A Fitting First Post

It is very fitting that my very first review be of one of my favorite local places to eat. Jennings Cafe at 808 Frederick Road, right in the heart of Catonsville, MD. This is a great, local place, to eat or drink. Jennings is not fine dining, it is bar food. It does not matter what you do in my book as long as you do it well. Jennings does not do it well, they do it expertly. The waitresses all treat you as if you are their best friends whether they actually know you or not. Our Waitress, Jessica could not have been more personal able if she tried. Never overwhelming but attentive, almost anticipating, any of our needs. The wait staff is highly professional even though it really is just a local bar.

The decor, I can best described as very Twin Peaks like.  The red lights and copious amounts of knotty pine paneling lead me to this description.  The walls are covered with horse racing photos. At one time horse racing and breeding was a big deal here in Maryland. There is also a cool phenomenon that happens here; When the door opens, everyone looks up because there is a good chance the person coming in is a neighbor or someone you know from the community. You usually see someone wave to the person who just came in. Unlike most bars, Jennings is a place for the entire family. Often we will see a bunch of the tables pushed together and large extended families eating together. 

Just to prove it is family friendly, here is the crayon basket they bring you. Enough background, how was the food? Outstanding as always!

Halle is kind of a grill cheese girl. Most kids love their grilled cheese and my daughter is no exception. Classic text book grilled cheese, just like all kids love.

Ava had the BLT. Hard to screw up a BLT, but when you put a little more than the usual four pieces of bacon, it makes for a very good BLT. Yep, very good. Thumbs up from Ava with a clean plate at the end.

Beth had the rockfish basket. This is a unique twist on a bar standby, fish and chips. Marylanders love their rockfish and Jennings knows that. For those not from Maryland, rockfish is what most of you call striped bass. Battered chunks of rockfish perfectly cooked. Beth really liked hers.

I had the fish sandwich. Yep rockfish. It was awesome to say the least. I also appreciated the real, vine ripened tomatoes.  I strongly suspect the tarter sauce was home made.

The best thing about Jennings is how affordable it is. I had a Jim Beam and Coke and the girls had Sprites(one turned into a cocktail that a 6 year old truly loves) which were refilled at no additional charge. Not bad for less than $11 a head.