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Salt Line Bethesda seats 170 across its main dining room and bar areas.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography

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The Salt Line Pulls Up to Bethesda With Late-Night Hours and Squid Salads

The New England-style seafood house swings open with lobster rolls, bucatini studded with clams, and oyster shooters

by Tierney Plumb
Tierney Plumb is the editor of Eater DC, covering all things food and drink around the nation's capital.

Navy Yard-born raw bar and sustainable seafood restaurant the Salt Line expands to Maryland on Tuesday, July 11, with the opening of an anticipated locale on Bethesda Row.

The 7,500-square-foot nautical venture imports summer-ready favorites found at the 6-year-old riverfront original next to Nationals Park, including lobster rolls, seafood towers, smash burgers, baked clams, and beloved “stuffies” — a New England staple featuring baked middleneck clams, smoked linguica, lemon, bread crumbs, and parmesan. The Salt Line brand broke into Virginia in 2021 with a Ballston offshoot, and Maryland’s arrival makes three (7284 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland).

Kick off the meal with Parker House rolls, calamari, and clam chowder.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography

Executive chef Eric McKamey and Long Shot Hospitality chef-partner Kyle Bailey bring Bethesda a fresh lineup of appetizers like a grilled giant squid salad and crudos like a kombu-cured kanpachi with toasted pistachio, nori tempura, leeks, and coriander vinaigrette. Marylanders get a first taste of Salt Line’s new Maine peekytoe crab roll, too.

The dinner menu also carves out room for baked crab dip, Portuguese stew, a local heirloom tomato salad, bucatini with clams, and Bailey’s popular Nashville-hot soft shell crab entree that’s still around for the summer season. Dinner service kicks off daily at 4 p.m., with lunch and brunch joining the mix at a later date.

The new location also introduces a special late-night menu — a rare feature for the Maryland suburb — with half-priced oysters, $10 espresso martinis, and $5 Narragansett beers. Available to walk-ins from 9:30 p.m. to close (until midnight Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday).

A Maine peekytoe crab roll dressed with lemon, mayo, celery, chives comes with fries or greens.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography
Salt Line Bethesda debuts a decadent surf-and-turf main featuring petite filet, broiled lobster tail, and twice-baked potato ($78).
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography

East Coast bivalves plucked from Maryland, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts take center stage at a shucking station shaped like a luxury Chris-Craft boat.

A seafaring look from GrizForm Design Architects includes mahogany paneling, blue tones, brass fixtures, booths resembling yacht seats, and vintage oil paintings. A huge U-shaped bar sends out coastal cocktails like a Cape Codder G&T, blue cheese martini, and sbagliato spritz, plus plenty of beers, wines, and selection of crowd-pleasing oyster shooters. Reserve a seat online.

An abundant seafood selection at the raw bar can be turned into seafood towers.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography
Crispy skin rockfish with summer squashes, zucchini, preserved lemon, and pistachio pistou.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography
The grilled giant squid salad features pickled cherry peppers, charred sourdough, fennel, arugula, and garlic aioli.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography
The sunny new seafood house is dressed in old-school nautical decor.
Jenn Chase/Jennifer Chase Photography

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