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We are doing the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad this weekend, so we'll have about a 90-minute layover in Frostburg MD on Sunday afternoon. Thus I am literally limited to a few blocks of Main St. in downtown Frostburg for lunch - is there anything worth eating there, or should I stop at the AC&T in Hagerstown on the way up and bring a fried chicken picnic lunch?

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If I remember correctly where that Depot is, it's not too far from Guiseppes Italian, which used to be pretty good for Italian American dishes.  I don't know if they are open for lunch though or if it has gone down hill as I haven't been there in years.  There look to be a few other places nearby, none of which I have eaten, sorry about that.  AC&T is pretty tempting, especially if you want to see the train turn around, etc.  I mean it is pretty darn good chicken.  (All these places in Dc thathave fried chicken just make me think man there is this gas station in Hagerstown that is putting you to shame.) There is also a great sandwich place in Cumberland, but I think the exit is West of where you get onto the railroad called Diatris which has great italian subs and homemade pie, which would be another good pick up option, if you want to do that call in your order in advance they can get really busy.

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Giuseppe's, while nearby, is only open for dinner, and D'Atri's doesn't open until noon, so neither will unfortunately work for our trip.

But AC&T is not a bad choice - that is one of the best off-the-beaten-tracks recommendations I have ever received on this board!

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Giuseppe's, while nearby, is only open for dinner, and D'Atri's doesn't open until noon, so neither will unfortunately work for our trip.

But AC&T is not a bad choice - that is one of the best off-the-beaten-tracks recommendations I have ever received on this board!

Have a lot of fun!  I have taken that trip and it's really pretty.

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We didn't eat out much while up for the holiday, but we did eat lunch at Brenda's Pizzeria.  Hubby had a buffalo chicken calzone.  I had the chicken cheesesteak sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo and banana peppers.  The chicken was in chunks instead of thin sliced, but was delicious, I thought the sauce on it was very good- probably didn't need the mayo, but I like L,T,M.  

We also had drinks at Mountain State- they have some cocktails on the menu now, I had the Apple Butter which was sweet, but tasty and one of their beers, whichever their lightest beer is, enjoyed both.  It is so hard just to drink here and not eat- the food coming out of the oven just smells amazing.

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I ate in Aurora this past trip to Garrett County at Melanie's.  If you get an entree you get one trip to their small salad bar, a cup of soup, homemade bread (sliced, very soft white bread that was pretty darn good), a potato and a side.  I got crab cakes (thin and pan fried but tasty) baked potato, green beans and ate the vegetable noodle soup.  I would have preferred it to be just vegetable soup, but I am sure they vary it up often, they also made it that day and it would have been better after a day, but that is often my general opinion on most soups.  Mom got fried oysters which were a lot better than you would expect at such a small out in the middle of nowhere outpost.  She got limas though and despite looking incredible, they just lacked seasoning and had a lot of shells in the dish, but her mashed potatoes were very good.

We had two meals at Ace's and this is definitely the best restaurant currently in Garrett County and it boasts a nice lake view while the sun is up.  I had a burger one night and salmon over polenta with green beans another night.  The burger was good, but the salmon was REALLY good.  Friends had the pork chops which also looked really good and smelled great. 

Lunch at Englander's and I got a bacon cheese burger and a cup of beef vegetable soup.  Their burger is better to me than many in a way, it's a step up from a fast food burger, but it isn't too fancy to lose the essence of a darn good burger.  Their bacon is really good, and the plain american cheese just does the trick.  Also the tomato they served with the burger was much more ripe than many you see at this time.

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Garrett County

I have been up in GC two weekends in a row for birthday/bridal related activities.  The bridal related activity was at Lucas Farms which was beautiful, a little warm on a bright sunny day, but given all this rain, at least it was sunny.  We had dinners both weekends at Tomanetti's in Oakland because it was either convenient to where we live, or wouldn't be as crowded as lake places.  It is mostly American-Italian.  What they call fresh pizza dough (more pan style than their thin crust) has gotten better IMHO.  I still like Brenda's a little better, but it isn't bad.  They have big entrees, and you are likely to go home with leftovers.  We also had wings, not the best wings I have ever had, but they may be some of the best in GC.  We also had a greek salad, that was chopped salad style, which isn't what I had last time I was there.  I thought it had a tad bit too much dressing- I normally ask for it on the side and I forgot- but otherwise good.  We also had mozarella sticks, which I thought were a pretty good darn rendition of mozz sticks and didn't seem to be just Sysco to me.  They have a nice little side patio, if the weather isn't bad.  Their wine selection is not broad, but we found something that we could drink.  For the birthday celebration we bought out all their champagne and prosecco.  

We needed a quick lunch so we stopped at the Casselman Deli at the lake at the intersection with Glendale road.  It is Amish run.  They have salad bar (but actually a very fresh and pretty decent salad bar), soups, and a few sandwiches/specials daily. They also have a few baked goods.  It is limited selection, but everything is fresh and good for take out.  I had salad bar (romaine salad with lots of veggies and grilled chicken that was not just pre-bought chicken strips) and Maryland crab soup- this isn't like Chick and Ruth's MD crab soup, but it really was a decent rendition (it's hard because I make really good MD crab soup, so does my Mom, it's not their fault).  I am just picky.  They also had two other types of fresh soups, they all looked good.  Mom raved about the chili, I just wasn't in a chili mood.  We had a potato doughnut we split 4 ways for dessert and it was pretty tasty- might have to see how you make those.  And they sell the Amish cinnamon rolls with a combination of the four toppings (white icing, caramel icing, pecan sticky bun style and how am I forgetting the other one?), which I was really excited about because that would be a real pain in the butt to make if you aren't a commercial baker.

We also went to Wendy's Town Restaurant in Oakland for breakfast.  Huge plates of breakfast, very much a hometown diner style breakfast with huge pancakes and omelettes.  Mom asked for and got one sweet potato pancake and one blueberry pancake.  Their blueberry aren't as good as others in the area, I think they need more blueberries.  But the sweet potato are very good, and together they made a really good combo, I ate way more of my Mom's pancakes than I would like to admit.  I got an omlette with ham, bacon, peppers, onions and tomatoes.  It is a big omelette that comes with toast and home fries (I think they are pretty darn good home fries too).  The omelette had a lot of fillings, so it was a smaller egg ratio to a lot of filling, but I thought it was good, not exemplary, but even better while eaten with bites of home fries, and it hit the spot as I was very hungry.  They were serving turkey dinners on Sunday and had it not been brunch time it would have been really tempting.  There is no ambiance in this place, it is a regulars spot that has been there for years although under different owners/managers/etc.  But it is certainly acceptable for breakfast.

There are supposed to be a bunch of new places opening in Oakland, just FYI, a diner on Alder St, and two other restaurants (two by the owner of Tomanetti's, one by Brenda of Ace's and Brenda's Pizzeria).  Supposedly, the Cornish Manor opened with new owners and is now a steak house they just had the soft opening.  I am hoping they have a little different variety for Oakland, but am excited to see how they pan out.  We also I think are getting a record shop/wine bar in Oakland which has the potential to be cool.

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On 11/18/2009 at 12:12 PM, Atenna said:

Grantsville

Had to run to Morgantown with my mother; she mentioned Penn Alps. Not knowing any better we stopped there for lunch. Will not do that again; what I call cafeteria food. Flavorless, tired, unappealing, boring. Just not good.

LOL! I stopped there with a car club years ago, we had some members who were tighter than shoe leather, and they knew cars. They did not know food. I'm talking carrying around coupons for Golden Corral. I remember Penn Alps because all the food was Beige. 

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Garrett County

Was up for the weekend, mainly ate at the house, but...

Sloppy Dawgs has opened in Oakland, I haven't tried it yet.  Wendy's Town Restaurant has turned into The Diner, haven't tried it yet.  Another couple places are scheduled to open.

We ate at Ace's- they do traditional turkey dinners all over on Autumn Glory weekend, so that is what I got.  The mashed potatoes, root vegetables, stuffing and cornbread were all very good.  The turkey itself could have been better, it seemed to be sort of shredded into large chunks- and some were a bit dry.

We also went to Mountain State Brewpub and got three medium pizzas and a large house salad- the salad was huge, the pizzas were also larger than I expected- we got a pesto and proscuitto, fire on the mountain and margherita- all of which were good.  They warned our friend not to order tap water here, and offered bottled, but she insisted, it wasn't a good thing to insist on, get beer or bottled water.

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Garrett County

So we checked out the Alder St Diner across the street from Englander's on Alder St in Oakland, MD.  This is owned by the same woman who owns Tomanetti's.  It was the first day after they were closed for Christmas for 3 days.  She said it was the first time she had ever been off for three days.  I think she was cursing it though.  She apologized to us as the ice machine wasn't working, she remedied that with ice from the back, and the cooks being slow.  She is very nice, and they seemed to get it together after about an hour after opening, we just were the first people in.  Autumn is very nice and just honest, so she laughed and apologized and said she had to get them whipped back into shape.  The decor is cool, lots of car and 50s stuff, jukebox which works, very kid friendly- they have hamburgers, hot dogs (bratwurst and italian sausage), some sandwiches, soup, salad and a few entrees too.  Generally open for lunch and dinner.  I got MD crab soup and a hot dog (topped with something- can't remember could have been kraut, chili, who knows).  The MD crab soup was ok, I liked that it had a lot of veggies in it, the crab was just not very chunky.  I make a really good MD crab soup, and mine is definitely better, but for Oakland I thought this had potential.  The hot dog was really good, no complaints.  I am not sure why Oakland is going through a diner phase... we have Sloppy Dawgs, Denny's, Englander's, The Diner.  Apparently, it's a thing.  But this one was pretty good, I'd go back with the limited options in Oakland.

We went out to check out the Gourmet Store at the Fort at the lake.  It was a nice little shop with nice gift options and spice blends which would be nice if you were up for vacation and cooking.  I bought some cleaning towels I wanted, little signs to put in my cheese and dips and a few other things.  I was hoping that the little cafe there at the Fort was open, it was not.  They should have changed their sign which said, "Good food, every day." So we went up to Moonshadow Cafe.  I have to say I love the food at Moonshadow- it has the most different food in Garrett County.  You can get quinoa bowls, I had a falafel sandwich, their buffalo cauliflower is really good, etc, etc.  But the service is ackingly slow.  It is worth it, but I really wish they could afford to have just one more staff person than they do at any given time.  I know the space they were in before was perhaps too small, but I think the space that they are in now is perhaps too big.  Anyway, great place, good, different food for GC, slow service.  Also lots of live music.

Heidi's bakery out near where my Amish nanny lives was on a hiatus for winter until February- I don't blame them, but update google (to be fair I asked Hubby to call and confirm they were open- he googled, I didn't think that was sufficient, but I went with it), so we came back to Oakland and ended up at Subway.

We also ate at Uno's, I hadn't been here in a long time and went with a classic, the cheese and chunky tomato deep dish personal size pizza, which was surprisingly one of the lower calorie options on the menu.  It was a throwback to high school.  It wasn't necessarily good, but it wasn't bad, and it has a certain nostalgia which made me happy.  We also got their crab dip.  I really like the bread they make with their crab dip- they aren't quite crackers, they aren't quite breadsticks, I wonder if there is a recipe to make a copycat version somewhere on the internet, as they are kind of weirdly amazing with crab dip.

Sipside beside Flipside the cool record store in Oakland, and a few other restaurants in Oakland are supposed to open soon.  I will endeavor to try some new places out next time I am up...  At Christmas so many places are closed, I am subject to the whims of my family and I also cook a lot of our meals.

In sad news, one of our favorite dives- Ken's Irish Pub in Friendsville closed.

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Was up very quickly for a retirement party but went to the new BAR IN OAKLAND, MD!!!!  Sipside.  Craziness, it was very neat on the inside with warm woods, music posters and cool decor.  They have a few spirits, cocktails, wine and beer.  No bargains, and the wine list is well- they have wine and it's a bar that is open- what more do you want.  They had music playing while we were there and the music was good.  No real food served, but they provide bar snacks. It was a happening place when I was up on Friday, and it was nice to see some people out in Oakland in the evening.

I also had lunch at the Casselman Cafe in Deep Creek.  I just got the salad bar, which is very fresh and soup.  I went for the ham and bean as I thought the crab was bland last time.  Mom got the crab, this time the crab was great, the ham and bean was bland.  They had homemade rolls on the salad bar, which was nice.  This isn't like a Wegman's variety salad bar, but I think it is a pretty decent selection, and it's one of the few places in GC to just get a salad that isn't just iceberg with tomato and cheese.  I was going to get a sandwich- why we went here- but then I changed my mind.  

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Went skiing at Wisp- you can buy your tickets outside, and you feel reasonably normal again.  On certain days the lines are very long, I imagine the holiday weekend will be like that, but especially during the week if you can catch a snowy time it is pretty nice.  Only about half the runs were open when I was up, but it was still December.  

Take out from Moonshadow was good- I got a burger and made the trip back to the house well.  They have good rubens as well.  

Ace's was fine, but you have to go inside to get your food, and pay. I got tuna with rice stir fry, which was fine, another day I got a salmon burger, which wasn't my favorite, but wasn't bad.  Nothing to write home about, but not bad. My Mom says I should have gotten a cobb salad.

We wanted Deep Creek Seafood, we just didn't catch it when it was open. 

In Oakland, Don Patron's had absolutely normal Tex Mex enchiladas in a good way, and they upsold me on their take out margaritas, for Oakland having even middle of the road Tex Mex is better than many of the other options.

The best food by far is my Mom's cooking, and she made some stuff for us to take out to the rental house which was great.

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Stopping back in after an absence to look for some travel recommendations, and I figure you have to give to get, so some recommendations for Western(ish) Maryland from some frequent trips to Rocky Gap.

In Hancock, I'm delighted by BuddyLou's Eats, Drinks, and Antiques. Super creative menu (with multiple vegetarian options), including several dishes featuring Lion's Mane mushrooms. Really eclectic decor with a strong outsider art feel. Large outdoor dog friendly space. It fills up on summer weekends.

Between Hancock and Flintstone on 68, at exit 72, the Citgo gas station/Oak Barrel Cafe ... why am I recommending a highway gas station? It has a retro candy and snack store with a banger of a bakery, plus deli sandwiches and burgers. Hit it up if you are road tripping to points west.

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