Hoco NomNom

Been a crazy month, not just for the Nom Nom family, but for our nation. Did you have a good Halloween? Little Nom took part in our social distancing trick or treat that our little neighborhood did. Thanks to our lovely neighbors giving out a full Toblerone, Little Nom was ecstatic.

Hopefully you all did your civic duty and went out to vote. Thankfully election season is over and we can get back to focusing on other things. Congratulations to all the people who ran this season for positions in our district. It is great to see how much people care about improving Howard County.

COVID-19 cases are rising again. Governor Hogan is announcing restaurants go back down to 50% capacity. I do fear that we’re just at the beginning of what will be the worst we’ve seen of the virus. The good news is that a potential vaccine is doing better than predicted. Stay safe out there and protect one another.

Before we get into it, here are the latest places that are now open: Bushel and Peck, Quickway Hibachi, and Sunset Raw Juice Bar.

The mall has been making some changes. Many stores are hurting during this time period. Two new fast food restaurants have been announced. One of them has returned from breaking my heart, when it left in the 90s. We also are very sad to announce an old gas station favorite of ours has closed up shop.

Before we get into it, here are the latest places that are now open: Tiger Sugar, GrillMarx and Nothing Bundt Cakes.

Howdy Folks, today’s update mainly consists of closures. What a downer right? Before we get into it, I just want to mention a few places that have opened now: Starbucks in Clarksville, Mikey & Mel’s in Fulton and Kyoto Matcha in Ellicott City. Now let’s just get this over with, just like ripping off a band-aid.

Summer is ending. We got thru this together. This season was especially hard with COVID-19 throwing everyone’s vacation plans out the door. The silver lining is that the governor has now begun Phase 3 of the COVID-19 Recovery plan. Today’s posts contains some updates happening on Snowden River Parkway, a new bubble tea place, and an event on the fairgrounds.

Al Pastor Tacos To Die For

Have you ever asked, where can I get the best tacos? It’s a legit request. If wherever you are, the answer is Taco Bell, then you don’t know what you’re missing. So where’s the best place to get tacos in Howard County? I have the place for you in today’s post. And they are mouth watering.

How can you not love the mall food court? There would always be that stand that would have a tray full of chicken and the workers would pander free samples on toothpicks. At our mall, there’s at least 4 stands that do that. One of those stands is always a Hibachi fast food. People love that chicken. Well it’s no surprise, a Hibachi fast food chain is making it’s way into Howard County. That and some closing updates in today’s updates.

Plant based burgers? The jury is still out for me. My only experience is an Impossible Burger from SeaWorld. I blame the experience itself more than the meal for the lackluster impression. We were huddled under cover from a downpour while Little Nom was shooing away the hungry Ibis. I was more focused on keeping Little Nom from waging a turf war with the native flock than I was eating. But I’ll have another chance to try as a new established has opened up inside Whole Foods.

A lot of progress is being made on new construction shopping centers. Our latest news is about a shopping center in Clarksville. We know of three chains that are moving in. See the latest updates all in today’s post.

During these times, we may start seeing more virtual restaurants starting to appear. This is the first I’ve heard of the term but it makes plenty of sense. It’s a restaurant that has a full menu that exists online. They share kitchen space with another establishment and rely heavily on online platforms for orders. We now have one of these that serve lobster rolls (continue reading to know where). Now i’m intrigued, are there more virtual restaurants around?

Goertze's Dairy Kone and Lenny's Ethnic Sausage

Summer during COVID-19 is not fun. With the 2020 Howard County Fair cancelled, we’ll miss out on the farm animals, rides, and games. But there is one thing that you won’t miss out on… carnival food. We’ve found it: sausages, cheese fries, funnel cake, corn dogs, shakes, sundaes, soft serve and freshly squeezed lemonade. Everything that will fill my arteries for the next 50 years but totally worth it. Summer has arrived and it’s name is Goertze’s Dairy Kone.

Happy Birthday America!

It’s been a wild ride since the last post. Restaurants are now open for outdoor seating and indoor seating at 50% capacity. It’s been great seeing all of us wearing masks and doing our part to keeping everyone safe. Having two small Nom Noms is really kicking our butts. We are doing well though.

There’s been a lot of news since we’ve been gone. Here are the latest updates in one giant update post.

During this Coronavirus pandemic, restaurant closure mandates, and troubling economy, it is tough for our restaurants. Here’s some of the extra things our food community is doing during these tough times. I’ll try to keep this post updated when I come across more things.

• Howard County - The county launched its own map that shows what restaurants are still offering to go / curbside pickup. Link

• Beef Brothers Deli - Offering No Contact Curbside pick up. If you order online or on the phone, pay in advance, and describe the car. Just pop the trunk when you arrive and someone with gloves will deliver your food and place it in the trunk for you without ever coming close to you. Link

• Blowfish Poke - Offering Buy 1 Get 1 50% off all week.

• Coal Fire Pizza - Offering a free 16” 1-topping pizza for anyone that works in the restaurant industry and have been affected. Link

• Grille 620, Mad Chef, River Hill Grill - Offering 20% off carry out orders (excludes door dash). Just mention the discount when ordering. Link

• Hudson Coastal - Finding out the unexpected news of closing at 5pm the other day. Hudson Coastal had to get rid of their inventory. They offered 50 cent oysters and shucked over 900 Oysters in 3 hrs. Link

• Koshary By Misteka - Offering Buy 1 Get 1 50% off thru 3/21. Use coupon code COVID-19 for online orders. Link

• Kung Fu 12 Szechuan - Offering 15% off carry out orders except for lunch specials and fundraising items. Link

• Region Ale - Brought lunch out to healthcare professionals at Howard County General. Link. Will be offering free sandwiches and sides Thursday 3/19 from 11a - 2p to help support our community. Link

• Tino’s Italian Bistro - 50% off for medical personnel.

• Walker’s - Offering free delivery to anywhere within a 10 min drive. $25 minimum. Link

• HoCoFood Reddit - User ttsci has an amazing list places and information.

• hocofoodie is compiling a list of restaurant announcements thru instagram stories.

If you know of ways our community is going above and beyond, let me know.

Today is a crazy time, COVID-19 has been sweeping the nation. Governor Hogan has instructed restaurants to be closed but drive thru and carry out is allowed. County Executive Ball has already shut down the mall, any restaurants inside the mall without an outdoor entry will be closed. I can’t imagine what a tough time this will be for restaurant staff and owners. Let’s hope this passes quickly.

Some happy news, the Nom Nom family has gotten larger. Things are a bit hectic here in the Nom Nom house. I apologize that updates will be coming very infrequently in the short term. That aside, here are some updates.

A long awaited mystery has been sleuthed out by one of our readers, Chick-fil-a coming to Ellicott City? Akira Ramen Columbia finally has an opening date. This and more in today’s set of updates.

Inside Xenia

Hidden in a business office and tucked in the back of a business park, you wouldn’t expect a restaurant to be here. But don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Inside is a gorgeous interior, probably one of the prettiest interiors that I’ve seen in Howard County. Xenia Greek Kouzina is an original concept and gives us another option for a fine dining experience in Howard County.