Zack's Hotdogs

While exploring our new neighborhood in White Marsh (and making a side trip to Ulta and Omaha Steaks) we stumbled into a hot dog joint.

This is a tiny place tucked into the strip of White Marsh town center and offers a wide variety of hot dog goodness. The biggest bonus for this place however was the condiments table. BACON IS A CONDIMENT.

The dogs were fantastic. Dave got his usual regular with relish and mustard (and BACON) and I got a chili cheese (death for Crohn's ugh, I was so sick but it was kinda worth it) and the dogs were FAB.

Dave also got some mac and cheese for a side, which was kinda gross I'm sorry to say. It was goopy, thick and tasteless.

The staff working was incredibly friendly and the dogs were fresh and hot and very good. This place is a good pit stop for a long day of shopping. (it's also near a cold stone, so dessert isn't far away...nomnomnom)

Overall, 3 noms!

Martha and Mary's

Armed with another Groupon, we set out from Towson (did you know that AMC theaters has $5 movies if you get moving before noon? How awesome is that?) to hit up Martha and Mary's Bistro.

Pulling into the parking lot we saw a newly built restaurant complete with umbrella-ed outdoor seating. There were quite a few customers enjoying the fabulous weather outdoors munching away happily on fries, salads and sandwiches. Hopeful, we walked in.

To a disaster.

The huge LCD tv screens meant for their menu was frozen, locked on breakfast at 1:30 in the afternoon. Kids were screaming and stampeding about. The tables were jam-packed with families and we stood there hopelessly looking for any sort of lunch related menu. Finally we spotted a stack up by the cash register. We spent a few minutes looking over an expansive menu (they have everything from fried clams to pizza and sandwiches, soups, salads and tons of delicious looking desserts). Then we stepped up to the register to order.

After about 10 minutes of standing there one of the teenagers came up to take our order. Presenting her with two Groupons, we needed to divide our check. We placed our order and she asked for assistance from the manager on inputting everything to allow us the use of both Groupons. She was pleasant and friendly the whole time. We paid, she stood there. We asked for cups, she gave them to us. We got our drinks and I pointed out the obvious problem of "How will they know what food is ours and how will we know what food is ours?" So we asked, she handed us a table marker with "66" on it and the manager quipped "You're number one!". We immediately took sanctuary outside, away from all the tiny people.

Once we were in a calmer, quieter environment we started to remark on the place. It was clean (plus) the food looked really good (plus plus) the staff was friendly (plus plus plus). We also noticed that this place was in total chaos. I have to ask, how long has Martha and Mary's been open? It appeared they were on day 2 and the staff was in total disarray (also completely staffed by what appeared to be 14 year-olds except for the manager and some cooks). It did not appear that anyone really knew what they were supposed to be doing, and then add to that that the place was packed. Really packed. (In fact, we waited until after we ate and it had thinned out a little to take the pictures)

Despite all of this, our food came out very quickly and was hot and delicious. The menu is simple so you won't find elegant elaborate meals here, but it's all really good. It's inexpensive (which is probably the appeal to all of those families we saw) and it's fun. Decorated in bright colors and kid friendly-chalk menu, you can see the appeal to people with kids.

My cheeseburger sliders were wonderful. Topped with american cheese, grilled onions, pickles and ketchup and mustard on a toasted bun, the flavors went really well together. Dave got the Chicken Caesar wrap and an order of fried clams with fries. The clams were fabulous (not chewy but tender and crispy) and his wrap was excellent. Crisp lettuce, juicy chicken and tangy dressing.

I do recommend trying this place out. The menu is really good, the food is good, the staff is nice. However, go at a time where you won't be interfering with family lunch time. Like, 2:30 -4 in the afternoon. Or any day where school is happening and the kids will be there. Unless you have kids, then by all means go at any time and enjoy.

3 Noms

Dave's 2 Cents:

Infested with children, this place is. Did I step into Chuck E. Cheese by accident? Nope, no pool of plastic balls. Were the patrons annoying? yes. Was the front of the house staffed by just-turned teenagers? YES. Is the food good though? Hells Yes!

After selling over 1000++ groupons a few weeks ago, I am sure this place has been inundated with new customers and swarms of penny pinchers. With that being said, this is the only negative. The food was Fast, hot, delicious. I got a Fried Clam appetizer, piping hot, not chewy at all (chewy=freezer burn). I also ordered a Chicken Caeser wrap, which was very nicely seasoned, and not too much dressing.

All in all, this place really is great. We will be retuning again for Breakfast. Evidently this place has signature breakfast pizzas that bring people from all over. NOM NOM!!!

Stewart's Rootbeer

We are reviewing this place for these reasons:

• This old-time drive in type place is incredibly hard to find
• It's been owned by the same family for 60 years
• the same guy has been working there for over 40 years
• it's only open during the summer
• they has root beerz on tap!!!

Dave loves several things: me, dogs, Halo, naps and most importantly: hot dogs and root beer. In that order. When we drove by this place one day and saw it was open we nearly drove through the cement highway divider to get in there. Dave was so excited. They pour their root beer (or cream ale) into frosted mugs and everything is made fresh, by hand in the kitchen.

And everything is delicious. Dave devoured several corn dogs, while I face-planted into a double cheeseburger hot mess. It was heaven. The burger fell apart in my hands leaving me with mayo covered mitts and a clown-style smile of mustard and ketchup.

We highly recommend, nay, COMMAND you visit this place when they open next spring. Say hi to the friendly staff, sit back and enjoy several frosty mugs of rootbeer then raid the fridge on your way out and take home a few 4 packs of Stewarts fine beverages. Honestly, a must.

5 NOMS!

Dave's 2 Cents:

Many years ago, before I-95 came along, Route 40 used to be a booming highway. As you exit downtown Baltimore and drive East on 40, you can just imagine how grand a roadway this area was. Hotel shells line the street, which were once booming with people, after all this was the only way to Delaware and Atlantic City before 95 came along.

Out from the rubble though, stands a classic gem that has stood the test of time. Stewart's root beer. Once a prevalent franchise spread up and down the east coast, this is the last Stewart's store front in Maryland. As a matter of fact, it's the last of its kind in the Mid- Atlantic. If you want to travel inland, the Midwest has a few in northern Ohio, and the next closest one is in Camden County, New Jersey. I know that spot well, as i spent the first 10 years of my life right down the road from the "Drive in" version of Stewart's in West NJ.

The only 2 things that could make this place perfect is: 1. being open all year, and 2. being a true drive in (parking your car outside and a girl on skates rolls up to your car and takes your order).

When you walk into this place, you can just get hit with a huge feeling of nostalgia. Whether your 30, 40, 50 or 60 years old, there is a good chance you've been to a place like this during your childhood.

As you order from the front counter, you can watch through the doors, your food getting freshly made and another person reaching into the deep freeze to grab your mugs for your root beer. The root beer and diet are on tap, and the other 4-5 flavors are vended through the normal fast food dispensers.

There are also pallets of bottled flavors for you to take home with you, in all the flavors. They even allow you to mix and match flavors whether you buy a 4 pack or a crate of 6- 4packs. You can even get root beer 1 gallon barrels, filled with your favorite flavor!!!

If this diner has touched your childhood like it has mine, you definitely need to share the experience with friends and your own children. This place is worth the drive, you truly need to visit.

G&A Restaurant

G & A Restaurant
3802 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 276-9422
http://www.gandarestaurant.com/
Mon - Sat: 7 am - 7 pm ~ Sun: Closed
BEST HOTDOGS IN BALTIMORE

This came to us by way of the suggestion box once it was learned that Dave loves hotdogs. LOVES hotdogs. Apparently this place is said to have the best hotdogs around.

Apparently that is correct. They also have the best everythingwetasted around.

This place has been around since 1927 and has remained family owned the entire time. You walk into to this narrow little, easy to miss place and you're greeted by a friendly staff. Once seated, we began to pour over the laminated menus (ah, true diner style) that never leave the booths. We ordered a couple of cokes, and got down to business with the food.

I ordered a G&A club which came with turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo on three crispy toasted slices of white bread with a side of coleslaw. Dave ordered two dogs, mustard and relish, and a slider platter which had three cheeseburger sliders with ketchup and mustard and pickle and a side of fries.

The sliders hit the table first and we dug in. Holy delicious. You can tell right away these were made FRESH mere minutes before we started shoving them into our mouths. The bun was soft and the fries were fresh cut. We got a side of gravy for dippin' (something Dave was skeptical about but being from one of the fattest states in this great U.S. of A. I knew was delicious and after some coaxing from myself and our waitress he agreed to try it). I am happy to report that the gravy was salty, gooey and perfect. The combo of fry and gravy was unbelievable. Dave is now a convert.

So, now for the club sandwich. I went with an easy dish I suppose, but it looked good. It's really really hard to mess up a club sandwich. This one was great. The bread toasty and perfect (except for the one burnt slice but it was hardly noticeable and I only took note of it when the club fell apart in my hands and I saw it, then had a good laugh). The coleslaw was also pretty good, definitely carrying that "homey" taste with it.

Dave LOVED the dogs. He loved them. The look on his face when he bit into them was priceless. It was like he'd never tasted a hotdog before.

Now, I will say that this diner isn't pretty, but it's clean, and it's well broken in and that is exactly how diners should be. It's been standing for about 90 years so it has stood the test of time.

The owner himself, Andy was working the register, cooking, greeting people which was amazing to see. He took so much pride in this place you could just feel it. Our waitress apologized several times and thanked us for being "patient", even though the wait for the food was under 15 minutes and everything was so incredibly good we would have waited longer for it.

This place TOTALLY gets 5 noms. The food was amazing, the service was amazing, and we were completely and totally happy with the entire experience.

Dave's 2cents:

So as you heard, after a reader saw my bad review of Stuggys, he/she suggested G&A. When I google mapped it, I wasn't impressed with the area, the southeast area past Patterson Park, aka Little Havana.

But as I have been told MANY TIMES, if I want to live in Baltimore I got to get over these bad areas.

Walking into this place was nostalgic. I grew up in West NJ, with a diner names Geets, and my wife in Michigan named Tony's. We both sat down and looked around and felt like we were home.

The customer service was outstanding, from the BOSS, Andy greeting us at the door, to the waitress making sure we were ok every few minutes.

The food was heavenly. Yes the sliders were good, but the hotdogs were perfect. (I realize that I cannot tell you about this without you pervs giggling because I sound phallic, so here it goes...)

The hotdog's crisp skin just pops as you bit into it, as the warm hotdog innards explode in your mouth. Leaving its eater with closed eyes and a wide smile. nommmmmmmmm

ok, seriously. stop giggling.

Stuggy's

Stuggy's

809 South Broadway

Baltimore, MD 21231

Phone: 410-327-0228

http://www.stuggys.com/

Thursday - Saturday: 11am - 3am

Sunday: 11am-5pm

Knowing my husband's all-consuming love for hot dogs, when I heard about this place I figured we'd have to go sooner or later. We chose sooner. As for me, hot dogs aren't a holy grail food, but I can appreciate a good dog now and again.

First of all, I love this location. Fell's Point is one of my favorite areas of the city. I love how close and intimate all the shops are with each other, the proximity to the water, the fact that you can have a great meal and then five feet later have a great dessert/beer/drink/whatever. It rocks.

This place is tiny. There are only four stools in it and when we walked in, all four were covered in teenager. We stared hungrily at the chalkboard menu for a few minutes, I had already decided on the Motor City Coney (1/4 all beef dog covered in chili, shredded cheddar cheese and diced raw onion...just like they make 'em back home) and Dave settled on a #3, two dogs, fries and a drink.

I will apologize for not having taken pictures of our actual foods, we both had inhaled our dogs and then realized "Oh crap, the blog" so we found some photos online of their food. I will testify that what you see in these photos is what you will get at Stuggy's.

The food came fast. We requested that the Teens working boot their loitering friends and they did. We sat down to eat. I loved my dog. It was fabulous. Crohn's be damned. I ate that chili like...a person who can eat chili and not end up in blinding pain an hour later. Usually I dislike raw onion but it was excellent on this dog. The chili was plentiful, the cheese was fresh and gooey and the onions crunchy and...pungent, as onions tend to be. The stomach ache I eventually suffered through was worth it.

I ate all of Dave's fries too. These fries were very different than any others I've ever had. They were fresh cut, no doubt about it, covered in sea salt, but they tasted almost like they'd been refired as they were slightly chewy. Still a really good flavor, just odd texture.

The soda they have here is like no soda anywhere else. Boylan Soda Co. It's some fancy pants odd flavored soda (think if Jones had a fountain machine, but not as delicious). With flavors like Black Cherry, Orange Creme, and an odd tasting Root Beer, the soda selection was a tad disappointing for me. I liked the idea of the unique variety, I'm just not a fan of the "creme" variety of anything.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 noms.

Dave's 2 Cents:"I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

This place pissed me the F#*k off.

It was as if an Oscar Mayer hotdog and "Clerks" the movie had a baby and gave it up for adoption in Baltimore.

On entering this establishment with no A/C in 100 degree weather, teens behind the counter not greeting us, and the only places to sit and eat were occupied by the employee's loitering friends, my temper grew fast.

At the point where our "to go" food was handed to us in "eat in" fashion, is when i started getting snarky.

As I tried to communicate with one of the employees over the blaring Death Metal music playing overhead, I asked if all these kids were their friends. When he said yes, I requested he tell them that they need to make room for paying customers.

On the flip side: The hot dogs were awesome, some of the best I have ever had. Surprisingly they were 100% beef, which I prefer Chicken/Pork.

I would suggest that the owner possibly think about doing some random walk ins or secret shoppers, but its really not worth it for what it is, a glorified hot dog stand in a popular bar district.

I just wouldn't be surprised if you caught the employees playing roof hockey at some point during the day...