Hey Ben! Hey Tom! what happened to....

Jerry?

Well, he’s found a home in Prince Frederick at Jerry’s Place. I have been hearing good reports about the restaurant for over a year or so, and finally last night a chance fell in our lap to have dinner there. There was a meeting up there regarding tax breaks for restoration or renovation for historic barns and farms which MFO wanted to attend, so we combined that meeting with having dinner at Jerry’s Place. Our friend advised we wanted to be there early because it would fill up rather quickly so we were in our seats at 5:00 , and she was correct; tables were already occupied and filling up fast.

Jerry’s is located next to a Mr. Tire as you approach Prince Frederick from the south, and it requires a bit of maneuvering to turn around and then find a place in kind of a limited area dedicated to parking. But, MFO deftly maneuvered the MOMSTER into a spot and we headed for the door. I suppose it’s not by accident that once inside the restaurant, there is no clue you are in a strip mall next to a tire store. I don’t believe there are any outside windows, and the walls are nicely (newly?) decorated with murals composed of caricatures of what I assume is Jerry and his extended (?) family and friends. There are also some nice carvings around reminiscent of Kingfisher’s in Solomons. The bar has a sort of lanai affair covering it, which is also where the entrance to the kitchen is. Other than that, it is just a large single room.

Anyway, you are greeted at the door by either (what I assumed was) Jerry or a relative and shown to your table. To borrow a phrase from another place, it seemed that when you were there, you were family. Most of the guests at least knew Jerry, most of the wait staff, and each other. He continually prowled the room, bringing little bits here, joshing with that table, asking about things, etc. He is very visible. Dressing for Dinner was kind of spotty, as there were appropriately turned out folks like us, but there were also non-removed Steeler’s leather jackets and such. Just sort of ordinary people enjoying a night out.

All of the waitstaff were dressed in black, which I like and all were very friendly. Our server approached the table, asked about drinks and went and fetched them. Non-alcoholic drinks are served in a large glass with a carafe brought to the table for refills. When she returned, she said “may I tell you about the specials?” Nice touch. And then she did, of which there were many, both appetizers, and main courses, along with which fish selections were available. The menu only references “featured fish”. Hopefully because they change daily depending on the what the day's catch was. The menu is a two page laminated affair with appetizers, sandwiches, and soups on one side and entrees on the other. Prices for appetizers on the menu are twelve to fourteen bucks, sandwiches are all fourteen (but you get chips and a pickle). Crabcakes take first billing on the entrée side with regular, junior, senior and grand dad (for two) sizes, ranging from $18 to a respectable 42 for grand pop. A note at the bottom of the menu says the crab dishes are “all meat with absolutely no filler”. Be interesting to see how they are fabricated, but that and an order of them will have to wait for a summer visit. Other selections included fried shrimp, oysters, scallops, and chicken tenders. With those entrees you get to do the famous southern Maryland “Choose Two Sides” which are composed of “Mom’s” cole slaw, her stewed tomatoes or cinnamon flavored applesauce or fries. Prices were mostly just under twenty bucks, with some of the off menu specials $35. Quite a jump.

Our friend selected the fried shrimp with a (off menu) baked potato and slaw, MFO took an off the menu Shrimp Scampi (described as prepared with a cream sauce), fries and slaw, and I went with seasonal fried oysters (on a tip from a friend), the same slaw and fries. Jerry brought a little amuse bouche of haddock bites (you can’t escape “bites” these days, very trendy), which were lightly battered and fried and quite tasty.

More people arrived greeted most part with familiarity and the tables filled up. I suppose there’s about 20 tables or so which get separated or combined to accommodate the size of party. Quite informal.

Our food arrived fairly quickly. My oysters were along side the fries, with a separate dish for Mom’s Slaw. I counted the oysters and there were 16 of them, fairly small but nicely prepared, and were tasty. The shrimp were just barely fried, more like sautéed as you could see the shrimp, and were quite large. I thought the slaw was very good, lightly dressed, crisp and crunchy. The fries were, well, fries. I think next time I’ll try something besides them...

Then we come to the off menu Scampi dish for MFO. It was served in a white pasta bowl with I think rigatoni (ribbed tubes), the shrimp were discovered with some work because there was so much sauce you couldn’t see much. The sauce was like what you get on chicken fried steak, glutinous, heavy and not evenly distributed, with a large dollop on one side that spilled onto the edge of the bowl. White on white on white. It was not lightly seasoned either. Were we not in a bit of a hurry, it would have gone back to the kitchen and (IMHO) probably should not have left it. For what turned out to be a $35 investment, I would expect more. I didn’t look around much to see how many people were dining on 35 dollar dishes. Pretty steep pricing all around I think. If you’re willing to spend that much on one dish, there are other options around (although dwindling as we know).

Based on reviews from a good friend, I will return – maybe when crabs are in season. Now, I will freely admit our experience was one time, one night, one dish and that does not always reflect the overall picture of the place. Judging by the volume of people, a lot of them enjoy Jerry’s. Maybe I had too high of those darn expectations…But if you go, listen closely to the recitations and pricings...

Other Others:

This week’s “Weekend” does have a list of upcoming “Cultural” things, and mercifully they have dates a little further out than “tomorrow night”. This week’s featured restaurant is that “Skull” place. Sounds like just another Mexican restaurant for Chimi’s, Burritos, Enchiladas, Fajita’s, pretty standard stuff. And I repeat, what were they thinking? Let’s name a restaurant based on death! Nice..

One thing which I knew about but failed to relate is that tomorrow night (yes, I know, but what can you do?) there will be an event at the Port Of Leonardtown Winery that sounds interesting. Get this! It involves a French Chef (Loic from Café Des), bison meat, and chili. “Chill out with chili!” That combo is enough to make me want to go! 10 in advance, 12 at the door, apparently including some wine tasting..6 – 8.

Enough. Good weekend, no matter what you do, think about

DFD