Ellicott City, Columbia, Hanover Best Eats

[jerseygirldawn]

Hi,

I discovered Chowhound while I was in CA. a few months ago. I spend half the year there and half in Ellicott City. The Los Angeles boards gave terrific sugestions and I was able to enjoy many new places. I was hoping to find the same here. So far I have not been really impressed by restaurants nearby. I hardly cook and would love suggestions for both quick casual hole in the walls to nicer places. Please when you reply make sure you tell me what kind of food and where. I would love to find a nearby Shwerma place, chinese....... WHATEVER. :)

My go to place for food right now is Pasta Blitz. I believe it is off of Snowden. It is in the center with The Good Egg. I like their bolognese sauce and pizza. Kinda sick of eating there though. So please help!!!

[chowsearch]

Can anyone recommend Stella Notte by Lotte Plaza? Looked cute, new wood pizza oven.

[ivysmom]

I never get their name right, but yes, we've eaten there a couple times and have not been disappointed. I woudn't call it an exceptional, special occasion place, but more like a place where you go to relax, unwind, and have a decent, neighborhood rest
aurant-type meal. Service is good, atmosphere good, food pretty darn good. Give it a try!

[vivinator]

Catonsville by EC has a small main street
I'd try Chef Paolino's for Pizza
I read the Sicilian is good but didn't have that

there are other catonsvill eplaces worth checking out as well

from reading reviews people seem to love Catonsville Gourmet for seafood

[vivinator]

just noticed i posted the wrong links to great sage
here's the right one
http://www.great-sage.com/
glad you'll be back at coal fire

[Jason1]

I haven't been there for a year or so, but in the past every time I ate there, I thought that the pizza was a waste of a nice wood burning pizza oven. It's not only not special, it's not very good. Other than the food, I liked the place, though.

[4X4]

I used to like Ellicott Mills and La Palapa when I worked in Columbia. I haven't been to either place in years.

[BaltoPhilFood]

If you want Chinese, search the boards for Grace Garden. You won't be disappointed :)

[Jason1]

How about Maiwand Kabob, Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro (depending on what you are looking for - high quality but not overly authentic), Sushi King/Sushi Sono, An Loi/Pho Dat Trahn for Vietnamese, Mango Grove for vegetarian Indian, Bangkok Garden for Thai, El Nayar for hole in the wall eat-in Mexican, Lily's Market for hole-in the wall take out Mexican, El Azteca for sit down Tex-Mex style. The Fortune Star buffett is a personal guilty pleasure...I know the food quality is terrible but love the variety.

[HowChowBlog]

These suggestions are all terrific. Those are all great places to eat. If you go to the Pasta Blitz on Rte 108, then you're right across the street from Victoria Gastropub (burgers, other good food) and right down the street from Coal Fire Pizza (pizza, sandwiches).

I also recommend Bangkok Delight near Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro for Thai, House of India on Snowden for Indian, and Iron Bridge Wine Co. on Rte 108 for really interesting small plates. Also consider Caezar's Restaurant in Elkridge for Persian food and the Hickory Ridge Grill in Columbia for a gyro (almost shwerma!).

You should also scan some of the old posts like these:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/620209
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/569649
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/529472
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/489632

[jerseygirldawn]

Thank you all for all these wonderful suggestions! I plan to try all of them. So far I have given Victorias and Coal Fire a try. We LOVED Victorias. We got those cheese gravy fries and a french dip. For dessert we had a coconut bread pudding. Everything was delicious!
Coal Fire was a nice change. I discovered I am not crazy about the pizza. I prefer Pasta Blitz pizza. The cheese steak though was awesome. It was great to have another option though. We will be back.
Please keep all the suggestions coming.

[HowChowBlog]

At the takeout end, consider fried chicken at Chick N' Friends or tacos at Lily's Mexican Market. They're both in Columbia.

And Elizabeth Large reviewed Bistro Blanc in today's Sun. She says it is worth the drive from Baltimore. So it sounds worth the drive from E.C.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertain...