By Lauren Cowin
Each year, the community votes in our Best Of Severna Park contest for their favorite businesses in dozens of categories. With the list in hand, I set off to try some of the winning restaurants.
Café Mezzanotte
Café Mezzanotte had a near sweep of its eligible categories this year, winning Best Overall restaurant, Best Dinner, Best Italian restaurant and Best Special Occasion restaurant, as well as runner-up for Best Seafood.
The menus change seasonally to reflect what’s being served in Italy at the time. I’m a creature of habit when it comes to Italian food: give me the pasta with the meat. My eyes went immediately to the pappardelle mignon. A combination of fresh, house made (like all of the restaurant’s pastas) wide ribbon egg noodles, seared black angus filet mignon tips, mushroom, roasted red pepper, spinach, gorgonzola and marsala wine demi-glace, my selection was one of the more popular, and it’s easy to taste why. The pappardelle mignon is the perfect choice for those diners who can’t go to an Italian restaurant without ordering pasta but also need to satisfy a steak craving.
My only regret is not saving more space for my entrée because I filled up on bread, but the olive oil with sun dried tomatoes and Italian seasonings served before my meal was impossible to resist (If I’m being honest, I don’t regret it at all).
Garry’s Grill
The beloved casual eatery in Severna Park Village took three awards this year: Best Lunch, Best Salad and Best Wait Staff, along with runner-up for Best Caterer.
My path here was obvious: go to Garry’s for lunch and order a salad! Less obvious, which one to choose. Along with the restaurant’s eight entrée salads, there are multiple “make-your-own” options. I settled on the Mexican fried chicken salad. This salad was almost too pretty to eat, but I managed to get past that, especially when I saw the much-appreciated generous portion of avocado. When this salad was placed in front of me, I didn’t think there was any way I could finish it all in one sitting, but it was too delicious to leave even a bite behind.
As for the staff, the crew at Garry’s takes the phrase “service with a smile” literally. In an era that hasn’t been easy for restaurants, I couldn’t have asked for friendlier service, and you can tell by their banter that the staff is like a family.
Park Tavern
This Park Plaza staple also scooped up a handful of awards, including Best Bar, Best Dessert and Best Kids Menu, taking runner-up in another seven categories.
Any parent of a picky eater appreciates options, and Park Tavern offers just that. I brought in my team of tiny taste testers to help me with this one. One ordered buttered noodles; the other ordered mac and cheese. As is par for the course in our household, one was finished in its entirety and the other … wasn’t. Fortunately, the mac and cheese at Park Tavern is up to adult standards, and it definitely did not go to waste.
As for the adult entrees, I did the unthinkable and tried something new: the Nashville hot chicken tacos. They had me at pickled jalapeno mayo. This dish will certainly be added to my Park Tavern rotation, in part because the large portion of three tacos covered lunch the next day, as well.
Hellas Restaurant and Lounge
Hellas is one of those places that’s been on my “to try” list ever since moving to Severna Park. When Hellas claimed the coveted prize of Best Crab Cake, it was time.
I ordered the double crab cake platter, thinking one is never enough. I’d obviously never had a Hellas crab cake and was stunned to see the crab cakes were almost as big as my hand. I will happily order this again, armed with the knowledge that one crab cake and a choice of two sides is more than enough for me.
Rita’s Italian Ice
No entrees to be had here, but as the temperatures begin to hit the ‘90s we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our winner for Best Frozen Treat. Situated right in the middle of the Severna Park Village parking lot, Rita’s serves its signature Italian Ice with a side of people watching.
On tap for our party this time around were two cotton candy Italian Ice treats, a cherry frozen drink and a peach frozen drink. We look forward to making our way through all of the flavor options this summer.
This is but a small sampling of your 2022 Best Of winners. We hope you have a chance to enjoy all of the greater Severna Park area’s dining options soon.
Best Breakfast – The Breakfast Shoppe
Best Barbecue and Best Wings – Adam’s Taphouse and Grille
Best Burger – Five Guys
Best Coffee – The Big Bean
Best Bakery/Cakes – Cakes and Confections Bakery Café
Best Pizza – Squisito Pizza and Pasta
Best Sandwich/Sub – Jenos Steaks
Best Seafood – The Point Crab House and Grill
Best Fast Food – Chick-fil-A
Best Asian – Ginza Japanese Steak & Sushi Bar
Best Mexican – Mi Pueblo II
Best Gluten-Free Menu – Sullivan’s Cove
Best Vegetarian Menu & Best Caterer – April’s Table
Best Food Truck – Wingman
Best Outside Seating – Severna Park Taphouse
Best Restaurant Outside Severna Park – Blendabowl and Two Rivers Steak & Fish House (tie)