Eclectic Wheaton

In the Restaurants of Downtown Wheaton, 8 Nationalities Make Customers Feel at Home

A knockout aroma -- a mix of lemon grass, ginger and chili paste -- tickles my nostrils at the entrance of Ruan Thai, a tiny restaurant tucked away on quiet Amherst Avenue in downtown Wheaton. At 9 p.m. on a Friday, the spicy waft draws me in.

In the way of decor, there's nothing much to lock eyes on: no panoramic posters of Phuket or plastic palm fronds hugging the pillars. Just blue walls and blue tables and blue carpet. Ruan fans, I've heard, come to this dedicated chowhound's spot for perfect pad Thai and killer curries rather than sexy lighting and lounge seating.

When I ask owner and chef Krisana Suchotinunt if any of the dozen customers in the house, mostly Westerners, are regulars who might recommend their favorite dish, she scans the room and declares: "They're all regulars." I take my pick.

That's how I meet Julie Weitz, an Army staff sergeant who spent the earlier part of the evening unsuccessfully trying to find a downtown Washington theater. Now this vegetarian is savoring a healthy portion of tofu pad ka prao -- spicy deep-fried bean curd with green chili peppers and basil.

"I wanted to treat myself to dinner after getting lost," says Weitz, 41, who lives nearby and dines here often with her husband and son. She chose Ruan this night because "for one thing, the food is really good. But also, I try hard to support family-owned businesses. That's important to me."

And that is the hidden beauty of Wheaton.

Fanning out for a few streets from where Georgia Avenue crosses University Boulevard are dozens of small, family-run restaurants and markets. Many are Central and South American cafes and bodegas offering excellent pupusas (cornmeal cakes stuffed with cheese or pork or both) and aromatic Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Thirty years ago, the area had a more vibrant Jewish and Italian presence, but now more than 25 percent of the population of Wheaton-Glenmont, as the Census Bureau defines the area, is Latino.

Twelve percent is Asian. And from a dining perspective, perhaps the most surprising thing about Wheaton is the diverse collection of more than 20 Asian restaurants and markets representing eight nationalities: Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese and Indonesian. At lunch and dinner, a hungry soul could sample authentic Seoul jat juk (rice and pine nut porridge) one day and Rangoon's famous lephet thok (green tea leaf salad) the next.

There's no denying, this Montgomery County business district is timeworn. Still, the scale of the buildings is low and friendly, and there's an appealing small-town atmosphere and funky beauty to be found in the decades-old facades. For the time being, at least, it's a suburb without towering construction cranes, a place responsive to people in cars or on foot.

Gail Forman, a professor of English at Montgomery College and a freelance food and travel writer, recently led two walking tours of Asian, Latino and Italian markets in Wheaton for Smithsonian Associates, an educational arm of the Smithsonian Institution.

She chose Wheaton because "it's not only the variety. It feels more like a neighborhood, not one strip mall after another," says Forman. "Rockville also has great ethnic businesses. But you can't easily walk on Rockville Pike."

Over on Triangle Lane, Moby Dick, a charming little sushi bar, looks as if it has been transported intact from a back alley in Kyoto, with white walls trimmed with blond wood and simple pine tables. A boombox softly plays serene, New Age flute and violin music that would be the perfect soundtrack for a soak at a hot spring.