Glory Days Grill - NEW! Ellicott City, Maryland

Glory Days Grill of Ellicott City is the restaurant chain's new flagship store - a 2.2 million dollar restaurant employing over 150 people and seating 352 inside and another 50 people in an outside area that has cornhole games and soon to be installed firepit. The company has 22 restaurant across Maryland, Virginia, Florida and West Virginia, and another one opening soon in Edgewater, MD.

The Ellicott City location has its grand opening on Monday, July 27 but one of the Managing Partners and part owner Justin Sweet gave us a sneak peak when he invited us to dinner during a pre-opening event.










Located next to the iconic Soft Stuff ice cream in the Forest Green Center, Glory Days Grill has the feel of a sports bar/restaurant but with a couple of very unique twists - big open spaces with natural light from floor to ceiling windows, electronic gadets (more on this later), multi-screen TV's sandwiched together to play one event or up to five different sports events.

Managing Partner Justin Sweet and Thomas 

As Justin Sweet personally showed us to our seats we passed two huge rooms containing multiple flat screen TV's and seating arrangements that can be made into one big open space with the help of a movable wall. Justin told us there is NO charge for room rentals which are ideal for parties, meetings or fantasy draft events. What's really cool is that each room has a private entrance (if you don't want to go through the restaurant) and its own climate control.

The main dining room is a very open area with several different seating options - bar, booths, tables, high tops  - and one seating area in the back that has floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

We sat in the back with my mom and grandmother. Marco was our server who told us all about the cool electronic gadgets.

First, the bar area and each table has a Sports Select box. This allows customers to select any of the 54 TV in the restaurant (each has a number) and connect to THAT TV's sound system. There's also a plug if you want to listen with headphones. Forgot your headphones? No problem, you can buy it for $1.99.

Second, don't worry if your electronic device is running out of juice. Just give it to your server or bartender who will charge it for you. You'll get a white round circle disc that will light up when your charging is complete. How cool is that!!!

Glory Days Slam Dunk Margarita

Now for the food and drinks. Our Grandma Alberta ordered the Glory Days Slam Dunk Margarita. She loved it from the first sip, "one of the best she has tasted."

Thomas ordered a Virgin Pina Colada. He said it had a strong coconut taste and a creamy texture. However, he also said that he wished he had a wider straw because it would have been easier to drink.

Fried Pickles 

Chicken wings are available with 10 different sauces. We choose the Glory sauce - a unique combination of smoky barbeque sauce, pure clover honey, and authentic buffalo style hot sauce.

At first, the sauce is sweet and savory, but then a spicy

Chicken Wings with Glory sauce

sensation hits you out of no where at the end. My brother said "it
blew my mind." The juicy and tender chicken wings lathered in
this incredible sauce were some of the best wings I've had in all the four
years I've been blogging.

We've never eaten fried pickles so we decided to try it. These sliced dill pickles are batter dipped and fried until golden brown served with a savory mustard-based dipping sauce. The sauce was killer good. Our waiter Marco suggested putting the fried pickles on a sandwich or burger. Oh, yeah, we're going to try that.

Our main courses 

My mom ordered the glory glazed salmon dinner which is one of the restaurant's signature dishes. This salmon was lathered with seasme-ginger glaze and usually served with fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes. However, my mom asked for loaded mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon). She absolutely loved the salmon for its tender texture and sweet glaze. I tried a little bit of the salmon and I'd personally recommend it to all my salmon lovers out there. The loaded mashed potatoes were homemade and looked delicious but could have used more seasoning.

Side Caesar Salad

Veggie Pizza 

I ordered the Veggie Pizza - Marinara, mozzarella, red and green peppers,

 red onions and broccoli. It was the best pizza I've had since my trip to Sicily last month (posts coming about Italy). My mom thought I was crazy for ordering a pizza at a grill but I had scoped

it out on the website earlier and it looked fantastic. The pizza: crisp 

vegetables on top of sweet marinara sauce and thick dough sprinkled 

with Italian seasonings. However it was the dough that made the pizza. 

Its soft as well as thick texture reminded me of this pizza I had back in

the Sicilian city of Siracusa where the chef let the dough rise 24 hours 

before serving it to the customers. 

Maryland Crab Cake Sandwich 

Thomas eating the Chicken Cheesesteak and onion rings

Our grandmother tried the Maryland Crab Cake Sandwich. She really enjoyed the sweetness of the crab meat paired with the light Old Bay seasonings and special sauce.  It's a nice size crab sandwich that she would order again.

Thomas ordered the Chicken Cheesesteak, thinly sliced grilled chicken with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, mayo and melted cheese in a wrap. He added grilled mushrooms and peppers and onion rings instead of fries.

This wrap was tasty and jammed packed with food. In fact, the wrap was so packed that it spilled out when he bit into it. You may want to ask for extra napkins if you order this.

The oversized onion rings were crunchy on the outside with a moist, juicy onion on the inside.

Salted Vanilla Caramel Crunch Cake 

We ended the meal sharing a piece of Salted Vanilla Caramel Crunch Cake, layers of moist vanilla cake, caramel and creamy vanilla frosting with just a hint of salt. Yes, this cake was as awesome as it looks above. If you are a caramel fan like we are, you will LOVE this.

Before we left, we were introduced to Chef Tony Cochones, Glory Days food and beverage director. This guy knows food. He told us about his home garden and how he takes great pride in using seasonally fresh ingredients in his own cooking. He brings this philosophy and his passion for food to Glory Days, and it shows.

He also told us about the weekly dine in specials such as the $5.99 Classic Burgers on Mondays and
the.$9.99 Friday Fish Fry.

Chef Tony Cochones, Director of Food and Beverage 

Glory Days will be a huge hit in Howard County. You'll hear people talking about it. Definitely go and try it.

- Charles

Celebrating Cuba in Washington, D.C.

For the first time in over 54 years, the Cuban flag is waving at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., a result of diplomatic relations being restored between the U.S. and the Island nation. Read about it here. 

 While the Cuban flag might be a new addition to the Washington, D.C. landscape, Cuban food is not. 

In fact, the years of chilly relations between the two countries haven't put a dent in the love Washingtonians have for Cuban food. This is evident in several popular Cuban restaurants in and around the Nation's Capitol. 

To celebrate this momentous event, we are reposting our reviews of two Cuban restaurants. In addition, we've made a list of other Cuban restaurants to try.

Cubano's 

This Silver Spring, Maryland establishment often makes the top restaurant lists for its authentic Cuban cuisine. Click here to check out our 2013 blog post about Cubano's

Cuba de Ayer restaurant 

Read our post about Cuba de Ayer restaurant  here.  Since our 2013 review, the restaurant has almost doubled in size taking over a next door store and expanding its seating capacity.

Here's a few more Cuban restaurants to choose from:

In Washington, D.C. -

• Cuba Libre 
• Mi Cuba Cafe - listed in Zagat for nation's "Best Cuban Sandwich" 
• Sophie's Cuban 

• Habana Village
• Banana Cafe & Piano Bar

In Maryland - 

• Cuban Corner Restaurant

Buen Provecho!  And don't forget to let us know if you dine at any of these restaurants.

- Charles

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 !!!!!!!!!

Happy Hour - Cheesecake Factory Cheap Eats

Did you know about The Cheesecake Factory's happy hour special menu available weekdays from 4-6 p.m? That's right, happy hour isn't limited to just adults anymore.

On the happy hour menu, The Cheesecake Factory serves up a great deal on appetizers and small plates. It really is a great buy considering many of these dishes are half off, around the $5-$7 range, or more. However, you have to sit at the bar or the high top tables to receive the special.

Since the large menu might make it difficult to narrow down what to order, Charles and I came up with some of our favorite happy hour dishes below:

I ordered the picco di gallo, salsa, and green onions on the side. 

 Factory Nachos, why are you so tasty? There's just something about the crisp tortilla chips covered with melted cheeses, guacamole, sour cream, jalapeños, green onions and salsa that always makes me hungry. And if you don't come hungry, you will be taking back leftovers. Besides the large portion, the tortilla chips are thick and smooth so the cheese can easily coat the surface, but durable enough to endure an onslaught of toppings without braking.

 On our last visit, we tried the Fried Macaroni and Cheese- crispy crumb coated macaroni and cheese balls served over a creamy marinara sauce. They may look soft and chewy from the outside but prepare for a crunchy texture saturated in fried goodness. My friend Arman likes to take these balls and put them in between the roadside slider buns - an interesting combo to try.


The Roadside Sliders include bite-sized burgers on mini-buns served with grilled onions, pickles and ketchup (with a side of fries for extra money).













   I appreciated the fairly large amounts of pickles and lettuce on the side. The only true beef that I have with this meal is that there should be a little more beef.

Even if the half price appetizers aren't enough, which I doubt, you can always indulge yourself with their wide variety of cheesecakes.

-Thomas

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

Nora's Kabob Mediterranean Grill - Ellicott City, MD

My classmate and friend Arman recommend that I try Nora's Kabob  because the food is similar to the Persian cuisine that he and his family make at home.

The restaurant is small, about four to five tables. I'd suggest you reserve a table or dine at a non-busy time to avoid a wait. Arman and I went on a Wednesday for dinner so we were fine.

I think its pretty cool that they have a banner that says "hello" in just about every language, way cool. 

For appetizers, Arman and I decided to split the "Coconut Shrimp" -  five jumbo coconut shrimps served with sweet & spicy sauce.

The shrimp was slightly crunchy on the outside but delicate to the bite. Be prepared for a potent coconut taste. I was surprised that I really enjoyed it in tandem with the sweet and spicy sauce.

I ordered the "Beef Shish Kabob" ($15.99), marinated chunks of filet mignon charbroiled over an open flame. For my complementary sides, I selected half of a greek salad and half basmati rice. The portions at Nora's are not large for a hungry teenager like me, but the quality of the food somewhat compensated for the small size entrees. There were only five filet mignon pieces on my skewer - all juicy, succulent, moist, and fork-tender - but I really wanted more for the price. Unfortunately, I left hungry.





The greek salad and rice were nothing outstanding. But I will say I liked the greek salad so much more than the rice, as the rice was bland. Next time, I will order just a full greek salad and not half rice and half salad.






Arman chose the "Nora's Soltani 1" ($17.99), which is a "Barg Kabob" (strips of filet mignon) and a "Khoobideh Kabob" (ground beef & lamb). He decided to have just basmati rice as his side and ordered an extra skewer of lamb ($8.99). He praised the grilled meat as well seasoned and tender. Also, he was enamored with the grilled vegetables that he likened to his mother's cooking. While there was more than enough food to satiate his hunger (in fact he took some home), Arman was displeased that the extra lamb skewer costs almost $9. On a previous visit, Arman ordered an extra skewer during the lunch service. He remembers the price being $3. Now, he knows the price is much higher at dinner. A lesson learned too late.

In the future, I would like to try Nora's Kabob at lunch time for their lunch specials ($9.25).

Let me know your favorite lunch dishes at Nora's.

- Thomas