This year, more than 26,500 people voted for their favorites in 47 categories, demonstrating that it’s a great time to be a food lover in Howard County.
Editor’s note: Winners and honorable mentions were determined by popular vote. Readers were invited to nominate and vote online from March to April.
Ambience: Cured | 18th & 21st (tie) and
The Iron Bridge Wine Co. (tie)
Bakery: Decadent, a Coffee and Dessert Bar
Roggenart European Bakery, Bistro & Bakery
Touche Touchet Bakery and Pastry Shoppe
Cured restaurant in Columbia, won best ambiance, bar food, cocktail, happy hour, live entertainment, lunch, take out of towners. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
10980 Grantchester Way, Suite 110, Columbia, 667-786-7111, cured1821.com
When asked about what makes sister restaurants Cured and 18th & 21st special, managing partner Vince Culotta doesn’t point to a single item on the menu, though yes, everyone does love the Philly cheesesteak egg rolls and the smoked Old Fashioneds at Cured. But he thinks of moments, whether it’s from the live performances at 18th & 21st, a Prohibition-era supper club, or the time he brought a diner an extra order of special sauce — the man was so grateful he walked across the restaurant to shake Culotta’s hand. “It’s all about the details. Details are what get people to go, ‘Wow.’” That’s what makes Cured and 18th & 21st two of Howard County’s favorite places for a night out.
Of course, offering great service through the pandemic and ongoing labor shortage has been a challenge. “The last two years, without putting too fine a point on it, they’ve sucked,” Culotta said. But he sees reason to be hopeful. “We made it through the worst of the pandemic.” The past few months, customers have packed both restaurants, ready for a good time after more than two years of so much that hasn’t been fun. “At the end of the day, this is what I love doing.”
Walker’s Tap & Table
Bartender: Cat Reed, Hudson Coastal
Meredith Wilson, The White Oak Tavern
Jose Gomez, The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Beer list: The White Oak Tavern
Owners Steve and Rob Wecker pose at Iron Bridge Wine Company where they have a large selection of the over 300 bottles. The brothers' restaurant was voted Howard magazine, best restaurant (ambiance, best overall, fine dining, wine list and steak). (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun)
10435 MD-108, Columbia, 410-997-3456, ironbridgewines.com
Wine-driven, the place may be — the walls are stacked with bottles — but don’t discount the grub. Take the signature steak, a 16-ounce slab dubbed by readers as the best around. Or the seared duck breast with a blackberry glaze. Or the catch of the day, which is so popular that it’s listed on the menu as “fish of the moment.”
“We defy classic dining rules,” said Rob Wecker who, with his brother, Steve, opened Iron Bridge 19 years ago. “It’s like dining in the middle of a wine store. It’s warm, cozy and casual. We want people to feel comfortable here, whether they are wearing a tuxedo or a track suit.”
Most produce hails from local farms, and pork comes from a farm across the road. The wines, 400 in all, are an international lot, some bearing whimsical names like “Hit The Rhone, Jack” and “How Merlot Can You Go?”
Routinely, Iron Bridge trots out unique medleys, such as a pork belly-and-watermelon salad, and a grilled Caesar salad made of grilled greens, Spanish anchovies and Parmesan crisps. All in a pastoral setting, if you deign to look past the walls of spirits to the rolling hills outside.
“The view is great,” said Wecker. “Of course, you’re surrounded by wine, which is serene in and of itself.”
Black-owned restaurant: Althea’s Almost Famous - I love this Jerk
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Burger: The White Oak Tavern
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Walker’s Tap & Table
Executive Chef Corey Laub poses at Iron Bridge Wine Company, where he was voted best chef in Howard Magazine's Best Restaurants readers' poll. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun)
He was a political science major in college when he took a job in a restaurant kitchen. Two days later, having found his calling, Corey Laub quit school. Now, at 31, having sharpened his skills (and knives) at high-end eateries in Baltimore, Washington and Chicago, Laub has settled in at Iron Bridge, whose menu changes every 90 days.
“My passion is appraising different flavors to try something new,” said Laub, a Columbia native. “I want people to step out of their comfort zones [elk tenderloin, squid gazpacho] without scaring them away.”
Iron Bridge co-owner Rob Wecker marvels at Laub’s marriage of food and wine.
“He has a deft hand with everything from scallops to soft crabs,” said Wecker, “and he’s one of the few chefs that I trust with a pork chop.”
Vince Bellofatto, The White Oak Tavern
Sylvia Choi, Cured | 18th & 21st
Chad Wells, Walker’s Tap & Table
Cocktail: Cured | 18th & 21st
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Coffee: Decadent, a Coffee and Dessert Bar
Roggenart European Bakery, Bistro & Cafe
Deli: Mikey & Mel’s Deli
Delivery: Papa John’s Pizza
Dessert: Decadent, a Coffee and Dessert Bar
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Fine dining: The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Food truck: Taqueria Los Primos
Frozen treats: Soft Stuff Ice Cream
Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard
Happy hour: Cured | 18th & 21st
Red Bird Bar & Grille (tie)
Walker’s Tap & Table (tie)
Royal Taj restaurant in Columbia won in the best restaurant category for best Indian food. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
8335 Benson Drive, Columbia, 410-381-1111, royaltajmd.com
With a gold and white dining room modeled after Versailles, Royal Taj provides an elegant backdrop to sample Punjab specialties like Tandoori chicken marinated overnight.
The restaurant, which opened in 2008, doesn’t have an Instagram page and don’t post specials on Facebook. “We stay very low-key,” said owner Binda Singh. Instead, more customers tend to find out about the restaurant through word-of-mouth. And once they come the first time, odds are good they’ll come again and again. “We treat our guests like family,” he said, working hard to ensure that people who might come in a bad mood leave with a new outlook on life.
The setting could get even more inviting with the upcoming completion of a patio with three fire pits that will allow guests to dine al fresco year round, something Singh said has become even more popular during the pandemic. Singh also is looking to open a wedding venue soon. Coming to Royal Taj may feel like the utmost in relaxation for diners, but don’t expect to see Singh taking time off. A self-described “workaholic,” he says he’s gone 24 years without a vacation.
Italian: Tino’s Italian Bistro
Facci Wood Fire Pizza Wine Bar of Maple Lawn
Galliano Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar
Aida Bistro & Wine Bar
Sakura Japanese Steak, Seafood House & Sushi Bar
Late-night dining: Honey Pig Restaurant
The Iron Bridge Wine Co,
La Palapa Grill & Cantina
Sardi’s Pollo A La Brasa
Live entertainment: Cured | 18th & 21st
Lunch: Cured | 18th & 21st
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Walker’s Tap & Table
Sara and Tim Richards in the lounge of Red Bird Bar and Grille, best new restaurant. They opened the restaurant in late December 2021. June 1, 2022. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun )
3800 Ten Oaks Rd, Glenelg, 443-419-5188, redbirdbarandgrille.com
Exciting comfort food. That oxymoron describes the fare at this neighborhood rendezvous, which has rooted itself in the Glenelg community, and beyond, since it opened last August. Here, one finds juicy pork chops topped with candied bacon; beef-and-bean chili with deep-fried cornbread; and the signature Red Bird Burger, a plump favorite cloaked in Cheddar cheese, pickled onions and tomato-bacon jam. Plus a choice of 16 beer taps to wash down the spicier entrees like voodoo pasta (shrimp, blackened chicken and capicola with Asiago cheese in a Cajun cream sauce.)
A jazz duo plays during Sunday brunch, and a pooch-friendly patio awaits those with pets.
Casual and colorful, the Red Bird Bar and Grille isn’t all that new, decorated with vestiges of beloved but long-gone local hangouts. The tables came from Cacao Lane Restaurant; the booths, from the Diamondback Tavern; the wall hangings, from the Crab Shanty. That nostalgic vibe permeates both the food and the familiarity of the place, as owners Tim and Sara Richards routinely greet patrons with a cordial, table-hopping how-de-do.
“Feedback is a gift,” Sara Richards said. While customer comments run the gamut, one seems to rule the roost at Red Bird, her husband said:
“The three words I love to hear are, ‘We’ll be back.’ "
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Walker’s Tap & Table
Place to take out-of-towners: Cured |18th and 21st
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Place to take the kids: EC Diner
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews
Walker’s Tap & Table
Brad and Tricia Hudson, owners of Hudson Coastal, with Eastern Shore Crab Cakes. The restaurant is winner of best seafood, outdoor dining, healthy menu and crab cake. May 25, 2022. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun )
11811 W Market Place, Fulton, 240-280-8640, hudsoncoastal.com
It sits 150 miles from the beach, but patrons of this popular family restaurant say the fish tastes like it was just hooked off the pier at Ocean City. Three to six fresh, pan-seared offerings pepper the menu daily — from salmon and black bass to rainbow trout and flounder — and big-screen monitors overhead post timely changes to the lineup, so as not to disappoint.
Seafood dominates, even in items where you’d least expect it. There are crabby fries, seafood burgers and shellfish risotto; a smoked salmon BLT, shrimp tacos and a crab Cobb salad. The coastal lasagna is a tasty mesh of fish, shrimp, crab, calamari and homemade ricotta, drenched in a white wine sauce. Even the drinks get into the act, with a “Big Oyster Hammerhead” draft on tap — though bartender Cat Reed’s go-to is the spicy pineapple margarita.
“It’s a fun atmosphere here,” Reed said. “When you love what you do, it makes coming to work so much easier.”
The décor fits the food: a blue-and-white nautical theme, adorned with oyster cans, turquoise bar stools and photos of Ocean City and the Outer Banks. Large seaside umbrellas top the 14 tables outside. All that’s missing here is sand.
“It’s like a beach house without bedrooms,” said Brad Hudson who, with his wife Tricia, opened the place in 2016. “It has been a good run, so far.”
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Nicki Schaefer, won for "best server," poses at Iron Bridge Wine Company, which won several categories in the Howard best restaurants readers’ poll. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun)
Here’s what Nicki Schaefer brings to the table: an unerring ability to connect with patrons, anticipate their needs and hover without being intrusive.
“She creates memorable moments with her guests,” Iron Bridge co-owner Rob Wecker said. Plus, her grasp of wine pairings is first-rate.
“Never let people feel that you’re busy,” said Schaefer, 24, who attended Mount Hebron High. “Whether you have one table or 100, your guests shouldn’t feel any different.”
Amy Hanna, Red Bird Bar & Grille
Scott Anderson, The White Oak Tavern
Nina Martucci, Tino’s Bistro
Sports bar: Looney’s Pub
Kelsey’s Restaurant, Irish Pub & Banquet Room
The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille
Steak: The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
GrillMarx Columbia Steakhouse & Raw Bar
Takeout: Tino’s Italian Bistro
Interior view of Dok Khao Thai Eatery for Howard Magazine Best Restaurants. May 31, 2022. (Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun)
6000 Merriweather Drive, Suite B155, Columbia, 410-997-8899, dokkhao.com/columbia
When in distress, “many people go to exercise, go to yoga,” said Porntipa Pattanamekar, owner of Dok Khao Thai Eatery in Columbia. For her, eating is the cure. People have suffered immensely during the pandemic, she says, and “I want to heal them with food. I cook what my mom cooked for me.”
Looking at photos of her homeland of Chumphon, near Phuket in Thailand, it’s hard to imagine leaving its bright turquoise waters, pristine white beaches and lush greenery. Growing up there, Pattanamekar’s life revolved around food. Her family ran a seafood operation and she woke up in the morning to the smell of coffee and pastries that her mother had prepared for fishermen as they set out for the day’s catches. In Columbia, she has recreated a slice of her homeland on Merriweather Drive, a sumptuously-decorated oasis that serves an array of Thai specialties as well as coffee and desserts. The décor offers a contrast to the spicy dishes, says the owner, pointing out that her homeland is the spiciest region of Thailand.
Opened in August 2021, this marks the second location for Dok Khao; the first is in Woodbridge, but Pattanamekar owns a total of seven different restaurants in the region. It wasn’t her initial plan: she graduated from George Washington University with a master’s degree in engineering, but says her family supported her when she decided to pivot to follow her passion. On one condition, her mother said: “You sell real food.” It’s an order Pattanamekar has gladly followed.
Value: Cured | 18th & 21st
Aida Bistro & Wine Bar
The Turn House restaurant in Columbia was voted best patio and best view as it overlooks the Hobbit's Glen golf course. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)
11130 Willow Bottom Drive, Columbia, 410-740-2096, theturnhouse.com
Thomas Zippelli’s cooking career started at age 5, when he began helping his Sicilian grandmother prepare spaghetti and meatballs. By 5th grade, he was hooked on Food Network shows like Emeril and sending his parents to the grocery store for ingredients he needed to prepare family dinners on his own.
Perhaps, then, it’s fitting that even after working in some of the world’s most famous kitchens, including The French Laundry in Napa Valley, the Howard County native decided to return home, opening a restaurant in the Columbia location that was formerly the Coho Grill. In the six years that have passed since he opened the Turn House, which overlooks the Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club, he’s forged relationships with local farmers while crafting a fresh and seasonal menu for Columbia diners. “I think that we have a good approachable menu that changes all the time. We serve hot soup when it’s cold and cold soup when it’s hot.” Readers love the view, and a recently-expanded outdoor patio.
The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Wine list: The Iron Bridge Wine Co.
Aida Bistro & Wine Bar