Grillfire: Great place to eat for Mother’s Day
In the past month I’ve been lucky enough to have been the recipient of two excellent restaurant invitations, both owned by the same company and both at the same location. The first was Vivo Italian Kitchen located in The Hotelat Arundel Reserve in Hanover, which is near Arundel Mills Mall. My most recent experience was in the restaurant across the lobby, George Martin’s Grillfire Arundel.
It serves all three meals, including brunch on Saturday and Sunday. For my dinner entrée I selected the steak and sushi combo, a filet with sesame tuna. No complaints here. I should mention that was preceded by chili pop shrimp and salad.
My companion had the crusted sirloin meatloaf and was sorry there wasn’t more of it. But I assure you, the portion was more than ample.
The two restaurants are owned by George Korten, who owns about six in New York and is part of the George Martin Group. The manager, Cameron, described Grillfire as a modern American grill heavy on steak and fish. Like
Vivo this restaurant is supported by locals, a good sign of the quality of any dining establishment.
Grillfire is open seven days, you can carry-out, it’s casual, reservations seem to be a good idea almost any night; it’s about one mile from Arundel Mills Mall and Maryland Live Casino. If you’re staying at the hotel a shuttle will take you to both places and to the airport. This is convenient in case you lose all your money at the casino and can’t afford a cab back.
The chef, Angela, told me the menu is about to change to more summer like items. Restaurants take menu changes very seriously. The summer menu will feature lighter items. But those items that sell well during the year won’t be touched. The chef has to know what those items are. You don’t want to contend with irate customers complaining their favorite item was deleted.
Here’s two things I haven’t seen before in a restaurant. You can roast s’mores at your table and after dinner everyone gets cotton candy. I thought that was a bit unusual until I saw all the tables enjoying the treat. So I had to join in too. It turned out to be a good way to end the meal. But I’ll hasten to add you don’t want to miss out on the dessert. For example the brownie sundae.
If you want to watch sports the bar comes with TV’s. And if you’ve had a late night somewhere but are hungry upon your return to the hotel or simply after a night at the casino, there is a late night menu after 10 during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends. Grillfire is a very good place to spend a special occasion like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Flag Day for that matter.
Reach them at 410-799-2883 or by going to grillfirearundel.com.
Eddie Applefeld is a Baltimore native and a graduate of Towson University. He has been in the broadcasting profession for over 30 years. Currently he is the Promotions Director of WCBM radio. Before that, he was part of the Rouse & Company show on WQSR, host of a cable TV show called Dining Out and adjunct instructor at Towson.
His past accomplishments include being named a finalist in Baltimore Tourism’s Employee of the Year Program and winner of Toastmaster’s Speaker of the Year contest. He was also twice a heartthrob for the American Heart Association’s gala fund raiser.