Venegas Prime Filet is scheduled to open on the 20th in Fulton/Maple Lawn in the old oz Steakhouse location. They are having some invite only soft events this week and plan to be open to the public on the 20th.

www.venegasprimefilet.com

I walked passed Dogwood Restaurant yesterday and the sign on the door says they are going to re-open in December

I am typically not someone who comments online or writes into newspapers/blogs. Also, I am not someone who is overtly negative and likes to bash restaurants. I am someone who dines out frequently and will give a restuarant the benefit of the doubt when formulating my own review of an establishment. My question is what is the deal with the Milton Inn? I have dined there at least 5 times over the last few years, and have always been dissapointed. i have not eaten there in over two years, but someone gave me a $100 gift certificate recently, and I thought it was about time to give it another try. Again, I found the experience subpar at best. Especially for the price.

My girlfriend and I decided to go to the Milton Inn on Saturday at 7:30 PM. When we arrived, we were greeted in a timely manner and escorted back to our table promptly. We sat in a room that was to the left of the bar. I actually never even knew the room existed. It was very nice. The room was decorated with small ornamental lights, and it was much darker than the other rooms which was perfect for a romantic meal. The fireplace was lit which helped with the ambiance. The only problem was that it was 60 degrees on saturday, and the room was an inferno. I was sweating immensely within 15 minutes of being seated. I do not hold this against the Milton Inn due to the fact that I have realized I seem to be one of those people that is hot wherever I go. I may be cursed. I could of asked for another table, but my girlfriend seemed to like the ambiance. Enough with the heat. I put it aside and tried to concentrate on the meal. My girlfriend ordered an extra dirty martini, and I ordered iced tea. I am not exaggertaing when I say it took 25 minutes for us to get our drinks. When they did finally come, the martini was not even close to dirty. We ordered clams casino for an appetizer. The clams were very chewy and lacked flavor. The only thing we could taste was the saltiness of the bacon. I had a warm spinach salad which was overly saturated in dressing. The greens were literally drowning in the dressing which overpowered the dish. For my entree, I had a 16 oz. new york strip, which was wonderful. it was cooked to perfection and was very tender. it was definitely the only good part fo the meal. My girlfreind had mahi mahi which was overcooked and dry. When described by the waiter, the mahi mahi was accompanied by chunks of lobster. My girlfriend and I found 4 pieces of lobster which would hardly be classified as chunks.

The most dissapointing part of the whole experience was the services. I am typically not hard to please, but when you are dropping over $200 for a meal, you expect good service. As I previously stated, it took 25 minutes for us to get an iced tea and a martini. My iced tead was consistently empty throughout the meal. Only being refilled due to glares at our waiter. After we finished our entrees, it took them over 30 minutes to clear our plates and over 40 minutes for us to be offered coffee and dessert. We ordered dessert, which was good, but it took them another 25 minutes to bring us our dishes. Both of them had "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate on the plates. Only thing was that it was not our anniversary. When I made reservations, I was asked if it was a special occasion, and I stated it was not. My girlfriend could not help but laugh as our waiter repeatedly wished us happy anniversary. I believe it was a total of four times in total he said this. My only fear is that someone else did not get the anniversary wishes they had requested while making their reservations.

I have always been dissapointed with my meal and the service at the Milton Inn. I always thought the people that raved about the place were caught up in the ambiance or I was missing something. I just had to comment that I honestly thing this place sucks and is overpriced for the service and quality of the food. There are several other restaurants in the area that provide better service and food at a comparable or better price. I just wanted to see if other people have had similar experiences.

The Can Company, for whatever reason, is poison to the restaurant business. In theory it should be a great location- on a main road (by city standards), in a trendy part of town with deep pockets, and close to the water with decent parking. Yet, Ray's failed (they had some serious execution issues so it shouldn't have been a huge surprise) and Atlantic Seafood failed in the same spot. Kiss Cafe failed, and the Outback is one of the region's most poorly performing. Austin Grill and Chesapeake Wine seem to be doing ok, but overall this complex should be a hotspot and it's not.

I've never been to a Field House before and the menu at the Philly location looks reasonably interesting. I can't imagine they wouldn't be able to find a better location though, especially with the high rent the Can Co. charges. I wish them luck though and I'm sure I';ll give it a shot at some point.

Lee

Lee, I think part of the problem with the Can Company is that it is pedestrian hostile. In the middle of a high population density area, they've created a shopping and dining complex that is dangerous for anyone on foot. It is also difficult to cross Boston St. there.

Speaking of the Can Company, I think that new place Langermann's (supposed to be southern style cuisine) is set to open very soon. Their facebook page contains a link to their menu -- sounds good!

Michael, we only went to the Milton Inn once, years ago, and were decidedly underwhelmed. I think you have given them plenty of chances--time to move on.

I think the problem with the Can Company is they do not have any memorable restaurants...everything there is so-so. Out of all the restaurants that have come and gone from the Can Company, I don't think any had a loyal following. Though I am a big fan of Chesapeake Wine Co., so I hope they continue to prosper.

Atlantic Seafood was an excellent restaurant, but I don't think Canton was ready for a high end seafood restaurant at the time (not sure if it is now either). I don't think Kiss Cafe "failed." I heard it was surviving well when the owner got an offer and decided to get out.

Balteater, my suspicion is that Kiss Cafe wasn't doing all that well, given that as recently as July of this year, the State of Maryland filed a $97,000+ tax lien against the business.

I am sad to confirm that Bouala's Thai Restaurant has closed. I consider myself a Thai snob and it was some of the best food I ever had. Plus it wad BYOB. We went there a week ago and saw in person that it had closed for good.

The owner of Field House is also opening a property named Public House somewhere in the Harbor East area. I'll be snooping around this week and will hopefully come up with some more information.

I love that. Thanks. EL

I never understood why Atlantic Seafood closed. I went there a few times. The food was always good and the crowds were always decent.

I will say, however, that the Can Company really lost something when the book store closed. I used to make an evening out of going to dinner and the bookstore. Now, with no bookstore, what am I going to do in Canton after/before dinner...other than drink?

I usually never leave comments about restaurants online but after eating at Ullswater last night I thought I would warn people about what to expect. Looking at the I menu I felt like I was at Olive Garden. Being that it was too late to leave I ordered and the Eggplant Parm tasted like pre-made Sysco Product and the Chicken Saltimboca was a thick breast and not pounded thin. And best of all to bill yourself as a Wine Bar and only carry 12 wines by the glass is a joke. I really wish we had a cozy neighborhood wine bar and restaurant but this isn't it.