Jason Miskiri is the owner of Society Restaurant & Lounge, one of the most regularly frequented evening spots in Silver Spring, and the newly opened rooftop bar, Olivia’s View. Occupying the old space for Nicaro, Society is regularly filled throughout the week, offering live music, dishes with a Caribbean flair, and a grown folk clientele. Jason describes it as being, “Family oriented, very diverse, all walks of life are welcome.
One of five children from Guyana, Jason has spent 37 years in Silver Spring. A Blair High School (Wayne Avenue Location) graduate, Jason has seen considerable changes in the area, and he remembers when his sister, Samantha, now GM of Society, was the manager of the downtown McDonalds.
“It’s amazing to see how this area is expanding. Fenton Street area is starting to grow and I’m excited to be a part of this.”
While growth is great, Jason sees some opportunities that could help continue smart growth in the area:
“We need to extend hours for alcohol. We need to bring in more development, which they are, which is a great thing. That brings in young, working professionals that have nice jobs and are able to put that money back into the city.”
Jason has used his success to give back to his own community.
“Each year, we feed the homeless for Thanksgiving in the restaurant. They get to watch all the college games. We set up the TVs and they can stay as long as they want. Last year, we probably had about 130 come through.”
His contributions are not limited to what he can do at his restaurant, either. Jason spent a brief stint in the NBA, playing for the then Charlotte Hornets, and at one point, was selected as one of the top 75 basketball players in the county. Today, he uses his love of basketball to give back even more to his community. He offers scholarships through the Jason Miskiri basketball camp, a summer camp in Takoma Park.
Throughout the entire conversation, Jason continually emphasized his dedication to his family, and that dedication extends to his Silver Spring family.
“Silver Spring feels like you’re at home. Everyone is like a family. Although it’s not a small town, you still have that feeling that we all belong together as one. People that come here, they stay. It’s a blessing, and I’m truly delighted to bring something like this to Silver Spring.”
Be sure to follow Society on Twitter, and Facebook and if for the full interview, click the audio link above.
3 COMMENTS
Jason, the laws regarding hours of operation were changed as a result of the work from the Nighttime Economy Task Force. You can keep the same hours as D.C. bars and restaurants and stay open later. Or are you looking for later hours than that?
Thanks for the comment, Mike. I’ll let Jason know you posted. To be fair, this interview was conducted in March or April of this year, at a point when (I don’t think) the updates to operating hours had not yet been finalized. I actually was at Olivia’s View this past Saturday quite late, so they’ve adjusted their hours accordingly.
Thanks, as always, for your comment, and contributions to Silver Spring!
I live in DTSS and frequent a number of local establishments in the vicinity of Society/Olivia’s View (Quarry House, Urban Butcher, and Denizen’s for starters), and know some of your servers. But the first and so far only time I’ve been to Olivia’s View, cigar smoking was allowed, which in such a small semi-enclosed area, completely ruined the experience. I assume that allowing smoking upstairs doesn’t violate state law or MoCo ordinances, but that doesn’t mean that you should do it. The number of people bothered by smoking vastly outweighs the number of smokers who expect to be able to smoke in a public place, so even if the smokers stay longer and drink more, in the long run, you’re hurting your business by allowing smoking.