Bar

On paper, Sunday night's WrestleMania looked as if it could be one of the strongest installments in the event's 28-year history. In execution, it was anything but. I personally avoided Twitter and Facebook, so that the thoughts I would be sharing here would be as purely mine as much as possible. The show lacked the feel of WrestleMania; the first hour felt rushed and most of the matches seemed to be missing something. The show wasn't bad by any means, so I don't want people to misread what I am saying, but I expected more.

After more than a year of being out of big league baseball while attempting to rise above concussion symptoms, second baseman Brian Roberts is back in the game. He started his rehab assignment Wednesday in Double-A Bowie. The clock now starts ticking. He has 20 days to be activated by the big league club, though the team can halt the clock if he suffers a relapse or another injury. Otherwise, they would have to waive him, and the Orioles won't do that with their most veteran player and $10 million man. So the next three weeks are going to be interesting.

Thank God for Joan and Don. Without their lunchtime escape from the office, replete with witty, sexy banter, this episode, the worst of the season, would have been pointless. Nothing else quite worked here, in what clearly was a transitional throwaway leading up to the final few episodes this season. I, for one, do not care about Lane's financial issues (though, surely him forging Don's signature on a check to pay debts will come back to bite him). Anything involving Harry is sort of blah, even though his subplot this week brought back and old friend, Paul Kinsey, who has, ahem, gone through some changes.

The Maryland Live Casino is getting closer.The Cordish Cos.have announced June 6 as the opening date for its $500 million gaming and entertainment complex. The food and beverage team at Maryland Live has been in place for months, preparing for the casino's first guests. The casino's executive chef is Rudy Volpe, most recently of Carmine's in Washington, and the director of food and beverage for the casino is Greg Van Stone, most recently the director of restaurants for the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, Fla. Volpe and Van Stone will be responsible for the casino's food operations, including the Live Market Buffet , an Asian noodle bar and a Phillips Seafood outlet.

Townhouse Kitchen and Bar has announced its opening date. The restaurant will open on May 24 in Fells Point, next door to RA Sushi. This is the fourth Townhouse, which is operated by the Glenview, Ill.-based Restaurants America. The menu, which specializes in contemporary American fare with Latin, will offer a variety of shared plates, salads, fire grilled skewers, tacos and more. Bryan Perdue has been hired as executive chef. Townhouse will feature more than 40 local beers on tap, as well as" table tap" system located at four individual tables for diners.

Stillwater Artisanal Ales is opening its own bar in Brewer's Hill this year, and it isn't just lending its name to the effort. To be called Of Love & Regret, the bar is a creative and business collaboration between Stillwater founder Brian Strumke and Ted Stelzenmuller, chef and co-owner of restaurant Jack's Bistro in Canton. Its opening underscores the success the Baltimore microbrewer has had in the past two years. Strumke said he expects production of Stillwater beers to double to 5,000 barrels in 2012.

It's Wednesday night in Upper Fells Point and I'm sitting at the bar of the restaurant Salt. The restaurant has entered its chilled-out mode; dinner service ends in a half-hour at 10:30 p.m. A jazzy score - Charles Mingus and Roy Hargrove - murmurs in the background, and a mute TV is ignored in a far corner. A dozen or so green-colored lamps that look like a squadron of flying saucers give the bar a cool, moody glow. Though the atmosphere is serene, the bar, which seats about 12, is full.

Locust Point was sleepy last Friday night, mostly. Few cars zoomed down Fort Avenue. The sidewalks were empty. The brightest neon sign on the peninsula didn't come from a bar but from the Domino Sugars factory. Music emanated from some bars, but the only noise came from three of us in our 20s walking down the pockmarked sidewalks, past a McDonald's, a strip mall, some warehouses, on a bar crawl in the neighborhood. Locust Point's bar scene got two additions recently — Barracudas and 5 Points — that suggest an infusion of much-needed new blood.

For those who claim it's hard to find a sports bar in Mt. Vernon and Midtown, there's Turp's . Named not for the Maryland Terrapins but for John Turpin, the bar's former manager, Turp's has nicely filled out that niche in the area. Yes, Terps games are broadcast, but the bar caters to sports fans of all stripes. On Ravens game days, it offers several drink specials. The bar opened two years ago, replacing bistro Neo Viccino, and has become popular with students and neighbors who were tired of going to the other quasi-sports bars around, namely Mick O'Shea's and the Midtown Yacht Club.

South Baltimore's had a prolific year in nightlife. Barfly's, Barracudas and the Park Bench are just a few of the bars that have popped up. The latest is the Feisty Goat, a sports bar on Key Highway that is as low-key as those other new bars. Open since last month, Feisty Goat is an agreeable sports bar, adequate for sports fans looking for a no-frills atmosphere to watch a game. But, it could use some improvements in service, atmosphere and variety. Located on the first floor of a rowhouse on Key Highway, the bar has the feeling of someone's basement rec room.

It's somewhat strange to write an introduction on a blog you've been contributing to for the past 10 months, yet here I am, doing the Internet equivalent to the awkward honk and wave.   But hey, better late than never, right?   The old Midnight Sun scribe, Erik Maza, has headed north to Women's Wear Daily and we raise our glass to him. Now, loyal Midnight Sun readers, you have me, a 25-year-old features reporter who lives in Canton and considers bar-hopping with friends a good night out.   A little more about me so my parents don't think I have a problem: I grew up in South Jersey, 30 minutes away from Atlantic City, in a tiny town called Hammonton (look for it in the first episode of “Boardwalk Empire”)

Townhouse Kitchen and Bar has announced its opening date. The restaurant will open on May 24 in Fells Point, next door to RA Sushi. This is the fourth Townhouse, which is operated by the Glenview, Ill.-based Restaurants America. The menu, which specializes in contemporary American fare with Latin, will offer a variety of shared plates, salads, fire grilled skewers, tacos and more. Bryan Perdue has been hired as executive chef. Townhouse will feature more than 40 local beers on tap, as well as" table tap" system located at four individual tables for diners.

The Orioles just finished their tough nine-game homestand by going 4-5. There were some obvious cracks that formed this past week-plus. The starters put up a 6.75 ERA before Wei-Yin Chen twirled an impressive two-run, seven-inning performance against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. The Orioles' defense has been shoddy - the most errors committed in the AL. And injuries are mounting. Left fielders Nolan Reimold and Endy Chavez are on the disabled list. So is third baseman Mark Reynolds and reliever Matt Lindstrom.

Plug Ugly's Publick House is a strange name for a tavern. But Baltimore history buffs know the Plug Uglies were a thuggish street gang/political club that ran riot on Baltimore's streets in the 1850s. Don't worry. The newest resident of O'Donnell Square isn't a gangland. Bartenders with untucked shirts are about as rough as it gets, and the staff here, you may be sorry to know, seems to have been chosen for their gentle dispositions. At first glance, Plug Ugly's could pass for any number of its neighbors, but look closer: The wood-filled bar area and dining rooms have been generously furnished with salvaged material like church pews and antique lighting fixtures.

Earlier this year, I did two top-10 lists in connection with the 20 th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The first was rank the top 10 games in stadium history. The second was to rank the top 10 moments in stadium history. Yes, there was some overlap -- Cal Ripken Jr.'s 2,131 st consecutive game was the top in that category, and his victory lap was the top moment -- but I tried to separate them a little. For the moments list, I tried to winnow the game into one moment we'll never forget.

After a 17-14 loss to Robert Morris on April 14, Mount St. Mary's dropped to 0-3 in the Northeast Conference and was in danger of becoming the league's first tournament champion to fail to qualify the next season. But the Mountaineers secured wins of 9-8 and 16-7 against Sacred Heart and Wagner, respectively, in back-to-back Saturdays and earned the No. 4 seed in the tourney, which begins Friday at Robert Morris. “That was the team goal,” coach Tom Gravante said Wednesday.

Remember last year's guide to the top 50 bars in Baltimore ? The controversial decision to put The Laughing Pint at No. 1 ? All the angry owners and publicists and bar fans whose favorite watering holes weren't picked? And all the overjoyed people whose favorite bars ranked higher than they'd predicted? Well, it's coming back this Fall. This year we'll be picking the top 100 Baltimore bars. And! The guide won't be limited to Baltimore City proper. This year's guide will also be arranged differently: there will be ten readers' picks, ten critics' picks and eight categories each with ten ranked bars.

The Chameleon Cafe on Harford Road has a new executive chef. It's Andrew Weinzirl, recently of the Wine Market in Locust Point. Weinzirl takes over from The Chameleon 's owner, Jeff Smith. Replacing Weinzirl as The Wine Market 's executive chef is Wilbur Cox, formerly sous chef at B&O Brasserie . Weinzirl's debut menu, which is up and running, signals a gentle change in programming at the popular restaurant. Think of it as glasnost. There are more small plates now, and diners are invited to make more casual drop-in visits.

OK, so Dylan Bundy is better than the other boys at Low-A Delmarva . The Orioles' top pick last year (fourth overall) has demolished the competition in the South Atlantic League. On Monday, he pitched four more scoreless innings - for a total of 17 in his pro career. In his first four pro games, Bundy has allowed one hit, two walks and struck out 25 batters.      The Orioles will stretch him out a little bit more, with at least one more four-inning stint at Delmarva, but one has to assume the 19-year-old will be at High-A Frederick soon enough.