Downtown Bethesda has a new 300-seat Mediterranean restaurant, and it fills a space that sat empty for five years.

Agora, the restaurant group run by husband-and-wife team Betul and Ismail Uslu, opened its first Maryland location on Saturday inside the Hyatt Regency Bethesda at One Bethesda Metro Center, 7400 Wisconsin Ave.

The 6,500-square-foot space is the former home of The Daily Grill, which closed in 2021. It is Agora's third location in the D.C. metro area and its largest, according to the restaurant group. The other two are in Washington, D.C., and Tysons, Virginia.

Ismail Uslu purchased the original Agora DC in 2008 and opened it at 1527 17th St. NW in 2010. Betul Uslu left a banking career in 2016 to join the business full time, focusing on private events. Executive Chef Ismet Sahin, who was born and raised in Marmaris, Turkey, leads the kitchen across all three locations.

"We're especially excited to collaborate with Maryland farms and winemakers to ensure everything we offer is responsibly sourced," the Uslus said in a press release announcing the Bethesda location in July 2025.

The Bethesda menu draws on Turkish, Greek and Lebanese traditions, with dishes including grilled branzino, octopus, beef and lamb kebabs, a slow-cooked lamb shoulder for sharing, baklava and künefe. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are available.

The restaurant includes private dining rooms seating up to 50, semi-private event space for 120 and a 100-seat outdoor patio. For full buyouts, the space can hold 300 guests. Urbane Architects, the D.C.-based firm that designed Agora's Tysons location in 2019, designed the Bethesda space.

Reservations are available through Resy. The restaurant's phone number is (301) 888-3371.