Dining out: Ale and arty

Glass Grill is a fine place to go for lunch, but we get the feeling that it’s an absolutely great place to go for happy hour, a place to sidle up to the bar with a few friends and order bar snacks, sandwiches and cold beers.

The Glass Grill is on Eastern Avenue just east of I-95. It is next door to McFadden Art Glass studios, and the two establishments have a symbiotic relationship. Glass Grill patrons can watch glassblowing demonstrations, and on Date Nights can even make a little keepsake of their own.

Diners can see the hand-blown art glass produced at the studio every day. Vases and goblets and figurines—we liked the one-armed snowman, who seems to be the victim of too-vigorous dusting—are lined up above the bar, and the chandeliers are colorful fantasias of blown glass. It is a treat for the eye.

The restaurant offers a full menu of casual fare—bar snacks, salads, sandwiches and wraps. There are also several entrees, again aimed toward a bar crowd. There’s bourbon glazed salmon, a New York Strip steak, grilled chicken grilled shrimp and barbecued ribs.

Prices are moderate, from $14 (chicken) to $19 (steak). The menu also features a market-price crabcake, meatloaf and fish and chips.

Whatever you end up ordering, do not miss the crab dip ($9.99). It is a gooey, cheesy, warm cupful of crabby delight nestled in a bread bowl and surrounded by chips and more bread for dipping. Go directly for the homemade potato chips smothered in Old Bay and dip away. There are tricolor tortilla chips, but you’ve had those before; and the French bread is nicely toasted—but for the best experience, elbow your friends aside and hog all those potato chips.

There are other traditional appetizer/bar snacks like jalapeño poppers, steamed or grilled shrimp, quesadillas and fried pickles ($5.99), a half-dozen dill pickle spears battered, breaded and fried crisp. There is a little ranch dressing for dipping. Keep your beer handy, because the pickles inside the crisp breading are slightly hotter than molten steel.

Tired of ordering a burger rare, and getting the company line on how for-your-own-protection-all-beef-and beef-products-are-served-medium-well-or-well? Glass Grill will not give you an argument. If you want your burger rare, you get it rare, bright red inside and juicy. Sandwich buns come naked; you can add as much mayo, ketchup or whatever as you please.Tired of ordering a burger rare, and getting the company line on how for-your-own-protection-all-beef-and beef-products-are-served-medium-well-or-well? Glass Grill will not give you an argument. If you want your burger rare, you get it rare, bright red inside, seared outside and juicy. Sandwich buns come naked; you can add as much mayo, ketchup or whatever as you please.

The Ol’ Sweet-n-Savory burger ($7.99) is a half pound of beef cooked to order with grilled Vidalia onions, bacon and Muenster cheese. It comes with hand-cut French fries on the side, in a mound plenty big enough for sharing.

The salmon BLT is delicious, a fresh salmon steak on a soft kaiser bun with lettuce, tomato and bacon. It did not come with the advertised tartar sauce, but mayo served just fine.

The Glass Grill also offers a full menu of bar amusements, from video games to sports on the flat-screen television above the bar, to Ladies Night (Tuesdays), beer pong tournaments on Thursdays and karaoke on Saturdays. Check the specials at www.theglassgrill.com.

The Glass Grill
6804 Eastern Ave., Eastwood
410-633-2921
www.theglassgrill.com
Appetizers $4-$10; entrees $14-$29
Open Tuesdays for dinner, Wednesdays through Saturdays for lunch and dinner and Sundays for brunch. Bar open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and
Saturdays; until midnight other days.

—by Jacqueline Watts
(editor@baltimoreguide.com) editor (at) baltimoreguide (dot) com