it. For homeowners in North Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville, the quality of what is within a short drive is part of how an area gets described to buyers, and Pike & Rose now has one of the most decorated dining rooms in the region.

For another Italian restaurant drawing attention to the area, see our earlier post on Prato coming to Bethesda Row.