Welcome to campus, newcomers! And welcome back to everyone else. In this month's column, I will not follow my usual practice of reviewing two or three restaurants "in depth." Rather, I'm going to provide a broad survey of local dining opportunities. Alas, many interesting establishments cannot be included in the space available. Do try as many of the listed and other local restaurants as possible. Overall, they provide us with terrific value dining: at most restaurants listed below, a meal for two without drinks is in the $10-15 range!
On Campus The Rossborough Inn (tel. 314-8013; reservations advised) is an excellent and often elegant luncheon restaurant in an historic building. There's no better host than Randi Dutch. The next-to-LeFrak South Campus cafeteria (314-8044) offers a wide variety of adequate food, including fix-your-own salads paid for by the pound. And in the Student Union, there are a number of eating establishments offering food that ranges from fast-food burgers to middle-of-the-road Italian-American.
Very Close to Campus For an East Village 60's socio-environmental experience and a modest range of tasty vegetarian food including the "Planetary Powerhouse" sandwich and a modified form of Italian ices, try Planet X (7422 Baltimore Ave., 779-8451); Seoul (4423 Lehigh Rd., 277-1277) has a fairly good, inexpensive Korean buffet at lunch; and the soups, pies (I like the spanokopita and the kotopita), and other Greek dishes at Marathon Deli (4429 Lehigh Road, 927-6717) are often quite good.
American Close to campus is Bentley's (7323 Baltimore Ave., 277-8898), where the food and drink are satisfactory and the bar provides coupling opportunities. There are indoor and outside tables. Up Baltimore Ave. just past the Beltway is Straw Dogs (in the Holiday Inn, 10000 Baltimore Ave., 345-6700), which offers the same food/coupling combination. A fair quality good value American buffet is available at the Sizzler (8424 Baltimore Ave., 474-1216).
Chinese Two good Chinese restaurants face each other across Route 1 just north of campus, Seven Seas (8503 Baltimore Ave., 345-5807; look for discount coupons) and Sichuan (8430 Baltimore Ave., 474-2838). Seven Seas has special vegetarian and Chinese menus; Sichuan has a good value luncheon buffet. Another couple of not terrific but fast-food Chinese storefront restaurants, Gourmet East nad China Cafe, are at the southeast corner of campus. Within a couple of miles of campus, there are perhaps a dozen other Chinese restaurants.
Indian-Pakistani Probably my favorite local restaurant is run by people from Pakistan and Bangledesh. It's Tabeer (International Mall, 1401 University Blvd., 434-2121), which has an appealing modestly priced buffet at lunch and dinner. (Shoppers: there's a Middle-Eastern grocery store next door and bargain shops elsewhere in the mall.) Good Indian food with a tandoori oven is served at Maharaja (8825 Greenbelt Rd., 552-1600). I particularly like the Chicken Tandoori. Raju (in the Campus Village Shopping Center, 8145-E Baltimore Ave., 474-8584), a South Indian restaurant, offers a number of tasty, unusual, and inexpensive vegetarian dishes.
Korean Yi Jo (in Days Inn at 9137 Baltimore Ave., 345-6500) is a solid mid-priced Korean restaurant which several Korean professors and my garage mechanic have praised. A number of bargains are on the luncheon menu. Myongdong (11124 Baltimore Ave. in Beltsville, 595-4173) is a first-rate inexpensive noodle shop north of the Beltway where Korean students often go. For near-campus Korean, keep Seoul in mind.
Latin American Many Latin American restaurants are in the area, mostly in the Mexican-Salvadorian category. I've enjoyed meals at El Tazumal, 8739 Flower Ave., 608-2121, and Ana, 949 University Blvd., 445-6578). Good Peruvian food and late night live entertainment are available at Machu Picchu (8200 Piney Branch Rd., 587-8663) It's worth noting Santa Fe (4410 Knox Road., 779-1345) although its food is often quite ordinary because it's close to campus and its outdoor patio is a hot coupling locale.
Pizza The consensus of the students I've polled (who would better know?) is that the best two local pizza establishments are Pizza Hut (delivery and carry out, College Park Shopping Center, 779-7000; dine in, 9015 Baltimore Ave., 345-2244) and Alario's (8150 Baltimore Ave., 474-3003). I admit to have frequently ordered from both establishments. Perhaps a campus newcomer will check out each of the dozen or so pizza restaurants and provide us with a full report!
Seafood My favorite local seafood restaurant is the Calvert Inn (just south of Route 410 at 6211 Baltimore Ave, 864-5220, parking in the rear). Also appealing is Chef's Secret (5810 Greenbelt Rd., 345-6101). At both establishments, adventurous diners should look for hints of the national origins of the staff. The Chesapeake Crab House (8214 Piney Branch Rd., 589-9868) is popular for you-know-what. And Kushner's (8523 Piney Branch Rd., 589-0048) is an old standby.
Vegetarian Beautiful Day/Berwyn Cafe (5010 Berwyn Road, 345-6655; look for discount coupons) is a 60's throwback grocery store and tiny vegetarian cafe. To or from the cafe, be sure to stop at the remarkable Smile Herb and Book Shop. Seven Seas, previously noted, is a Chinese restaurant with an extensive special vegetarian menu. I personally think the vegetarian dishes here are tastier and better presented than the others. And don't forget Planet X and Raju.
Vietnamese There are at least a dozen Vietnamese restaurants near campus, all providing good value meals. Rich bowls of soup are a specialty. Viet Deli (2065 University Blvd., 422-6339) is close to campus and has a terrific Vietnamese submarine sandwich for two dollars (as well as a full Vietnamese menu). Maxim (640 University Blvd., 439-3030) is further away but has a wide variety of dishes and is adjacent to an excellent Asian grocery store. Leave time for shopping!
Et Cetera There are scores of other good and/or interesting restaurants in our local area: an African two-table restaurant off Piney Branch Road, a New York-style deli in Hyattsville, pool-side dining in College Park, a Cuban-Italian (!) combo restaurant in Adelphi, several Jamaican establishments, and on and on. Be sure to let me know what you try or discover! Send your feedback to 1117 LeFrak Hall or (via EMail) BHANNA@BSS2.UMD.EDU.