Link: A Local Valentine's Day On AnnieRie

Check out the AnnieRie's Unplugged post where she walks through a Valentine's Day dinner made with local fish and produce.

It's definitely an inspiration for local sources, including a local winery and lettuce from Mock's Greenhouse in Berkeley Springs, WV.  When we joined the CSA, I thought I'd be writing weekly posts like this laying out ingredients and a menu.  So far, I haven't had inspiration as good as folks like AnnieRie or Kat on Kitchen Scribble.  Maybe next summer.

Super Cute: How HoCo Prepared For V-Day

Wordbones was at the Columbia Mall yesterday, and he snapped a great -- food-related -- photo that showed Valentine's Day preparations in Howard County.

The Basics: Pizza And Chinese Rule The Suburbs, So These Are The Pizza And Chinese That Rule

Seafood at Grace Garden

No one agrees about the best of the basics.


By the numbers, our shopping centers are dominated by pizza and Chinese food.  You can find both almost everywhere, yet few people agree on what's the best.  The comments here or on Yelp run negative to positive for each joint.  It's often a matter of taste.

This is part of HowChow's 2012 guide to Howard County -- "Welcome Home."  Ten posts to prove there are dozens of places worth your time, that you can find great food all across the county.  It's written for someone new to Howard County (maybe a link you send a friend thinking about moving here), but hopefully it's useful to anyone.

Whatever your taste, you're going to find your own favorites -- from daily pepperoni to pies covered in clams, from your General Tso's to mainland authentics.  So here are three of each to get you started:

Coal Fire Pizza - Taste the char

• Grace Garden in Odenton.  This is a niche market.  Hands down my favorite Chinese food, but it's a terrible location and barebones decor.  So you go for exquisite dishes and bring people who will thrill at finding something unlike any other menu around -- like our favorite fish noodles.
• Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro in Columbia.  This used to be Mrs. HowChow's favorite delivery, and they do a nice American Chinese menu in a pretty dining room.
• Red Pearl in Columbia.  Wonderful dim sum.  Terrific authentic Szechuan dishes.  Try the lamb with cumin.
• Facci Ristorante on Johns Hopkins Road.  They char the pizza, and they do light toppings with terrific ingredients and inspired ideas -- like clams on pizza.
• Trattoria E Pizzeria de Enrico in Columbia.  This is an institution, and they make nice New York style pizza and a ricotta-filled calzone.  I still need to try the gnocchi with aurora sauce.  In warm weather, you can sit outside and then grab Rita's for dessert.
• Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City.  They introduced the super-hot oven to Howard County.  The pizza quality can vary, but the good ones come with the right char, nice sauce, and thin flavorful layers of mozzarella and toppings. 

These spots are all casual, but they vary widely in style.  In any Facci-Trattoria-Coal Fire lineup, I could tell you which oven kicked out which pie.  (I could also recognize the personal-sized pizzas from Pub Dog in Columbia.  Also worth checking out.  It's a casual bar.)  In the same way, Jesse Wong's does great versions of Chinese restaurant classics while Grace Garden does dishes that I have never heard before.

As always, HowChow is just a narrow opinion.  Chinese and pizza make common takeout or delivery, but we tend to grab other things when we need a weeknight break.  (Like a baseball manager in need of relief, Mrs. HowChow calls for House of India.)  You can read all the Chinese and all the pizza posts.  You can also see a 2010 post about authentic Chinese that highlighted Hunan Taste in Catonsville, Noodles Corner in Columbia and others.  And definitely listen to the comments about where people go for their favorite stuff.

What I Don't Know:  Hunan Legend and Hunan Manor are Columbia institutions.  I haven't been impressed enough to bypass my favorites to eat at them recently.  East Moon and Asian Palace are new Asian fusion restaurants.  I haven't eaten at East Moon yet.  Where do you go for pizza or Chinese?  What are your favorite dishes there?  What do you order?

Todd Kliman Hearts Howard County

The Washingtonian's Todd Kliman did his weekly on-line chat today, and he started with 10 places that he is eating these days.

Two of 10 are local -- R&R Taqueria and Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery.  Kliman just added Bon Fresco and talked up both the bread and the sandwiches.  Makes me laugh at the time when I worried if it was amateur to include them both in my Top 10.

Date Night: We Know Why You Want To Eat

Dim sum at Red Pearl -- Sharing food is an ice breaker

The only time that you must find the right restaurant is when you want to please someone else.

Let's be honest: You can eat your favorite dish at your favorite spot if you are eating alone.  (And for some of you, "favorite spot" can mean over the sink.)  You need a joint that sets the right mood when you're trying to entertain someone else.  We call that a date.

So what kind of joint do you need?  For convenience and a blog post, I see two distinct categories:  the dating restaurant and the "Date Night" restaurant.  Dating restaurant: You have a new person in mind, so you want a night that makes you seem intriguing.  A "Date Night" restaurant: You have a kid and probably a mortgage, so you need dinner worth a babysitter.

This is part of HowChow's 2012 guide to Howard County -- "Welcome Home."  Ten posts to prove there are dozens of places worth your time, that you can find great food all across the county.  It's written for someone new to Howard County (maybe a link you send a friend thinking about moving here), but hopefully it's useful to anyone.

Let's start with the first kind of restaurant.  Imagine a third-date restaurant.  You want good food.  Not too expensive, but a nice place -- a step up from the counter service at Maiwand Kabob or R&R Taqueria.  You definitely want a dessert option -- either there or nearby -- in case the date goes well.  You want your date to have options since you don't know what they like; but it would be great to have a few superb items:

• Bangkok Garden 9 in Columbia.  Spicy Thai food in Oakland Mills village center.  Not the coolest parking lot, but there are Thai dishes that taste authentic and aren't on the average Thai menu.
• Fuji Restaurant in Ellicott City.  Pretty space off Rte 40.  Try seafood udon soup and other Japanese items.
• Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia.  Amazing burgers, then other foods circling up in complexity and price.  I remember liking that my girl relished a good burger.  The outdoor patio can be pretty even surrounded by cars.
• El Azteca in Clarksville.  We love the salsas, the tacos, and the chicken mole.  Margaritas make for a good date.
• Red Pearl in Columbia.  Go for weekend dim sum or a weeknight dinner.  Nice to walk around the lake if it's going well.  If it's going really well, you could make plans for next weekend at Sushi Sono next door.

Now let's talk Date Night.  You're paying a babysitter, and you're probably not doing this very often.  So grab a restaurant where you're guaranteed delicious.  Good food, beautiful place.  Somewhere that you'll be happy to relax and linger -- until you remember that you're paying a babysitter.

WKitchen: Worth driving

• Aida Bistro in Columbia.  The highest-end Italian in Howard County.  A focus on wine.  We have eaten there twice, but I never got a good picture.
• Iron Bridge Wine Co. in Columbia.  Little plates and entrees, many whimsical and many delicious.  Surrounded by wine bottles and advice to make sure you love what you drink.
• Sushi Sono in Columbia.  Perfect fish.  Fantastic rolls.  Delicious green tea.  Sake if you're in the mood.
• Bistro Blanc in Glenelg.  Seasonal menus that draw from local farms and pair with the wine that they stock in overwhelming supply.
• Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore.  Just because you moved here doesn't mean that you need to stay here.  Woodberry's seasonal, small dishes make this our favorite single place.

Regular commenter RDAdoc agreed with my analysis of the "date night" requirements.  She and Mr. RDAdoc ate out frequently when they lived alone in Baltimore.  Along the way, they have picked up a 3-year-old, a 1-year-old and a more-focused view of eating out.  She highlights two of my choices:

Since young children’s behavior is quite unpredictable, I only take my children to restaurants frequented by other people with young children as to not torture anyone paying good money for a relaxing dinner. Recently a few good friends have shared their babysitters with me, so Mr. RDAdoc and I are able to start going to adult restaurants again. However, when we do go to a restaurant now I want to make sure it’s a worthwhile experience.  A couple suggestions for meals at two of my favorite Howard County restaurants that are definitely worth getting a babysitter for:  

Iron Bridge's salad

Iron Bridge Winery - I love just about everything on their menu but a few of my absolute favorite are their fall greens salad with roasted pumpkin, sour cherries, cherry tomatoes and mustard vinaigrette, their roasted squash soup, and their flatbreads.  I was there for lunch recently and for $15 got a salad and sandwich combo that was both reasonable and tasty!  

Bistro Blanc - Just like with Iron Bridge, I love almost everything on their menu. I have enjoyed their petite green salad, grilled brie, flatbreads and risotto. My husband recently had their lamb burger and said it was outstanding.

What I Don't Know: I purposefully avoided Indian, Korean and most sushi because there will be a post that concentrates on our "Big Three" cuisines.  Where do you take a date?  Where do you go for Date Night?  On the high-end side, Barbi wrote last month about Stanford Grill in Columbia.   For a third date, what do people think about Tino's Italian Bistro in Columbia?  People talk up the pastas.

Seriously, What Questions About Wegmans?

I was joshing Saturday when I posted a question for the manager of the new Columbia Wegmans, but Rob has actually pulled off an interview.

Rob is going to meet with the new manager on Wednesday.  He is a big Wegmans fan.  He'll ask about whether the store will have the WKids program where they'll watch your kids while you shop.  He'll ask whatever else you want to know.

What else would you want to ask?

Mango Grove Will Soft-Open On Valentine's Day

Mango Grove will soft open on Tuesday and offer a limited menu with limited seatings over the next week, the restaurant says on its Facebook page.

The Columbia restaurant has relocated and is opening its new space for both vegetarian and non-veg Indian food.

Welcome To Howard County: Where Will You Eat?

Relax. Get a sandwich at Bon Fresco. You can eat well in Howard County.

Don't panic if you're new to Howard County.

You got a job.  You had a kid.  You're buying a house.  For whatever reason, you are leaving behind your old home -- probably in a city and definitely in a place where you knew where to eat and shop.  You fear you're headed to suburban chain restaurant hell.

Relax.  I came to Howard County for a woman, not the food.  I discovered the food on weekends when she would go to work and I would drive around to replace the joints that I had left at my old neighborhood.

You can get great food in Howard County.  You can eat fancy or casual.  You can shop organic or ethnic.  You can get almost everything that you want.  We don't have every urban choice, but you can eat perfectly well.

This is part of HowChow's 2012 guide to Howard County -- "Welcome Home."  Ten posts to prove there are dozens of places worth your time, that you can find great food all across the county.  It's written for someone new to Howard County (maybe a link you send a friend thinking about moving here), but hopefully it's useful to anyone.

Let's say you just moved here.  Your first step: Get in your car.  The truth about Howard County is that you need to drive.  These four quick stops will make you believe good food in possible.  These aren't the best restaurants.  This is four places that I think would please almost everyone.  Casual enough that you could go right from unpacking your boses.  They'll be a tiny tour of the county.  Then read HowChow more and see what else you'd want:

Maiwand's kabob and apps

• Maiwand Kabob in Harpers Choice village center in Columbia.  Welcome to Columbia's version of a shopping center.  They're almost impossible to find unless you seek them out.  But Maiwand Kabob's Afghan food is worth the drive.  For two people, order mantwo, pumpkin and a single order of kabob.  Everything is delicious, but start with appetizers, hot bread and grilled meat.    (There are plans in early 2012 of a new Maiwand opening near Target off Rte 175.)
• Facci Ristorante on Johns Hopkins Road.  This is right off Rte 29.  Learn Rte 29.  This isn't Laurel, not matter what the post office says.  It's a shopping center with a bunch of food, including barbecue, Mexican, Indian and Japanese.  But start with a pasta or pizza at Facci, a classy casual place with nice outside seating in good weather.
• Pure Wine Cafe in downtown Ellicott City.  Find parking.  Nose around Main Street to look at Tersiguel's, Bean Hollow, Diamondback Grill and others.  Then split small plates like meatball sliders and cheese samplers.  It's a tiny room, but worth a night to dress up and walk a bit.
• Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery and Nazar Market in Columbia.  Get a great sandwich at Bon Fresco.  London broil, turkey, Italian meats.  They're all delicious on Bon Fresco's fresh-baked loaves.  Then walk across the parking lot to Nazar, where they concentrate on Turkish goods and where you should start with fresh-ground lamb.  Grab Planet Barbecue at the terrific Howard County library for recipes about how to grill that lamb. 

The rest of this series will be aimed to highlight places around Howard County.  All kinds of places and trying to repeat names as little as possible.  Once they're all up, I'm going to re-date them in reverse order so that they read in order if you click the "Welcome Home" label below.

What I don't know: I am not the final word on Howard County.  I have posted my "Best of Howard County," but HowChow is really just a blog arguing that you can find good food.  Mostly, it's the food we like.  We like Mexican.  But we haven't been to all the places to pick a "no miss" Mexican restaurant -- probably because we have been distracted by the gas station tacos at R&R Taqueria.  So new people should read the comments as much as they read my posts.


Readers: What do you recommend for a "no-miss" Mexican restaurant?  We like El Azteca in Clarksville and the tacos at El Nayar in Elkridge.  La Palapa Too has weekend ceviche.  People like El Hildago in Elkridge, Mi Casa in Ellicott City and Zapatas in Columbia.  Where would you send a new person who wants a hit?

Coming This Week: Ten Posts For New Folks

It can be tough to figure out Howard County.  HowChow started in many ways as my vehicle for finding new restaurants and markets after I found myself in Ellicott City.

New people became the theme for me writing a series of posts.  Not a comprehensive guide.  Not everything.  But a chance to talk about many of the places that I've learned about and enjoyed.  I'd been playing with the "round up" idea for a while, and the theme made it seem fun.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to post a "Welcome Home" series aimed at people just discovering Howard County.  Ten posts with lots of links.  Hopefully fun for the old folks as well.  Please jump in with the comments -- your favorite date restaurants, your favorite Indian, how you found places when Columbia has outlawed signs . . .

In a HowChow first, these posts will be sponsored by Alicyn DelZeppo, a real estate agent who has been a regular commentator on the blog.  Do you have a friend looking at Howard County?  Forward the posts.  I'll suggest good food.  Alicyn will get them a house.

Wegmans Getting Ready For Its Closeup

The Columbia Wegmans with bridges to the parking garage 

The Wegmans in Columbia is still a construction site, but now it looks like a store.

The driveways work, and you can actually drive up the Snowden River entrance to see the Wegmans front door.  The exterior looks nice to me, just a few holes left to fill.  The parking garage comes just a driveway from the building.  There are two wide bridges that will connect them on the second floor.

They have already installed some curbs.  Obviously, they need to repave and landscape.  On the McGaw Road side, they're planting trees.  (In February?)  Fun to see them knock off detail work.  Anyone know if June 17, 2012 is still penciled in as the opening?  There is chatter about whether good weather let them get work done faster.

First Thoughts On Family Market In Columbia

Family Market's seafood counter

The new Family Market opened in Long Reach, and I'm excited to see that they have brought the Asian grocery store model to Columbia.

The market is aimed at anyone.  They stock aisles and aisles of American staples -- products like pretzels, coffee and soda, brands like Pringles, Cheerios and Pop Secret.  But this isn't just a new version of the Safeway that Family Market replaced.

A dozen mushroom varieties

Well, actually, it might be the new version.  It's a variation of the lineup from markets like Lotte, H Mart and Super Grand -- produce, seafood and Korean items surrounded by a mix of American and other ethnic food.

If you live near Long Reach, Family Market can serve any daily needs.  But it's an attraction to anyone from Columbia or south because it's a unique place for produce, seafood, meats, and Korean or Latin products south of Rt 40.  These are some of the draws --

• The enormous produce section.  Great selections.   Great prices -- like 99-cent fennel, 59-cent-per-pound beets and six-for-a-dollar limes.  Asian options like cabbages, radishes, Thai basil, and tiny eggplants.  Latin options like jicama, yams, and coconuts.  Huge boxes of mangos and other fruits.
• The seafood and meat counters.  Lots of whole fish.  Shrimp, clams, squid.  American steaks.  Korean cuts -- including ribs cut flanken-style across the bones.  And options that I haven't seen elsewhere like ground pork.  (There is also an entire counter of necks, tongues, hearts, etc. if that's your cup of tea.)
• Rice, beans, grains, and other staples.  If you're listening to Mark Bittman, this is a great place to get barley, brown rice, and other grains.
• Korean items.  Rices, noodles, hot pepper pastes and other items to cook Korean food.  Prepared dishes like kimchi.  But even easier, all kinds of Korean snack foods -- cookies, crackers, seaweed snacks.
• Latin items.  An aisle of beans, peppers, spices, and every Goya product that I can imagine.  Part of a dairy aisle with Mexican cheeses.

Frozen durians

Seriously, the Family Market is accesible to anyone.  People speak English (and Spanish).  Packages are translated with the regular ingredient box on the back.  Central aisles are lined with American brands.  Of course, the Utz and Doritos are right across from popped brown rice and shrimp-flavored crackers.  So you can walk around and look for excitement.

Seriously, this looks like a fun place for anyone who likes to cook.  (Or at least for people who like Asian food and Facci.)  The produce alone is unique enough to drive to Long Reach -- and it should just get better as fruits and vegetables come into season.  Go now for squashes, ginger, mushrooms, a huge package of Thai basil . . . Go for one of the durian in the frozen section.  Lord, the flavor is too much for me.

David Greisman wrote about the store opening in the Sun.  Although the Korean-owned markets are similar, they're each unique.  Family Market is closer to Super Mart than H Mart.  It has Korean, American, Hispanic, and Indian items.  It doesn't seem to have the scope of Chinese, Thai and other Asian packaged goods that the H Mart stocks.

Family Market
8775 Cloudleap Court
Columbia, MD 21045
443-570-9724

NEAR: This is in the Long Reach Village Center -- north of Rte 175 off Tamar Drive.  If you're going to check it out, I suggest that you treat yourself to snack beforehand.  There is a nice takeout fried chicken place called Chick N' Friends in the pedestrian part of the center.  Get lunch or a snack, then go shop.

Vote For Zagat, Free Book In the Deal For You

The Zagat folks are looking for locals to vote on restaurants from Baltimore to Washington.  Their local rep Marty highlighted for me that they want reviews of Howard County places so that they can end up in the book.

You can end up with a book too.  If you sign in and vote, then Zagat sends you a free guide when it is published.  Click here for the voting that is open through March 4.

Questions For Wendy: Will Wegmans Babysit?

Over at the I Want The Columbia Md. Wegmans Facebook page, Julie asks the question whether the new grocery store will babysit Howard County's children:

Julie Speed PetersonAnyone know if the Columbia Wegmans will have the WKids - where you can drop off your kids for an hour while you do your shopping?

 ·  ·  · Thursday at 10:52am

I'd never even heard of WKids before.  I thought Ikea was the only company smart enough to employ child labor in the guise of "watching" your children while you shop.

It seemed like the perfect question to raise to Wendy Webster, the manager of the Columbia store slated to open in June.  Or at least to post here and then send on Twitter to @Wegmans.

What's Up At Chick 'N Pollo In Columbia?

Has anyone been able to eat at Chick 'N Pollo in the last week?

I can't get anyone on the phone over several days, and people have been leaving comments to say that the Columbia restaurant has been closed when they drove past.  I loved being able to get antichuchos and other Peruvian items -- especially the chicken and the spicy sauces.

Anyone know what's up there?

Yama Sushi -- The Secret Is Less Sauce

The Spicy Girl roll

Less is more -- at least at Yama Sushi, which has broken into my top sushi restaurants by making me plan my next trip before I have even paid the dinner bill.

The Ellicott City restaurant takes on the "big roll" style of Sushi Sono and Sushi King, and they're pulling it off.  The Yama chefs have their own style, their own flavor combinations.  Their own way of pulling off a style that calls for multiple ingredients, sauces and generally enough pizazz to be worth $12-20 per roll.

Less sauce.  More spicy options.  Those were the realizations from our last dinner at Yama Sushi.  Take the "Spicy Girl" roll -- tuna and avocado inside a roll wrapped with steamed shrimp and a kimchee sauce.  Just dabs of sauce, but it brightens the entire dish.

The Sweet Mango roll

All three restaurants serve terrific rolls.  The Yama Sushi touch is lighter than Sushi King, where the sauces are all thick and where they dominate some rolls, even some of my favorites.  Yama's rolls are a bit smaller.  The sauces range from thick to watery.  Many rolls are powered by "pepper tuna" or the kimchee sauce or even jalapeno.  You could pick a dozen rolls with no spiciness at all, but it's clear that the Yama chefs have fun with heat.

They're also really creative.  The "Sweet Mango" roll mixed tempura shrimp, mango and a sweet chili sauce.  The roll is actually wrapped in thin-sliced fruit.  They're always playing with exotic wrappers like pink soy paper, and they have more specials than I have seen elsewhere.  Check the board because some sound as good too good to miss.

Keep Hope Alive For Whole Foods In Columbia

Whole Foods released its first quarter results yesterday, and the press release announced their new leases -- none in Maryland, definitely none in Columbia.

I was bummed, but Wordbones pulled me out of the funk today by posting about unusual signs going up on the site of the Howard Hughes Building near the Columbia Mall.  That's an office building now, but it's the site that Wordbones has said is under negotiation to become a Whole Foods.

The signs -- in green and white that look like Whole Foods' colors -- say "Organic," "Natural," "Local," "Value" and other words right out of the grocers' playbook.  It certainly looks to me like a landlord showing a tenant how great the building could look converted to a grocery store, and a Howard Hughes executive released a statement to Wordbones that says in part:

“The banners attempt to demonstrate the potential for alternative uses for the building and its associated parking areas beyond simply an office use . . . 

Keep hope alive.  Read the Tales of Two cities post to see the signs and read the rest.

Fish Stock Made At Today's Catch: Frozen Stock, Piece Of Fish & You're 80% Of The Way To Dinner

Soup made easy by Today's Catch stock

Cod heads.  Today's Catch makes its own fish stock from cod heads.  I know because the owner showed me a head.  I should have snapped a photo, but it's so geeky to say "For my food blog."  I just froze up.

They freeze the fish stock too.  That's how it becomes a perfect helper for you.  Today's Catch in Columbia brings in dozens of fish, butchers out the steaks and fillets, then cooks down the heads with, presumably, some vegetables and spices.

You get convenience food based on that their work -- pints or quarts plucked from the freezer.

For two people, get a pint and a piece of white fish.  They recommended hake to me last weekend, and it worked beautifully.  I defrosted the stock in a small pot.  It has a light flavor, maybe a hint of Old Bay seasoning although I didn't taste that in the finished soup.

To make soup, I added a can of good canned tomatoes.  I poured in the juice and broke up the tomatoes with my fingers.  While that heated, I sauteed some mushrooms and onion in another pan.  I added those to the stock, along with salt and pepper.  You could do anything -- a little spinach?  Some other diced vegetables?  Another spice or herb?

Once I had soup that tasted good, I cut two three-inch slices from the thickest part of the filet.  The remainder of fish, I broke into pieces and stirred into the soup.  The two slices, I laid on top.  The pot was small enough that the soup came up several inches and just covered the fish.  I covered the pot and let everything cook until the fish was firm.

Then I made two bowls, each with a layer of vegetables and fish chunks on the bottom with the big slice on top.  I poured the broth over each.  That couldn't have been more than 30 minutes, and it tasted like hours of work.

That's the fun of a real fish market.  Today's Catch gives you really nice fish -- and you also get real advice and the benefit of real work like this housemade fish stock or the frozen clams for chowder.  This is the season for soup, so check it all out.

New Lotte Market Coming To Catonsville

The Lotte chain that already operates in Ellicott City will open a new Catonsville grocery in the space being vacated by Toys R' Us, reports Brian Conlin in the Sun.

Obviously, this is farther from Howard County than the Ellicott City store at Rte 40 and Rte 29.  But I have to admit that isn't my favorite store.  If the new Lotte were larger or more appealing, then it could attract people willing to drive an extra five or 10 minutes.  Conlin reports that Lotte hopes to open next summer.

New African-Caribbean Restaurant In Columbia: Nigerian Food, B'fast, BBQ, Sounds Interesting

New Kuramo restaurant in Columbia

It looks like a new African-Caribbean restaurant is coming to the Long Reach village center in Columbia.

There is a sign in the window advertising the Kuramo African-Caribbean restaurant.  I nosed around the Web, and I found a site that says Kuramo will offer a broad menu -- with a bunch of Nigerian dishes.  The menu on that site talks about pepper soup, efo, jollof rice, and more.

Look through the window

The site seems half-made, which makes sense for a half-built restaurant, but the photos look delicious if they're really dishes that this restaurant will serve.  They certainly look like nothing else that I have seen around here.

(Update:  People say this sign has been on that restaurant for more than a year.  That's a bummer.  I don't know the situation.  Anyone know if this will happen?)

Kuramo fills the spot that used to be the Dog House Pub & Grill.  There is a sign in another window for Os, which says "breakfast, barbeque & more."  That may be connected with a place with a similar name in Baltimore.  A broad menu with some comfort barbecue and some unique Nigerian food?  This could be good.

Anyone know details?  Background of the places?  Timeline to open?  Looking through the window, there was clearly work still to be done.  But it looks like a restaurant, not a construction site.  Are we close?

Thanks to Jesse for the tip.  David Greisman had previously reported that a Caribbean restaurant was coming to Long Reach.  Wouldn't a profile of the new owners be a great story idea?  Nigerian food in Columbia?  When are they opening, David?  When?


Kuramo Restaurant
8775 Cloudleap Court 
Columbia, MD 21045
443-570-9724

NEAR:  This is in the Long Reach Village Center -- north of Rte 175 off Tamar Drive.   There is a new supermarket coming to Long Reach called Family Market.  There is also a nice takeout fried chicken place called Chick N' Friends.

Is This The New Maiwand Kabob?

I think this is the upcoming Maiwand Kabob

Maiwand Kabob has officially announced their new location off Rte 175, and I assume this is a photo of the interior from this weekend.

This is a bay in the Columbia Crossing shopping center down down from Pier 1.  It's still construction now, but it looks like the footprint of a Maiwand Kabob -- open front, small kitchen in the left back, hallway and bathrooms in the right back.

Anyone know a timetable for the new Maiwand?  This looks a long way off, but I'm patient.  If I'm desperate for a hit, I can hustle to the Harper's Choice original for naan, kabob and mantwo.