M&S Grill has the 'everything bread' (think everything bagel) from stone mill

OOH good bread at blue hill?? I am going there on friday for dinner! Can't wait to try it out.

Meli has an excellent bread and butter basket.

Woodberry Kitchen!

Atwater's, Brewer's Art, and Soup's On. To me, good butter/dipping oil is as important as good bread.

I know it is a chain, but, I have always enjoyed the onion bread/loaf that is served at Morton's. Also, though it is in DC, Georgia Brown has some of the best corn bread around.

We always enjoyed Chiapparelli's bread, the Outback Steakhouse pumpernickel and Carabba's with the dipping oil.

I've always found the bread at Petit Louis lacking.

It is a rather hearty boule that never changes. Why can't they mix it up with a baguette or something else from time to time.

It's Atwater's whole wheat sourdough. And while I love the bread, I agree I would prefer traditional baguette there just for the French bistro experience. (I always eat it all, though.) EL

Oh man...let's be honest - Macaroni Grill has the best bread of all time.

Saute in canton had delicious bread when we were there a week or two ago. I believe it had olives in it (to go along with the olive oil on the table)

I used to live in a town where some nicer restaurants used to serve a basket with a variety of options, including cinnamon rolls. Not usually what you wanted before dinner, but tasty and generous nevertheless.

I agree about Woodberry. The Charleston has great cornbread.

I was in Philly last weekend to run a race, and the Fountain restaurant in the Four Seasons had an excellent bread basket.

I think hotels are often at an advantage in this regard, don't you? They have in-house bakers for all the catering they do. EL

I don't know if this is considered local but like most else there the bread at Volt is great.

Bread etiquette, as I was taught:

Using the method as layed out by EL above, pick your portion. Place your roll/slice on your plate, place the total amount of butter you will use for your roll on your plate. Tear a bite size piece of your selected roll, and butter it and eat, tear a bite size piece butter and eat. Don't double dip in the butter or oil dish, and dont butter your entire roll/slice at once, and eat it like a sandwich.

Obviosly no one cares about my opinion, I just want to see if people disagree with me.

I love Petit Louis Bread, but yes, they should include baquette slices, in addition. I hate places where you can tell they uses frozen sysco rolls.

Donna's should be on that list.

I LOVE the bread at Henningers. When I was in Hopkins having our daughter a couple years ago, I made my husband go down and pick some up for me, along with their Ceasar salad, that I also love. Haven't been there recently, hope it hasn't changed...

Mari Luna Latin Grille gets my vote for their popovers with the delicious flavored butter, is it mango butter?

The New Great American Steakhouse in Perry Hall has excellent rolls that come with butter. They come out hot and delicious!

Gertrude's has a very nice brunch bread basket.

I have to agree with LJ, the biscuits and cornbread at Gertrude's are delicious.

Scotto's in Bel Air has the best bread in Harford County ... though it wouldn't make any regional Top Ten list, IMHO.

I had lunch at Bel Air's Liberatore's (scouting for a meeting place) and the bread was the only thing wrong with the meal. Subtle seafood bisque -- not too rich, not too thin, perfectly seasoned -- and pizza Margharita with fabulous fresh tomatoes. I searched the Sun website and it does not appear that any of the Liberatore's chain have been reviewed. The one in Bel Air is really lovely, even including the theater size screen showing aerial views of pretty Italian towns, cathedrals and castles. (I hope they don't play sports on it too often!) This could be the "little neighborhood restaurant" in our life.

I totally agree with LL about Donna's although to be honest it's those weird cracker things that I'm really crazy about!

I fell in love with The Black Olive partially because of the selection of breads they serve. Bar none one of the undiscovered gems as far as bread baskets go in Baltimore.

Have to agree with LJ and Chris about the Gertrude's brunch bread basket. I think there was a third item too beyond the biscuits and corn bread... mini muffins? whole grain bread? I don't remember because I spent all my focus on the corn bread and biscuits.

EL--I'm with you on the bread basked. My husband wasn't raised that way--but I take over the bread so he doesn't have a choice when we have it--otherwise it's all his.

Which is the bread question I have--for bread hogs (other than my DH who I can say something to) how do you politely remind them there are others at the table that may want some bread and butter?

I agree about the Gertrude's brunch basket, but ironically they have the lamest bread basket in the universe and watery, tasteless whipped "butter" at other times. The rolls when I was there at lunch definitely tasted like half-baked Sysco product, heated up at the restaurant. Yuck.

How about Top 10 "Best Bread for your $Dough$"

Charleston - cornbread
Outback
Cheesecake Factory

and a bread basket I could make a meal out of... Original Steakhouse on Joppa Road.

Fogo de Chao and its cheese-filled rolls ... yummm. But the best is the Marina Deck restaurant in Ocean City. "Bread girls" walk around the dining room with huge baskets of white and wheat bread and (this is the best part) fresh, still-warm-from-the-oven coconut muffins. There are also blueberry muffins, chocolate muffins, etc., but the coconut muffins are the best!

There's a common element to some of these--in asking the Stone Mill guy about this thread, he said he does Blue Hill's bread as well as Donna's and M&S Grill.

I think Donna's has different table bread at different locations unless that's changed. Stone Mill must mean it does the sandwich bread. Not sure which Donna's people are talking about. EL

The best bread is at Salt. The tomato spread that comes with it is...well, I can't even think of adjectives good enough to describe it. I could make a meal out of it. And now I'm about to ruin my credibility and mention a chain, which I usually try to avoid...the cheese biscuits at Red Lobster. I'm embarrassed to admit that I can eat my body weight in those.

the bread at Regi's in Federal Hill, given at brunch, is to die for, and is just as good as the brunch itself...it includes not only hot rolls, but delicious mini muffins. We often ask for a second basket!

The cheese bread at Fogo de Chao is WONDERFUL! I have had cheese bread at many places in Brazil and FdC gets it right (and delicious).

I miss the brioche at Danny's, when the "Run was On" and when "Whales" came to town.

Hops in Owings Mills came out with hot, fresh, buttery croissants with honey on top. They were divine.

Stone Mill also does the bread at Linwoods, I love their focaccia. In high school I did my senior year internship there and when Stone Mill came in the morning life was good. I was tasked with slicing all of the bread and you bet your sweet foodie asses I was stealing the most olive oily pieces for myself. By the end of the night the bread was still good but when it first came in the morning, yum!

My biggest pet peeve is when you don't have great bread, and, that mediocre bread is cold. You can salvage average bread by throwing it in the oven before it reaches the table. Toasty bread is the business.

Leeann hit it right on the head about Red Lobster's cheese biscuits! I could make a meal of them with a Caesar salad (just so I wouldn't look like a glutton).

All of Atwater's breads are wonderful, but my two favorites are Raisin Pumpernickel (indescribably delicious) and Struan (a Celtic multi-grain bread).

Practically as soon as you're seated, Oregon Grille's busser brings a plate of wheat crackers with li'l ramekins of tapenade and orange(?) butter. MAN they're good!

Finally, I've only been to Macaroni Grill once, but I remember that the bread was so good that I could've made a meal of it (again, add a Caesar salad so I wouldn't look like a glutton).

Outback uses a honeywheat loaf, not pumpernickel. I love the cornbread at Charleston, and the other breads at Pazo and Cinghiale since they're baked at Pazo. Linwoods and Oregon Grille, along with other places use Stone Mill. Those crackers come from a sysco box. I also enjoy the pita bread at Tabrizis, did not enjoy the smell of the harbor that day, or pretty much any other day

Dottie, I love Atwater's Struan as well--it's my favorite sandwich bread of the moment.

We asked about the bread when we last ate at Woodberry Kitchen and were told it came from Atwater's, btw.

And Bread Monster, I'm with you all the way on proper bread etiquette. except that I would allow a two-bite piece to be buttered at one time.

I had dinner with three friends at a fine restaurant and our server put on the table a basket with two six inch loafs of bread. I proceeded to break apart a piece off of one loaf with my fingers and put the piece of bread on my bread plate. The lady sitting across from me got her bread knife and her fork and cut the other loaf of bread in half which left me to wonder if I had committed a faux pas of etiquette. Other than that awkward momment, the dinner turned out fine. And now the big question, what is the proper etiquette for breaking bread?

Joyce, for me, I usually try to cut a piece off. I will grab the end I am taking, and cut from there (not touching what will then be another person's piece). However, if I am with family or friends, and forget to do so, I usually don't feel bad.

Oops, sorry Joel. I just saw JO, and assumed it was Joyce!

it's ok Trixie, I know I gotta lot to say!

interesting to see this thread again, b.c. we just ate at Donna's last week and although they were more than pleasant about refilling our bread basket as many times as we wished, our bread 'basket" was a small wire thing with 2 pieces of bread, 2 of those cracker things and 3 breadsticks.

Although, they did give us plenty of that delicious tomato spread stuff that they have.

I'm trying to remember, who always used to serve the bread/rolls with honey butter? I know it was some Baltimore institution but I can't think of it!