Shrimp Salad

Something says seafoodHASSLINGER'S538 Cranbrook Road, Cockeysville. Open Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Phone: 628-7577.Something about this place makes you think seafood. The huge marlin on the wall? Codfish cakes, oysters, crabmeat, etc., peeking from the counters? The carry-out menu with drawings of ocean waves and smiling fish? The nautical motif of the posted menu? Hmmm, that could explain it. At any rate, this is not the place to sing out: "How's the meatloaf today?"

Glorie's Place, with its flouncy curtains, knickknacks on the windowsills and bright, spotless dining rooms, is the kind of place that makes you feel as though you're eating in someone's home.Karen Connelly bought the Essex restaurant two years ago from the previous owners and kept the name. In the middle of a residential neighborhood, it draws a regular crowd of loyal patrons who don't seem to mind that a meal here can be quite uneven. Glorie's is convenient and comfortable and homey. Heck, if I lived in the neighborhood, I'd probably go back, too.Here's the meal I'd order.

The only problem with Price's Seafood in Havre de Grace is getting there. But this classic crab house is worth the drive, about an hour from downtown Baltimore.Walk up the steps to this wood-frame house, high on a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, and snag a green vinyl booth inside. That's not hard to do since the wood-paneled room is filled with them. The booths in the middle are side by side, making them roomy enough for large parties.Ready for the onslaught of crab shells, tabletops are spread with clean white paper, some scribbled with reservation times.

Location is by no means the only thing the Stained Glass Pub has going for it. This younger version of its Silver Spring sibling already has earned itself word-of-mouth praise and many regulars. Billed as a “family restaurant and sports bar,” this Dorsey Road eatery, which replaced Joe Theismann's in October 2008, is noted for pizza and pub grub. The ambiance is quite relaxed - lots of wood, an ample bar and nicely divided dining areas. The menu is accessible, too. All your pub favorites, many of them done up with creative touches that make the food more fun. Plus entrées that feature everything from jumbo lump crab cakes or New York strip to Mom's lasagna or Aunt Peggy's meatloaf or the popular seafood gumbo.

I'm grateful to Billy Himmelrich, owner of the several Stone Mill Bakery cafes in the area, for bringing such good bread and such flaky croissants and such buttery brioches to Baltimore. But I wish he would teach his staff how to make an iced latte.We had lunch at the recently opened Stone Mill in Roland Park last Sunday. This is a handsome cafe, done in a sort of Shaker chic -- minimalist decor, comfortable ladder-back chairs, the Stone Mill's trademark riveted metal tables as well as a couple of wooden ones, and two high chairs hanging from pegs along the wall.

Eddie's of Roland Park 6213 N. Charles St. Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Phone (410) 377-8040.An institution on Roland Avenue, Eddie's of Roland Park recently opened a larger supermarket with carryout deli. Aside from the usual cold meats, there's a large selection of entrees and side dishes, some of which may change daily, or simply run out. On the two occasions I was there they ranged from potato salad ($1.99 a pound) to chopped liver ($5.59), sesame noodles ($4.99)

PEPE'S 6081 Falls Road. Open Monday through Sunday from 5:30 a.m. ''midnight. Call 377-3287. Pepe's is a popular neighborhood establishment at the foot of Lake Avenue that sits just beneath the closed-for-a-year Falls Road bridge over the railroad tracks, which must cause its delivery drivers, as well as loyal customers to the north, fits.Spacious and clean in the classic Formica and fluorescent style, Pepe's menu makes up in variety what it lacks in distinctiveness.In addition to thin crust and deep dish pizzas, Pepe's offers a couple dozen types of subs, three pasta varieties -- spaghetti, lasagna and stuffed shells -- in six different sauces, a few Greek offerings and four types of salads, as well as a standard range of side dishes.

Three recipes, any one of which is likely to become your very favorite, include barley soup, a shrimp salad and a pecan cookie that is some-kind-of-good.Mrs. B. Wagner of Baltimore wrote that she had pored overrecipes in the library and had experimented on her own, but could not come up with a creamy macaroni shrimp salad that pleased her. Eha L. Schuetz of Baltimore came to the rescue. Her recipe was excellent, according to Chef Syglowski, who chooses and tests recipes submitted to this column.

Did you hear about the hurricane that hit New Jersey? It caused $100 million in improvements. Just kidding. I'm actually a Jersey fan and I drive up there frequently to see relatives. One thing I know about the drive is that there are few decent and convenient eating options between here and there - the usual fast-food junk. However, I recently discovered one alternative just a short jump off Interstate 95. Chesapeake Food Works in Perryville is a perfectly acceptable deli selling an assortment of sandwiches, soups and salads.

You might think that if DiPasquale's Gourmet Italian Market of Highlandtown opened its first eatery it would be small scale -- a deli, maybe. But DiPasquale's at the Pikes (912 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville) is a full-service Italian restaurant with a liquor license. (Yes, there is a deli and grocery as well.)The old Pikes Theater, after extensive renovation, is the setting for what Joe DiPasquale, one of the owners, says is really a trattoria. The menu is mostly southern Italian, with dishes like risotto, scampi and veal Marsala.