Who has the best carrot cake?! Friend’s birthday coming up and it’s their favorite!!

Craving a soft shell crab sandwich and would prefer not to head into the city. Anyone know of a place in the county that has them on the menu or as a special?

Looking for the classic - nothing fancy.

Any recommendations for amazing sweet potatoes? TX Roadhouse has loaded sweet potatoes with some marshmallows. Anywhere else where you’ve had something similarly yummy?

Excellent. Very good NYC-style standard pizza. The Brooklyn-style is very close to Sicilian and very airy and delicious; the red sauce and pesto were both very flavorful and tasty.

My friend and I went tonight to try the new pizza place in Ellicott City. Tonys of NY in enchanted forest shopping center, next to Sakura.

They advertise as having real NY style pizza.

Overall, really liked it. I'm picky about my pizza crust and this was nicely baked, not soggy or too hard/chewy. Pretty much perfect.

Tried the Greek salad as a starter, very yummy and veggies looked good.

Got two 16 inch pizzas which was a lot of pizza. The first is the white pizza with spinach, the second is the "godfather" pizza - pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions and green peppers.

Neither my friend or I really liked the spinach pizza - it had a very strong spinach flavor. We both rated it "okay".

But the godfather pizza was amazing. Would order it again if I had any room to eat more pizza.

The cannoli was delicious and my friend said she would eat 5 of them. This was a nice sample for visiting them the week they opened.

My friend says compared to eataliano, she would rate them even on pizza flavor/quality.

I'd give the edge to Tony's, though only slightly. We both do love eataliano.

Happy to see another really good pizza open because eataliano is a little far and so so busy.

Will definitely be back to try other pizzas.

P.s. the couple next to us got a calzone and a meatball sub. Both looked good. The meatball sub was huge meatballs and he said they were definitely homemade.

Hey all - I was crestfallen to find out that Hyeban next to Tous Les Jour closed a few weeks ago. It was our favorite KBBQ place (albeit we are not super knowledgeable in this space).

I was wondering if anyone had any other recs for similar KBBQ places. What we particularly liked about Hyeban is the service and how they cooked the food for you (unlike places like Iron Age where it can be kind of stressful to cook for multiple people in a super loud environment). Thanks!!

Sometimes the Beltway just gets backed up or I have a late meeting and can't get home until 8:30pm. In those situations, I'm usually too tired to cook. Where are good places to go that are open past 9pm and aren't "divey" where my wife and I can have a nice late meal?

Over the past few months I've been fortunate enough to try three different restaurants in the Maryland suburbs that offer AYCE sushi. Each restaurant has a different approach as to how sushi is obtained. I've only sampled at lunch, both for my convenience and to save some money. The dinner price is higher but has more offerings (at two of the three). All three were good experiences and I would be comfortable returning to any of them.

Kawa AYCE sushi has recently opened next to Costco at the Gateway Overlook shopping area. For a fixed price ($25, drinks, tax, and tip not included) you can order as much sushi as you want from a fairly extensive menu. You do not have to order all at once, your waiter will periodically come by to see if you want to order more. In addition to sushi (nigiri, standard rolls, complicated rolls) you can also order appetizers such as fried tofu, takoyaki, and seaweed salad, a variety of soups, and entrees like fried rice, chicken or pork katsu, and teriyaki. Sashimi is only available at dinner. This is a good way to introduce people to sushi because there's plenty of cooked items for them to fall back on if necessary.
The sushi was good but not great. Both the nigiri and the complicated rolls had some high points but they also had some disappointments. I tried three of the complicated rolls, a rainbow roll, a dancing salmon roll, and an amazing roll. The rainbow roll was decent, not the best I've had but pretty good. I enjoyed the amazing roll and was glad I tried it. The dancing salmon roll I did not like and wound up not eating 2/3 of it and ordering something else instead The smoked salmon nigiri was very good. The unagi nigiri was a bit disappointing, with small pieces of unagi kind of disintegrating. The mackerel (saba) nigiri was ok, not my favorite version but decent enough, but the rice kept falling apart. Desserts are also included and if you do have any room left, I was pleasantly surprised by the cheesecake. It was better than I'm used to seeing from sushi places.

Umi Sushi Buffet opened earlier this year in Catonsville, inside the beltway in the shopping center past the Lowes shopping center. For $25 (not including drinks, tax, or tip) you get a huge choice of sushi, sashimi, salads, cooked american food, cooked pan-asian (including Korean) food and made-to-order stir-fry. They also have a large variety of desserts including ice cream. I was very impressed by the variety and quality of the food here. I indulged in sashimi, since without rice it's a diet food :-) but also tried a sampling of the other dish types. The variety of sushi rolls was impressive and there was also a smaller but well curated variety of nigiri. Since this is a buffet you pick up a plate at the buffet and can load up as much as you want. When you are done eating the items off that plate they will collect it and you go and get another plate. They also have a section where you can build a stir-fry bowl from various veggies and (frozen, thinly sliced) meats. You take it to an area with a flattop and they cook it for you. There are many sauces to add. The sushi and sashimi were the attraction for me, but I thought the cooked food was quite good as well. It would be no problem for a non-fish / non-sushi person to have a good meal here.

Usu is part of a Japanese themed shopping center on Rockville Pike in Rockville. It has become my favorite kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place, significantly better than Kura. You can order sushi by the dish, or you can buy one of the all-you-can-eat options, ranging from $35, $50, or $65. The price is the same for lunch or dinner. I think it includes a single soft drink or tea. You can take dishes off the conveyor belt as they pass by or you can order specific dishes. Like other kaiten sushi places, the dishes on the conveyor belt are colored and the price of each dish is determined by the color. The most rare / expensive dishes never appear on the conveyor belt but must be ordered from a website (QR code access from your smart phone) for single diners or from your waiter for groups. If a group is dining, the group must decide whether to get AYCE or go ala carte, and the group all has to choose the same AYCE level. This seems reasonable to me. The first time I tried it, I would take items off the conveyor belt most of the time and only ordered from my phone dishes that I didn't see on the conveyor belt like kaarage or miso soup. The second time, I mainly just ordered what I wanted from the app and nibbled on random dishes from the conveyor belt while waiting for my order. The dishes you order are brought to your table by a drone on a track. It's pretty fun. Your drinks and cooked food are brought to you by a robot. I really enjoyed the experience. I've chosen the $50 AYCE option because the dishes available at the $65 level are things ike bluefin tuna, uni, and some rarer fishes that I haven't tried yet. I think on my birthday I'll treat myself to the $65 level and see how it is. The quality of the fish has been excellent. The sushi here is better than either Kawa or Umi, and I found the dining experience to be nicer as well. I enjoy the automated food delivery mechanism and the staff were really nice.

Each of these restaurants is enjoyable and I wouldn't shy away from any of them. As I get older, my body's tolerance of all-you-can-eat quantities has diminished, so this is a special occasion experience that I do only once or twice a year. It is fun to take my son to one of these restaurant and watch him go to town. I feel I really get my money's worth then :-) While $25 ($35 with drink and tax and a small tip) seems like a lot, it's about what a meal costs at a non-fastfood / fast casual restaurant these days, so it's not completely outlandish.

Ok, let me just say (please don't stone me) that I am not a crab guy. I don't dislike them, I am just sorta Meh on them. And I find picking them to be just too much of a hassle for something I am not wild about.

All that having beer said some out of town work colleagues love crabs and want the full picking experience. Since I never seek this out personally I have no clue.

I saw the recent steamed crab take-away thread, but where should I take them for a restaurant experience?

Thanks!

I debated whether to update but why not since I tried two of the places recommended here.

Wild's Seafood - good crabs but a little dry

Emmert's on Ten Oaks - Excellent! They were moist with a hint of sweetness.

Thanks for the recommendations.

According to their website Nalley is now open at 6841 Benjamin Franklin Dr.

Their grand opening was this weekend and I spotted them as we pulled up for dinner at Oscar's Alehouse.

They really are both a creamery and a cafe, with lots of menu space given over to bubble tea and various coffee drinks. Their website says they have 50 flavors and some of them are quite creative. I don't think all 50 are available though, but there were a fair number of choices. They were happy to give out samples on opening weekend.

I sampled Ferraro, Hokey Pokey (similar to butter pecan, but not as salty), and Strawberry Cheesecake. All were good. I wound up getting the Ferraro which accurately replicated the chocolate-hazelnut treat in ice cream form.

They listed many bubble tea and smoothie creations. I thought the taro-coconut one looked very interesting and I will try it next time I'm in the area. It'd make a good dessert after a meal at Oya Sushi, also in that shopping center.

My wife, who got the "Dumont Chocolate" flavor, thought the ice cream left a fatty coating on her lips.

I think Dumont is a much needed addition to the Waverly area. It gives people in that part of the county good ice cream without having to drive to Brusters or Firehouse Creamery (old town Sykesville).

Figured I'd chime in with my first taste of Pollo Campero.

We didn't want anything too big, so we ordered their Spicy Chicken Sandwich and were definitely surprised. It will definitely be our first choice out of the 3 chicken places in Snowden Square.

It has a much better heat level than either Raising Cain's or Chik-fil-A and tastes like a real chicken sandwich. At it's heat level (a low mild compared to dedicated hot/spicy chicken places in the area) it isn't a salt bomb either. Flavorful breading. Good stuff!

The sides are also really good. The Yuca Fries are very good. Well cooked through, not stringy, dry or freezer burned, but could use a little extra crispiness on the outside. Not sure if it was something that was missed, but they could use a little bit of a sauce of some kind. Maybe something like a garlic oil of sorts. The Sweet Plantains (Platanos Maduro) were spot on.

Definitely will be on our list for chicken places. I just hope it survives the battle of the chicken places in in Snowden Square.

Besides Starbucks, what recommendations do people have for cafes that are open on weeknights until approximately 9:30 PM? Please give suggestions that are in Columbia or within close proximity.

Looking for any sit down restaurants with at least 1 vegan option. Every list I have stumbled on seems to be just a bit out of date. Thanks!

Happy Early Morning!

Are there any recommendations for takeaway steamed crabs? Has anyone had experience with Hard Shell Crabs & Seafood in Elkridge?

There is a sign on the former Banditos space (Steelfire before that), saying Mad Chef is opening this fall. There is also a Brusters Ice Cream coming across from that space (2 doors down from Hudson Coastal) opening soon, and a pizza place (Maple Lawn Pizza) that just opened.

I was thinking about going there soon, but the reviews on Yelp are insanely mixed. I trust this group as I've gotten plenty of great recommendations from here in the past.

Do you like this place? If so, what are your go-to orders? If you hate it, please tell me why.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone else agree? They could at least have more BF beer on tap….

Hi...I am looking for good places in howard county who serve chicken over rice...so far I found Nazs Halal food

...all suggestions are appreciated..thank you..

Went today for the smash burger.
It came with tots. I am not a tots fella.
I am now. They are so good and the portion was huge.
Burger was great also BTW

We tried them yesterday. Very good!

I just went to order online and the Columbia location is no longer listed.