Oh Jackie!

Bringing heart and soul into the "new" Silver Spring

by John Landis

Behind a quilted black velvet drape emblazoned with a big pink heart reminiscent of the opening of "I Love Lucy" are the doors to a hip eatery know as "Jackie's." Beyond those doors there is a Jackie. She is Jackie Greenbaum.

Photo: Julie Wiatt

Jackie Greenbaum, owner of Jackie's Restaurant and Lounge and the Quarryhouse.

Jackie greeted me in the restaurant coffee cup in hand and we sat in a nearby booth in the relative calm of the pre-opening idle of the afternoon. I say "relative calm" as she is dealing with staffing issues as we talk.

Jackie is the creative force behind the place that bears her name. Located on Sligo Avenue in a line of body shops and auto repair facilities the bright and eclectic restaurant is filled with neon and day-glo colors and reverberates with funky music. This alternative from the norm is just a half mile from the core of downtown Silver Spring.

Jane Redicker, president of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, says, "Jackie Greenbaum, and, more specifically, Jackie's Restaurant and Lounge is one of Silver Spring's greatest success stories.

"With her first ever restaurant venture—something very eclectic and very Silver Spring - Jackie has created a destination that is loved here and throughout the region"

Jackie was born at Columbia Hospital for women while her parents resided in Rosemary Hills. Her family moved to Wheaton and finally to Chevy Chase, in the same house since she was in the eighth grade. She grudgingly acknowledged being a member of Bethesda-Chevy Chase class of '76.

"I don't lie about my age anymore" she told me, though it would be easy for her to do.

After graduating high school she went to college at The University of Maryland and George Washington University. Her first career was in politics -- a stint as a press secretary to Congressman George E. Brown [D-California], after which she spent several years in the Los Angeles area working as a buyer in the fashion industry. While there she also designed clothes and fabric and made and sold futon covers.

Photo: Julie Wiatt

One reason that Jackie's is so charming is that it mixes the sturdy architecture of Silver Spring's "auto row", with groovy decor. That's revitalization!

She returned to the Washington area in 1989 to take a job in her family's real estate business, buying, renovating and selling commercial, multi-residential and multi-family properties.

She remains active in the business and has acquired a leadership role. In fact, she interrupted our conversation to talk real estate with her associates.

For the past several years, though, Jackie had a fantasy about starting her own restaurant. As an outgoing "people person" it seemed a natural.

Through some providence "Jackie's" came into being. She had rented an office in a building then housing Napa Auto Parts, and when the building came up for sale she took the chance and bought it. Despite the unlikely out-of-the-way indicustrial location her opportunity for her own restaurant was suddenly at hand.

She teamed up with three cohorts—her husband Patrick, an old tennis partner, and Chef Ann Cashion. Chef Cashion was already successful in her own right at "Cashion's Eating Place," and Patrick had managed other restaurants.

Jackie used her "funky" fashion sense to create the "highly stylized design" and "anything goes" atmosphere in the old auto parts store. Filled with small tables and 60's style plastic chairs, open ironwork booths and unadorned walls the restaurant reflects her unique personality.

She credits Core Architects with a great plan for the L-shaped space, part of which is unused, awaiting future expansion. "I see the front area as a space for exhibits and events," she told me. She has certainly attained the "wow effect" she wanted out of the "early sixties fetish" she enjoys.

Not satisfied to rest she recently acquired the "Quarry House Pub" at Bonifant Street and Georgia Avenue, a downstairs "dive" long in Silver Spring. When the business became available she jumped at the chance to buy it. She told me she didn't want the downtown to lose a part of the "soulfulness of old Silver Spring."

Photo: Julie Wiatt

Her aim is to preserve the feel of the "Quarry House" while updating the menu and atmosphere. She kept the famous burgers and now features some new items as well as a five-page beer list. She believes in maintaining the airs of traditional Silver Spring while progressing towards the future. She resists being called a "gentrifying force" while accepting being called "counter culture."

As for the future for Silver Spring she would like to see a row of boutique shops, restaurants and independent businesses along Georgia Avenue south of Colesville Road out to Eastern Avenue.

"If I had my way, I would develop Georgia Avenue from the Quarry House to Jackie's with small scale, interesting retail an other restaurant and bars," she says.

Jackie lives in South Silver Spring with her two "giant" Schnauzers "Lucy" and "Ricky." While the restaurants and real estate takes up most of her time, she looks for other activities in her life.

She would like to find time to get back to painting, which she studied at Washington Studio Schools. She even tried to get them to relocate to Silver Spring.

She also used to play tennis in her off time, but now, with her ever-present coffee cup, she thinks about "new restaurant projects."

Those of us who know her through "Jackie's" and the "Quarry House" wish her happiness but sure don't want her to venture too far from home.

John Landis is co-owner of The Original Crisfields, in South Silver Spring.

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