Top Ten Places to Take the Visiting Parents/In-Laws
(Kenneth K. Lam/Sun Photographer)
Unless your parents or in-laws are the exception, they are going to want certain things in a restaurant besides good food.
It should be a place that's comfortable (no tiny tables too close together or hard little chairs), the noise level should be acceptable to older ears, and the wait staff should have a minimum of piercings and tattoos.
These are the places where you impress them by showing you are willing to put on a jacket or even a tie (OK, in this weather maybe that's not realistic, but anyway no jeans) and act like a grown up.
What do you get out of it? Maybe a better meal than you might otherwise be able to afford, and definitely brownie points.
Here's the list. Mather is right on with his suggestion of Patrick's in Cockeysville, and for some reason it slipped my mind, but I won't include it in my actual list since I just reviewed it.
Other suggestions welcome: ...
* Best place for traditional tastes:The Peppermill (1301 York Road) in Lutherville. The cuisine is Maryland comfort food and it's affordable. The staff is attentive. And your parents won't feel old here by any means.
* Restaurant for adults who want more imaginative food: Christopher Daniel in Timonium. The dining rooms are pleasant and comfortable, but definitely not as stylish as the New American cuisine.
* Classic example of an Old Baltimore restaurant: Sunset in Glen Burnie. We don't have Haussner's anymore, so this is the next best thing.
* Best place if they're looking for seafood (the sky's the limit): Oceanaire Seafood Room in Harbor East. The menu boasts 25 different varieties of fish.
* Best place for seafood (economy version): "Tuesdays with Gertie" at Gertrude's in the BMA. You can get $10 dinners of salmon or catfish and $12 dinners of crab cakes, crab imperial or fried oysters.
* Best choice for ethnic cuisine: The Ambassador Dining Room in Homewood. There may be other ethnic restaurants in the city that are quieter, better looking and more comfortable than this one, but I can't think of any. The cuisine is Indian.
* Best Italian: Of course there are several places in Little Italy that would fit the bill, but that was a previous Top Ten Tuesday. How about Cafe Troia in Towson?
* Best place for brunch: The hotel buffet brunches are out; they involve too much getting up and down. My vote would be for the Oregon Grille in Cockeysville. Brunch is expensive, but not as expensive as dinner.
* Steak lovers choice: You know all the chain steak houses, and you're going to get good beef at them, but if you take the parents to Jordan's Steakhouse in Ellicott City, you can wander around the historic town afterwards.
* Prettiest dining room: Brightons in the InterContinental Harbor Court Hotel. I'd go there for afternoon tea, offered on Fridays and Saturdays.
Comments
It looks like only 4 of these are actually in Baltimore City (versus the surrounding suburbs). When people come to visit me, I want to keep them in the city. Top 10 to keep them in the city should also probably include Charleston (imaginative food - price no object), and perhaps Golden West or Ze Mean Bean (brunch). What would make other people's Top 10 CITY list?
Posted by: Chicky | July 10, 2007 9:16 AM
I've actually seen hard to impress parents/in-laws be taken to Charleston, especially if they are paying for it, not that its the main reason to take them there :) It's interesting you mentioned Jordan's Steakhouse in Ellicott City, since I've seen quite a bit of parent-older children combo tables there as well. Also for those on the budget the buffet at Phillips Seafood will certainly sit well for mom & pop.
Posted by: Eric | July 10, 2007 11:46 AM
I agree with Chicky. I'm disappointed that so few of these restaurants are in Baltimore City. When out-of-towners come to visit I want to show off a restaurant in Charm City not in some generic suburb like Glen Burnie or Lutherville. The lack of Baltimore City restaurants included here is either testimony to the shortage of quality eateries in town or to the Sun being less and less a city-oriented paper and focusing more on the surrounding counties, both of which are probably true.
Posted by: Amy | July 10, 2007 12:34 PM
I'm just glad to see Cafe Hon is missing from the list. Can't stand that place.
Posted by: Lauren | July 10, 2007 12:49 PM
Places to take the parents/in-laws is way too broad a topic. 25 years ago this topic may have made sense. Older americans were more likely to be set in the ways and not wanting to try anything too exotic. You would take the parents to place like Steak and Ale or the Peppermill.
I don't think it is as easy to say this is a place for parents today. When my mother-in-law from Chicago comes into town we go to Petit Louis. If my parents from Bel Air come down for the day, we may end up at the Mount Washington Tavern. Now, I've taken my parents to Petit Louis, but I would probably never take my mother-in-law to the Tavern.
I do know, however, that I wouldn't take any of them to places like Golden West or the Ambassador.
Posted by: Robert | July 10, 2007 12:53 PM
I no longer live in MD, having forsaken my native state for AZ. However, when I visit, I like to take guests to Cafe Bretton, 849 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd in Severna Park. The setting is something like a French farmhouse, and the meal, while not inexpensive, is elegant to the taste. And they grow herbs in the back yard.
The meal, service and setting are always a hit with my guests, especially with those who would be of the "in-law" age range.
Posted by: Walter Hill | July 10, 2007 2:12 PM
Good list, and I learned of places I hadn't heard about, but I agree with previous comments. I live in the city, and even if I didn't, when someone visits, I'm taking them to a restaurant in the city. I have nothing against Cockeysville and Lutherville and Towson, really, but I don't have any particular love for them, either.
Posted by: Guy | July 10, 2007 2:32 PM
I agree w the others...no burbs!! Here are a few of my recs......Kali's court, Lousianna, Charleston, Oceanaire, Sotto Sopra, Tio Pepe, Petit Louis, Corks, Gertrudes, Brightons....
Posted by: terri | July 10, 2007 10:33 PM
I would add the Carlyle Club to this list. It's run by the same people who run the Ambassador, but the cuisine is accessible Middle Eastern. We've taken older friends there and even though they had never eaten hummus before, they loved it all.
Posted by: Darlene | July 11, 2007 3:17 PM
Ditto the keep-my-money-in-the-city sentiment.
I love Petit Louis, but it is so ungodly loud that I only go at off hours when there is some hope of having a conversation. My parents/in-laws wouldn't be able to enjoy the meal because of the noise.
Posted by: Debbie Jones | May 5, 2008 9:48 PM