"Pretty rough DC Suburb?" Tasty Trix doesn't get out much, does she?

First, it's actually closer to Baltimore than DC. Second, it's in a strip mall across from Fort Meade. Not exactly a tony area, but I'd hardly call it "pretty rough." It ain't Roland Park, but it's a fair bit safer than a good percentage of either DC or Baltimore. Geesh!

Trix,
What time of the day did you go? I live in the area and that side of Odenton is not one you want to be in at night. However, most of the crime (burglaries, assaults, robberies, etc.) happens in the Seven Oaks community behind the strip mall. So you're probably OK if you stay on 175.

Should be Zevonista, not Trix.

I've been there in the evenings, Chris, and I usually park in back. Haven't encountered problems; maybe I've just been lucky.

I just find it odd that someone who lives in Baltimore writes about the "rough suburbs!" You have to be careful wherever you go, of course. But to make this place sound more dangerous than parts of DC or Baltimore is just ridiculous.

It is weird that she referred to it as a DC suburb, as it is only 18 miles from downtown Baltimore - and trust me, I made that drive nearly every day while a Sun reporter covering Odenton. Yes, there was a time when the paper had enough reporters to actually cover communities. I would say it isn't dangerous, especially compared to many areas in Baltimore. There are some pockets around there that are not so great, but that is true in a lot of places. The area where Grace Garden sits is known as Boomtown, and it has a rich history of its own. Hugh Hefner once hung out there...if anyone's interested, here's a story i did in 2003 about it:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-04-16/news/0304160373_1_boomtown-fort-meade-pagoda

Hugh Hefner once hung out there...

Interesting story, Rona. Never knew about Boomtown.

You just can't do any better than the fact that a female wrestler known as the Italian Bombshell de-segregated a rowdy Army strip. i wanted to interview her in person so badly that i drove all the way out to W. Va. to meet her at her new bar, the Hitching Post. I even convinced Andre Chung to come with me. It was one of my favorite stories i did in my nine years with The Sun. Sadly, i didn't get to interview Hef; turned out he didn't remember much. But i can tell you his PR staff is extremely nice.

Was just there Sunday evening for a private Chinese New Year dinner, no problems and it totally not a "DC Suburb".

Thanks (I think) for the comments. I do get out quite a bit, actually ... but my opinion of the relative safety of the neighborhood was probably colored by the fact that someone was murdered two blocks away at the same time I was there. ... Also, the majority of my blog's readers are not local to the Baltimore area, and so my blog does not have a Baltimore focus. They're scattered all around the country and world, with a large number from Asia and Australia. These readers would likely be more familiar with D.C. than Baltimore. In any case, the focus of my write up was the excellent food.

In the writer's defense, she didn't say it was the WORST neighborhood ever. Just that it was rough. I've been to Grace Garden twice and you're seriously fooling yourself if you don't think that area is rough. Will you get murdered when you go for dinner? Probably not. But without a doubt on both occasions (dinner, like the blogger) I was definitely given the "evil eye" while parking my car and in the brief walk to the restaurant. What can I say? Living in Baltimore has seriously warped some of your senses of what a bad neighborhood is. In pretty much any other city a neighborhood where a pizza chain refuses to deliver to large areas (as this very paper reported a while back about that area) because the drivers were getting held up (and occasionally murdered) would be considered, at the very least, "rough."

As for Grace Garden... Probably the best restaurant within four states! Thanks for posting this Richard! Her photos have my mouth watering. Now I want to go back again.

Also, thanks for posting that blog. Looks pretty interesting.

...someone was murdered two blocks away at the same time I was there...

When was this? Link to news story?

I didn't write my post to spark a debate about the relative merits of Odenton, or which city can claim it as a suburb - I honestly don't care. What I do care about is food, and the juxtaposition of the high end cuisine with the neighborhood is, to me, an interesting point. In any case, I write what I want on my personal blog, for which I don't get paid. It's easy to look up violent crimes that have occurred in the area - if that interests you, please by all means, go ahead.

Go Trix! I enjoyed reading your blogpost. I've been to Grace Garden several times. Really one of the best spots in a 100-mile radius. The chef and his family are nice people, too.

Poppa Trix checking in to say that the blog entry definitely represents our experience accurately. Grace Garden is without a doubt one of the very best restaurants I've ever been to anywhere in the world and we are all lucky to have it in our area, regardless of which suburb it's in.

As for the crime in question, Trix and I were both sad to see this report the day after our meal: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/26198601/detail.html

According to another report I remember seeing he had previously delivered pizzas for a pizza place in the same strip mall as Grace Garden. It made me really sad for him and his family and a little worried for the GG family and anyone else who works so hard to provide food for the public in that area. Is it the worst neighborhood in DC or Baltimore? I'm sure not. But it's not the best either.

Regardless, Grace Garden is a gem and everyone should know about it.

Poppa Trix,
That incident occurred in Severn, not Odenton, though, the Meade Village Apartments are not that far from Grace Garden. Unfortunately, that community; along with Pioneer City, are well known to those in AA County as high crime areas. The area around Grace Garden isn't as bad as Pioneer City or Meade Village, but, it does have a disproportionate share of crime compared to the rest of Odenton.

Hopefully when BRAC is fully implemented and the Odenton Town Center is finally (if ever) completed, the area will be a little nicer. I would love to have some nicer shops and restaurants that I can walk to.

Thanks, Trix and Poppa Trix! I didn't mean to derail the discussion of the food at Grace Garden - it truly is exceptional. As Chris says, hopefully the area will get a little nicer over time. People who haven't been there are definitely missing out on one of the stars of the entire region.