WHERE: 8401 Georgia Avenue
WHEN: Beer, burgers, and tater tots every night except Sunday. 
Live music on random nights. 
Lunch Monday through Friday
WEBSITE: None! Call (301) 587-9406 **New: http://www.myspace.com/quarryhouse

WHAT TO EXPECT: Somehow, after roughly 70 years in business, the Quarry House Tavern remains a secret. Perhaps it’s because they don’t advertise. At press time there’s no Quarry House website, and the regulars for most of its existence have not been the trendy types that might spread the word. And the place really is quarry-like, where “quarry” is a nice word for “basement.” The only thing visible from the street, projecting like a periscope from a subterranean submarine, is a tiny shack sheltering a steep stairway into the earth. Even those who found it at random and dared to descend might have turned back at the first glimpse of the windowless, low-ceilinged dive, paneled in dark wood and beer mirrors, and until recently choked with the preserved smoke of millions of cigarettes.

But change has come to Silver Spring, and this little corner of Georgia and Bonifant is no exception. A few years ago, local fabulous person Jackie Greenbaum purchased an abandoned garage down on Georgia and transformed it, with her partner Patrick Higgins, into Jackie’s, the neighborhood’s most ambitious and stylish restaurant. Then in 2005, the folks who ran the Quarry House for thirty years got ready to throw in the bar rag. Jackie caught it, and early this year began the difficult process of transforming the QHT into a spot attractive to regulars and newbies alike. First thing to go, in keeping with county strictures, was the haze: Two industrial smoke-eaters labored for days to cleanse the air. Next, tweaks to the menu, an ongoing process as the new staff attempts to create a kind of haute bar food. Stealthy efforts succeeded in snitching a few antiquated tunes from the jukebox and replacing them with songs written later than 1977. Best of all, the back room is becoming Silver Spring’s newest music venue, a long hall of a space enlivened by fresh red paint and actual lamps instead of track lighting. A handful of shows, starting in March, have proved the concept, and the gigs are multiplying, with indie rock shows in the works and plans for regular rock and jazz nights. Right now everything is TBA, but make space in your mind for the concept: a classic neighborhood bar, two blocks from Metro, with a huge beer list and plans to rock out.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT: The evolving menu stars an enormous hamburger, enough to please any carnivore and made from organic beef. There are neither the bag potato chips of the old QH days nor the generic fries found in every other place; instead, tater tots accompany the meals. And when you pull up a bar stool to eye the draft selection, don’t forget that there are more beers than the old taps could accommodate. A couple more options are hidden, like the Quarry House, right around the corner.