The Stanford Grill

This morning hubby asked me if I wanted to go out to breakfast since it is a rare treat to be able to do brunch on a Sunday morning.  Usually, we are at church.  I decided to go online and see if there were any restaurants in the area that offered a Sunday brunch.  We are already familiar with the weekend brunches at Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, MD and we are aware that The Cheesecake Factory at the Columbia Mall also offers a Sunday brunch as well, but we wanted to try something that was atypical.

I went onto Yelp and found that The Stanford Grill in Columbia, MD offers brunch only on Sundays and we decided to try it.

When we arrived around 11:30am, we were greeted by two hostesses. At the entrance there was a pianist and cellist that were both playing softly.  We were seated immediately.  The hostess that seated us took us over to the fireplace and told us we were welcome to sit at our choice of either the large booths or any of the tables around the fireplace.  We chose to sit at a booth and she gave us our menus.  Our waitress was Ashley.  She came to our table within moments of our being seated and asked us what we would like to drink.  There are several options for beverages and all of them are included in the cost of the meal.  I asked if I could choose two (coffee and mimosa) and hubby requested coffee.  She said that she could bring out a French Press Pot for us and then she could just bring out an extra cup for me and not charge for a second drink.  That was nice!

After that, as we were looking at our menus, I asked her what she recommended.  She mentioned several of the breakfast items she enjoyed that were sweet (french toast and pancakes), but I was more interested in a savory.  When she mentioned the Crab Scramble and the Crab Eggs Benedict, I decided to go with the Crab Eggs Benedict.  Hubby will tell you that Eggs Benedict is my 'test' for how good a restaurant is.  If the egg isn't poached well or if the hollandaise sauce is too thin or too thick or has no flavor, the entire dish is ruined.  I had ordered Eggs Benedict four times in the last ten years and only one time was it cooked properly when I placed my order.  Ashley asked me if it was ok that potatoes came with my order and I told her that was fine with me.

Hubby could not decide what he wanted to eat, so Ashley offered to return for his order with our drinks.  When she returned with our coffee and fresh cream in a small pot, she poured our coffees for us and then hubby ordered a Breakfast Burrito and requested a side order of scrambled eggs and a side of Canadian Bacon.  I noticed they offered Applewood Bacon at that point and requested a side of that as well.  There was a bit of difficulty regarding spoons.  Ashley told us that no coffee spoons were clean, but she could bring us soup spoons to stir our cream and sugar into the coffee.  Hubby used his knife to stir his coffee and I waited for the soup spoon.  When she brought them, one of the spoons had dried food on it still.  Ashley apologized profusely.  I need to specify at this point that I am already not a huge fan of French Press Pot coffee because I don't like grounds in my coffee and am more accustomed to a 'regular coffee' having free refills, but compared to my previous experience, the flavor was good and there were not as many grounds in my cup when I finished.

A few minutes passed and we talked and enjoyed the ambiance.  We were seated near the fireplace, but there is also a wall of windows that overlooks an outdoor fireplace and what appears to be a relaxing outdoor patio.  Both the indoor and outdoor fireplaces were lit and the music was very soothing after the stressful holiday rush of Thanksgiving.  My mimosa arrived and I noted that more people were being seated around the room.  Around noon, the pianist and cellist stopped playing. I noticed that on our table was an offer for their frequent dining plan.  They are a local chain and apparently have sister locations under the name Copper Canyon Grill within the Blueridge Restaurant Group.

When our food arrived, the portions were tremendous.  Hubby's burrito was larger than the burritos we get at Chipotle.  The plating was excellent.  The burrito was at an angle on his oval plate and on either side was a generous portion of delicious pablano sauce.  His second plate held his scrambled eggs and potatoes, and a third plate held 5 pieces of Canadian Bacon.  The potatoes were roasted, redskin potatoes.

My plate had two generous portions of Crab Eggs Benedict and half a plate of potatoes.  The chunks were one inch chunks of potato and they were fully cooked.  They tasted as though they had very little seasoning on them, I would have preferred a bit more salt when they cooked them, but they were cooked to the perfect consistency.  I had 4 pieces of well cooked, just chewy enough, thick pieces of bacon.

Both hubby and I were pleasantly surprised by both the flavors AND the portion sizes.  Hubby said that the pablano sauce was not spicy, but it had an excellent taste and it was a little sweet with a hint of pepper with no bite.  It was full of flavor.  It brought all the other ingredients of the burrito out and significantly added to the essence of the burrito.  He also said that if he had known the portion sizes were so large, he would only have purchased the eggs and Canadian Bacon, rather than also getting the burrito.  In the end, he still had some eggs and most of his potatoes still on the plate because he was full.

Hubby told me he was concerned when I ordered the crab eggs benedict because I have been disappointed so often with that particular choice.  When I told him how incredibly delicious it was, he was happy.  I ate a few of my potatoes and only one of the two pieces.  The flavor was so yummy that I wanted to eat the other one, but I was too full.  I tried just tasting the crab with the sauce, but the corn tamale under the crabmeat was an essential part of bringing the flavors together.  The poached egg had rolled off the top of one of the muffins, but I rolled it back onto the top before I broke it.  Both poached eggs were cooked perfectly and when I dipped the potatoes in the Benedict sauce (I can't call it hollandaise because it was not lemony, but it was a perfect accent to the crab), I no longer missed the salt I thought had been missing in the taste of the potatoes.  I enjoyed the meal so much that I wish I could have finished the second portion, but I ended up wasting about half the potatoes and most of the other portion of the muffin with crab.

Ashley brought us a second pot of coffee when we asked for it and told us at the end of the meal that she wasn't charging us for the second pot.  She mentioned that it was unusually busy for a Sunday brunch.  While the restaurant was not full, it was quite busy.

Taste: I give 4/4 stars for flavor.  Everything came out in a reasonable time, was properly cooked, and had delicious flavor. 

Service:  I give 3.5/4 stars for the service of the staff.  Everyone was pleasant from the moment we entered the restaurant until we left.  We were seated quickly, received our food quickly, and any problems were dealt with quickly.  I think the free second pot of coffee was likely due to the dirty spoon, but it could have just been that she was being nice.  At one point, a manager came by and asked us if everything was ok and we had no complaints.

Prices:  I give 3/4 for the prices.  I'm tempted to give 4/4 since the flavor and portion sizes were excellent, the staff and ambiance were very good.  For the two of us, the meal was about $45 without tip.   For the combination of the ambiance, location, flavor, and portion sizes the price was reasonable, but a little on the high side.  To put it simply, a character breakfast at Disney World was cheaper per person.

Atmosphere: I give a 3.5/4 stars for the ambiance.  I loved the fireplace and thought the decor was nice.  I was disappointed that the music ended at noon.  I think it should have continued until at least 1pm.  The staff was dressed professionally in suits.

Overall, we would definitely return.  I would not mind trying their dinner.  We attempted to have dinner here once without reservations and the wait was over an hour, so we left.  I give an overall 3.5 out of 4 stars.  I would not consider this a family dining experience at any time of day, but definitely be willing to try it as a date place or for a nice evening out with adult friends.

Eat and enjoy!