Ashland Cafe

When I first moved to Baltimore I lived in the Towson area and made York Road my domain. Compared to where I grew up York Road had everything a young bumpkin could dream of and I rarely felt the need to venture out of my comfort zone. On one of those early adventures up the road I found Ashland Cafe and it became a staple of mine on weekends for a two or three year stretch. I knew it had to be good the first time I ever pulled up and people were waiting outside for a seat while flurries were falling from the sky. 

Ashland Cafe isn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination. You know what it is? It is a tiny little restaurant that puts out good food every single day. And that's all it has to be. Sometimes I just want good food for a good price and I want to be able to go in my sweat pants. Jessica Simpson felt good when Nick loved her with nothing but a t-shirt on. Well, I feel good when I can get a good breakfast without "getting ready" to go out.

After moving away from Towson my trips to Ashland Cafe have been few and far between so it was nice to visit an oldie but goodie with Deana a few weeks ago.  We went for breakfast and we left filled to the brim. My French Toast breakfast was so big it came on two plates! Moist French Toast, proper eggs cooked over easy, and a delicious ham steak....man I'd take that all day every day if my body could handle it. 

You might feel like my description of the food is lacking, but that's by design. This is food everyone knows but it's done right. I've never had a bad breakfast there, but if you're driving from far and get there a little late you can't go wrong with their French Dip and French Onion Soup. I made a habit out of that lunch combo to the point that the wait staff didn't even have to ask my order. If you want good food and you want it without all the pomp and circumstance of "going out to eat" make sure you take a trip down York Road and find out what this place is all about for yourself. 

Price: Cheap

Recommendation: It's one of my favorites. 

What to Order: Whatever you want. It's all good.

Vito's Cafe

A few weeks ago after attending the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Fest at the state fairgrounds we were looking for somewhere to eat dinner after a long day of tasting beer and walking around. Our initial choice had much too long of a wait, but after driving a little further down York Road we came across a sign that read Vito's Cafe: Italian Cuisine and Brick Oven Pizza. Pizza sounded perfect for a quick dinner so we decided to give it a try.

When a restaurant has brick oven pizza loud and proud on their sign I automatically think of a pretty casual restaurant experience.That's not quite what we received at Vito's Cafe. When we entered it felt like we were making our way to the catwalk the way the hostess eyed our outfits from head to toe. We were asked if we had reservations and when we said no, after looking exasperated that we would dare enter without reservations, we were seated right next to the door in this little 2 seater completely separate from nearly every other table in the entire restaurant.

At that time I was doing my best to ignore everything and just order a pizza, eat, and be gone. Our waitress came over and took our orders and laid one of the all time greats on me. Deana wanted a salad and I ordered what they referred to as Di Cipolla Swiss Onion (for all intents and purposes French Onion soup). After that I asked for the Original Margherita Pizza. I thought that would be the end of our order, but I was then informed that our pizza would come out without being cut. It was delivered in a tone that insinuated this would somehow be a problem for us simple folk who have never had sophisticated food before. I was half tempted to tell the waitress that we had just gotten done with the chapter on using knives in the Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating the night before and that we should be able to handle it. But I said nothing and let her be on her way.

While waiting for our food I finally looked around to see who was actually eating in this place. That's when I noticed that we were the only customers in the restaurant not eligible for the senior citizen discount. During that time, and throughout the rest of our night, the area we were seated in (right next the entrance) began to fill up with AARP members who eventually filtered their way over into my personal space as I was eating.

So, how was the food? Who cares? By the time the food came I was so annoyed with the place I just wanted to get the hell out of there and never go back. To answer the question, though, the food was actually delicious. I loved my French Onion Soup and the pizza was top notch as you can see in the picture.

The food may have been great but every single other factor one weighs when it comes to a restaurant visit was miserable. I can't remeber ever feeling like I did that day, just itching to pay my bill and run out of that place. I won't be back to Vito's Cafe.

Price: On the precipice of expensive. Something like Spaghetti and Meatballs is $17.
Recommendation: Great food. Terrible Service/Environment
What to Order: I'm sure it's all very delicious. The Original Margerhita Pizza was tasty.