Wong Gai Bi closed last month. Doors are locked and there is a big "Restaurant for Sale" sign up.

imho, Wong Gal Bi has gone down in quality a lot. last time i went was back in aug, and it will most likely be the last time I go there.

well, there you go, I guess I definitely won't be going back to wong gal bi.....

Hard to go to a restaurant when the doors are locked.

You are always so negative. EL

If you have a rock and full use of your arms, nothing with glass is ever locked...

(damn my former anarchist leanings!)

Matthew's 1600 is very nice but don't get the desserts unless you want to add $7-8 per dessert to your check. Good all-around food and you can eat in a booth in the bar or at a nice, quiet table in the restaurant area itself.

I haven't been that impressed with the service at Ship's Cafe the last 2-3 times we've been there, so we have pretty much stopped going. We go a few extra miles to Shannon's on Route 40 in Ellicott City for a crabcake and cream of crab soup.

Jennings Cafe is good but you get better service if you are with someone who goes there regularly. The service isn't bad when you are there without a regular patron, it's just better when you are.

P.S. I like the captcha feature so the comments don't need to be held for approval, but there ARE some funny combinations. My current one is tions gilly.

I live in Catonsville and can't even come up with anything to add to your way-too-short list. It is not a dining destination.

For the person whose parents live in charlestown - while not in Catonsville, my mom takes my grandparents (also charlestown residents) to Gianni's on Washington Blvd. Great Italian food.

I've never had good service at Ship's Cafe and Matthew's is just okay. Double T diner still has great Greek salads.

The few times I've been to the Candlelight Inn (for lunch) it's been pretty good.

It's odd because I lived near Catonsville for 20+ years (okay, that's not saying much since I'm in my 20s) but I can't think of too many good places to eat in Catonsville.

Ah well, there's always the Double T which is amazing but I don't really consider it Catonsville.

I lived in Catonsville for over 25 years (gone now since '04)... but aside from the Candlelight Inn (still open?) and Russels Ltd (long closed and missed) I can't recall any food places above the "joint" level. Some of those joints (like Jennings) did a great job at that level.

Good thing we had Ellicott City so close by when we wanted a real meal out.

Okay, I'm feeling much better that I couldn't come up with many restaurants in Catonsville since other residents are apparently unable to do so as well. We do go to Ellicott City for most of our dining. Another place to try is G&M's restaurant in Linthicum Heights on Hammonds Ferry Road. Great crabcakes and lots of Italian offerings and other seafood.

For lunch, the buffet at the Windsor Inn in Woodlawn is a good value - soup, bread, salad, and a couple other items (such as mini-crabcakes or shrimp) for under $10.

I stumbled on to Pho #1 last summer, and their pho is very good.

Mar, comments haven't been held for approval on this blog for months. I'm assuming that the silly captcha is something the corporate IT vendor foisted on all the blogs, probably without warning.

Andrews Apostle? As a non-Christian, I'm offended!

For Chinese, check out Hunan Taste. There has been some Chowhound chatter about its traditional Hunan menu and I trust the guy who posts as Warthog there -- http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/663717

Not on your list of cuisines, but consider "Two Youngs" -- the Korean place inside Hanoori Town next to H Mart. It's counter service and very basic decor, but good, affordable Korean food.

All the comments about Ellicott City might go over the head of someone who isn't familiar with Catonsville. It's a really easy 10-minute drive on Rte 144 / Frederick Road into downtown Ellicott City. Several good places to eat there.

Catonsville Gourmet is THE place to go in Catonsville. Been twice and was very satisfied with everything both times. People sometimes complain about price, but the seafood is extremely high quality and fresh, and you save a ton due to it being BYOB (or at least I do anyway).

El Nayar is fairly new and has good, fresh Mexican and they let you bring your own tequila for homemade margarita pitchers they make.

Duesenberg's American Cafe and Grill is only open for lunch, and although I haven't been (I almost never go out for lunch) I've heard some really great things about their food and friendly service.

I had some good carry out steamed crabs from Sea Hut.

Besides Catonsville Gourmet, I certainly wouldn't classify this area as destination dining, but there is some decent food to be had.

I also love Catonsville Gourmet. Indian Delight right on Frederick Rd is great too and BYOB.

Hunan Taste does seem promising. And it's BYOB.

My roommate used to live in Catonsville a few years ago and he raves about the shrimp salad at Kibby's. It's not in Catonsville, but, it is not that far from Charlestown.

Lissa, you're correct, comments on this blog haven't been held - my bad.

While in a meeting and obviously needing something to keep my sanity, I thought of a couple other places. Scittino's is on Edmondson Avenue near Rolling Road and has good Italian dishes. They have a few indoor tables and outside booths, but are primarily a take-out place. When spring rolls around, you can also hit Opie's on Edmondson for an after-dinner snowball or ice cream.

Some people like Paolo's, but we haven't gone back since the owner (or manager, not sure which) was so rude to my daughter's rec league field hockey team a year ago when they came in for a team dinner and had the nerve to take up 20 places at their tables and order several pizzas, drinks, and a couple other dishes. Besides, their child's ravioli dish cost $4.95 and had 4 ravioli in it the one time we ordered it.

There are a bunch of fast food and chain (Bob Evans, Applebee's, Cici's) restaurants on Route 40. And unbelievably enough, the food stand at the entrance door to the Route 40 Home Depot is the home of our very favorite hot dogs - $1.25 for a dog with sauerkraut - not destination dining, but very good!

Good wrap up. Thanks. EL

Wong Gai Bi just closed.

Pho Saigon and Pho #1 both rock my world.

Taneytown Deli has the biggest, meatiest sandwiches you've ever laid eyes on.

The Mannarang food counter at H-Mart can't be beat for quality traditional Korean food.

Indian Delight 4eva

Catonsville has lots of restaurants. They may not be on the caliber of some of the elite downtown restaurants, but there are some nice ones.
Indian Delight, Chef Paolino (Italian), Little Phoenix (Chinese), G.L.Shacks, Jennings, Matthews 1600, Ship's Cafe, Catonsville Gourmet, Dimitri's (Greek and American);
Candlelight Inn, are all on Frederick Road.

Welcome back. EL

Chef Paolino's is the best pizza around, the new Hunan Taste for authentic Chinese, Catonsville Gourmet as frequently mentioned above. I really prefer the Pho at Pho Nam to Pho #1, but maybe that's just me. Still, I highly recommend it. Catonsville's becoming a great destination for authentic Asia food, but it doesn't seem that's necessarily what they're looking for.

I agree with several comments and will summarize here, again. Good dining is hard to come by in Catonsville, and it is the most major adjustment I've made since moving here from downtown. We go to 2 restaurants for sit down: Catonsville Gourmet and Indian Delight. For take out it's Thai Heaven or Dragon China (both in Paradise). When the weather is nice, we head to old Ellicott City instead, but even that suffers from a lack of decent eateries. When we have a sitter, we immediately head downtown, usually to Peters or Henningers.

Funny. I lived in Catonsville for a few years and there weren't any stand out sit down restaurants back then and that was way back BC (before child). We used to head up Rt 40 to a few places, Spittle's for seafood and whatever the prime rib place was knocked down and became part of the car megalomart.

Scittino's on Edmonson Ave. can sure rock a ICC and a cheese steak sub though.

Catonsville Gourmet is the best by far !!!!
There menu has such a wide range and the products are extremely fresh, along with great service. Try some of the special appetizers with soup or a salad if your not looking to spend alot, or go for one of the chefs special. Best Oyster selection around as well !!!!!

I've made special trips to Catonsville just to get Taneytown for lunch before since I stopped working there.

You are always so negative. EL

You sound just like my wife. She often calls me Mr. Negativity or Glass Half Empty.

Duesenbergs on Mellor is great for lunch and breakfast http://www.duesenbergscafeandgrill.com/

The Double T is great for diner fair

My folks live at Charlestown. When we take them out, they like Chef Paulinos and the chinese restaraunt that is right next door. Also, I grew up in Arbutus and Leons used to be decent; no idea if it is still any good. Lastly, Dimitris on the hill between Catonsville and EC has pretty good sauerbraten.

I've had some nice, simple, but flavorful Mexican dishes at El Nayer. They are on Frederick Ave, across from Jennings. They are dine in or carry-out and are a BYOB establishment.

Was not impressed by Ship's Cafe the one time we went there after a Sunday matinee. Food was not half bad, service was slow, and its the only place I've been to where you have to walk downstairs to go upstairs.

RoCK, To the pessimist the glass is half empty - to the optimist the glass is half full - but to the engineer the glass is twice as large as it needs to be.

reCAPTCHA: demeaned 1971 Hah! I've been demeaned in more years than 1971 and by bigger and better demeaners.

RiE, you had to walk downstairs to go upstairs? Sounds like something out of Willy Wonka!

I used to go into Jennings Cafe for a bowl of their oyster stew. It was wonderful! One time I was seated at the bar watching Monday Night Football and talking to a man next to me who owned the place (I think his name was Omar) and he asked me if I knew why it took so long to get my bowl of stew (I had not complained). He informed me that they made each bowl individually. I hope they still do that, it is the best in the world!

Does Dimitri's International Grille count? Also on Frederick Road, not far from downtown Catonsville, going towards Ellicott City. Now that they've added an airy new dining room and dining deck, they've stepped up from local dive to family favorite (though they still have the bar/lounge for old timers.) I love their avgolomeno soup and spanikopita best, and have enjoyed several entrees there. The German side of the family likes the sour beef and dumplings. They've got a large menu.

Hunan Taste .....Last night despite the rude staff we ordered several different dishes. The duck was good, the fried rice was very plain, we had couple other dishes.... the fried fish was so greasy it was like they put the fish in the oil before it was hot if you cook you know what I mean.. it was soaked with oil! we asked for it to be taken back! the waitress just looked at me turned around and walked away so we asked again the waiter was so rude turning his nose said it was not oily and it was chinese style...they refused to take it off the bill and made a huge scene stating that you cant just order something and because you do not like it send it back we spend $ 136 so we where not trying to be cheap! but they made it seem that way saying we will not get a discount...I do not recommend this place at all!!!!! will be going back to
Mr Chan 1000 Reisterstown Rd (410) 484-1100 or
Hunan L' Rose 1131 Annapolis Rd Odenton (301) 621-9388 friendly staff and good food!!