Ellicott City, MD 7/7/2009

I found the Ellicott Mills Brewing Co. on pub crawler, loaded it into the GPS, and away I went.


Ellicott Mills Brewing Company 8308 Main Street Ellicott City, MD 21043 410-313-8141
http://www.ellicottmillsbrewing.com/

Like so many towns in the Mid-Atlantic Ellicot city was very developed near the highway, but also had an older established downtown which was quite picturesque with old stone buildings etc. I bellied up to the Bar @ Ellicott City Brewing Co. - The tap list was a bit disappointing; No pale ale of any kind. I ordered the Marzen, which was.. a Marzen. They didn't even offer a menu and I was shoe horned between the patrons to my left and right so I paid for the one beer and off I went.

I ended up @:

Rumor Mill Restaurant
http://www.therumormillrestaurant.com/ 8069 Tiber Alley Ellicott City, MD 21043-4640
(410) 461-0041

I was immediately and graciously greeted by one of the server's (That was nice for a change for my time in Maryland thus far) and had a seat at the bar. The bartender was also very friendly with just the right level of attentiveness.

I started with the Beet Salad (which I almost always order if its on a menu). The beets were all red beets (golden is always a nice touch). Overall the salad was good except for a dollop of what seemed to be commercial blue cheese or Gorgonzola cheese dressing plopped right in the middle of the plate. The salad already had just the right amount of Gorgonzola cheese sprinkled over the top.

I then went (In strict violation of my recently pondered seafood geography rule) with the salmon tartar with guacamole. It was presented well with seemingly too many chips (which turned out to be just the right amount. Maybe a small plate with the formed dip and a separate bowl of chips would present better. It was delicious and fresh.

The scene in there was quite dead except for two obnoxious bar hopper types to my right so I headed down the street to:

Judge's Bench
judgesbenchpub.com8385 Main St
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 465-3497
Get directions

Awesome!
I wish I had eaten here! Open Mic night was going on and the place was just crowded enough. They had about 15 taps including two from Southern Tier and a number of other interesting choices along with a few macros. They also had an extensive bottled selection. The bartender was friendly and I ordered a Southern Tier Big Red. I'd had it before but never on tap. I followed that up with a He'brew Lenny's R I.P.A which I'd also never had on tap.

Great Place - Highly Recomend.