Shake Shack - Columbia, Maryland

Today, I was invited to a complimentary preview meal at Shake Shack, the newest restaurant at the Mall in Columbia. Located in the corner space formerly occupied by Champs, Shake Shack officially opens on Wednesday, December 20 at 11 a.m.  

The American eatery, known for its burgers and shakes, held this private event to introduce their menu to the community and as a fundraiser for Howard County's Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center: a nonprofit organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention programs and shelter and assistance for the homeless.

I met Grassroots board members
Wanda King (middle) and Carol Ann Smith (right)

 festive holiday lights above the ordering station

Shake Shack started in New York City as a Madison Square Park hot dog cart. As news spread about the cart, its popularity grew. In 2004, the company opened a permanent kiosk in the park and continued to expand its presence and menu. Today, there are over 150 restaurants worldwide - including the Columbia location.

The first thing that caught my eye when I walked into the Columbia store was the clean, industrial feel. With its high ceilings, stainless steel signage and floor to ceiling windows, the restaurant has a hip and modern vibe.

Visitors can view the menu on oversized menu boards located perpendicular to the order counter. Expect to find traditional burger joint items - five burger choices including a vegetarian option (portobello mushroom), a chicken sandwich, three hot dog choices and an array of shakes and frozen custards treats.

High ceiling and open space 

I ordered the ShackStack burger (cheeseburger and a ’shroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato, and shacksauce), crinkle cut french fries, and the salted caramel milkshake.

My mom ordered a ShackBurger (cheeseburger topped with tomato, lettuce, and shacksauce) and the Pie Oh My (vanilla custard atop a seasonal pie).

Shack Stack 

The Shack Stackburger is a combo of the 'shroom burger (a crisp-fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses) and a cheeseburger.

This burger has a lot going on. You can see from the picture how the cheese oozes on the patty and, when in tandem with the melted cheese from the portobello mushroom, provides a distinct gooey ecstasy of flavor that we all crave in our cheeseburgers. Even though the burger was a little messy due to the cheeses (the wrapping helped assuage this), rest assured that this burger is not greasy.

ShackBurger

My mother ordered the restaurant's staple item - the ShackBurger (but without cheese). It is similar to the Shack Stack except less ingredients. This is a classic. The simple taste of 100% all natural angus beef patty with salt, pepper and shack sauce (a mix of pickle brine, tomato, and mayo that is similar to a chipotle mayo) is perfection. The shack sauce makes this burger for me.

Fries

The fries were a hit with me and mom. Moderately salted, incredibly soft on the inside with a slight (cannot stress how minute this is) crisp on the exterior, and cooked to golden brown. Best part, I can taste the natural potato flavor and not grease. These are the true epitome of fantastic fries; I might even come back just for fries.

Apple Pie Oh My with custard

The Pie Oh My dessert, a seasonal pie topped with vanilla custard, was suggested by the cashier. My mom loves apple pie but was not crazy about this one. It was way more dough than apple by a 3:1 ratio. To make matters worse, the dough was hard to break with a spoon. The custard, likewise, was thick but not heavy on the vanilla flavor.

Salted caramel shake

The salted caramel shake was a knockout with me and my mom. The flavor was intense, equal parts salty and caramel with hints of other spices that we couldn't figure out, but just made it fantastic.

Me with Shack Shack area director Jon Parsonnet

Shake Shack is a great addition to the Howard County restaurant scene. Anyone hankering for American comfort food, this is your place. In addition, the store location next to the AMC movie theatre makes it a great pre or post movie meal.

Bravo Shake Shack for partnering with Grassroots to help our community.


- Thomas

Famous Dave's new menu item - Columbia, MD

Famous Dave's restaurant is known for its barbecue, but can a new menu item gain just as much popularity? Famous Dave’s just added fried chicken to the menu courtesy of a homemade recipe from none other than the restaurant's owner Dave Anderson.




The entrée will be sold at select Famous Dave’s locations in Maryland every Sunday from November 15th through January 31st. I was invited to the Columbia, Maryland Famous Dave's for a taste.

Chicken wing and breast meat with corn bread muffin and 
garlic red-skin mashed potatoes

The new entree deal includes two choices: a fried half chicken dinner (four pieces of chicken served with one side and a corn bread muffin) for $9.99 or a fried chicken-n-meat combo (fried chicken paired with your choice of one meat, corn-on-the-cob, choice of two sides and a corn bread muffin) for $16.29.

I took my mom with me to the tasting. We both received a piece of fried chicken, a corn bread muffin, and two sides. The fried chicken was crispy, but not as crispy or oily like the fried chicken made at KFC or Popeyes.

It reminded me more of a homemade recipe. The seasoning was interesting- slightly peppery that packed a mild kick after a couple of bites. At first, it caught me off guard but with my big glass of cold water it worked out perfectly.






While Famous Dave's has an eclectic variety of sauces to douse on any entree ranging in spiciness from rich & sassy to devil's spit and everything in between, if the fried chicken's peppery undertone isn't enough to spice up your meal, the restaurant has you covered with three new sauces: white BBQ, buffalo with honey (mild), and Wilbur’s revenge with honey (hot).

Chicken thigh with a corn bread muffin and sweet corn

The corn bread muffin was just amazing - warm, sweet, buttery melt-in-your-mouth goodness. My mother and I are so enamored with this sweet muffin that we will be purchasing some via carry out for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Wilbur beans and potato salad

For our sides, we decided to try four different items - the Wilbur beans, potato salad, sweet corn, and garlic red-skin mashed potatoes. If I had to pick just one (like in the "fried half chicken dinner"), I would go with the sweet corn or the mashed potatoes. While I enjoyed the beans, mash and corn, we weren't crazy about the potato salad as the dressing was a little bland.

Thomas and the Columbia, Maryland Famous Dave's manager. He's a really cool guy who made us feel like family

Although we were invited to taste the new fried chicken, the manager offered us a taste of the famous ribs. I couldn't resist. 

Yes, the ribs tasted just as good as they look above. Finger licking, packed full of tender meat, good. Fried chicken and ribs -what a classic combo. I was a happy man. 

I'd definitely give the new fried chicken a try. Let us know how you liked it. 

Thanks for the invite Famous Dave's!!!!

-Thomas Regnante

FREE Food Alert

For the 2015 season, the Baltimore Orioles have teamed up with Chick-fil-A to create 
"O's Day at Chick-fil-A Baltimore"

This promotion during the regular season allows Orioles fans on six select dates to  wear their Orioles team apparel or orange clothing to a participating Baltimore Chick-fil-A restaurant and receive a FREE original chicken sandwich. 

Tomorrow, July 27 between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. is the third O's Day. The next is Monday, August 31 and the last one is September 28. 


Orioles fans may receive one sandwich per day on any of the six select promotion dates.  

- The 2 Dudes 
   Charles and Thomas

FREE Food Alert - Chipotle

Chipotle is giving away approximately $91,000 in FREE FOOD 

in its Friend or Faux Sweepstakes.

   You could be one of the lucky -

50 Grand Prize winners (52 Dinner for Two cards valued at $1,300)

100 First Prize winners (a catered Chipotle party for 20 valued at $260) 

Although you must enter to win between July 21 and August 31, there's no required purchase or entry fee.

PLUS....

Just by entering the Sweeptstakes you get a Buy-One-Get-One "BOGO" coupon for a FREE Chipotle item valued up to $10 (while supplies last).




Here's how to enter: 

• Go to Chipotle Friend or Faux website at www.chipotle.com/friendorfaux and participate in a quiz
• After taking the quiz, provide your first and last name and cell phone number 
• By completing the quiz, you will receive one entry and a BOGO coupon (while supplies last). Only the coupon will be delivered to the phone number you provide. Entries are not acknowledged or confirmed. 

Opportunity for another entry:

Get one more chance to WIN by sharing the Sweepstakes information on Twitter or Facebook.

• Twitter - Tweet #friendorfauxsweepstakes on a public account

• Facebook - Share the Sweepstakes link: http://chipotle.com/friendorfaux

There's a maximum of two entries per person. One entry plus an additional entry using either Twitter or Facebook. The Winners will be notified by phone, text or email.

- Thomas

!!!!!!!!  Good Luck !!!!!!!!!

The Trolley Stop - Ellicott City, MD

My friends Jack (left), me, and Ivan (right)

The Trolley Stop is a historic tavern in historic Ellicott City that has been in service since 1833 (one of  the oldest restaurant I've dined in).

You might ask why it is named the Trolley Stop? In 1889 through 1955, the trolley #14 and #9 cars stopped right outside the second floor of the building.

In this flyer above, you can see
how the trolley stopped on the second floor

My friend Ivan has been telling me about this place for the longest time. So Ivan, my friend Jack, and I decided to finally give the Trolley Stop a try for lunch.

Keep in mind this is an historic property and it feels like it has lots of stories to tell. Pictures and photos hanging on the walls document the timeline of the tavern. It's a cozy place with rustic feel. Noting fancy or new.

This picture doesn't come close to showing how big this platter was

For an appetizer, we all split the Trolley Chicken Wings. It really wasn't an appetizer, it was more like a full meal. The wings were savory and sweet and doused in a light honey bbq sauce (aka their "special wing sauce").

I was especially pleased with the generous amount of celery we were given since many restaurants don't give you enough in my opinion.

Classic Club 

The service was extra fast. In fact, as we were eating the last wings we were served our main courses.

Jack and I ordered the Classic Club with fries - turkey breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. The entree could barely fit on the plate (in the photo you can't even see the two large pickles that are hidden under the humongous sandwich and fries).

While the sandwich wasn't he best I've ever eaten, it was tasty and the large size made up for any shortcomings. However, the crisp bacon was absolutely perfect on this delicate stack. My friend Jack agreed, and added "the sandwich wasn't the best I've ever had, sometimes it fell apart, but the Tavern atmosphere more than made up for it."

Crab Melt 

Ivan selected the Crab Melt - crab cake topped with tomato, melted swiss cheese served on a fresh baguette.

This was another ginormous sandwich - and we are perpetually hungry teenagers saying this. He liked how the gooey texture of the cheese covered the slightly crisp and lumpy crab cakes. It was super tasty. However the potato salad, that looked great, was nothing special.

I'm definitively going to try the Crab Melt next time at The Trolley Stop.

Oh yeah, did I say how big the melt is?

Turkey Reuben

Later that day, my parents decided to go to The Trolley Stop  for lunch based on my recommendation. They split an order of the Turkey Reuben with fries - grilled with sauerkraut, swiss cheese,and 1,000 island dressing served on rye bread.

They also commented on the huge size of the sandwiches making it easy to spilt. It was packed with thinly sliced turkey and creamy Thousand Island sauce that wasn't spilling out like some dressing do in a melt. They really liked the bread. It was toasty, warm and crisp with a lovely buttery taste.

The large entrees at the Trolley Stop are enough to satiate a teenager's cravings.

The lunch and dinner menu has so many choices -  hot or cold sandwiches, wraps, salads, burgers, pastas, soups - really there's something for everyone. They also serve breakfast.

Just remember, whatever you order, that the portions are crazy big. In fact, I didn't even have breakfast the day I went to The Trolley Stop and I was full. My friends couldn't finish all their food and took some home.

- Thomas

FREE Food alert - Nando's PERi-PERi Baltimore restaurants

Harbor East location just opened recently 

Nando's PERi-PERi restaurants -- famous for its Portuguese flame-grilled, butterfly‑cut chicken, which is marinated for 24-hours before being basted and cooked in Nando’s famous PERi-PERi sauce -- is hosting a
a #NandosDash on Wednesday, June 17 at it's Baltimore Street and Harbor East locations.







That means between 5 and 8 pm this Wednesday, June 17, Nando's is GIVING AWAY a 1/4 chicken, chicken sandwich, wrap, OR pita to each of their fans, on a first-come-first-served basis.

The deal is offered for eat-in only. DASH there early as there are only a limited number of seats available during the offer.

Harbor East 

Remember #NandosDash is ONLY available on June 17, 2015, between 5and 8pm at Nando's PERi-PERi Harbor East located at 1300 Fleet Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, and Nando's PERi-PERi Baltimore Street located at 421 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201.

Bring money if you want to add any sides or drinks to your free chicken as they are not included in the give away promotion.

What are you waiting for? Get ready to #NandosDash for a free taste of Portuguese flame-grilled chicken.

- The 2 Dudes