Fryer’s Roadside just closed to make way for a retooled walk-up venture with barbecue

by Tierney Plumb Sep 19, 2022

Silver Spring’s year-old fried chicken shack and soft-serve stand Fryer’s Roadside was just scooped up by a nearby restaurant group with some serious smoker skills.

Pitmaster Ed Reavis and his wife Jennifer Meltzer, the owners of seafood stalwart All Set and next-door sibling Money Muscle BBQ in downtown Silver Spring, just purchased Fryer’s Roadside at Meadowood Shopping Center (12830 New Hampshire Avenue) and plan to reopen later this fall.

The menu will stick with the fried chicken and soft-serve ice cream that Fryer’s was known for over its quick run, along with the addition of smoked meats and other barbecue offerings from Money Muscle BBQ. The acclaimed food truck and takeout operation, birthed out of All Set during the pandemic, pumps up pulled pork, brisket, and bone-in beef ribs with standout sauces in regional styles from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kansas.

ryer’s Roadside was an experimental project from first-time chef Steve Engelhardt, a former bartender at District Chophouse and the Hamilton who took on a Popeye’s gig during the pandemic to hone his poultry chops. Despite his novice experience, Fryer’s Roadside got praise from Washington Post food reporter Tim Carman for its “tasty” bone-in fried chicken and skin-on French fries “perfect in every way.”

Engelhardt recently decided to put the restaurant on the market with an asking price of $150,000. Reavis and Meltzer quickly pounced on the Maryland expansion opportunity, located five miles north of their ventures along Colesville Road. They assumed ownership on Saturday, September 17.

ryer’s Roadside was an experimental project from first-time chef Steve Engelhardt, a former bartender at District Chophouse and the Hamilton who took on a Popeye’s gig during the pandemic to hone his poultry chops. Despite his novice experience, Fryer’s Roadside got praise from Washington Post food reporter Tim Carman for its “tasty” bone-in fried chicken and skin-on French fries “perfect in every way.”

Engelhardt recently decided to put the restaurant on the market with an asking price of $150,000. Reavis and Meltzer quickly pounced on the Maryland expansion opportunity, located five miles north of their ventures along Colesville Road. They assumed ownership on Saturday, September 17.

https://dc.eater.com/2022/9/19/23361328/money-muscle-bbqs-owners-buy-a-fledgling-fried-chicken-stand-in-silver-spring