This made me very sad!

Sorry to see this happen....

I should also mention how great the staff was at this Austin Grill. I'll miss them.

The parent company will reopen the restaurant at some point under another one of its brand names, American Tap Room. There's one in Bethesda.

That's what replaced the AG in Bethesda, so that makes sense. But I'll still miss AG. Any sense of whether servers are retained from one to the other?

Interesting, Sean. I hope you're right. You sound confident that this will happen, but how do you know?

Austin Grill posted the news on Facebook (shared by Cynthia Cotte Griffiths):

Austin Grill
Today, we closed Austin Grill Rockville to make room for a new American Tap Room. Stay tuned for more news on the opening. We thank you for your support over the years and looking forward to serving you again very soon!

Hmmmm... I just got a gift card to Austin Grill. I wonder if:

1. I will be able to use it at American Tap Room.
2. I need to find another Austin Grill.
3. I am out of luck.

I don't think RTS needs another beer place...will miss Austin Grill for a good, quick takeout or eating in when we're in the Mexican mood and don't want to drive to Mi Rancho (Silver Spring location beats Rockville, btw). I hope the new location will host West End, et al.

I've been to the American Tap Room in Bethesda a few times since they opened. For several weeks they were fairly up-market (e.g. they had an unusual deviled eggs w/bacon appetizer that I liked). The last time I went there they slid decidedly down-market. Gone were the deviled eggs, replaced by jerk chicken spring rolls (looking very similar to GB's southwest egg rolls). They also installed a multitude of big, ugly monitors right over their gorgeous bar -- yecch. At least their wine list is better than anything AG ever had.

Can't say I'm sorry to see AG go -- just wish it would have happened sooner.

I would like to see the former Beale Street Grille in N. Potomac make a go of it in downtown Rockville. Their former location was awful.