Broadway Diner – Very good

Excellent food, unbelievable selection and good price. It’s out of the way but if you have to make a run to Home Depot, this place is just across the street and is a great find. Sounds a little girly but the Greek Picnic is a great choice – Greek salad, shrimp salad with pita. Wow that’s good. Like the Double T Diner, the menu is actually too big and I just don’t think the cook can make everything on that menu well.

Hotdog Stand – Provisional Blackball

I know that this place is frequented by some of us but are you out of your mind? A hot dog stand? People, listen to me. Man was put on this earth to make choices. You can choose to bring in a simple lunch or go out and find a reasonably priced, quick lunch. Why in the world would you throw caution to the wind and dive into a hot dog of questionable temperature, age and origin? Unbelievable, it’s not like we’re on a golf course.

Raven’s Deli – Blackball

Against my better judgment as this place failed preliminary evaluations in all categories (shady exterior, low patronage, trash was trashy, barfood menu), I ventured in. The price was right but ughh, the vinyl red checkered table cloths had not been changed for years, the food was too greasy and I could go on

Five Guys – Blackball

The place has more grease than an auto shop. What the heck with the menu? Soda, fries and burgers. Do they think we are all Arthur Fonzarelli? The burgers are ok but not outstanding. The dining area is lacking as it is made up of construction workers sitting on top of other construction workers.

Helen’s Garden – Good

The atmosphere and waitstaff pushes my limits on artsy but the food is very good. I also like being able to sit next to the window and exit by walking through the same window. Salads are unique and excellent. Sandwiches are funky with no basics except for burgers which take far too long to arrive on the table.

BOP – Good

Portions are a little spindly but the price is right and selection is good. Cleanliness is very good for the overly dank Fells Point.

John Stevens – Blackball

I haven’t been here to eat in a long time but look, the grunge factor is extremely high and I just can’t see them getting off the list anytime soon. They had a New Orleans Po Boy which was pretty good but not all that.

Jimmy’s – Provisional Blackball

I have no intention of going into this greasy spoon. Patronage is weak and freaky with an exterior that screams for wash me.

JD’s Smokehouse – Probation

And I do mean that they are hanging on by a hair. Ok, now I have to reveal a painful experience which, would ordinarily have resulted in an immediate blackball. A hair, that’s right a short and curly was sitting on an onion staring up at me. Wrong people, wrong. It had to be sent back and I was an emotional wreck for the remainder of the meal. It’s painful for me to write about this experience so I am going to just cut to the positives. Geez. Good prices, good selection. Favorite pick is a turkey panini with a couple of overcooked hushpuppies, iced tea, substitute fries for a salad, sans hair

Quizno’s – Good

Similar to Rosina’s but the staff is goofier, looks like they should be in a thrash band. The owner is a little over zealous in chatting it up. Quizno’s has good grub, no doubt but their sides are suspect. The salad is spindly and leaves much to be desired. Hey, didn’t you just put that same thing on my sandwich and now you are dumping it in a bowl and calling it a salad. Somehow that feels just wrong. This place is going to get plowed over by Panera. Sell your stock now.

Rosina’s – Good (last reviewed Oct 08)

It’s pricey but very good. Seating obviously stinks as the chairs look like they are from grammar school. They have not kept up the times in piping in music or changing their menu. I haven’t seen the brothers there recently but mom is still keeping a watchful eye on the place. However, they do make a great sandwich. My favorite is the roast beef on their choice bread. They somehow managed to bake an egg into the roast beef. It’s a miracle. Mark my words that Panera is going to close the doors on this place if they don’t adjust fast!

Cladaugh’s – Blackball

Great atmosphere with wide open windows and completely crappy food. Salads were stale with leathery chicken on mine and mushy tuna on the other. Service was fine, menu appeared to be good, crowd was however on the lowside for lunch and now I know why.

Looney’s – Provisional Blackball moved to Blackball (last reviewed (Oct 08)

Zero lunch crowd but a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy a little lunch, right? The Irish guy from Du Da’s is the bartender (and apparently the #1 customer). Nice guy but very sweaty. Food, marginal to lousy and the price is not good either.

Panera (last reviewed Nov 17, 2008)

This one is easy; it’s a homerun and deserves to be at the top of the list. Great quality of food, cleanliness is high except for the Woodlawn store, price is right, menu is fantastic. To demonstrate my Nostradorkus-like powers, I have frequently commented on two things about Panera where improvement is mandatory. Firstly, their portions for those with tapeworm or big appetites will agree that it’s about half of a sandwich short of filling the belly. So, their Pick 2 menu needs to be Supersized to be Pick 3 and prices adjusted accordingly. The other area was the underpricing of their specialty salads and sandwiches. They apparently read this suggestion and have jacked up the price a bit, sorry. The best news is that one is coming to Canton. Favorite pick – Turkey artichoke with a Greek salad + broccoli cheddar soup.

Baltimore Country Club (reviewed Dec 17, 2008)

Let's just say that Baltimore's finest won't be making the black ball list in the foreseeable future and as such, has earned a new designation of "untouchable". It was a great experience from start to finish and it is pretty difficult to find something to critique but I will just the same. The only thing that really annoyed me were the Christmas decorations that were stapled into the fine woodwork of 120+ years old. People, have you seen the commercial for the 3M thing where the pull off the hook and it leaves no marks? These aren't telephone poles!
There were carolers but I think they might have been lip-syncing because they had a too good to be true quality and you could only hear them if standing directly in front. So, back to the food. Normally, I would not even begin to sanction a non-sneeze guarded buffet (pronounced boo fay) but thankfully, there was plenty of waitstaff on hand to tackle any one looking a little twitchy. I liked everything as it was excellently prepared. The quail, however, was weird for me; I felt like a giant eating a roasted chicken. Scallop and shrimp scampi over rice was the editor's pick.

Canton Dockside – Probation Blackball

This place is Victor’s with a different name. Same management staff, same cream of crab special, and same lackluster service and blah blah food. The crabcake sandwich is the only thing standing between probation and a blackball. The bar area is fine for happy hour although I would not again, eat the food.

Mista Pasta or Pasta Mista – Good

The newest addition to Canton is holding its own and offers a good menu of pizza and subs. They need a more reasonably priced side to go with the sandwich or, do I need to say it again, Panera will crush them. I like that they store the ketchup in a side fridge whereas others let it sit out all day and have the bacteria count grow exponentially. The chicken cheesesteak is good but is a little on the bland side. Their diet Coke has been out of order 2 of 3 visits and their water gets goofed up with the Hi C. Come on, get this simple thing right people. The staff is a little hype with trying to get your order the second you walk in. Are they on commission or something?

Introduction

There’s not too many things that I take as seriously as lunch. It’s a time to relieve stress from the morning, fill the tanks and get ready for a busy afternoon. You may ask yourself, well, what is a good lunch? Let me tell you because I really don’t think you know. A good lunch is measured against a few important criteria
quality of food – just about any type of food, provided that it is prepared well, will meet the quality of food standard. This category is the most heavily scrutinized and where the dreaded blackball is more frequently meted out.
service – every one talks about service but let’s be honest. Unless it really stinks, does it matter if they memorized your order or wrote it down? (This particular practice is one that can also yield a blackball if the memorization bit doesn’t work out. Write it down, please.)
price – so I’ll admit to feeling more like a tightwad during one week than others so, hmmm not sure if I can turn loose a blackball here but it will definitely steer me away if the price is too high.
cleanliness – I suppose you could argue this category is a subset of quality but I think not. If the place isn’t clean, bam! immediate blackball. No soap in the restroom? That’s right, blackball.
menu – So once again, they need to be offering something besides bar food or a painfully limited menu (5 Guys, might as well call it 3 Things). Salads, iced tea, soups, hey am I asking too much?
atmosphere – rarely comes into play but when it does, it can be painful and will warrant a discussion with the manager and failing a correction -- blackball

Enough already about the criteria, let’s briefly touch on the rating system. It’s quite simple really. If a restaurant fails miserably in any one or more categories, it is blackballed and I will not visit it again unless there is a change in ownership or formal apology to me. A restaurant can go on probation which is to say that they have screwed up badly and within the next 6 months or so, they must improve in that particular area or that’s right, blackball, absent an apology letter. A provisional blackball may also be issued if, for example, there is something that just doesn’t look right to me without the firsthand dining experience. For all the JV players out there, this is what I mean. A true sniff test of a restaurant and a practice which I employ for first time dining experiences is a perusal of the trash area. If it stinks, it stinks. Then, I move on to the front signage and overall upkeep. Hey if you can’t keep it together on the outside, the inside must be a wreck. Then, I check the patronage to see if it has an appropriate level of traffic and the quality of its patronage, e.g., lawyers usually have a good nose for lunch spots but they are too spendy; construction workers are the opposite. Lastly, a check of the menu is in order to review the selections.

The Reviews – I will keep this updated and while I appreciate input, your opinion is well, not really relevant here as I am telling you what it should be.