2 Restaurants that i have tried

I know, I know , I have not been going to my famed list of restaurants. However, I have tried new ones. The first is La Promesa on 123 York Road and the second is the Grilled Cheese & company.
La Promesa is just that the promise. Its different from Chiptole in the way of the serving line and the other types of meat and veggies that it offers. You could get steak, shrimp and fish tacos , burritos, quesidillas from there. There is also rice milk and other things that Chiptole does not offer.

The Grilled Chesse and Company (on old edmonson ave in Catonsville, like La Promesa, its the first of many. So, franchises should be popping up soon. If you cant tell by the name its main food is grilled cheese sandwiches. The hitch is that they have different ingredients, and meats beat the cheese bread. My favorite along with others is the crabby melt. Although, i ordered the santorini and my friend ordered the crabby melt, I still got a taste. We also ordered their shoe string fries and sweet potato fries.
Pros:
Great addition to an American favorite, you can ordered the a veggie style or one with meat or crab and they offer soups like tomato.With the La promesa, there was more variety than Chitpole and the prices were about the same. They also have a big screen tv hanging from the ceiling.
COn: greasy, I really mean greasy and with the french fries. I was not feeling so well. For la promesa, the space is decorated sparsely so , I guess no big deal. its more of a carryout atompshere.


pro

I needed this

I went from work straight to Teavolve.... I really needed to wind down and relax. You know how it is on those high pressured Fridays. Anyways, the atmosphere at Teavolve can be best described as warm, even the bathroom has a shade of white that someone would put in their bedroom. While its warm its also very concrete. Cold looking floors , the supporting beam as a urban chalkboard.. All things a tea shop would have with a mix of somethings different.
The pros: The food, different takes on pizza, the sangria and small plates. I thought all the stuff that they had on the menu would be stuff i would eat at a friends house. Not only was it familiar but it had a twist.For example, my greek pizza had whole cooked olives and the chicken wings were made with cayenne and blue cheese. All the unique but good.
2. They have live bands and although they dont advertise the band .. they ones that do come are good.
3, Its not all about tea.. even though the sangria was tea infused. I am coming back for their brunch which has waffles and its on Saturday and Sunday. Hmm, you guys I love carbs.
The waitress: very nice and very attentive... I mean she was there and not there...

Con:
The night i went the band felt like they were doing a recital and wasn't prepared but that wasn't the restaurant fault.
What you need at a happy hour is people and unfortunately people was not what they had for the first few hours. it made you wonder why no one else was there.
Even though there wasn't alot of people the food was slow but it was ok.. first time, you go to a place , you want to soak in the decor.

This was just a pit stop to Ra sushi which I absolutely adore! its crowded, has great sushi, happy hour prices on Sunday at 9 and on Friday 4-7. This place kinda ruins it for others if you are looking for an experience like this one.


Anyways, on to the next.
E

Tonight is Teavolve

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am headed toward Teavolve as a new happy hour spot. To relax and then hit up Ra Sushi for dinner. This is also the time where I will be adding pictures to my blog. I hope you guys are as excited as I am.
Good Eating, E

My Happy Mother's Day

Sunday, I woke up early.. I had no milk,fruit or bacon.. so I knew I had to take my mom to out to eat..I really couldn't decide between Helen's Garden or Ms. Shirley's .. I mean both of their names sound like someplace you would take your mother. But because it was 9 in the morning and we had my cutie pie nephew we decided to eat at Ms. Shirley's. After waiting 45 minutes shoulder to shoulder with other children, grandchildren and husbands who obviously had the same idea I did, we sat down in heaven. The decor was simple,dark wood floors, white walls , with splashes of orange. the waiting area had a flat screen television letting you know about a special or spaghetti eddies. This restaurant is not like others who while having a great decor you would would have to match that in dress. No, this place makes you feel like you are in a local diner, so you can feel comfortable in jeans or in your church outfit.
I came here because it was on my list and I had been pining over this spot since ooh 2006. I mean I would pass by it on Pratt Street, I would look at the menu on line or I would see it in the City paper or some Baltimore paper and I would think I want to go there.mmm .. food calling my name in my Homer Simpson voice. So, this is a spot I enjoyed waiting on. Anyways, the sitting at the time was a little cramped but that was probably because of the hodgepodge of groups that were celebrating dear old mom. In a time like this I had a chance to see the menu and decide what I wanted to have . I would suggest that anyone who goes to a popular restaurant or a restaurant on major holiday do this. It really cuts down on waiting on food and it gets you in and out. i hate going places and seeing other people eat while I wait a whole additional hour for my food.
Oh,the food. My mom order the Ms. Shirley's at the Oscars and blueberry pancakes, I ordered a new summer menu item called summer garden omelet with a side order of blueberry pancakes. If you are not someone who can pack away food, I wouldn't suggest your order as much as I did. I mean I took it home and so did my mom and we still didnt eat again till a couple of hours later. The pancakes were fluffy with gigantic blueberries in them. The syrup comes in miniature pitchers so you may have to ask for more. The drinks are like every other place , however these people had mint juleps. I have been told that it isn't the best drink but it was OK, I liked the sugar crystal stirrer. To me the restaurant was worth the wait and the 77 dollars I spent on my mom. Judging by the wait and seeing people standing outside waiting in line the next Sunday for Ms. Shirley's on Pratt, I guess others would agree. Next restaurant here we come! see ya guys

22

Those who know me would know why I picked the number 22 but picking these twenty two were so hard. It took me an hour to decide what the first restaurants I would try and review. One of my friends said you don't want a blog filled with Chiptole and Burger King. Well, that would not be a problem since I am more adventurous than that and obviously the person doesn't really know me. Below are my sweet and hopefully tasty 22. I wanted to pick a mix of restaurants that I never been before, maybe saw on my way ,picked from a blog or heard friends talk about. Its very hard when you love food but you don't have enough time and people are sometimes skittish with trying something new with you.These are not going to be reviewed in the order listed So.. let's eat..haha
1. Ms. Shirley's
2. Teavolve
3. Donna's
4.Gertude
5.Helen's Garden
6.Meli American Bistro
7.Miguel's Cocina and Catina
8. Centro Tapas Bar
9.Kyodi Rotating Sushi bar
10. Kyro
11.Langerman's
12.Clemintine
13.Catonsville Gourmet
14.Thai Landing
15.Linwoods
16.Salt
17. Porter's Pub and Grille
18.The Speakeasy Saloon
19.Joe Squared Pizza
20.Cafe Spice
21.Tambers
22.Indigma Indian Restaurant
I want to try new things this year. So, maybe my next 22 will have African , Vietnamese,Colombian,Korean,Russian.On top of this great news ..Baltimore Restaurant 2010 is returning for the summer.If you want to suggest anything..Leave a comment
Good Eating,
E

2-0

It seems these days Americans including myself are drinking away our calories and are in search for something both new and refreshing. One thing I don't do and many will see this - I DO NOT DO low calorie but I am into trying new these days and this time it seems as if I am two and zero when it comes to new things. With these new experiences I have this thing that most animals have when they eat something bad and its called taste aversion. Like Blue Moon Cafe which I will most likely never try again, I found a new product that well wasn't refreshing and yummy. It is called O Water and the O stands for OhMyGod this is nasty.Just kidding , I dont know what the O stands for but you can go to the website and find out at www.owater.com. It has no sugar, no sodium, no fructose corn syrup and no juice. Its just purified water , natural flavoring and electrolytes. On the label they have athletes who drink the water and a little snippet on how great the athlete(s) and water are.I love room temp water but this one I had to promptly put it in the fridge. It has a sharp aftertaste and a zing but when chilled.. it tasted like it had a mediciney aftertaste which my taste buds got use to but still the flavoring kind of stays on your tongue. This water kind of taste like Aquafina flavored added waters. While drinking this, I was thinking does a little no or low calorie sweetener really make a big difference and if someone wants to drink something like this would it not be cheaper to go to the sink and fill up a water bottle and squeeze either lemon or juice a fruit into the bottle ? I know the producers and creators of this O water -are praying you don't think that or are at least too lazy to do it.
This brings me to a point .. when you are hot , sweaty and thirsty after working out do you really care what goes down the pipe? You would probably drink cold mouse pee as long as it quenches your thirst and is not half of your daily value in sugar.
So, here are the pros : easy to get.. I went to Giants and I think they will deliver. Secondly, nice product labels. Thirdly, its fat free but isn't water from the spring or sink fat free and unsweetened. Con: its not the best tasting , Sobe and Vitamin Water taste better and since you are such an athlete does 30 calories really count?!

First Post , First Brunch

My name is Ericca and I love to eat. The whole experience of getting together , getting dressed and eating has been and always will be an experience and expression of love for me. I don't know if that's good or bad but I love putting food in my mouth. The love for food has caused me the write this blog ..Soo.. let's get started.
I usually like researching the potential spots before I go and I like company so on my trips I bring someone along.This time I went to the Blue Moon Cafe on Aliceanna St in Fells Point. Can someone scream over hyped and overrated. Lets go through everything that did not go well and then I will end it with something good. First, the wait is over one hour and not because it was delicious as the Baltimore City Paper claims but because they have only 8 tables. Secondly, the food is average something you could expect out of a diner on 695 or at Double T diner in Catonsville . My pancakes were hard and tasted as if they were nuked in the microwave twice before arrival and the scramble egg looked like every bit of one medium egg . The Cap n crunch french toast was not bad but if you are looking for restaurant portions then look somewhere else. Thirdly,the customer service ends when your tip is handed over, so if you drop something or they mistakenly picked up your belongings then either count it lost or get another table involve for sympathy. Oh, and please dont expect there to be any assistance with the furniture which is falling apart. Now.. the good part.. the walls are a nice shade of periwinkle and the food comes out quick when you order it. This being my first brunch spot, I was really looking forward to trying something new.. Maybe next post I will go for an old standby.