Feast with your eyes first at the coolly furnished Granite Bar and Grille in Baltimore.
Decorated in cool blues and grays, this Canton restaurant is a fresh reprieve from the wooded interiors of nearby pubs. But the service on a slow Tuesday night was also slow. While waiting for water, we entertained ourselves with some unabashed people-watching through large open windows onto the Square.
Granite?s menu is large, covered front and back with salads, seafood, sandwiches and entrees.
The breeze drifting through the restaurant put me in a summertime mood, so I opted for the blackened chicken salad. My date went the salad route as well, and we worried that we had under-ordered.
After tearing through a plate of tender steamed shrimp drenched in an onion and Old Bay broth (despite how hot they were to touch), and nearly 45 minutes of small talk, our friendly waitress presented our entrees.
My blackened chicken salad was hardly a subpar order. Fluffy mixed greens filled a huge deep white square dish, peppered with bright red cubes of tomatoes, a spattering of onions and large strips of herb-crusted chicken.
My date?s steak-topped Granite Salad was equally full of greens and meat, enhanced by colorful spears of pineapple, honeydew melon and red grapes, sprinkled with crumbled blue cheese.
The chicken was cooked to perfection, with a crisp flavorful edge of garden herbs. The steak was a true medium rare and was delicious when combined with blue cheese and a bite of fruit. Portion sizes were just right, and we were feeling sated and energized.
So many diners are counting calories, points, grams or zones these days. The Granite entree salad will be a decadent alternative to an otherwise tired salad routine for them. But Granite will also please others who may just want a good thick cheeseburger.
IF YOU GO
Granite Bar and Grille
2903 O?Donnell St., Baltimore
410-675-1880
» Who you?ll see: Cantonites, downtown couples, families
» What you?ll eat: Grilled calamari, salads topped with steak or chicken
» What you?ll spent (for two): $50 to $60
» Where you?ll park: Around Canton Square
