Kosher Food and Drink

While we were up in Baltimore to drop off my son at overnight camp, we decided a bit of pre-Nine-Days fleishigs was in order. This led us to The Club (1500 Reisterstown Rd # 224, Pikesville, MD 21208; (410) 504-8102; https://theclubdeliandgrill.com/; under Star-K supervision; meat/fleishig), a new-ish restaurant near Taam Thai and Goldberg’s, near the intersection of Old Court Road and Reisterstown Road.

The Club is a casual sit-down restaurant with a rustic, homey ambience. It is not terribly large – parties of more than four will find seating to require some table repositioning – but it isn’t crowded, which is mostly what I care about. The ambience is nice, but I felt it was a bit bland – more commitment to what’s on the walls and really embracing their theme would add to the dining experience. On the other hand, their choice of mason-jar-style glasses, cider jug-esque water bottles, and longer-than-usual cutlery did lean into the theming, so there’s certainly things to like here.

Service was acceptable for the price point, but not stellar. The server was mostly interested in taking orders and delivering food, and there wasn’t much interaction beyond that. I had to flag them down for more water and a check. This isn’t the worst service in the world by a long shot, but once you enter into a tipping situation (relationship?), I feel that service expectations become much more of a consideration.

I was quite impressed by the menu, which was well-organized and easy to read. The Club styles itself as a “deli and grill”, and the menu leans into this completely. Lots of classic sandwiches, a number of interesting entrees, and a good selection of sides. The prices aren’t cheap, but they’re reasonable – and kudos to the owners for giving some information in the menu about how much meat to expect in an item.

We chose the steak salad, Brisket Dipper, “cheesesteak”, Rippin Dippin Chicken, and the Club Stack side.

One critique at this point: the salad came out with the side/appetizer, instead of with the entrees. I understand that it is sometimes difficult to read the table, but if someone’s just ordering a salad, it’s worth asking if that’s intended to be an appetizer or an entree, and then sending it out at the appropriate time. As it was, my wife was done with her salad around the time I started taking a bite out of my chicken. This led to some awkward staring (and stolen food off my plate). We also didn’t get the plates for the side until a few minutes later – and let’s face it, pulled brisket isn’t finger food (unless you’re hungry enough).

That aside, we were quite impressed with what we ordered. Portion sizes were very generous, and the plating was above what I’d expect from this kind of restaurant. The side/appetizer we ordered was a huge hit with the table, and even my daughter, who is not a fan of onions, dug right into the fried onion strings. The brisket was also very good, with a sweet tangy sauce and tender texture.

My kids loved their sandwiches – and they’re not afraid to tell me when something doesn’t hit their standard. Similarly, I was extremely impressed with the Rippin Dippin Chicken, which had a generous assortment of sauces, and was deep-fried to perfection. The fries were also just right – crunchy, but still with a soft inside. The salad had generous portions of steak, and was otherwise well-constructed and colorful.

The final bill was about a hundred bucks sans tip – but for a family of four with drinks and an appetizer, it wasn’t astronomical by any means.

My family and I really enjoyed our meal at The Club. There’s room for improvement with some of the serving process, but the food itself was top-notch, and it was really a very pleasant experience overall. While the grill-style restaurant market in Baltimore is very competitive, I like how The Club charts its own path, and doesn’t try to lean into fusion dishes or a zillion different styles. It does one thing, and it does it quite well. That’s quite commendable, and I think we’ll be going back in the future.