About Us

The original concept (1989)
The idea came from the numerous little cafes and restaurants in San Francisco that we used to go to. Originally, there was more emphasis on coffee and San Francisco themed gourmet products like sourdough mixes, flavored oil & vinegar, Ghirardelli chocolate and muffins. It was to be located in an attractive, upbeat neighborhood and would seat 10-15 people. The food would center around homemade sandwiches and fresh products. The idea was to create a Northern West Coast neighborhood Café in an East Coast city. We picked NW Washington DC because of family ties and the similarities to San Francisco.

The Name
aka Friscos is really a play on words. We wanted a name that referenced San Francisco but would be familiar to someone in DC. The story goes like this. If you live in San Francisco you normally would refer to it as “the city” or simply San Francisco. What you would not call it is “Frisco”. That reference was left to tourist and someone that really didn’t live there. East Coast visitors were notorious users of “Frisco”. We thought it was kind of funny to name it aka (also known as) Friscos and start one in an East Coast city. It worked. We’ve told this story hundreds of times.

 Original Owners

aka Friscos is privately and family owned 

Early years
The original aka Friscos opened its doors on October 17th, 1990 @ 4115 Wisconsin Ave. in Washington DC. It was exactly one year after the big earthquake in San Francisco. The hours were 8am – 3pm. It grew in volume and employees over the next couple of years. Coffee and homemade muffins purchased in SF were popular but did not generate the revenue we needed to stay open - they soon became better decorations than big sellers. Soon the Lunch business was picking up speed and catering started doing very well. Friscos discontinued breakfast in 1991 and stopped serving gourmet products in 1992. The 1300 square foot café was starting to gain attention and was really busy for lunch.

In 1993, We experimented with a 2nd Friscos. It was opened in a large office building as a pilot to having several Friscos in other office buildings. Aside from serving excellent food, Friscos had started building it’s own identity and character. We were not afraid to try new things and always creating something new. That pilot store did pretty good but confined Friscos to a general lack of character so we decided to not pursue the office avenue any further. Meanwhile, the original Friscos was getting busier every month.

In 1997 we, again experimented with a 2nd Friscos. This time we purchased the land and built a 2500 square foot, two story building in a small business park located in Frederick, Md. (our current location) The Frederick location opened in November of 1997. It retained the same menu as in DC, but was a warehouse style restaurant that has 70 seats and is larger in every way from the original. We held onto the same basic concepts and systems. The DC Friscos remained open for 3-4 more years before we finally decided to close it due to traveling distance and increasing rent..

Closing the DC Friscos was sad but that restaurant clearly paved an opportunity for opening our current location.

a.k.a. Friscos, Frederick MD
Frederick aka Friscos opened in 1997. DC closed in 2001. We worked hard on developing our food concept in Frederick. Our “word of mouth” approach to advertising is old school and very outdated. Never the less, we did it our way. (Thanks Frank.) Because of the expense incurred in buying land and building the restaurant, the first five years were difficult to say the least. Our business increased fairly quickly, but larger payments and the concept of more food for less money did not always add up at the end of the year.

We stuck with the plan. Our customer base grew, the economy grew (1999 -2004) The concept held strong. Our menu grew and changed slightly because meat and potatoes are still a force in Frederick. We are still daring, but Roast Beef, Steak and adding cheese are pretty important here. 2005 was the start of an economic downturn here, like many places. We decided to build another 2500 square foot building attached to the original just before lending became very scrutinized. And nearly impossible especially for a small business owner. In that building we added a prep kitchen, a Craft Beer & Wine shop & Way Cool Ice Cream  (which was sadly replaced by the growing beer and wine shop). 

Current concept
Since our opening in 1990, our menu has grown from several items to 60 something. Exploded Potatoes are still a staple on the menu. Friscos is still casual, kid friendly, and still plays the music one click from being to loud. We still do not have a hostess, ketchup, or french fries. The staff are awesome and proud. We roast our own meats. Bake our own hams and chicken. We grill a lot of fresh steaks and chicken and buy fresh produce daily. Frederick has continued to embrace us and allowed for more of a San Francisco style menu development.

Although, we have made a lot of changes and advancements in our menu from the original menu in 1990, we still have the same passion for making and serving simply delicious food. We’re still not afraid to walk the line or take a chance. We really have come a long way, but it still feels like we just opened. Pretty cool.