For Darnestown resident Rob Gresham, a teachable moment during the pandemic led to Isaac’s Poultry Market, a fast-casual restaurant in Gaithersburg that specializes in chicken that’s roasted, fried (tenders, wings and sandwiches) and sold as chicken salad. Sides, salads and frozen custard round out the offerings.

Four years ago, when Gresham explained to his sons Robbie and Jackson (now 17 and 16) that the world has experienced and survived pandemics before, he shared that Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity and invented calculus in 1665 during a plague quarantine. As a learning opportunity alongside virtual classes, he had Jackson help him write a business plan for a fictional restaurant; his son suggested naming it after Newton, and thus Isaac’s Poultry Market was born. Gresham says he focused on chicken because he knows from his own experience running and advising fast-casual brands that protein accounts for more than 50% of their sales.

Gresham is no stranger to the restaurant business. His first job growing up in Montgomery County was at the Chesapeake Bay Seafood House in Burtonsville, where he started as a dishwasher and became a cook at 16 while attending Paint Branch High School. “I’ve worked in restaurants and kitchens ever since,” he says.

His resume includes many now-closed Montgomery County establishments, including Eatzi’s Market & Bakery in Rockville, Cafe Deluxe in Bethesda and Harry’s Cafe in Silver Spring, where he met his wife, Christine, who worked there as a bartender while in law school. From there, he climbed the corporate ladder, working for successful heavyweights like Founding Farmers, Chipotle and Cava, where he joined in 2010. He says he helped build the Cava Mezze Grill (now known as Cava) brand as the company grew to 80 restaurants with 20 more in the pipeline. “My job morphed into that of an office guy, but I like to build and create,” Gresham says. He quit in 2019 and started a restaurant consulting company.

When the pandemic hit, restaurants no longer needed consultants, Gresham says, and he could bake bread at home like everyone else. He continued with Isaac’s, and the 2,300-square-foot store opened in February 2023. (It’s called a market because there are plans to offer retail items like baked goods and olive oil in the future.)

The recipes took two years to develop. The fried chicken is dry rubbed with a blend of za’atar, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic and other spices for 24 hours and roasted in a combo oven (a combination of convection and steam injection oven) to keep it juicy. In August, the Isaac fried chicken breast sandwich (toasted potato bun, broccoli slaw, dill pickles and a mustard-honey barbecue sauce) won the Restaurant Association of Maryland’s Best Sandwich 2023 contest. “I put a huge banner up in the store about it and sales shot up,” Gresham says. The win qualified him for the World Food Championship in Dallas in November, where he placed in the top 10 and was invited to compete in next year’s competition.

A second Isaac’s location is scheduled to open later this year in the Burtonsville Crossing complex in Burtonsville.

Isaacs Poultry Market
12163 Darnestown Road, Gaithersburg
240-477-5037
isaacs.markt

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