2 Fifty Texas BBQ Buys Dumm's Pizza
Riverdale Park Business Association News
Bulletin from The BIZ
RIVERDALE PARK, MD., October 10, 2019 – The parent company of 2Fifty Texas BBQ on Tuesday
bought Riverdale Park landmark, Dumm’s Pizza & Subs for an undisclosed price. MADRE USA
CORP., which owns 2Fifty, said it has settled on the acquisition of the Dumm’s business and its
valuable liquor license in the deal with owners/operators Georgia and Mike Sotiriou.
In addition, the company has reached an agreement with Georgia’s Sotiriou’s father, Pete
Spiropoulos, to lease the 2,700 square foot open space on the corner of 4700 Riverdale Rd.
that once was Dumm’s Corner Market. The space has been empty since 2012 when the
grocery, beer and wine operation moved around the corner to much larger space on
Queensbury Rd., and was renamed Town Center Market. (The market is operated by
Spiropoulos’ sons, Ted and Jimmy, and owned by all three of them.) Spiropoulos told The Biz he inked an eight-year lease with Madre USA Corp. Spiropoulos is also president and a co-
founder of the Riverdale Park Business Association.
Fernando Gonzales and his wife, Debby Portillo, have operated 2Fifty Texas BBQ at the Riverdale
Park Farmers Market for the past year and its popularity has exploded.
Madre is headed by former TACA Airlines pilot Samuel Portillo, president and chairman, and
his daughter, Debby Portillo, CEO. She and her husband, Fernando Gonzalez, have been
operating 2Fifty Texas BBQ in a pavilion at the Riverdale Park Farmers Market for a year,
drawing longer wait lines each week. The couple took over the daily operation of Dumm’s at
4:30 pm Tuesday..
“They are the new us!” exclaimed Georgia to a handful of customers in the restaurant,
referring to Debby and Fernando as they stepped up behind the stove and cash register
wearing their new Dumm’s Pizza & Subs tee shirts. Georgia and Mike Sotiriou opened
Dumm’s Pizza nearly 30 years ago and have decided to hand off the business to the next
generation. “Pete said ‘do whatever makes you feel comfortable’” Georgia said. The
customers were stunned and had mixed emotions about the change in ownership.
“It was a blow,” said a stunned
Nancy Reed, a longtime Dumm’s
diner and resident of Riverdale
Park. “I am not happy with it.”
But others seemed to embrace the
future with optimism when they
learned that the new operators
plan to keep the current menu and
add Texas BBQ popular specialties
to the menu in the coming months.
Fernando Gonzalez told The Biz
that Madre plans to create a 38-
seat dining room in the old
Dumm’s market space, adding to
the 25-seat Dumm’s Pizza dining
area.
The new dining area will also include a bar serving beer, wine and mixed drinks. The
boarded-up windows facing Lafayette Avenue and Riverdale Road will be opened to light in
the coming months after a focused buildout. Gonzalez has already “spent thousands” on a
custom-made outdoor wood smoker that will BBQ up to 500 pounds of meat at a time. It
arrived on site Tuesday.
Georgia Sotiriou said she and Mike will be in the restaurant showing Debby and Fernando the
ropes for the next two weeks and then “the first thing we’re going to do is jump in the car and
go for a ride.”
Where? She was asked.
“Well, we drove north last weekend for our son’s wedding in New Jersey (and Pennsylvania),
I think we’re going south this time!”
For a closer look at Dumm’s Pizza & Subs and its rich history in Riverdale Park, see the October
issue of The Biz. The profile was written before the Sitiriou’s announced that they had sold the
business.
Dumm’s Pizza & Subs and 2Fifty Texas BBQ are RPBA members.