Chicken, in all of its myriad forms and preparations, is experiencing a powerful culinary moment. ISAAC’S Poultry Market, a Maryland-based restaurant, has managed to set itself apart from the crowd by using superior ingredients and carefully developed recipes. The concept, founded by Cava’s former director of operations Rob Gresham, is preparing to open a second location in Burtonsville, reports the Washington Business Journal.
The new location, part of the Burtonsville Crossing development, will be markedly smaller than ISAAC’S current Gaithersburg location. The restaurant will occupy 1,710 square feet at 15785 Old Columbia Pike and will offer both indoor and outdoor seating.
ISAAC’S founder and owner Rob Gresham tells What Now DC that the location drew him through a mixture of his past and present history. He explains that seeing that Edens was spearheading the re-imagining of the shopping center guaranteed it would be a good home for his restaurant. “If they’re redoing a center, I need to look into it. I grew up in and around Burtonsville, I went to Burtonsville Elementary, my first job washing dishes at 15 is right across the street from where this restaurant is going.”
Grisham’s long and fruitful career in the dining industry has helped him develop a distinct intelligence for expansion. “Honestly, restaurants are all I’ve ever done since I was 15.” he states. “I’ve opened somewhere over 100 restaurants around the country. We started looking for new locations a couple months after the first ISAAC’S opened-you have to be patient and when the right location comes up, you have to take it. We’re looking for spot number 3 now.”
While the Burtonsville building is smaller than ISAAC’S Gaithersburg home, the distribution of the space will allow Gresham to experiment a bit with the concept’s cuisine. “It will have a slightly larger kitchen so it allows me to play with food-try out different things, without hindering the current flow or operations of the kitchen. You might periodically see test items pop up more in this new store than the current store.”
While many of ISAAC’S current customers take advantage of the take-out options, the Burtonsville location will have both indoor and outdoor seating available. Gresham states that the interior dining area will have about 30 seats and the outdoor patio will be able to accommodate between 15 and 20 customers.
ISAAC’S delicious cuisine and dedication to all-natural ingredients is certain to make it an unmissable contender in the Burtonsville culinary scene. Gresham explains that his primary goal is to ensure every visitor has a great dining experience, through both the delectable food and the welcoming atmosphere. “I want everybody to leave happy-that’s the ideal visit.” he states. “Our food is all natural, we have absolutely nothing artificial in the restaurants-even our slushies and our smoothies, nothing comes out of a box. We use the highest quality ingredients we can get. I have a phenomenal team. Most of my current team has been with me for 8 to 20 years. We want to treat everyone like they’re family.”
Future regulars with particular dietary requirements needn’t worry; ISAAC’S is taking them into account. “Every recipe tries to eliminate as many food allergies as possible.” says Gresham. “We’re 85-90 percent gluten free. My hope is by store 4 or 5 we can be 100 percent gluten free. Everyone should be able to eat at a restaurant without getting sick, we want to make that as easy and tasty as possible.”
ISAAC’S second location is still in the relatively early phases. Gresham states: “We should be going for permits in the next week or so. Hopefully construction will start in August and we’ll be able to open in October.”
Gresham hopes to spread ISAAC’S menu-including “the Isaac”, which was named “The Best Chicken Sandwich in Maryland”-throughout the DMV. The concept is actively exploring further locations, including Northern Virginia.
However, for now, the restaurateur is looking forward to feeding Burtonsville. “It’s a very well populated area and very underserved as far as food goes. They deserve more and it’s a chance for me to go home and bring a great restaurant with me.”
