I would like to know what restaurants you like, as with what style of restaurants/food you wish was in the area.

Looking for both Annapolis and Columbia.

Annapolis

El Toro Bravo, has the best tex mex food in the area, http://www.lewnessteakhouse.com/ has great steaks.

I wish they had a really good burger joint or Vietnamese place, also a legit asian food joint in a fusion kind of way would rock. Take the best dishes from Thailand, China, Vietnam, Philippines and cook them correctly. Then last would be a true BBQ place.

Columbia

Pho Dat Thanh, best Vietnamese in Maryland, however IMO Columbia is lacking when it comes to non chain restaurants. I can't think of anything that isn't a chain..... I've heard there's a really nice small French place near the mall but I've yet to find it.

BBQ would do so well in Columbia, I'd also like to see a burger joint outside of the current champ... fuddruckers.

So what do you guys like/want?

 

I'd like to find a designated chicken wing joint. Anyone know of a place that has good hot wings near columbia + Ellicott City + Catonsville?

 

Give Cluck U Chicken a try, they make good wings, at least the one in Odenton/FT Meade does.

http://www.cluckuchicken.com/locations.htm

Ledo Pizza also has some banging wings.

 

Buffalo Wild Wings!!!! There is a bowie, college park, westminister and white marsh location.

 

I've been saying the same thing for a while, we were lacking a non-chain BBQ joint. I think I found the answer in Kloby's http://www.klobysbbq.com/ . They're located in Maple Lawn/ West Laurel (5-10 mins from columbia) and have the best pulled pork I've ever tasted. Very reasonable prices, super casual atmosphere. I think the next Columbia meet should be held there honestly.

As for other good places I've come across:

Ranazul - Brazilian tapas restaurant in Maple Lawn. Super delicious, unique offerings, but pricey

Iron Bridge Wine Co. - Wine bar with extremely good small plate entrees and extensive appetizers. Obviously a huge wine list to boot, but it is on the expensive side and can get crowded during peak times

Aida - Italian bistro located in the business park off of Snowden / Columbia gateway drive. Food is superb, and pasta is made fresh daily. Would have to be my favorite Italian in the area

Cafe de Paris - This could be the French place you've heard about. It's near Centre Park drive by rt. 100 and though I haven't been in a while, it is definitely a great place.

Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro - Again, haven't been here in a while, but remember it being excellent Asian fusion stuff. It's a stone's throw from Cafe de Paris, off of 108.

Hope this helps and you're able to try out some of these fantastic eateries

 

Thanks for your input on the wing joint guys. The nearest Cluck Chicken location is about 30 mins from and the nearest Wild Wings is 35 mins away. I love Wild Wings and wish there was a closer one! I'll have to try Ledo's wings sometime.

 

This isn't about trying to find good places. Doing research for what the market likes, but more so what the market wants.


I will check out that BBQ maybe next weekend. There's also a BBQ place right off 198 just before RT32 I've yet to try it. but as with most BBQ places in Maryland they all tend to be lacking. The pictures of the ribs at the place you linked look..... meh, makes me think of Adams Ribs and those while not bad in their own little way, they are not good ribs if you're looking for true BBQ ribs. Either way I will no doubt give them a try, is that the place near the Pho joint in Laurel? I remember seeing a BBQ joint across from it. I've also noticed a bunch of random little BBQ joints popping up. Dickys just opened not long ago in Crofton. http://www.dickeys.com/index.aspx They have pretty good ribs, nice smoke to them, however the best of Maryland has to be http://www.texasribsandbbq.com/ I found them by searching best bbq in the country, they came up as best bbq out side of Texas by some bbq reviewers who travel around the county just for bbq. I made a point to go and it is true BBQ, nice and smoky, pink meat, tender but not fall off the bone tender, just enough grab where it has some pull.

 

I wish they had a Wing Stop. I like those wings alot.

 

I love wing stop as well.

 

I made a trip out there just to give them a try, the restaurant atmosphere was more of a sports bar then anything else, not something I'm looking for with BBQ

Their BBQ ribs were over cooked, not enough smoke flavor and it was a shame to not see anything other then baby back ribs. The ribs do kick the **** outta places like Adams Ribs (not saying much) but over all in the BBQ world they were nothing more then just ok. Dickeys (crofton) has a better rib. Not cooked to the point where it falls off the bone, smokey enough where BBQ sauce is not served with them, its something you ask for on the side.

Their corn bread at kolbys was very cake like, super sweet, almost as if it was a boxed corn bread from the local store, the sides were also not better then avg. over all food was ok but a let down with the hopes of finding a great MD bbq place.

Being in the restaurant business for 10 years now, I could easily tell the place was a newer joint, I'm guessing the owner is pretty new to the business.

http://www.texasribsandbbq.com/ still holds the title for Maryland BBQ They do it right.

 

Did you try the pulled pork perchance? I think this is what they specialize in. I hadn't had a chance to try the ribs

 

We did not do the pulled pork, we'll give that a try next time around.
Although it's pretty easy to make, I do prefer a bit more of a vinegar sauce and the thing that makes a great pulled pork sandwich is kick as slaw on top, I saw that they do put their slaw on their pulled pork but their slaw is a bit too mayo heavy and not enough vinegar.

 

Bbq for the mother ****ing win