Onion Rings

Item: Ore Ida Bakeable Sweet Onion Rings What you get: About 12 rings Cost: About $2.30 Nutritional content: 240 calories; 15 grams fat; 2.5 grams saturated fat; 420 milligrams sodium Preparation time: 1 1/2 to 2 minutes in deep fryer, 2 to 3 minutes fried on stove top, 14 to 16 minutes in oven Review: I've always loved onion rings, so I looked forward to this new offering from Ore Ida. But the Vidalia onions used in these rings didn't taste any...

Heavy Seas Alehouse is scheduled to open officially on Wednesday, taking over the Tack Factory space formerly occupied by Tsunami and Diablita. The key word is "officially. " The new restaurant, the first to carry the name of the popular Baltimore-based beer brand, opened its doors quietly on Feb. 7, a week ahead of its announced opening. But word got out. A day after its stealth opening, the restaurant was nicely filled. The bar was fully occupied, as were many of the bar area's tables, which include two long, community-style high tables.

IF THE TRUE TEST of will power is being able to eat only one onion ring, then I fail, repeatedly. The aroma of onion rings, hot from the frying pan, makes my knees weak. The pleasure that comes from biting into their crisp crust, then their soft, sweet innards, is irresistible.Once I start eating onion rings I don't stop until the supply runs out, or until they turn cold. While I savor hot onion rings, I can't tolerate cold ones. Cool onion rings are like chilly french fries, a dish that has lost its soul.

Two decades ago, the last Gino's, in Pasadena, closed - leaving the hungry faithful in search of another burger to replace their beloved Gino's Giant. That is, until former Baltimore Colt Gino Marchetti helped bring back the franchise, starting with a location in King of Prussia last year. In August, Gino's Burgers & Chicken debuted in Towson, and longtime fans lined up for a taste of nostalgia. Gino's, it turns out, is still better than most fast food on the market.

We went to Jim's Hideaway in Odenton for the $4.99 lunch buffet, took one look and almost fled. Lucky we didn't. For the fried onion rings were wonderfully crispy, the barbecue beef sandwich tangy, and the imperial crab melt imposing.Jim's has been hidden away on Odenton Road behind Odenton Volunteer Fire Hall for more than 40 years. The restaurant, in a rambling building expanded many times, has developed a cult following of crab aficionados seeking the imperial melt, the crab melt, the crab cakes, the crab dip, the crab balls, imperial crab balls -- and the all-you-can eat crab feast.

A landmark Catonsville-area carryout, known since the 1950s for its ice cream, steak subs and onion rings, was damaged in a fire early yesterday, and the owner of Mr. G's Fast Lane said he's unsure when the restaurant will reopen. The one-alarm fire began about 6 a.m., said Elise Armacost, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman. The blaze was determined to be an accidental electrical fire, Armacost said, and damage to the restaurant, in the 5600 block of Johnnycake Road, has been estimated at $250,000.

Gino Marchetti , the Hall of Fame defensive end for the Baltimore Colts, is bringing his beloved burgers back to Baltimore after a 20-year hiatus. Marchetti, 84, opened his first fast-food joint on North Point Road in 1959, at the height of his football career. By 1982, when he sold the chain to Marriott International for $48 million, there were 469 Gino's franchises nationwide dishing up the popular Gino Giant, a two-fisted meal with a special pink sauce that gourmands still rave about today.

Charcoal Grill 8535 Old Harford Road, Parkville; 410-668-9212. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. After "turkey day," you might think you have had your fill of bird. But once you sample the Chesapeake chicken sandwich at the Charcoal Grill in Parkville, you will happily rejoin the ranks of poultry partisans. This Charcoal Grill (there is an affiliated restaurant in Perry Hall) is a simple structure on the corner of Old Harford Road and Putty Hill Avenue that shares a parking lot with a liquor store.

On a hot night, the lines at Mr. G's Carryout are so long you might think this is the last place on U.S. 40 West serving gooey ice cream sundaes and deep-fried onion rings.It is, sort of."We've survived them all -- the Varsity, Champ's, Howard Johnson's -- all the Route 40 places that people once identified with this road," said Ina Kronthal, who with her husband, Donald, has owned this Catonsville-Westview institution for the past dozen years.Mr. G's is an unpretentious 1950s carryout where the dip-top swirl cone reigns supreme.

Burke's Cafe 36 Light St. -- 410-752-4189 Hours --7 a.m.-2 a.m. daily Restaurant's estimate --5 minutes Ready in --13 minutes Eight huge onion rings -- easily three times as wide as ones from other places -- came in this order, $5.94. Though the breading was thick and crumbly and the rings looked nearly perfect, they tasted bland. We were disappointed with the food and the wait time -- considering the place was nearly empty when we were there. Know of a good carryout place? Let us hear about it. Write to sam.sessa@baltsun.

Sociologists looking for the quintessential neighborhood pub would be smart to park themselves at Koco's. This family-owned tavern in Lauraville not only serves up good local fare — excellent crab cakes and juicy wings — it is also embedded in this Northeast Baltimore community. As you walk in, the door signs tell customers not to park "above the alley," the parking area on a side street, set aside by custom for residents of nearby houses. Once inside, you walk past a kid's corner, an area stuffed with games and teeming, the night we were there, with neighborhood youngsters.

Gino Marchetti , the Hall of Fame defensive end for the Baltimore Colts, is bringing his beloved burgers back to Baltimore after a 20-year hiatus. Marchetti, 84, opened his first fast-food joint on North Point Road in 1959, at the height of his football career. By 1982, when he sold the chain to Marriott International for $48 million, there were 469 Gino's franchises nationwide dishing up the popular Gino Giant, a two-fisted meal with a special pink sauce that gourmands still rave about today.

Burke's Cafe, the downtown restaurant that closed last week, was so very Baltimore. You could get oyster stew or sour beef and know it would be precisely the way you remembered it. It was always open. Its menu was frozen in time. A late Sunday breakfast, with Bloody Marys, did not cost $53, as I recently shelled out at a stylish venue in Woodberry. Burke's was not stylish. The terms "ceviche," "veal cheeks" and "confit" did not appear on its menu. What did appear? Potato pancakes with applesauce.

Sidney "Sid" Mandell, the gregarious former owner of a large, New York-style Woodmoor kosher delicatessen that for decades served up juicy, hot pastrami and corned beef sandwiches and was known for its famous "Mandell's Four by Four," died Tuesday in his sleep at his son's Stevenson home. He was 93. Mr. Mandell, the son of immigrant parents from Austria and Russia, was raised on Bond Street in East Baltimore. "They were difficult times and the family, as most immigrants, lived in cramped quarters with bare necessities," said his son, Steve Mandell.

Any gourmand can tell you that cooking with wine is one way to make a dish more flavorful. The addition of a little vino makes sauces and marinades more robust, thus enhancing the overall entrees. A little beer in your pot can have the same positive outcome. A fine ale or stout, or even a cheap canned brew, can work wonders for a dish. Here are several items from Baltimore restaurants that, from basting to battering, give beer a chance. Irish stew Where: : An Poit?n Stil, 2323 York Road, 410-560-7900 Ingredients: : Braised lamb with onions, carrots and potatoes in a Guinness stout stock, served in a bread bowl.

Charcoal Grill 8535 Old Harford Road, Parkville; 410-668-9212. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. After "turkey day," you might think you have had your fill of bird. But once you sample the Chesapeake chicken sandwich at the Charcoal Grill in Parkville, you will happily rejoin the ranks of poultry partisans. This Charcoal Grill (there is an affiliated restaurant in Perry Hall) is a simple structure on the corner of Old Harford Road and Putty Hill Avenue that shares a parking lot with a liquor store.

Soigne, Edward Kim's new restaurant, is scheduled to open today at 554 E. Fort Ave. where Lynn's used to be. Kim's last kitchen was at the funky-stylish Ixia on North Charles Street. His managing partner is Lisa Heckman, who owned a catering company in Philadelphia and earlier this year hoped to buy the Ruby Lounge in Mount Vernon. They renovated the space in what Kim calls SoHo art gallery style, with a cream background for whimsical art, black ceiling fans and bamboo sconces. The cuisine is Kim's forte, Pacific Rim with American and Mediterranean overtones.

Any gourmand can tell you that cooking with wine is one way to make a dish more flavorful. The addition of a little vino makes sauces and marinades more robust, thus enhancing the overall entrees. A little beer in your pot can have the same positive outcome. A fine ale or stout, or even a cheap canned brew, can work wonders for a dish. Here are several items from Baltimore restaurants that, from basting to battering, give beer a chance. Irish stew Where: : An Poit?n Stil, 2323 York Road, 410-560-7900 Ingredients: : Braised lamb with onions, carrots and potatoes in a Guinness stout stock, served in a bread bowl.

Briana CaBell didn't need a physician to tell her she had to do something about her diet. An admitted carb-fats-salt junkie who's been overweight as long as she can remember, CaBell has known for years that she needed to mend her food ways, to stop thinking of salty, deep-fried onion rings as a vegetable staple and, especially, curb her fast-food intake. The 30-year-old single Laurel resident said the time constraints of working two jobs, plus sharing a small catering business with her mother, squeezing in college courses and maintaining a schedule of church activities keep her on the run from before dawn to late in the evening.

If you thought Tony Soprano had issues, you should talk to fans of The Sopranos. A day after the final episode of the landmark HBO mob drama, reaction to creator David Chase's ambiguous jump-to-black ending ranged from he's-a-genius praise to outright scorn. Some people simply thought the cable had gone out. "I liked it," said long-time fan Zack Chaiken, 28, of Baltimore. "To me, it was pretty clear that Tony gets a bullet." "I just thought it was horrible," said Bitsy Cramer of Timonium.