Thursday, July 10, 2008

Restaurants: Best of Howard County 2008

(CLICK here for 2009 Best Restaurants of Howard County.)


Best restaurants in Columbia or Ellicott City? The answers depend on your taste and budget, but Howard County has great restaurants -- from high-end date nights to shopping-center ethnic food. OK, we have a lot of shopping center restaurants, but some of them are great as well.

Explore below for restaurants -- two lists of recommendations, which change over time. Click to learn more about the restaurants. In early 2009, I'm posting a series of "best of" posts as a makeshift guide to Howard County. Click here for a working list of Howard County restaurants by type. Click here for a similar list of grocery stores and markets. Or check out Google maps showing the restaurants and markets.


If you have your opinions, leave a comment!


A Few of My (Current) Favorite Things
Specific things that I loved at both restaurants and take-out places.


New) Dolset Bi Bim Bop at Bethany Seafood Restaurant in Ellicott City

1) Pit beef sandwiches at Pioneer Pit Beef in Woodlawn
2) Empanadas at El Patio Market in Jessup

3) Crab cakes at Timbuktu in Elkridge
4) Masala Dosas at Mango Grove in Columbia

5) Tacos at Pupuseria Lorentia ("The Taco Truck") in Elkridge
6) Sopapias at Ranazul in Fulton
7) Pumpkin and a kabob at Maiwand Kabob in Columbia
8) Cupcakes at Touche Touchet bakery in Columbia
9) Ceviche at La Palapa Too in Laurel
10) The naan and rice pudding ("kheer") at Akbar in Columbia

Ten Restaurants To Try On A Night Out
Not truly "The Ten Best." Today, my favorite restaurant is Bangkok Delight, but this is an alphabetical array of places that I'd recommend to anyone moving to Howard County. It's weighted to the affordable places and scattered around the county (or one exit beyond). It changes over time.

Others that make the list: Bethany Seafood Restaurant in Ellicott City for Korean and Sushi King or Sushi Sono in Columbia for sushi, especially in the private rooms. Plus, I need to try the Chinese menu at Hunan Legend.

Worth The Drive From DC or Baltimore

Places to lure a friend to drive to HoCo. Or places that are worth a drive if you're from out of town.
1) The unique rolls at Sushi King in Columbia, especially if you call ahead for a private room.


2) The seasonal menu at Great Sage, which is delicious for anyone who loves vegetables and a special place for a vegetarian or vegan.





In June 2008, the Baltimore Sun's terrific restaurant blog ran a list of "Best in Howard County" that sparked several days of comments -- many of which overlap the places above. The Live in Howard County blog has both a "Best Restaurants" list -- and links from there to its "Nearly Best" List.

Chowhound regularly has someone start a "Where Can We Eat in Howard County" string. This is a thoughtful one about dinners for under $50 for two.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your site! You should really check out "2 Amys" in D.C. It has the most amazing, authentic neopolatin pizza this side of Italy. I highly recommend.

Bubbles said...

Agreed - this is a great site - I wish we had something as detailed for Baltimore City!

An Loi is my favorite place for pho, especially when it's cold and rainy outside! Their grilled pork is also wonderful!

Sushi Sono will be taking 33% discounts on select menu items during March 2009. No coupons will be needed in order to take advantage of this offer.

duanestclair said...

2 Amy's in DC is great and so is Pizza Paradiso
http://www.eatyourpizza.com/