A Celebratory Dinner

Tonight I went out to dinner with one of my best friends (we've known each other since kindergarten!) to celebrate her acceptance to grad school for Human Resources. So exciting! I chose to make the reservation for The Stanford Grill in Columbia, a place that had been on my list and that came highly recommended by Caroline. Apparently they offer free mimosas or champagne at brunch. Umm yes please!

The grill has a very appealing facade and almost looks like a winery with wood trellises and Adirondack chairs. Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by a live jazz duet, soft lighting, and lots of sleek dark wood. It looks very expensive but the food is reasonably priced for the quality, which I shall get to in a moment. I highly recommend making a reservation for this place on the weekend. It was very crowded and we probably would have had to leave if we didn't have one. But it's a testament to how good it is!

We started off the dinner like any good celebratory dinner, with drinks! We both had their signature Elite Margarita, a mix of Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Milagro Tequila, and agave. Very very tasty (I love a good margarita) and you get a pretty decent sized glass, which is good because it was not the cheapest drink.

For an appetizer we had initially agreed upon the calamari, that is before our waitress came by and listed the night's specials. The second we both heard fried green tomatoes topped with crab meat and balsamic we knew we had to change our choice. I'll eat anything with crabmeat on it. I don't particularly like tomatoes on their own but when they're deep fried and covered with something else they're usually pretty darn delicious. These were coated in what tasted like a batter mixed with Old Bay and they didn't skimp too much on the crabmeat. Plus the field green salad underneath with the balsamic was delicious on its own.

When choosing an entree I usually don't opt for a salad since I can make that at home and it's not always the most interesting choice. But something about the Cobb salad had me intrigued and sometimes I just get cravings for gourmet salads. Tonight I did not regret my choice. Composed of eggs, bacon, bleu cheese, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, cornbread croutons, rotisserie chicken and topped with avocado ranch dressing, this salad was amazing. The chicken was incredibly moist and had excellent flavor. The cornbread croutons weren't too hard and gave a nice sweetness to the dish. I ordered extra dressing because I like a little more than usual but didn't end up needing it. 

I loved the presentation before I mixed it all up (of course I pulled off the tomatoes). 

Caroline chose the wood-fired rotisserie chicken, served with redskin mashed potatoes and green beans. I stole a few bites off her plate of the potatoes and green beans, both of which were seasoned well. The green beans had a little bit of spice to them but I'm unsure what it was. Her only critique was that the skin on the chicken was just a bit too salty. 

This place definitely gets an A+ for appetizing presentation: 

This is a place that I will definitely be going back to. If I had a 5 star rating this one would easily get at least 4.