Baltimore Magazine 50 Best Restaurants - Where's HoCo?

Baltimore Magazine's March 2009 issue features its first ranking of the top 50 restaurants in the area. I congratulate the staff and lead critic, Suzanne Loudermilk, for tackling the tough task of actually ranking their favorites and for writing credible, thoughtful reviews of each restaurant. I now fully recognize the challenge and sleep deprivation that task must entail.

It doesn't look like the results are posted online yet, but it's no surprise that Charleston tops the list. The Black Olive, Cinghiale, Linwood's, Oregon Grille, Woodberry Kitchen, Aldo's, Antrium 1844, Pazo and Meli round out the Top Ten. I really don't have an argument with these choices, except that I'd put Woodberry Kitchen higher, probably #2. Overall, it's a conservative list geared toward old favorites (but where's Christopher Daniel?), though there are quite a few places I look forward to trying further down the list of 50. If I were taking guests out for a night in Baltimore, this list is a definitive place to start.

You have to get toward the tail end of the article before you find a Howard County establishment, but it is after all Baltimore Magazine's list and there's a built-in bias toward the city. In all there are five Howard County representatives in the list:

#36 Iron Bridge Wine Company

#37 Aida Bistro & Wine Bar

#40 Tersiguel's

#47 Victoria Gastro Pub

#48 Jordan's Steakhouse

Again, I can't argue that these are probably the top five restaurants in the county, and all are on my list of Howard County's Best Restaurants. I could quibble with the order, putting Tersiguel's and Jordan's a bit higher, but it comes down to moods and personal taste.

One last note. I'm glad to see the rather dubiously generated reader's poll results are relegated to a small sidebar in the article. They get about as much space as they're worth. And I'm not at all bitter that I didn't win the $100 gift certificate.