The co-owners of Quincy’s restaurants in Montgomery County plan to open a new Potomac location in October, complete with a heated outdoor tent to allow for social distancing as the weather turns cold.
Co-owners John Sahakian and Chris McCasland have constructed a similar tent in the parking lot outside Quincy’s South, their restaurant in North Bethesda. They have invested in new outdoor furniture and bistro lights and plan to add tent flaps and heaters as winter comes.
“That tent that we’ve had at Quincy’s South has been a savior for us,” Sahakian said. “No doubt about it.”
The tent allows for an additional 30 to 40 customers outdoors, where many people feel more comfortable eating due to COVID-19 concerns about indoor crowding. It will be heated as the temperature drops.
Sahakian recently spoke with their landlord about putting a tent outside the new location, Quincy’s Potomac Bar & Grille.
The owners have secured an alcohol license for Quincy’s Potomac and the necessary permits for construction. They have completed demolition and are starting construction.
The new restaurant’s atmosphere will match the others in the chain in Gaithersburg, North Bethesda and Damascus.
Sahakian and McCasland, who work with the founders of the original Quincy’s in Gaithersburg, are both Montgomery County natives.
Sahakian grew up in Potomac and graduated from Walt Whitman High School. McCasland grew up in Germantown and lives in Potomac, about a mile from the new location.
“I think people like locally owned places versus big corporate giants,” Sahakian said.
Quincy’s Potomac will have the trivia nights, karaoke and bingo that livens up the other Quincy’s restaurants.
“It’s hilarious because, of course, it’s a lot of young people who actually come out [for bingo] because we give gift cards,” Sahakian said. “Everyone feels like they fit in whether they’re in a T-shirt and shorts or a suit and tie.”
Like the other Quincy’s locations, it will have an extensive menu of classic comfort food, but the Potomac branch will be geared more toward families. The owners plan to experiment with new entrees to cater to a younger crowd.
The new restaurant will employ 20 to 30 people, Sahakian said.
It will keep the same COVID-19 safety measures they’ve adopted elsewhere. Employees will have their temperatures taken before and after each shift.
Additionally, people can scan QR codes to pull menus up on their phones without having to touch any surfaces. If patrons would like a physical menu, they can take a paper one, which will be discarded after it’s used.