Baugher's Family Restaurant

[ktmoomau]

As a graduate of Western Maryland College or McDaniel College, whatever you know it as, I spent a lot of time eating in that area. I didn't particularly have much or a budget for it, but I still have some insight into the area, albeit old.

Baugher's Restaurant is that country restaurant where you get green beans that have been cooked for quite a while with some sort of pork product to give them some flavor, they have roast turkey on Sundays, club sandwiches, ham salad, all those good ol country things that are on small town menus across the country. Prices are good and pies with fruit from their farms are good. It isn't a destination place, but if you need a quick stop while passing through, it's there.

My Mom always likes it because it reminds us of the home "cookin" you get out in Western MD and WV.

http://www.baughers.com/food.html

[jayandstacey]

As a graduate of Western Maryland College or McDaniel College, whatever you know it as, I spent a lot of time eating in that area. I didn't particularly have much or a budget for it, but I still have some insight into the area, albeit old.

Baugher's Restaurant is that country restaurant where you get green beans that have been cooked for quite a while with some sort of pork product to give them some flavor, they have roast turkey on Sundays, club sandwiches, ham salad, all those good ol country things that are on small town menus across the country. Prices are good and pies with fruit from their farms are good. It isn't a destination place, but if you need a quick stop while passing through, it's there.

My Mom always likes it because it reminds us of the home "cookin" you get out in Western MD and WV.

http://www.baughers.com/food.html

OK, not that anyone cares, but I'm going to let out one of my secrets... and it's this place.

For me, it is destination place. We get in the (Gaithersburg based) car and drive an hour up route 27 to get to Baugher's. We go for the whole package and food quality is really only a small part.

As said above, this is your basic family/country restaurant. The upside is that they do enough business that fresh things are always very fresh. They run a substantial orchard about 2 miles away and most everything with apples is excellent, as are offering wih shorter-seasonal items like strawberries. The downside is that some things are pretty much right out of the can - like greenbeans. Luckily, there aren't too many of these.

So what to order? The fried chicken is, IMHO, second only to Family Meal in the state of MD. The open-faced turkey sandwhich ("do you want the gravy on your fries too?") is good in a down-home way - on plain old white-bread, as it should be - and I believe may be their most popular item. The fries are really good. I always get the apple fritters as one of my two side dishes - they are little fried desserts that have a light, crisp batter (though sometimes a little oily) and a tangy apple middle. I also try to get ice cream or pie if I have room. Sadly, the desserts may be some of the best of their menu but its hard to order when you're full.

So what to avoid? I'm not a fan of the burgers; I think they are those frozen kind. And any nuggets-like things are probably frozen too. It's worth looking at other's plates as you walk back to your table.

The prices are in-line with the distance (is there a $1 reduction for every 10 miles out rule?) and are thus very good. Four piece fried chicken with two sides - $12 as I recall. BLTs for $7ish. Entrees are $8 to $12 and everything else falls below that.

Service is competent and friendly. The place probably holds 150 or so and most times I've been (maybe 15 trips) it has been nearly full. So if a wait person is new they don't stay that way for long... and there's too much work to mess around. It can be slow at times and the fried chicken takes extra time. But...that's the whole point of heading there - to lean back and talk and just slow down a bit.

So why go an hour out to eat at Baugher's? Because you can. The trip up 27 is relaxing, especially when the sun is setting. Once there, it is like walking into a friend's house and their mom is just about to serve supper. Once done eating, you can step outside to the farmer's market for some fresh fruits and pies, or maybe grab an ice cream cone and go sit in the playgound while the kids play on the swings. Name one place in DC that has a swingset.

My grandparents all died many years ago, so I can't go back to see them, or their house, or enjoy their cooking. But I can go to Baugher's and take my kids and laugh out loud and have milk come up out of my nose.

I'll take it.

[jayandstacey]

BTW, for you Virginia types (you know who you are) - Baugher's is a little like the Brookside Restaurant near Luray and the entrance to Skyline Drive - less all the tourist trappings and with better... everything.

[Justin Bittner]

This place is fantastic, I had the open face hot turkey( my go to at any country/ diner type spot) years ago. Def good.

[jayandstacey]

I almost forgot the bread basket! Dinner Rolls. No fancy fruits in the bread or crusty multi-grain-artisan-whatever offerings. Just straight-up, yeasty, fluffy rolls and a fistful of individually wrapped whipped butter cups. They're like cotton candy in that they pretty much dissolve in your mouth.