Stuckey's. Try the pecan log.

If you are thinking of meeting in Chesapeake City, you may wish to try either The Yacht Club Restaurant or the Chesapeake Inn Restaurant. A Google search will yield the restaurants' web sites. The Bayard House is better known, but overpriced and overrated.

Woody's Crab House in NorthEast. No water view. It's on the right hand side as you enter the town from Rt 40. Nothing exotic except the Carolina Shrimp Burger. Great in house made OldBay potato chips.

Upscale-years ago I remember the Port Deposit Inn was nice. Not sure if it is around anymore.

It's been a while since I've been there, but I've had some good meals at Steak and Main in North East. I'm not sure how much on their menu, however, is under $15 for dinner.

Under $15 I'd go with the Nauti Goose or Woody's. They're also both in North East. Nauti Goose will give you a view of the North East River, and Woody's will give you a view of Route 272.

Oh...Nauti Goose, I should have put that on the interesting restaurant names list. Sounds like a place Lord Marmalade would go when he's slumin it.

I've had good luck and McGregors in Havre de Grace

While I've had good luck and McGregors in Harve de Grace, I meant good luck atMcGregors in Harve de Grace.

jl, do you wish to revise your statement any further?

In addition to those mentioned previously in North East, Pier One (at our only light on downtown Main Street (good Italian and great crab cakes) and a new Italian (Main Place) on the opposite corner--not a spaghetti only place but one with wonderful sauces/seafood/pasta combination. We live and eat here....the two I mentioned are our favorites.

So, jl, how was McGregor? You two have a good time?

Havre de Grace is in Harford County, but very near Cecil. If you're willing to spill over into this neck of the woods, Laurrapin Grille is great.

My family meets cousins from Philly once a month at The Yacht Club Restaurant. And, since my parents moved to Harford County, Laurrapin Grille has also become a favorite.

We love The Wellwood in Charlestown - great food, great service, and right on the water in lovely, historic Charlestown. We go every Wednesday night for 1/2 price burger night. Very good food for great prices.

As an eastern shore native, I must add, "upscale" and "cecil county" are mutually exclusive.

I don't wish to derail, but as a non-native, where does the eastern shore begin? Is Cecil County part of it?

The Eastern Shore? Locate the Chesapeake Bay on a map. The land east of that is the Eastern Shore. One of those counties is named for Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore.

Yes, Cecil County is part of it!

The Eastern Shore is technically Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties.

On your way to Ocean City, you only pass through a handful of these counties.

Thanks, Sam. It looks like the bay ends around North East, but it could be Elkton, and maybe one could make an argument for where that big bridge is?

Looking at a map, it looks like Cecil County would be both Central and Eastern Shore.

It probably looks clearer if you grew up here. Can I interest anyone in a discussion of where the thumb is?

EL, I 100% agree with Skewed Tomato about the larripan Grill in havre de grace. HDG is basically on the border of Cecil County and is simply fabulous. Some of the best food you can find, and reasonably priced as well.

Even if you don't choose this place to take your NJ friends, you should seriously consider doing a review of it at some point. I've been a handful of times and it's never disappointed.

Lissa -- the Chesapeake Bay starts (or ends, depending on your perspective) at Havre de Grace. Above that point, the Susquehanna River counts as the dividing line between the Eastern Shore and Western Shore. All of Cecil County counts as part of the Eastern Shore because it lies east of the Susquehanna.

Sarcasm sure is overrated

So, hmpstd, the big scary bridge is the dividing line? Thanks. That and Sam's explanation helped. I drove through there a week ago, and was wondering when I was back to central MD.

Others have said that the Eastern Shore begins (or ends, if you're heading north) at the Chesapeake & Delaware (C&D) Canal (Chesapeake City).

Port Deposit has several small restaurants Joe's Grog House is the newest and is reasonable.

Chesapeake City also has the Chesapeake Inn which has indoor and outside eating. Neat town also has breakfast lunch at the Bohemia Cafe.

North East has new Italian restaurant on corner of Main and Cecil. Excellent food.

Carryout crabs at Crab Shack in Chesapeake City or Captain Chris's below North East on 272. Has outdoor eating on manmade beach.

Having worked in Cecil County for years, I would say it is a unique place. It has a lot of different cultures.

In the northern part of the county there is big, horse money in places like Fair Hill from families like the DuPonts. But also in the north are places like Conowingo that could easily be mistaken for southern Appalachia.

The middle part of the county is rather suburban, but the west side associates with Baltimore, while the east side aligns itself with Wilmington and Philly.

The southern part of the county is most like the eastern shore. It is rural with an emphasis on the bay, but even here you'll see some unique things like a substantial Amish community.

Oh, and as to Sam's comment about Cecil County not being upscale, there are quite a few restaurants that would counter that statement. Some have mentioned the Bayard House in Chesapeake City, but another top restaurant is the Fair Hill Inn. I would say that Cecil County has more upscale restaurants than Harford County has.

I would say that Cecil County has more upscale restaurants than Harford County has.

Sounds like faint praise to me. :-)

The Bayard House in Chesapeake City is FABULOUS. The Chesapeake Inn has terrible service and the food is mediocre. Plus- I got food poisoning there once.

North East - The Main Place for Italian, Paradise Grille or Highborne Cafe for casual/sandwich style fare; Nauti Goose, Woody's, Steak on Main all good choices for a bit more high brow; Pickled Herring for cocktails and pub fare and fun; if you are looking around Chesapeake City, oft overlooked is Bohemia Cafe, great German potato salad and unique Austrian offerings, if you are looking casual; Rising Sun has Buck's and Riviera Maya for great Mexican food; Charlestown's Wellwood is great for seafood and other selections and the River Shack is open for steamed crabs; Port Deposit you have the Susky River Grille, Union Hotel (not in the $15 range), CM Tugs for a wide variety, and Back Fin Blues, not $15 range but, wow, what a menu. The Grist Mill in Perryville is great and Ercole's pizza has great pasta too, Chesapeake Food Works in Perryville Outlets is great on the go for soup and sandwich, and since the Visitor's Center is located there you can pick up a lot of fliers and brochures for other venues. Lengthy list but options abound.

The River Shack, in Charlestown, is our favorite. Great crabs, fried chicken, and a swordfish cheese steak, of all things.

Quality and service gone downhill at Naughty Goose.

I have frequented this restaraunt and highly recommended this restaraunt for many, many years. I even worked there while in high school and loved the atmosphere and food.

Took my mom there for a birthday dinner this week. After viewing the new and recently changed 3x menu I noticed higher prices and less selection. It was disapointing to also note the increase $$ for the all you can eat seafood buffet from 24.99 to 29.00. So I walked up the bar and noticed less selection and were were not offered the usual all you can eat clams w/butter. My sister ordered the buffett and went to sample the fruit salad. Another patron was waving the fruit and she noticed he was waving at fruit flies that had landed on the fruit. My sister noted this to the waitress who was nice enough to bring a cup of fruit from the kitchen and the fruit flies were left to eat their meal.

We did arrive at 6:00 p.m. which I thought was early enough for fresh items to be brought out to the bar, the corn was tough and after waiting 10 minutes or so for new, it was brought out to our table and had been in the freezer and nuked. We discovered the corn to be frozen in the middle. So after waiting and waiting, we ordered my mother a piece of carrot cake. Unfortunately it was dry and had a chemical taste to the icing.

My sister, who had ordered the seafood bar, wanted to discuss her experience with the manager. Several wait staff had informed us the manager had been recently fired. So, they went to get the cook who was acting as manager. I could'nt believe how things were going.

The cook listened for a minute and said "what exactly do you want?" We noted again what she experienced with the buffet and he noted that we are next to the water and flies are expected. He has fed 160 people today and no one complained. He just didn't have any skill level to accept a customer complaint and help the situation. Then he became more agitated when I kept explaining about the situation and said I wouldn't let him speak.

I could tell he wasn't budging a $1 so I matter of factly said forget it, just keep your attitude and any service you would offer to a customer that received this type of response to a valid complaint. I left so disappointed of his response, but what can you say, he was just the cook, not even a chef.

In end, I will never visit this restaraunt ever again and will not recommend it either to anyone.

What a shame.

My husband and I ate dinner at JOES CROG HOUSE in Port Deposit MD, and I have to say the entrees were not very good at all. First of all my husband got chicken Enchiladas and we have NEVER seen them with so much cheese and it looked like cheddar cheese they were disgusting and he was very bloated and uncomfortable after he tried to eat a little more than half and the price was a lot compared the Don Pablo's where the Enchiladas' are wonderful and made the right way with a white sauce not disgusting thick yellow cheese. Also the chicken looked more like pulled pork then chicken. Another thing I got the Chicken Fajita and they were brought out to me without even a plate to eat them on but the waitress did get me one when I requested it. They were ok but it would have been better if they came with Guacamole and sauce they were too plain. Also the fly problem was an issue to we had a fly land on our food at least 2 times which is disgusting and last but not least the price for the Fajitas of 14.99 was to high also. And today I have had diarrhea all morning so far and I am sure it was from the meal. Regardless to say we will not be coming back if we want get Mexican food we will go to Don Pablo's from now on where the food is great and so are the prices.

Just on the other side of the Sassafras river is Kent County, and there you can see some of the best sunsets on the Eastern shore...some may say east coast.
But try the Kitty Knight House, it is good food and it's also a bed and breakfast.It has a beautiful view of the river.