Terrible place, at all three locations. If you go, just drink, don't order food.

I love Looney's. I've never had bad food there and their wings are awesome! Always huge, seasoned, and juicy. Best in the city. I live 2 blocks from the Canton location, so I go there quite a bit especially for Happy Hour or a quick meal in the evening. In my opinion, never a disappoinment.

Ouch. What was the author looking for? He visited a relatively newly opened sports bar - of course, there is going to be a few hiccups with the service. Also, lots of TVs showing sports are what I want in a sports bar. The burgers are fine, and, of course, he didn't try any of the signature offerings like the wings or seafood quesadillas. Perhaps he'd be better suited visiting fine Manhattan restaurants than a sports bar in suburban Baltimore - this patron recommends Looney's highly!

I did too try the wings!

Lame. Looney's has become a wildly successful sports bar because of good food and great atmosphere. Does the author have an agenda? I've never had bad food at any of the three locations. And, I agree with the other post - more TVs allow more sports to be shown. Then again, I'm not sure that the author has any interest in sports anyway. Perhaps "reviewing" a sports bar wasn't in their best interest anyway.

You tried the wings but had "no opinion"??? C'mon! They're some of the best wings I've ever had!

I go to Looney's in Canton for the many tv's and to drink, knowing their menu is pretty average/typical bar food. I like the Chicken Cheesteak, never really been disappointed. But I'm not taking a date there for dinner or anything. It's a sports bar, period.

Good summary EL. I've had nothign but HORRIBLE service the 3 times I tried it. And two of the times, the palce wasn;t even that busy.

I had an entree that didn't come out until the rest of our party were finished the rest of their dinners, because the staff screwed up and gave me the wrong item. So by the time everyone was finished, mine comes out. i asked the food runner if he could kmake that to go, and he gave me a long stare like "are you kidding me". He studderred like he was about to argue with me, so i said, how about just giving me a 'to-go" box. He thought for a second and his exact words: "I guess I can do that." WTF??? You "guess"?? After screwing up my order royally???

Yeah, the staff there seems to have had ZERO training. What a shame, because the original lcation in canton runs seemlessy. The affluent families in maple Lawn won;t put up with horribl;e service for very long. Although, I;ve heard the "bar" business does well on weekends, so mayb e that will be enough to get them by in a way trapze could never do.

To give credit where credit is due, this is jl's review, not EL's. :-) EL

In Sandboxland, does "anonymous" translate to "shill", "friends and family" or "flack"?

In this case, Anonymous does not = "shill", "friends and family" or "flack." I just didn't feel like filling in the other fields. Jerk.

Perhaps he'd be better suited visiting fine Manhattan restaurants

LMAO. He don't know you, do he?

I felt less like a guest than a penance that must be endured no matter what.

I think I'm in love.

Whenever I wear short sleeve shirts under long sleeve shirts under short sleeve shirts I head over to Looneys with my bros for some wings and brews and we play a little foos.

RoCK-

Don't forget your tattered baseball cap!

Opinions may vary about wings or burgers or buns or even the optimal number of televisions. But there can be no mistaking bad french fries, for which no excuse can be adequate.

Oh, and maybe some of you could try clicking on "Post" just once, please.

Overall, Looney’s gives the impression of being run by skateboarders whose parents died and left them some good recipes and five tips for serving customers … but no formal training. I felt less like a guest than a penance that must be endured no matter what. It’s a super-sized collection of hackneyed bar fads that fail to mask its juvey-detention-mess-hall ambiance. But if they got the bun right and maybe built a staff clubhouse/learning center, Looney’s could easily hover above average.

Brilliant Sir. You raising the bar too high. Damn, I have nothing written for tomorrow. Grrrrr..... Nurse, get me a Red Bull and Mezcal IV stat!

Oh, and maybe some of you could try clicking on "Post" just once, please.

On the other hand, McI, I'm seeing a lot of multiple posts (one of my own, as a matter of fact) from people who used to be able to post just once, so I think the new Insta-Post phenomenon might be involved here. If nothing else, the longer process time.

Quick sugegstion. If you are going to rave about a restaurant that others have taken to task, use any handle other than 'Anonymous.' A real name. A fictitious name. A licentious pseudonym. An abbreviation swiped from a vanity license plate. It may be unfair but 'Anonymous' reminds us of a bunny promoting breakfast cereal. You know...shilly rabbit.

MAG,
I live in Canton. Looney's is meathead central. On weekends it's packed with BSSC T-shirts. There are much better places to go in Canton.

I've been to the Looney's in Maple Lawn twice, and both times even though there were only two of us (and we ordered off the menu with no changes or substitutions) our orders were messed up. Also, both times when I asked what beers were on tap our server asked, "Uhh, you want me to bring you the list?"

The food was decent, the noise level was high, the service is clumsy. I only went twice because I thought the first time was an aberration. I hope Looney's gets its act together soon.

The problem is if I never went to back anyplace that served bad french fries once and awhile I could never eat out again. It is sad that something that should be so easy to get right is often done wrong.

A place is called "Looney's", you should be glad you escaped without being talked to death by someone receiving signals from Fomalhaut through his fillings.

Ok, now that I've had my smug moment, I should admit then whenever my friends come back home to Bel Air there is a pretty good chance that we'll all end up Looney's. It is not bad place to get a beer and watch several games at once, but it is not anything special when it comes to the food. Oh, and it is very noisy...too noisy.

The other thing I always think about when I go to the Looney's in Bel Air is that it used to be a Ponderosa.

Reviewing Looney's on a food blog just isn't fair. I didn't even know they served food! In my opinion Looney's sole purpose is for beer-fueled man-dates, I'm going tomorrow.

This seems like the start of another "controversial restaurant" post. Good job, jl.

Except that, the only way you can have too many televisions in a sports bar is that if one of them is tuned to soccer.

lab rat, if you wish to see Loony's reviewed as a bar you need to go check out Sessa's blog. Over here, it's all about the food.

BTW, The Hippo is also a great place for beer fueled man dates.

I'm just sayin...

I hate soccer. It reminds me of my dating days: a lot of flopping, too much drama, and no scoring.

I'm stunned. There's a comment on this topic, purportedly posted by me, that I did not write. I do not own a competing sports bar in Canton and have not posted mutliple bad comments about Looney's to steer people away from the place. This is serious stuff. I take my name seriously. Hopefully, the friends I've made (though never met) via Dining at Large will recognize that this nasty, spurious post isn't my style.

M.A. Gray, a few of us have had our names "borrowed" by shills. It is extremely offensive and aggravating and I don't know if there's anything we can do about it.

It's pretty bold when they steal someone's entire name including middle initial though!

If anyone has any thoughts on how to combat the shills, they would be extremely welcome. They've moved from being obnoxious to being libelous.

MAG - Even though I found Anonymous to be as obnoxious as you did, I give him (her) points for that post. It was probably funnier to me than to you, admittedly.

(We knew it wasn't you because while he(she) could steal your name, you always use your URL...he(she) couldn't fake that.)

If hacks, or anyone for that matter,starts posting under other people's names, this blog will die. No doubt about it.

Maybe we should go back to having each comment approved before it is posted.

MAG,
I thought that comment didn't sound like you. I assumed that you were being facetious, hence the sarcastic tone of my comment.

In the old days, I thought EL was able to block fake posts, since she already would have had the correct e-mail address for Mr. Gray (or other "original" poster).
With the current instant posting of comments, though, I guess it's well nigh impossible to catch fake posts before they appear online?

Yes, but let me know and I will remove them. There are drawbacks to every system. The advantage to this one is that now I don't have to quit my job because I had a nervous breakdown. EL

Michael -

The fact that you would post several times on a Wednesday, then return first thing Thursday indicates that you are likely more interested in follow up chatter and the titillation of your comments than in actually providing a single commentary and moving on. What your imposter did was essentially the same, and, is no doubt chuckling this morning that they riled you to the point where you proclaimed that you are "stunned" and that this is "serious stuff". Yep, exactly, this blog is awfully serious business.

Well, in addition to making it easier for shills to barge in here, the instant posting also takes away some of the challenge for the regulars. Part of the fun is in the calculation. And miscalculation.

On the other hand, you can now talk to each other even when I'm not at the computer. And if I don't catch a double posting or whatever when I go back and read, please let me know. EL

David in Baltimore -

"Moving on" is not what this blog is about.

MAG - I knew that wasn't you. Your writing style is much finer.

Alright, there are times when the instant posting comes in handy.

Laura Lee - I'm pretty sure David has moved on by now, having provided his single comentary and disdaining, as he does, the titillation of an ongoing exchange here.

I've always wondered about the origin of the word "titillation", by the way.

At sites like Roadfood.com, veteran users are tapped to be administrators. These users can delete posts or lock threads if necessary.

And I'm sure you think I'm going to provide you with an answer, Bucky. Merriam-Webster is my friend, now make it yours.

Too bad about the Looney's in Columbia - the one in Bel Air is great.

As I type this, I'm putting on my smoking jacket and lighting my pipe in an effort to raise my writing style to Eve's requirements.

Just kidding Eve - although I do have a smoking jacket

Robert -- my first reaction is to agree with your suggestion about approving all comments. But as this blog has grown, so has EL's workload. And it seems unfair for her to have to return to vetting all posts at the expense of the dining news and reviews we enjoy. Just because of a few obnoxious, childish buffoons. I'll admit I was royally ticked at being a victim of cyber "identity theft." But thanks to your comments -- and those of Joyce W. and Bucky -- I'm reassured that no one would mistake me for the author of that prattle.

You're absolutely right, David, I do enjoy corresponding with other dining enthusiasts through this blog -- and there's nothing wrong with it. While I'm at it, thanks to Ray Ray, Eve and the other members of our food fraternity who knew the imposter could not have been me . Whew! Got that out of my system. And now, yes, it really is time to move on.

For someone who prides himself on his writing style and likes to lob scuds at other's writing ("prattle"), your last post was an English teacher's nightmare.

"Just because of a few obnoxious, childish buffoons" shouldn't be it's own sentence.

Everyone is a legend in their own mind.

I'm hoping this instant posting isn't going to encourage people to take potshots at each other. This is a very casual format, and if you misspell words, use funky grammar, leave words or letters out, it's to be expected. Please let's not let the tone of the blog degenerate. EL

Ellen, you're not David in another life, are you? Or possibly anonymous? Whoops. Another incomplete sentence.

I withdraw --and apologize for -- my last post. I sent it before reading EL's sensible take on good-natured bloghavior.

On the other hand, when a drop-in attacks a regular... :-) EL

Legend in your own mind? Isn't that a Carly Simon song? I personally quite like the medical song she wrote about veins. Or something like that.

Joyce,since this blog is all about food why are we talking about Looney's? And I say that with no disrespect to Mr. Lindner, who I found quite amusing.

Chillax people. What the hell happened overnight?

Mgmt Rule 7: Don't make policy that punishes everyone due to the poor behavior of the few.

You know what you need? An over-written piece of maniacal childhood food-based traumedy.

lab rat -- jl's review of the food at Looney's is quite in line with his culinary preferences, as you will find if you browse through his prior Shallow Thought Wednesday topics.

Understatement of the week nomination: "Moving on" is not what this blog is about.

Ellen,
Strictly speaking, that would be "others' writing" and "in his own mind". Or hers.

It's a weird day when I feel like the most reasonable person here. Just plain weird.

Maybe it was the Looney in Looney's Pub that kicked off this whole contretemps. But Owl Meat is right (as he so often is) and the antidote to this looney-ness could be another chapter in the culinary uprbinging and acquired tastes of Thursday Thurber. It's time to get back to unreality.

Owlie, please rant! If you are the most reasonable person here, there is going to be a prosac shortage any second now.

You need a topic? How about butter pickles as a class indicator? Or the psychology of crab picking?

Hold on Lissa. A most rantastic guest post should be coming soon. I sent to it to EL. Sorry to be late with it. Oh you of all people Lissa are going to love it. The symbolic structure is right up your fjord. Yes, I work out a loose symbolic structure ahead of time. Nerd.

Fjord, eh? Sure it isn't the fnords?

You're all idiots

I know you are but what am I?

fnord? I had to look that up

I know you are but what am I?:-)

The tribe is becoming restless.

You see the fnords, Owlie? Good, good...

c'mon Joey, is that ALL you've got?

Alright Lissa, "fnord" was not in my Merriam-Webster so I had to consult Wiki#@&%^*.

Seems like this blog is nothing but fnords.

My brother-in-law is the King Of Pita.

Now all we need is some hummus

Laura Lee, you means we're all members of the Foundation for Neo-cognitive and Ontological Research and Development?

Michael A. Gray, you are indeed correct. Ellen's and David in Baltmore's posts have the same IP address. Looks like "they" are using the same computer.

That is the very first time I remember EL making a comment on her own.

Beware, she has the power to see IP addresses, you frauds.

A new power I've just discovered. :-) EL

Laura Lee, you just need to read the Illuminatus Trilogy.

I have a friend who is still horrified that I read it in a weekend.

Speaking of disappointing bars I went to the Pratt Street Ale House Tuesday before the ballgame and was completely underwhelmed. The food was typical bar food, no better than the TGI Friday's in Owings Mills, and the beer definitely lacked flavor. I had the ESB on cask, which normally is where a brew pub showcases their most distinct beers, but this was a beer for the masses not for beer lovers. They didn't have an IPA but one of my companions had what should have been a hoppy ale based on the description but it to was more like the massed produced budmillercoors. We all agreed that this was a place we would not go to again. This experience really made me miss the Capital Brewery. If the Dog Pub is two stars then this place is no more than a half.

No, we just work at the same location. Our proxy server proxies about 15,000 users here - big shop. I know David somewhat - he mentioned that he posted on this blog.

Okay I have to pull out my tech cred here. What Ellen said is total nonsense. I'm not even going to waste my time telling you why. When you get caught in a lie just walk away and don't make it worse. We are some smart mofos. Don't bother. Ridiculous

No, we just work at the same location. Our proxy server proxies about 15,000 users here - big shop. I know David somewhat - he mentioned that he posted on this blog.

Classic problem of the bad liar – too much info. Oh it's a one in 15.000 chance that we had the same IP addr but I did run into him who I hardly know and he casually mentioned that he posted in D@L you know just in case it comes up woman I hardly know.

OMG your lies are so sad. Plus your proxy server thing is crap. Ehhhh. Move along

Go research "web proxies" wherever you wish (I'm guessing Wiki would suffice for you), and come back and eat a huge plate of crow. You have no tech card to speak of - a web proxy (clustered Blue Coats in our case) allow many individuals to appear to be sourced as one public IP. This is Proxy 101 for a noob like you. Admittedly, I was having some fun with you earlier, but now it is you who is full of you know what. I love it when non-techs like you try to act like they have a clue about anything technical. Seriously, I was building FreeBSD-based Squid web proxies while you were still flipping burgers at BK. Care to expound on Firewalls and Intrusion Detection while you're at it? Next....

If there's going to be a fight over who builds a better Squid proxie, I'm going to need a lot more to drink in order to find it entertaining.

No fight about web proxies - I'm absolutely 100% correct as it is what I do every day as a Systems Engineer. Case closed - he bluffed, was called on it, and was made to look a fool. I don't roll down to knock the spatula out of Owl's hands when he's working, so I don't care for it when he tries to second guess me about my profession.

You are welcome to comment under Ellen, David in Baltmore or whatever name you choose, but, please, no more personal attacks on other commenters. EL

My, look what I missed today. It is all so...well, titillating.

Lissa -- since you are the high priestess of tech talk, can you translate the above discussions for those of us who are less immersed in the jargon?

Not my area, hmpstd, but I'll give it a shot.

Back in the 90's, we were all worried about running out of IP addresses (the unique address for each computer or device on the Internet). Businesses were also worried about their workers going to non-work websites, like CNN and Yahoo (we had a different standard of awful in those days).

The solution to both of these issues turned out to be something called a proxy server. A proxy server, through the magic of NAT (Network Address Translation) has one IP address for the external world. All traffic to any computer on the internal network goes to that IP address. The proxy server then redirects it to the appropriate internal computer, each of which has a different and unique (to that network) IP address.

Businesses (or schools, or libraries or even homes with multiple computers and a geek with too much time on their hands) can also use this proxy to block access to objectionable websites.

I'm over simplifying, and, as I said, this isn't my area of expertise, but, basically, this is how I understand proxy servers to work.

Lissa -- thanks for the explanation. Now, let's see if anybody from that 15,000-user proxy server will ever post a topic that actually discusses dining or food.

hmpstd -- when I hear squid, I think food.

Unfortunately, Laura Lee, squid is one thing, but Squid is something else (and, apparently, something that induces indigestion).

When I hear squid, I think back to being in the Navy. That's what sailors are called.

My partner ordered the fried squid at Ikaros last night. It was awesome, obviously made there, not at Sysco.

Lovely, tasty calamari...

Good grief! Last time I was in here, yall were talking about soggy french fries, now people are pining for the fjords and flinging drive by disagreements. Next thing you know someone will make a "your momma" joke and then the blog will implode. I'm going to go check another thread and hope there are fewer bunched panties up there... :p

O-kaaaay...

Now to lighten things up a bit:

Q:Speaking of sports bars: Know what a British guy does after England beats Germany in the World Cup?

A: Turns off his PlayStation 2.

Lord Marmalade, if you can rouse yourself from a morning of indolence, it seems you will be called upon to defend your national pride, to say nothing of your manhood, once again.

I will inform his Lordship. He's being anointed in frangipani oil after his rub-down.

His Lordship asks that I convey a one word reply: Ruffians.

He added that I say it dismissively with contempt. I don't know what emotocon conveys that.

Terry, you seem new. Welcome. Are you local?

TwoToedSloth, I'm still pining for the fjords.

Good one, Cleatus.

Vivian, a simple "we are not pleased" would have probably sufficed.

Contempt noted, Lord M!

Are there two Vivians? I'm confused. There seems to be one associatied with Terrier Mom and one associated with Lord Marmalade.

Speaking of Lord Twee and Fey, I wonder when he's going to come out and play.

You need to pay more attention Bonbon Girl. The is only onne Vivian. Terroir Mom wanted to borrow him for one of her pool parties. I don't share servants. I did try to wrangle an invitation for Viv and myself but no luck so far. I think I offered to trade him for Jesus temporarily, but no response on that either. You Americans really need to work on your manners.

I wonder when he's going to come out and play.

Oooooooo .... what would you like to play my HIbernian beauty? Perhaps you could teach me your bean bag game?

" I don't share servants."
LOL Lordo.
Reminds me of the Caddyshack (another sports paradigm) line by the golf caddy to Rodney Dangerfield:
"You want your driver?"
"No, he's not my type."
--And stop calling me Shirley.
...I'm here all week; try the steakfish...

Sorry for the double-post.
I'm a Mac. We instinctually double-click things to activate them...

Methinks Lord M would like that bean bag game.

So, should I eat at Looneys or not?

'this is no place for food snobs or bar snobs, and i am both. BUT......this is not a chain. These are two local guys that just are giving their clientele what they want. They were one of the first to gamble on "Canton" like them or not, they are great business men. In or outside the city. Lets give credit where credit is due.

Thanks, billy. That's a good rec.
(Another note about both Looneys and Greene Turtle--love 'em or hate 'em--is that they support local youth (b&g) lacrosse programs. They're plowing their profits into more than just framed Ravens jerseys and big screen TVs. Shrewd promotional tool? You bet. But the kids do benefit.)

I'm sure that the proprietors are also nice to their mothers and wait their turn at four-way intersections. But the point of Mr. Lindner's post was the the food was uneven in quality and the service was decidedly poor. I don't think that saying so amounts to food snobbery. .

Great photo with the story, John, BTW. It's notoriously extremely hard to photograph food qua food. Your pic ain't half bad!

photograph food qua food.

You're blowing my mind, Biggus Cleatus

"He has a wife, you know..."