Tony fell in love with what a good table does for people — and has chased that feeling for nineteen years here, across three locations, with the regulars who followed every time. Fresh seafood, scratch Italian, no shortcuts.
“Amazing staff and service, matched by delicious food.”
“Pablo was amazing! Chef Tony prepared a beautiful meal for my wife and I.”
“Gladis was knowledgeable about our gluten free needs. The crab cakes were amazing — and gluten free!”
“Gladis was excellent! She knew all the specials and was very helpful without being too much. Perfect.”
“We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary here and Pablo was excellent. We chose a great place!”
The plates that have built our reputation. We buy whole fish, simmer sauces all day, and serve them at the table — because shortcuts don't taste the same.
We buy these whole and cook them whole — a pound and a quarter of Turkish branzino, oven-roasted with lemon, garlic, fresh herbs. Baby potatoes, daily vegetables. It leaves the kitchen on the bone, the way it went into the oven.
Angel hair pan-roasted in lobster broth we make from scratch every Tuesday. Jumbo shrimp, scallops, mussels, lump crab — all hitting the table at once. Order it for two and eat with one fork between you.
Six sauces, simmered all day — the way Tony's family did it in Italy, and the way nobody does it anymore. Spicy shrimp linguini, Maine lobster finished with cognac and cream, the Italian paella over angel hair. Or pick a pasta, pick a sauce, eat the way you would at home.
When Chef Tony opened the first Chef Tony's in downtown Bethesda in 2007, the casual-dining industry was already racing toward chains, frozen prep, and microwaves in the back. He went the other way. He bought whole fish. He made stocks from scratch. He stayed on the line.
In 2020, when our original building was slated for redevelopment, the Promenade location came up at the perfect time. When that lease ran out, we landed in Rockville. Each move, the regulars came with us — because the cooking didn't change.
Today Tony runs the business and his wife Sonia runs the kitchen daily. Dinner here was never really about the fish. It's about how you feel when you leave.
For Tuesday nights and twentieth anniversaries. A real white-tablecloth dining room, the kind you can hold a conversation in. Tables for two to twelve.
Reserve in 30 Seconds →
When the room you're hosting in isn't ours. Corporate lunches, backyard paella parties, full-service weddings. The same food we serve in the dining room, brought wherever you need it.
Proposal in 4 Hours →
The night that has to go right. Rehearsal dinners. Sixtieth birthdays. The board meeting you can't redo. Six private rooms; full-restaurant buyouts up to 120.
Start the Conversation →"We had a wonderful dinner to celebrate all the Mothers in our family. Gladis, our server, was amazing and knowledgeable about gluten free needs! The food was delicious from the watermelon caprese, the stuffed mushrooms to each entrée — the crab cakes were amazing and gluten free."
"We took my 97 year old mother to Chef Tony’s for a pre-Mother’s Day meal. We were so pleasantly pleased first by the ambiance and low decibel level (mom wears hearing aids) and then by the service (thank you, Gladis!) and food. Crab cakes and stuffed salmon were a hit. We’ll definitely be back."
"If you haven’t yet tried Chef Tony’s you are missing out on a treat. Wonderful menu and great service. It’s that warm family, Italian Trattoria feeling that we all love."
