Editor’s note: This article, originally published at 11:38 a.m., July 22, 2024, was updated at 3:04 p.m., July 22, 2024, to add comments from Zinnia’s owner Chris Brown and Colada Shop’s owner Daniella Senior.
Zinnia, a modern American restaurant and bar with brunch, dinner and late-night offerings, won an award Sunday evening for the Beer Program of the Year from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington.
Each year, the association honors restaurants, chefs and culinary concepts and services from around the region with its RAMMY awards. Zinnia was nominated for the association’s beer category in April.
The Silver Spring restaurant and bar is at 9201 Colesville Road near downtown Silver Spring and is one of several establishments owned by local restaurateur Chris Brown in partnership with chef Danny Wells.
Brown told MoCo360 on Monday that it felt “pretty surreal” to win the award.
“We were up against really good competition,” he said. “We have been to all the places on the list that were nominated, and they all have an exceptional beer program. So when they called Zinnia I was definitely surprised and still super excited about it.”
Zinnia opened in the former Mrs. K’s Toll House property in October 2021. The venerable restaurant closed after 90 years in business at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was put on the market in December of that year. A month later, Brown signed a lease for the property. The property boasts a beer garden, tavern and café.
Of the beers available at Zinnia, several are from Maryland breweries, including, Silver Branch Brewing Co. in Silver Spring, Union Craft Brewing and Peabody Heights Brewery in Baltimore and Jailbreak Brewing Co. in Laurel.
Zinnia has two bars within its restaurant space, one in the dining room with eight beers on tap and the second in its tavern with 13 taps, according to Brown.
Brown credited Mike Rothman, Zinnia’s beer program director, for their new award. He said that Rothman has created “amazing connections” with local breweries, some of which have brewed beers specifically for Zinnia, such as the Tollhouse Pilsner.
“The program is really well-balanced. It kind of meets every beer drinker’s needs, even if you’re not a big beer drinker,” Brown said.
According to the association’s awards website, the winner of the beer category is “distinguished by the quality, diversity, clarity and value of its beer program.” Restaurants and breweries that are nominated for the program “break new ground in the education” of its staff and are judged on the “diversity and quality of their craft beer.”
Other finalists were Atlas Brew Works, Red Bear Brewing Co., TallBoy and Midland’s Beer Garden, which are all based in Washington, D.C.
Awards winners receive an engraved award to display. There are no monetary prizes for finalists or winners.
Zinnia was named the winner of the “Best Restaurant in Silver Spring” for Bethesda Magazine’s 2023 Best of Bethesda awards.
Other MoCo winners
The restaurateurs behind The Salt Line in Bethesda–Kyle Bailey, Jon Ball, Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman and Paul Holder–who are part of Longshot Hospitality, were also honored with the Restaurateur of the Year award Sunday.
Longshot Hospitality owns and manages four restaurants, including The Salt Line, which has a seafood outpost at 7284 Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda.
Another MoCo winner was Colada Shop, which has four shops in the Washington, D.C., region, including in Potomac. The Cuban fare restaurant was named the Hottest Sandwich Shop at this year’s awards and was selected by public vote.
“Winning the RAMMY for Best Sandwich Shop is an incredible honor, especially knowing it was decided by popular vote,” Colada Shop owner Daniella Senior said in a statement Monday. “It’s a testament to our team’s hard work, creativity, and dedication to bringing a taste of the Caribbean to our community.”
Colada Shop in Potomac is located at 7993 Tuckerman Lane.