Comments About Xitomate, Pure WIne Patio, And Recs For Sausage, Growlers And Chinese

Dumplings at Curry & Kabobs

People keep hitting up Xitomate, the new Mexican in Columbia.  They're working through the menu and offering some advice -- S., Stephanie and Clayton all had nice things to say, but concerns about heat and spiciness.

That's the fun of HowChow comments.  People offering advice and news.  Wendi emailed that the deli appears open at the new Randy and Steve's food store.  She also said gave more information about the new patio coming to Pure Wine Cafe:

Pure is in our (Alexander Design Studio's) retail space on Main Street. In addition to the patio space (and how great is that going to be?), there will be a small dining mezzanine and additional bathroom. I believe there may also be a wine cave that takes advantage of the unique site challenges that you run into when the building is built into a hill with large boulders and bedrock.

The work has been going on for a few months and now but I think we are really in the home stretch. There was a new door cut through the building for patio access. Drywall is up. Paint is going on the new walls. Tile is going down.

But there is more!  People post comments and questions.  It's a great place to learn -- or to give answers to folks in need.

• Where do you buy crawfish? Mallory wants a crawfish boil, but hasn't seen them at Wegmans.
• Perrik, Baltimore Eats and others answered my question about chicken bulgogi -- spots in Wheaton, Baltimore and even Lotte.
• Clayton hit up the new Indian-Nepalese at Curry & Kabob twice.  He talks up the goat meat curry, beaten rice, and more.  Neerav Shah confirmed that C&B Italian Dely makes a Philly-worthy hoagie -- although we both agree that nothing beats Lee's Hoagie House. 
• Anonymous, Melodi and Kevlar51 had a great talk about childrens' menus.  They talked about places that offer kids' sized meals of authentic food.  Anonymous said that "restaurants with good kids' food" seems like a HowChow post, and that's right.  I need to work that out.
• Greg6833, Wendy and others chimed in about the best wings.  They love Shannon's, Kelsey's, Bon Chon and other spots.
• Anonymous, Mark and Kristen8 recommended dishes at Chopstix Cafe in Elkridge -- chow fun, kway teow, ma po tofu, shredded crispy beef, and more.  
• In the same way, Annie Rie, Matt and others pointed at places to buy good sausages -- old-fashioned hot dogs, sausages from a farm, and bratwurst in Landover.  While Katie recommended Friends & Farms, a new Columbia company that delivers vegetables and other food.
• Kevlar51 asked how people eat the candied fruit from Tere's Latin Market.  Oh, yeah Kevlar -- You just eat the rind.  Once it is candied, it's edible.  Eat everything that you buy.
• A bunch of folks reported about the new Garbanzo in Columbia.  Rhonda recommended the Sysco in Elkridge, especially for brown paper bags and pre-cooked hamburgers.  Bill reports that you can special-order the hot dog rolls at The Breadery.  Zevonista recommended Catonsville Gourmet for seafood.
• If you're going to alcohol instead of food, think growlers.  TerpFan, JaeHastings and others talked about the local spots that now sell beer in the larger containers.
• S. talked up the bento boxes at Tendou Sushi in Fulton.  Bon Chon chicken got a rave from 1ltkls, although the slaw -- and its sweetener -- didn't make him happy.
• AlPal3 asked about changes at Family Market in Columbia.  The shelves don't seem as full.  Does anyone know what's up?
• Finally, Perni provided a report from Maple Lawn.  She and her husband live in Highland, but wanted to try Ranazul for the first time because they love tapas.  They made an online reservation for February 15, noted that they were vegetarians, then got two calls to confirm the reservations.  They got a babysitter, then headed out.

We arrived to the restaurant, got seated, and handed the menus. We looked at the menu and saw one vegetarian dish - a salad. We then inquired whether there were any other vegetarian options, and to our complete shock - we were told that the answer is no. We asked if the chef would be kind enough to prepare something quick and simple for us and again, the answer was no - because it was all price-fixed (or something or other). We stared at each other in disbelief.  I said that I had written that we were vegetarians on the reservation form, and, given two calls from the staff to confirm the reservation, we should have been told there would be no vegetarian options.

After absorbing our disbelief (it felt as if we time-traveled back to the 80s and 90s), we then quickly began calling other restaurants (given that our clock was also running with the babysitter).  We were welcomed with open arms at Xitomate. What a fabulous restaurant!  The food was delicious, the chef catered to our requests, and their menu options were very vegetarian-friendly.

I then wrote a courteous letter to Ranazul about our disheartening experience. And the kick of it all - I got no response back. Not even a "sorry"! So anyways, I just wanted to let you know this - perhaps your vegetarian readers would get wind of this and save themselves the trouble. My husband and I very much want to support the nascent, young businesses popping up around the Maple Lawn area, and this was just a complete and utter disappointment to us. 

I am hoping more restaurants come to the area - including an ethnic grocer!!!