The city's best and worst Bloody Mary?
The Bloody Mary is a tricky drink.
Different people like it different ways, and different bars and restaurants love to toss in random ingredients.
I hear Rub in South Baltimore puts some kind of cajun barbecue mix in theirs. This may or may not be true. But you get my point.
Personally, I can't stand tomato juice. It activates my gag reflex and ties my tummy in a knot.
So I really can't tell you where to get the city's best Bloody Mary. Or the worst one. But I'm sure there are more than a few die hard Bloody Mary drinkers out there, and I'll bet they know.
So tell me -- who makes Baltimore's best and/or worst Bloody Mary, and why?
(I'm not exactly sure where this photo came from originally. I came upon it on this blog. Can you believe that no wire services or Sun photographers have taken photos of Bloody Marys in the past several years? Baffling, I say.)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
According to the City Paper in 2007 (even though it's 2008) No Idea has the best bloody mary.
Then again the all u can drink bloody's for the weekend brunch doesn't hurt either.
Posted by: anonymous (jason) | November 14, 2008 12:16 PM
I'm with you, Sam. I can't stand tomato juice, and therefore I will never drink a Bloody Mary.
Posted by: Christopher | November 14, 2008 12:32 PM
I can't stand tomato juice at all, or tomatoes (devil fruit) in general for that matter....but for some reason, when you add vodka to it, it turns into a deliciously drinkable morning beverage, but hey, how many things does vodka not make better?
Waterfront makes a fantastic Bloody Mary: spicy kick without being overbearing, sprinkles of Old Bay and a dash of Worcester amongst other ingredients.
Best ingredient to add to a Bloody Mary that no one adds: Crab Juice. Some places will add oyster juice or clam, but we're in MD. Crab Juice is the preferred "juice".
Posted by: Trouble | November 14, 2008 12:49 PM
Normally I'm the big cocktail advocate in the Comments section, but YEEECHHH!
I tried my first Bloody Mary at a friend's brunch and had to sneak to the toilet to dump the rest out. Tomato juice is nasty, and a Bloody Mary is worse.
Posted by: Patchen | November 14, 2008 12:50 PM
Miss Shirley's makes a fantastic bloody mary.
Posted by: Jerome | November 14, 2008 12:54 PM
Worst: Mother's. It's all horseradish.
Posted by: The Producer | November 14, 2008 1:43 PM
Ale Mary's has great bloody mary's....go figure. One of the nastiest I've had was from Mama's on the Half Shell - WAY too much chunky stuff in it. My straw kept getting clogged.
But, seems like how good they are depends more on the bartender then the bar.
Posted by: JB | November 14, 2008 1:59 PM
Another great thing to add to a Bloddy - a pickle. Althoughg they're pretty salty to begin with, the dill juice adds another kick.
Posted by: duffster | November 14, 2008 2:09 PM
Nothing can compete with the Starboard's Bloody Mary bar in Dewey. You would think with the same owner's; the Portside would have good ones too? But they don't hold up as well. Taps makes a good one. Judy at Looney's makes the best in B'more.
Posted by: Sturmy | November 14, 2008 4:53 PM
Mama's on the Half Shell makes a great bloody. I love the green beans they add with the olives. I'm not really a fan of bloody mary's but I like these.
Posted by: CantonK | November 14, 2008 5:31 PM
We put horseradish in the Bloody's at Mothers? Who knew. My lazy bum hasn't walked into the walk-in in years looking for that. Must be the a.m. shift. Sorry Mr. Producer. I love WTMD. And I'm not a fan of the bloody either. Unless its at Liuzza's in NOLA.
Posted by: colleen.baltimore | November 14, 2008 9:34 PM
Mother's in NOLA makes the best bloody in the world.
Posted by: eddie | November 15, 2008 4:32 PM
Colleen, Queen, is the City's Best, period!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Jason | November 16, 2008 3:34 AM
I am a huge fan of the bloody mary at Red Star. It is very heavy on the spice and they add an olive. Portside was good becasue they let you make your own, not sure they still do that.
Posted by: Casper | November 17, 2008 9:36 AM
Eddie- you are dead right! Mothers in NOLA is the best I ever had- nothing compares.
I will say I've had one of the best and one of the worst I everhad at Taps- made by the same bartender on consecutive weeks. I asked the bartender what the deal was and he said they ran out of their normal mix, so he tried to make it with chopped up tomatoes. It was a good effort, but it tasted like chopped up tomatoes with vodka. Not good.
Posted by: Mather | November 17, 2008 12:57 PM