ohstate

The chip of my childhood. Dad still always has them in the house. I get the 5 lb box whenever we are back in Ohio. Too bad the Yoder's dips don't transport as well. http://www.ballreich.com/

The Ram's Head in Annapolis has a $10 all you can drink Bloody Mary bar on Sundays. I didn't have the time to try them though. http://www.ramsheadtavern.com/annapolis/brunchmenu.html

That would be a bit outside my area of experience. We rarely venture outside Pax River/Solomons area on our little run about. South of Deale is North Beach/Chesapeake beach. I know there are some marinas along the way, but I've never visited any of them. I've -heard- some people say good things about he Westlawn Inn in North Beach, but I have no idea if you can get there by water. List of Calvert county marinas Chesapeake Beach looks like your best bet for finding something to eat along the way. Here is a forum for discussing restaurants in SoMD, although mostly about St. Mary's county, and sometimes seems to focus on who is serving large quantities of fried seafood for the least amount of money. ps. I'm assuming you mean between Deale and Solomons, as there are lots of places to dock up to on the Island.

Just an update - there have been lots of changes in the dining scene since this post. Many chefs have changed and the restaurants, to date, just haven't been as consistentl. Sometimes they can be good, but I wouldnt' call any of them great these days. In particular, the CD Cafe lost 2 long-time employees. While they can still produce good food, I have found it to be very inconsistent. My husband hasn't had a fish special there that he's thought was even good since last fall. They are in the permitting stage to rebuild the lighthouse. The plans look good, so we'll see what happens with that. They used to do a half-price appetizer happy hour at their waterfront (outside) bar that was a lot of fun. Vincenzo's (website) has been around for a while, but seems to have improved a bit lately. They are a mediterranean/italian place on the water with a great view. They've been hosting some wine dinners and have live music occasionally. I don't think it would be considered great, but solid if you're in the area. Anyway, summer is just around the corner, so I thought I'd update this for the tourist crowd. There are a few new places that I haven't tried yet, but hope to soon.

Thanks. We are usually early people anyway, so this may work for us. The band doesn't start until 9, so we should have time even if we get stuck in a jam.

So am I crazy to think I can try this place tomorrow night? We want to see a band in the area and this sounds just right for a light meal and a few drinks beforehand. The website says to call ahead 30 minutes in advance, but I see someone made reservations? I don't get out in DC very often, so I'd like to not mess this up too much. TY!

Tater tots were always welcome on my plate when I was a kid. Certainly was an improvement over my mother's instant whipped potatoes from a box.

Clearly your aunt missed the correct execution of "tater tot casserole". The tater tots go on -top- of the casserole to provide a crunchy topping. You never mix the tater tots into the casserole.

Not a restaurant, but the Cat's Eye Pub for music. Now non-smoking. That will be strange. I think Bertha's is probably an institution (in that everyone knows about it, not necessarily great food). We found the Peter Inn last trip up and plan to return. Our friends want to visit their old haunts from his Hopkins days, so I'm sure I'll get an education in Baltimore's institutions in April. http://www.petersinn.com/

There's a rumor that the original owner of Jerry's in Lanham has opened a new place near Prince Frederick, MD. The rumor is in a southern Maryland forums thread discussing the opening of a new Green Turtle there. "Jerry's Place is great. Good friend of my dad...he did the electric work. He doesn't have his liquor license yet but it's in the works. Jerry used to own a very successful restaurant in Lanham, Jerry's Seafood, but sold that to his nephew years ago when he moved down this way. He has limited hours right now. Give him a try and let me know what you think." He's picked a location in a mini-strip mall next to a Mr. Tire that has had at least 3 failed restaurants there since about 1998. I may have to give it a try sometime on my way home.

No Pimms Cup? Much better than Hurricanes, IMO. http://www.napoleonhouse.com/pimmscup.html

True. We almost never eat 3 courses, and right before a Caps game might really be pushing it. Happy hour in the lounge it is. Thanks.

I see that they have extended the RW menu here for a while. If we go before a Caps game, should we just hit the lounge w/ that menu, or should we do the RW menu. The earliest we could get there is 5:30. How full would the lounge be at that time? Thanks! I've never been, but these posts have inspired me to try it.

My husband also uses Alton's recipe. In the name of making tools multitask, we use a splatter screen as our pizza paddle. Works perfectly fine for us. Although we usually have parchment paper under the rolled out dough too.

I'm headed there next week for a happy hour event, but it sounds like I should just have a beer and then grab a bite at the Caps game.

Ernies appears to be open. We walked by last night, the open sign was lit, two workers were sitting inside, but no customers. I think they have a little yard in the back w/ picnic tables for when the weather gets nicer (as seen from the Hilton driveway when I was picking up a cup of starbucks on my way to work).

I read somewhere that a Bookbinders is opening this month in the old Portner's space. Does anyone know the details? http://www.bookbinders.biz/

It has been too long since I've been to Bermuda to recommend any particular place to eat, but a fun side trip is the Swizzle Inn for the original Rum Swizzle. It was a divey little place out towards the airport back then. I hope it hasn't become something else by now.

Maybe we'll see you next year in Miami! Go Bucks!

Just back from NOLA. We had a pretty good time there. Our dining choices were limited because of our late booking during a large event, but the fabulous concierge at the W was able to find us decent choices at the last minute. Less worry about finding non-smoking places than I first imagined. If a place serves food, it has to be non-smoking. Bars are as smokey as ever, though. We did a Garden District walking tour, saw a lot of the French Quarter (but not Bourbon Street), and found the Fauburg-Marigny area (Frenchman Street, mostly). Our friend, a local, gave us a driving tour of the 9th district to see the horrific damage. Mothers - Lunch, had the Ferdi Special - ham, roast beef, gravy, debris, dressed. Kind of bland and soggy. I was not impressed. My husband thought his oyster po'boy was fine, but not the best he has had. (See Johnny's Po-Boy, below). Dante's Kitchen - Cute little place uptown (across from Brigstens). Loved the atmosphere, great service, good food. They start you out with some tasty spoon bread. I had the trois mignons - three little filets, each with a different sauce - red wine sauce, debris, and blue cheese on carmelized onion mashers. Quite tasty, but they were slightly overdone. Might be because my friend ordered the same dish, but ordered it medium-well. My husband loved his fish special, Olive Oil Poached Grouper over gulf shrimp, wild green onions, and roasted Creole tomatoes; garnished with fluer de sel and aged balsamic vinegar. (C/P from the menu) Reasonable bill, although we limited ourselves to glasses of wine and my one friend doesn't drink at all. http://www.danteskitchen.com/ Coop's- small little bar/restaurant on Decatur. Very good burger. My husband had the "taste plater", which was very large portions of just about everything - A cup of Seafood Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, Cajun Fried Chicken, Red Beans & Rice with Sausage, and Rabbit & Sausage Jambalaya. He ate it all! The server (just one that I could see) was extemely busy, and the cooks were delivering the food. They were grilling in a backyard courtyard. I'm not certain where they hid the rest of the kitchen equipment, because this place was tiny, and half of it was given up to a pool table. http://www.coopsplace.net/ Marigny Brasserie - On Frenchman Street - great atmosphere, very good food. Probably the best dish I had was the fried green tomatoes here. The tomatoes were perfectly done in every way - crispy, not greasy, flavorful. It was served with a crab salad topping - and there was a ton of crab and very little salad. Large lump crab. It was almost a meal in itself. I ordered the lobster risotto, which was not very good. Probably just a poor choice on my part, considering the other choices on the menu. It was bland and the lobster was not tasty. My husband had the fish special - bronzed drum - which had about 3 sauces on it - one too many for him - he should have asked to have them skip the bernaise sauce (he hates all creamy sauces). He said it was great however. Service was very good. My friend raved about her chicken dish - Roasted Amish Free-Range Chicken Breast- on Louisiana Long Grain Rice, Spring Vegetables and a Cognac-Dijon Demi Glace. Here daughter just had the ensalata capresse. I don't usually order tomatoes at this time of year, but she liked it. http://www.cafemarigny.com/ Johnny's PoBoys - better than Mothers, IMO. I had the shrimp po'boy, the husband had the oyster po'boy. Of course, they were huge portions (New Orleans seems to favor that). The shrimp were crispy and not overdone. The line was out the door and the little dining area was packed. The line moved quickly and the service was very friendly (unlike Mothers, where they seemed rather cranky). Cafe du Monde- had to have a cafe au lait and some beignets. Then we had hotdogs/sausages from the vendor at the Superdome. Enough about that. Frenchman Street - Blue Nile and Cafe Negril - Great street for music - and great people all around. They seemed so happy to have tourists around (spending $). We saw Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ swingers, Chief Al Doucette and Smokey Greenwell and the Blues Gnus. Great time. Also had a few beers at the Ernst Cafe (near Harrah's). Great little bar that worked hard last weekend treating the Buckeye crowd well. All in all, I'm sure we could have done better if we had more time to plan, but everything was great and the people were the best. Thanks New Orleans!

I just booked a trip to New Orleans for Jan 5-8. We'll be a bit busy on Monday night, but need to make dinner/play plans for Saturday and Sunday. It will be packed there for this event, so my choices may be limited. Any new recommendations, maybe for places away from the hoards? Casual, great food, we don't do multi-courses for the most part (who can eat that much without falling asleep?), real NOLA experiences are our preferences. TIA. Of course, music and places to see music advice would also be appreciated. It has been 10 years since we last visited.

Pork and sauerkraut for us. Usually pork roast and roasted kraut (drained, mixed with mustard, brown sugar and a liquid of your choice. Mom used apple juice. I've been experimenting myself. Easy to roast some root veggies at the same time. Very traditional in German families. I grew up on a street nicknamed "sauerkraut hill" in Ohio.

I cursed myself. It kicked the bucket in the middle of my Christmas cookies. We'll see how they turn out without a mixer.

I've never been, but have heard that the Montgomery Inn is good for ribs. Not exactly fine dining, however.

The last order we had at A La Lucia was disappointing. Bland, not crispy. I prefer the calamari at FireFlies (Del Ray). They serve it with a sweet spicy sauce. One sauce that is good w/ fried calamari is Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce. http://www.amazon.com/Ploy-Sweet-Chili-Sau...s/dp/B00016UX0K I'd swear it is what some restaurants are using.