Garbanzo And Gadsby's Appear To Have Closed, And Folks Have Reported On Korshi Buffet Too

Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill and Gadsby's Bar American both appears to have closed in Columbia.

Garbanzo was part of a small chain, and it definitely drummed up a devoted following.  Folks have been emailing and posting in comments for a while, but I've been to crazed to even post.

Gadsby's Bar American had replaced Greystone Grill just off Rte 100.  This was Robert Gadsby's restaurant.  People have lauded the place for an innovative bartender, but I had heard so many disappointed reports that I kept postponing a visit in the hope that they would get it together.  Now the Web site is gone, and the phone has been temporarily disconnected.

I'm always bummed when people work hard on a restaurant and see it close.  This morning, Carole posted a comment on the Facebook page saying the Korshi buffet in Columbia has closed as well.  No one answered the phone when I called, but I don't know the situation.  Does anyone know the story?  Does anyone know any of these stories?

Gadsby's Pleases The Bare Midriff With Cocktails; Chad Makes Blogger Hearts Beat To His Rhythm

I can't believe that I missed the HoCo Blogs event at Gadsby's Bar American last week -- especially now that I read the rave that Elizabeth wrote on The Bare Midriff about her cocktail.

Gadsby's is one several new places that we just haven't had time to try yet.  I'd written before that they've hired Chad Spangler, a serious bartender trying to create a real name for the place among people who like cocktails.

Elizabeth loved the place and especially loved the drink that she got from Chad:

It was heavenly. Light and floral, but not cloyingly so. A hit of acid from the lemon, a smooth sweetness from the honey. It was just perfect. And of course it has me rethinking how I'm going to make my own lavender-gin cocktail.

Check out the whole post on The Bare Midriff blog.  Check out her links for more Vine videos like the one above or the one where Chad uses a blow torch to smoke a Manhattan.

For more, check out AnnieRie's post about the same event -- and the same bartender -- on the AnnieRie Unplugged blog.  She has photos of food as well.

Cool New Bartender At The New Gadsby's; Now This Is Really A Chance For Teenaged Bloggers

Because I have lost the ability for quantity, I have found my liquor interests turning to quality and a little imagination.

I love the trend for hand-crafted drinks, and I have heard that the new Gadsby's Bar American has brought in a new bartender with a reputation for creative cocktails.  Chad Spangler competed in a national cocktails competition earlier this year after working at Founding Farmers and Farmers Fishers Bakers.  No, he is part of the new regime in the Columbia space that used to be Greystone Grill.

Spangler has been profiled by local blogs like Sophie Pyle in In The Capital and in video by GQ, which sponsored the competition.  This is the kind of bartender who messes with ingredients and techniques like a chef -- fruits, spices, foams, shrubs.  They even think about ice, the way that different kinds of ice would chill or melt or not melt in different kinds of drinks.  In my new-found taste for bourbon and rye, I have tasted some brilliant drinks that I could have never made at home.

To me, a cool bar would be a fine reason for people to check out Gadsby's.  I know people who love the fresh juices and tequilas at Azul 17 in Columbia, and these fun drinks can draw the hardcore fans and the "date night" folks who just want something special.  I'd love to hear what people think if they try Spangler's cocktails -- or if they recommend other local spots for cocktails.

Of course, my thoughts turn to the Two Dudes who scored the first interview with chef Robert Gadsby by showing up there for lunch with their parents.  It would really push the boundaries of "teenagers who blog about food" if the whole family sidled up to the bar to interview Spangler.  I bet Spangler has some non-alcoholic ideas.

2 Dudes Score Lunch And An Interview With The Chef Opening The New Gadsby's Bar American

Robert Gadsby has taken over the former Greystone Grill in Columbia, and he is changing the menu and restaurant over to Gadsby's Bar American.

The guys behind the 2 Dudes Who Love Food blog had lunch there Sunday, and they scored a talk with Gadsby, who talked to them about food and Stevie Wonder.  You have to love two guys who will chat up a professional chef.  You have to love a chef who will invite the 2 Dudes into the kitchen to taste his new menu.

Check out the 2 Dudes' post here.

Gadsby's American Grill: New Restaurant From Robert Gadsby Quietly Replaces Greystone Grill

Pit beef sandwich from the first day of lunch service

New kitchens come

on little Gat feet.

They come cooking

beside Route 100

starting with lunches

and then dinner's on.

With apologizes to Carl Sandburg, we can announce that Robert Gadsby has unveiled a new restaurant in the heart of Howard County.   His team is doing it quietly.  You might say they're creeping in like the fog.

The new menu kicked off today at lunch.  The restaurant is Gadsby's Bar American.  It's in the space that used to be -- and still has signs for -- Greystone Grill just off Rte 100 in the Columbia 100 development near Centre Park Road.

You can still get directions from the Greystone Grill Web site.  The transition appears gradual.  The new name and new lunch menu started today.  I ate a pit beef sandwich, and I loved the horseradish sauce and the raw onion.  I'd never put raw onion on a sandwich, even at pit beef stands where it is a basic condiment.  I love when a kitchen shows me that I'm wrong.  The onion and horseradish were crunch and bite on the thin-sliced beef, and I may never eat pit beef without onion again.

I'm sure it will take time for Gadsby to turn the restaurant into his own place.  The bartender and a bunch of the servers seemed like long-time folks.  I assume the dinner menu and signs will change over time.

But even the first lunch menu says that Gadsby is going to try to do something notable.  The menu looks upscale American -- starting off with burgers, po' boys, pulled pork and other standards offering tweeks and specials like my horseradish sauce.  Then, it runs through more-posh items like a warm potato salad with smoked salmon, a pasta with house-made fennel sausage, and slow-cooked lamb shank with mashed potatoes, carrots and wilted greens.

I ate from the nice selection of $8-9 sandwiches that makes Gadsby's an option for anyone.  But they had a three-course lunch option that looks like fun -- $21 for a soup/salad, a pasta and a main plate.  In the same vein, my server talked up the persimmon in one of the salads, and the lunch menu has five desserts and 14 wines.  That's a place that wants to be special.  It wants you to come for everything from a quick lunch at the bar to fancy meals for business or pleasure.

Give 'em some time to get the place working.  My sandwich was absolutely worth the visit.  There will be big expectations -- especially for a $21 lunch or its equivalent.  I'd love for this to be a Restaurant of Big Shoulders.

If you haven't followed the prior posts in HowChow, Robert Gadsby is a chef with a high-end pedigree and a history in LA and DC.  He has opened a terrific barbecue place on U.S. 1 in Laurel called RG's BBQ Cafe, and folks were talking about his taking over a restaurant in Maple Lawn.   Hat tip to _____ for emailing me about the new menu.

(Update:  The 2 Dudes met Gadsby when they had lunch at the new place.  They talked to him and posted about the conversation.)

Gadsby's Bar American
8850 Columbia 100 Parkway
Columbia, MD 21045
410-715-4739

NEAR:  Gadsby's is the space that used to be Greystone Grill.  It's just off Rte 100.  From either Rte 108 or Rte 100, you turn onto Centre Park Drive.  Then you turn onto Columbia 100 Parkway.  Gadsby's is in the base of a small office building that backs against Rte 100.