Restaurant

Blink and a restaurant has closed in Harborplace or a new one has opened. The latest opening is Big Kahuna Cantina in the Light Street Pavilion (410-539-7060) where Paolo's used to be. The menu is a mix of Polynesian and Mexican dishes, and -- no surprise here -- there's a huge selection of tequilas and fancy drinks of the little-umbrella sort. Do I need to mention the tiki torches? Paolo's (an Italian bistro, if there is such a thing) seemed to suffer being so close to Little Italy. The area's other Paolo's, in Towson (1 Pennsylvania Ave., 410-321-7000)

Sidewalk dining nearly proved fatal yesterday evening when a black Honda Accord jumped a curb in front of two Federal Hill restaurants, injuring at least three patrons. The car came to a halt at the steps of Regi's American Bistro. Two people were taken to Maryland General Hospital and one to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Witnesses said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, but the names and conditions of the victims were not immediately available. The accident occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m., outside Regi's and an adjacent restaurant, Ten-O-Six, in the 1000 block of Light St. Overturned folding chairs and tables were crushed and knocked over.

MOSCOW -- In the blackness enveloping me, I can tell only that there's something squishy on my plate. Could it be a hard-boiled egg? Maybe it's cheese. No, it doesn't smell sharp enough to be cheese. I taste it meekly, which doesn't help. Another bite; I still don't know what it is, though I do know this: I don't much care for it. This reminds me of a third-grade Halloween party where I donned a blindfold and thrust my hand into a bowl of peeled grapes I was told were eyeballs. Basically, I feel like I am eating eyeballs.

Eleanor Aldridge, who with her husband opened Reno's Restaurant more than 50 years ago at a rural crossroads in Gambrills, died of pneumonia Thursday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was 92. For more than two decades, she ran the business side of the small restaurant and did much of the home-style cooking. In retirement, she continued to make the coleslaw and soups as well as a few other dishes. In recent years, as her health declined, she did not cook but came in a few times a week to look in on the kitchen, see customers and chat with family.

In its short life span (it opened early this summer), the Patterson Park restaurant Three ... has gone through at least one major change. Normally, I would have eaten at a place getting this much buzz sooner, but it seemed only fair to wait, considering that the owners named their restaurant Three ... and then promptly lost one of the three - Jack Starr, the one who was the executive chef as well as an owner. Talk about landing on your feet. The restaurant then hired Peter Livolsi, the chef who opened Pazo in Fells Point.

Ten years ago, when Sonoma's Bar and Grille opened in Columbia's Owen Brown Village Center, the concept was "basically a restaurant," said owner Jerry Seidel, 41. Over time, the concept was tweaked. Televisions and live music acts were added. "We found out that our niche was more of an upscale sports bar with entertainment at night," he said. And, until recently, that meant that smoking was allowed at Sonoma's. To accommodate the smokers, a large partition with glass windows had divided the restaurant, separating the smoking section from the nonsmokers.

It's 7 on a Saturday night, your section is full and you're repeating the specials of the night for the third time to a timid thirtysomething who must be suffering from short-term amnesia. You glance at the customers at your other tables: Two need bread, two are waiting to order and the family of five in the corner needs refills of chocolate milk and Shirley Temples. Waiting tables is a stressful, fast-paced and, at times, utterly chaotic occupation. Perhaps that's the reason that every week, according to People Report (a Dallas-based research-and-consulting company)

Having earned money from doing chores for her grandmother, 10-year-old Kianna Johnson set out from her West Fairmount Avenue home Thursday afternoon for the nearby market with its yellow awning and oversized red lettering where they sold the Popsicles she loved. The two-block stroll along neighboring West Baltimore Street, which she had taken many times, typically took her through the glass doors of the Economy Market and Carry-Out, where she would make a swift left past the pastries and potato chips.

Casey Jenkins is a charmer. All restaurant owners pay lip service to the concept of being in the business to make people happy, but the owner and chef of the new Darker Than Blue Cafe seems to mean it. His enthusiasm is infectious, even when he's just talking about his all you-can-eat brunch for $17.95. "People love it," he grins. Poor:]

At Rebecca Poag's All Peoples Dining Room on Pennsylvania Avenue, patrons could get a helping of oxtail stew for less than a dollar, a bowl of beans for a quarter and perhaps the city's best short ribs meal for a buck and a half.With each meal came a dose of Mrs. Poag's southern hospitality. As owner of the West Baltimore restaurant, she tastefully blended good times and good food for more than 25 years.Mrs. Poag, who lived in West Baltimore for more than 60 years, died Saturday from complications of a stroke at Liberty Medical Center.

Peter Michael Yagjian, a restaurateur whose Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon brought baby back rib platters to Charles Street, died of a heart attack Tuesday at his Fells Point home. He was 64. Customers said that at his restaurant's peak, lines would form at its door on weekend nights. Mr. Yagjian, as the host and greeter, would dart around tables trying to accommodate one more party in his crowded and noisy bistro that featured a reproduction Egyptian mummy case and other eclectic decorations.

Richard Michael Pirone, a Baltimore restaurateur and founding senior partner of the Country Fare Group, a consortium that owns and operates some of the area's best-known restaurants, died Saturday of a heart attack at his Ellicott City home. The former longtime Homeland and Roland Park resident was 66. Born in New York City into a large Italian family, Mr. Pirone spent his early years in the city's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood before moving to Massapequa, L.I., with his family. "His family was poor, his father worked two jobs as a postal worker and at Con-Edison, but there was always plenty of good food on the table," said Mr. Pirone's wife of 39 years, the former Kathleen Wills.

Ronnie Brooks, Yanna Foster and Victoria Coleman make up the gospel group Immeasurable. As of last week, they are also the owners of a new soul food restaurant, Immeasurable Chicken & Waffle (1700 W. Pratt St., 888-801-2863). I asked the group's assistant, Michelle Guess, why a gospel group would open a restaurant. "They wanted a place the community could have a good, nonalcoholic time," she said. "They wanted to bring back something positive to Baltimore." Chicken and waffles are a good place to start, but the menu doesn't stop there.

Think of it as Woodberry Kitchen, the Inner Harbor Edition. Of course, no restaurant wants to be known as a clone of another restaurant, and this one isn't; but the new B&O American Brasserie ought to take the comparison as a compliment. Woodberry Kitchen is one of our few success stories in the past couple of years. The B&O American Brasserie is the restaurant adjacent to the Hotel Monaco Baltimore. It's a handsome, contemporary space on two levels, with a mezzanine overlooking the bar and exhibition kitchen.

The Brass Elephant, a landmark Mount Vernon restaurant known for its fine dining and elegant atmosphere, has closed. Mounting expenses and a dwindling customer base contributed to co-owner Randy Stahl's decision to shut the restaurant this week. Stahl and the other owners recently put the four-story building up for sale with the intention of using the money to help keep the restaurant afloat. Though there are interested buyers, they haven't completed a deal yet, he said. If the building sells, Stahl hopes to reopen the restaurant under the same name but with a new direction, he said.

Should I tell you not to walk in when there's a "help wanted" sign posted in the window? That's probably too obvious. Here's my list of the Top 10 Mistakes Restaurant Goers Should Avoid, which appeared last week on my blog, Dining@Large (baltimoresun.com/diningatlarge): 1 Making your reservation at 7 p.m. (like everyone else in Baltimore). 2 Eating out on Mother's Day. Every other holiday I can think of reasons why you would want to eat out, but there are better ways to honor your mother than taking her out on the busiest restaurant day of the year.

In my life as a reviewer, I never get to visit chain restaurants. In real life, I don't frequent them, but I don't go out of my way to avoid them, either. When the restaurant intended for this review was closed, though, we ended up eating at Noodles & Company, and I'm glad we did. For one thing, it was a very satisfying evening for me and the multi-generational family I had made plans with. And, for another, it's very useful for me to know about "fast casual" places like Noodles & Company since they're increasingly the direct competition for the kind of locally owned restaurant I typically do review.

There are some restaurants that do what they set out to do without having many detractors. Here are the top 10 least controversial places that I think best fit that description. After the name, I've put the restaurant's reputation. Of course not everyone loves them, but it's hard to hate them. They pretty much deliver what they promise. The list is in alphabetical order: 1 Amicci's in Little Italy. Its reputation: Good pastas, the neighborhood's most reasonably priced, casual, fun restaurant.

For something a little different, last week's Top 10 on Dining@Large was a list of the most promising restaurants that have opened recently or are soon to open, and it told why they may be worth a visit. Of course, I'm not saying when I'll get around to reviewing them. Here's my list in alphabetical order: 1 Alizee in Homewood. The boutique bistro and wine bar opened recently where the Spice Company used to be in the Inn at the Colonnade. Specialties include fushi, fusion sushi. 2 Cuadrado on North Avenue.

If projections hold true for Saturday's Ravens playoff game, Padonia Station will see double. About 35 workers at the Cockeysville restaurant are expected to serve 3,000 pounds of Buffalo wings and more than 100 cases of beer to a crowd of near 400, twice the numbers for a regular-season game day. Baltimore-area bars and restaurants such as Padonia Station have cashed in on the Ravens' run, generating business at a time when the sagging economy has...