After rumors of the possible closure of Full Key Restaurant in Wheaton began to circulate this week, we’ve learned they will remain open, albeit with changes to their menu and operating hours.
A Tuesday morning post in the Support MoCo Restaurants Facebook group indicated that Full Key may be in danger of closing, which triggered an outpour of support for the restaurant on social media.
With over 21,000 members, the Support MoCo Restaurants Facebook group aims to help area restaurants survive the COVID-19 pandemic: “As restaurants around MoCo are mandated to close for dine-in service, we can continue to support them during this difficult time. These restaurants have served our social needs through the years, let’s help serve them during our social distancing.”
“I saw your blog (and Nancy Navarro‘s retweet) and got dinner at Full Key Thursday,” said former Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal in a tweet to the Source. “The owner asked me if there had been something about them on the internet so I logged into Twitter on her phone to show her.”
According to Leventhal and other sources, Full Key’s owner has said they will be open solely on a carry-out basis until at least the end of the year, and there will be no soup or congee available. Opening hours have been changed to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week.
A feature in Washingtonian’s 2018 Cheap Eats issue praised its offerings: “It’s tempting to stick to the list of proven hits—say, the justly famous shrimp-dumpling soup—but this Hong Kong–style eatery is the sort of place where you can order with abandon. Pan-fried whole cod, spooned with ginger-scallion soy sauce, is a worthy detour. So, too, a platter of glossy roast duck, pork, and soy-sauce chicken. Also good: Beef-with-black-pepper casserole; clams in black-bean sauce; chicken-with-eggplant casserole.”
Earlier this week, the County Council approved Executive Order 122-20 from County Executive Marc Elrich that reduced restaurant indoor dining capacity to 25 percent. “We have been watching the daily number of new cases go up for more than two weeks and it’s, unfortunately, time to roll back some of our reopening steps in order to decrease the spike we are seeing,” said Elrich. Under the order, restaurants are also now required to maintain a record including date, time, name, and contact information of all patrons to assist in contact tracing. The information must be held for at least 30 days.
This is full key restaurant
We will continue to operate, we have no possibility of closing, thank you for all your support— George Leventhal (@georgeleventhal) November 13, 2020
“Peking Duck” by storyvillegirl is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0