You could call Fishnet Berwyn’s best-kept secret, except the secret keeps getting out.

The seafood restaurant in College Park on Berwyn Road near the Trolley Trail may be off the beaten path, but it’s stayed in business by becoming a community hangout, as highlighted in a recent Washington Post article:

The intimate and quirky ambiance helps make it homey for regulars. … The Berwyn District Civic Association meets at Fishnet a couple times a year. … It’s also an occasional gathering place for the College Park Community Foundation. P.J. Brennan, a College Park City Council member, eats there a couple times a month and says the place is an “in­cred­ibly community-oriented” operation.

Owner Ferhat Yalcin started Fishnet in 2011 with the goal of recreating a staple from his native Turkey, as described by the Washingtonian:

Balik ekmek, the sandwich is called–“fish bread,” in Turkish–and it consists, generally, of a couple grilled fresh mackerels slipped inside a half loaf of crusty bread and dressed up with a Turkish tartar sauce made from ground walnuts and olive oil, along with a scoop of what the Turks call salata (lettuce, tomato and onions).

The secret to Fishnet’s success is freshness. Yalcin, an industry veteran, keeps the menu simple so that he can focus on quality local seafood, herbs from the neighboring Smile Herb Shop and produce from the College Park Farmer’s Market.