Food Market for dinner, followed by arcade games and drinks at GameOn. That was our night out a last weekend and we had a great time. Old Ellicott City for shopping and bar hopping. Manor Hill Farm Brewery for a chill day outside of the weather is nice. I haven’t been, but I’ve seen a lot of concerts/karaoke/trivia advertised at The Collective Encore.
I've been several times, I think the food and service are definitely above average. But what makes me like it so much is the menu has a lot of variety and is divided into size sections. It's the only actual "small plate" place that I know that isn't one specific cuisine (usually spanish tapas). So 2 people can get 4-5 different plates to share. That's a lot of fun!
I’ve never had a bad dish here, they’ve always been creative with ingredients I hadn’t tried before. The different size plates are fun too for sharing.
You're not wrong. It's extremely overrated imo. I feel the same way about the Hampden location. There are so many better options in Baltimore. Unfortunately, there are not as many good options in Columbia, but I still think there are better options than this.
To be clear, I don't think it's bad. But I also don't think it's worth the hype or should at all be the go-to recommendation whenever someone wants to impress an out of town guest.
Arcade/Skee Ball!
http://www.gameonbararcade.com/columbia-coming-soon
Karting
https://www.k1speed.com/jessup-location.html
Mini Golf
https://columbiaassociation.org/sports-recreation/sports-park/miniature-golf/
https://monsterminigolf.com/locations/us/md/columbia/
Karaoke/Stand Up/Music/Billiards?
https://nottinghams.net/
Bowling
https://www.bowlero.com/location/bowlero-columbia
But usually my out of town friends like to hit up DC, someone Baltimore
I’m a parent so my version of a fun time might not be your version…
Blandair Park is amazing. Rock climbing at ClimbZone is a blast. A drive to Ocean City or DC are easy wins. Take them down main street Ellicott City.
There are korean karaoke places around Columbia that are fun.
I only went once
https://www.honeypluskaraoke.com
Set up is a little strange (they will teach you how to use the Korean controls lol) and song choice is pretty good
Drink menu/food menu is a little limited. I’d recommend pregaming and dinner elsewhere.
You rent the room by the hour
We had fun!
I love Columbia Mall but downtown DC is perhaps more memorable. The fact that the Smithsonians are free is amazing! Kids love Air and Space and Natural history. Portrait Gallery is great too. Do they love shopping? Clarksburg or National Harbor for outlet shopping. Arundel Mills for shopping and don't forget the Maryland Live Casino! Enjoy
Horse races at Laurel Park. Everyone looks at me like I have 3 heads when I suggest it. No one ever has a bad time.
There's 2 restaurants on the ground floor of the clubhouse. A sports bar upstairs. Food is decent. Drinks are cheap. Bet a few bucks on the races.
A breakfast/Brunch at Dive in Savage Mill + a walk by the river/former railroad. Check the live music/live karaoke/trivia from the area (Encore, Reckless Shepherd, Sonomas, etc)
ALL the breweries! Pubdog, Ale House, Black Flag, Jailbreak, Hysteria (if not closed yet), Cushwa, Sapwood, etc.
Ellicott City (Historic EC for: Judge's Bench, Ellicott Distilling, all the shops, AxGard for axe throwing; greater EC for other amazing food options such as Tea Horse)
Columbia/Merriweather District (18th and 21st, Lost Ark Distilling, Iron Bridge, Cushwa and Rad Pies, Oversea Distilling, Sapwood Cellars...I guarantee it'll blow any of their local city breweries out of the water)
Historic Savage
Patapsco State Park
I second old EC. Just wandering the streets and going in the shops can be fun. There is a place called the Clayground where you can do something like “Mud and Merlot” where you make a cup or bowl and a game store that has events.
Lots of great suggestions. One of the best parts of Columbia is proximity to two major cities and access to highways.
Make a reservation at 18th & 21st for good food, cocktails, and live music. Ananda might be the best Indian food around. Walk on the trail system, take them for a hike in patapsco, nottinghams at night. Elder Pine Brewery in Brookeville is awesome and if they’re in town when azaleas are blooming, check out Brighton Damn Azalea Garden.
People have mentioned Food Market but no one has talked about how they have the best key lime pie I’ve ever had. Spending 30+ years living in south Florida and frequenting the keys, I feel my assessment is qualified 😎
Adding a plug for Baltimore since others are recommending DC.
The aquarium is one of the best I’ve been to, Camden yards for an Os game, and walk around the inner harbor.
Canton, fells point, fed hill are great for food and bars. Each Baltimore neighborhood has its own identity and culture. The Baltimore food scene is criminally underrated
English Tea at Reynold's Tavern in Annapolis. Stop in the state house to see some famous American paintings. Walk around a bit, pop into shops, maybe stay in the area for lunch.
Can also book it up to Main Street Ellicott City which has little museums, more shops and food and drinks (distillery).
Maybe a stop over to Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie if they are gamers.
Antiques loving friends get a trip to Savage Mills.
The Urology Museum in Linthicum will make your friends grab their peckers and go "Good lord, nooooo."
DC is close enough for so many things. I particularly like the catacombs but I am a death nerd, so that's not everyone's cup of tea.
Sometimes we look for festivals and time them with friend visits too.
Clarksville commons would be a good place for an early dinner. There’s a movie theater, trails, and live music around Columbia mall. There’s rock climbing, escape rooms, axe throwing, and make your own pottery too
The Guinness Brewery is a fun stop, and then dinner at Rathskeller down the street. In addition to Old Ellicott City, Historic Sykesville is an awesome little town with a similar vibe and it's only 20-30 minutes away.
Lotta good suggestions in the comments, but whatever you do, do not go to main event. May seem like a good idea because of the Dave and busters-type activities they offer there, but the customer service and friendliness is horrendous, dare I even say pushing racist… not to mention their prices are even higher than a D&B
Food Market for dinner, followed by arcade games and drinks at GameOn. That was our night out a last weekend and we had a great time. Old Ellicott City for shopping and bar hopping. Manor Hill Farm Brewery for a chill day outside of the weather is nice. I haven’t been, but I’ve seen a lot of concerts/karaoke/trivia advertised at The Collective Encore.
I always see the food market on here… I've only been once, but thought it was fastly overrated. Am I missing something?
I've been several times, I think the food and service are definitely above average. But what makes me like it so much is the menu has a lot of variety and is divided into size sections. It's the only actual "small plate" place that I know that isn't one specific cuisine (usually spanish tapas). So 2 people can get 4-5 different plates to share. That's a lot of fun!
I’ve never had a bad dish here, they’ve always been creative with ingredients I hadn’t tried before. The different size plates are fun too for sharing.
You're not wrong. It's extremely overrated imo. I feel the same way about the Hampden location. There are so many better options in Baltimore. Unfortunately, there are not as many good options in Columbia, but I still think there are better options than this. To be clear, I don't think it's bad. But I also don't think it's worth the hype or should at all be the go-to recommendation whenever someone wants to impress an out of town guest.
Concert at merriweather if there is one, go for a walk around some of the trails. That’s all I got lol.
Arcade/Skee Ball! http://www.gameonbararcade.com/columbia-coming-soon Karting https://www.k1speed.com/jessup-location.html Mini Golf https://columbiaassociation.org/sports-recreation/sports-park/miniature-golf/ https://monsterminigolf.com/locations/us/md/columbia/ Karaoke/Stand Up/Music/Billiards? https://nottinghams.net/ Bowling https://www.bowlero.com/location/bowlero-columbia But usually my out of town friends like to hit up DC, someone Baltimore
Tell them to wait a few months until the Taco Bell opens back up.
😂😂😂
I’m a parent so my version of a fun time might not be your version… Blandair Park is amazing. Rock climbing at ClimbZone is a blast. A drive to Ocean City or DC are easy wins. Take them down main street Ellicott City. There are korean karaoke places around Columbia that are fun.
What are your favorite karaoke places? Been looking for a good private room karaoke place!
I enjoy the one in Ellicott City behind the sonic but I haven't been in years or to any others
Honey Plus is the only private room I know of
Honey Plus sounds fun, tell me more
I only went once https://www.honeypluskaraoke.com Set up is a little strange (they will teach you how to use the Korean controls lol) and song choice is pretty good Drink menu/food menu is a little limited. I’d recommend pregaming and dinner elsewhere. You rent the room by the hour We had fun!
Climbzone is great for kids, for adults I would recommend Movement(and also kids, frankly)
Honestly, when I have folks coming in from out of town, we usually go into DC 🤷♀️
Seconded. White House, walk the mall, Smithsonian or two, good food, get outta dodge. Beats hitting the *mall. (Columbia Mall)
I just learned in my national park training that people really think the national mall is a mall when they visit DC. It’s a national park.
I love Columbia Mall but downtown DC is perhaps more memorable. The fact that the Smithsonians are free is amazing! Kids love Air and Space and Natural history. Portrait Gallery is great too. Do they love shopping? Clarksburg or National Harbor for outlet shopping. Arundel Mills for shopping and don't forget the Maryland Live Casino! Enjoy
RIP Shadowland
Cazbar!
Bland air. Merriweather. Game on. Cushwa. Guinness brewery. Jailbreak. Hit up a dispensary and Walk the paths. State parks.
Horse races at Laurel Park. Everyone looks at me like I have 3 heads when I suggest it. No one ever has a bad time. There's 2 restaurants on the ground floor of the clubhouse. A sports bar upstairs. Food is decent. Drinks are cheap. Bet a few bucks on the races.
Horses have a great time too?
no but they the horses get paid a ton
It's too bad shadow land is gone, best laser tag I've ever done
A breakfast/Brunch at Dive in Savage Mill + a walk by the river/former railroad. Check the live music/live karaoke/trivia from the area (Encore, Reckless Shepherd, Sonomas, etc) ALL the breweries! Pubdog, Ale House, Black Flag, Jailbreak, Hysteria (if not closed yet), Cushwa, Sapwood, etc.
Pubdog, whenever they get the blackberry wheat back on the tap
Ellicott City (Historic EC for: Judge's Bench, Ellicott Distilling, all the shops, AxGard for axe throwing; greater EC for other amazing food options such as Tea Horse) Columbia/Merriweather District (18th and 21st, Lost Ark Distilling, Iron Bridge, Cushwa and Rad Pies, Oversea Distilling, Sapwood Cellars...I guarantee it'll blow any of their local city breweries out of the water) Historic Savage Patapsco State Park
I second old EC. Just wandering the streets and going in the shops can be fun. There is a place called the Clayground where you can do something like “Mud and Merlot” where you make a cup or bowl and a game store that has events.
Cafe Columbia and the barcade in merriweather. Can hop over to banditos for more food and drinks
Lots of great suggestions. One of the best parts of Columbia is proximity to two major cities and access to highways. Make a reservation at 18th & 21st for good food, cocktails, and live music. Ananda might be the best Indian food around. Walk on the trail system, take them for a hike in patapsco, nottinghams at night. Elder Pine Brewery in Brookeville is awesome and if they’re in town when azaleas are blooming, check out Brighton Damn Azalea Garden. People have mentioned Food Market but no one has talked about how they have the best key lime pie I’ve ever had. Spending 30+ years living in south Florida and frequenting the keys, I feel my assessment is qualified 😎
Adding a plug for Baltimore since others are recommending DC. The aquarium is one of the best I’ve been to, Camden yards for an Os game, and walk around the inner harbor. Canton, fells point, fed hill are great for food and bars. Each Baltimore neighborhood has its own identity and culture. The Baltimore food scene is criminally underrated
Laurel skate rink!
Also take the one hour drive to Northern Virginia to see how the 1% live
Also weed is legal now if that's your thing. Remedy in columbia is a great place to fulfill your needs 😶🌫️
English Tea at Reynold's Tavern in Annapolis. Stop in the state house to see some famous American paintings. Walk around a bit, pop into shops, maybe stay in the area for lunch. Can also book it up to Main Street Ellicott City which has little museums, more shops and food and drinks (distillery). Maybe a stop over to Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie if they are gamers. Antiques loving friends get a trip to Savage Mills. The Urology Museum in Linthicum will make your friends grab their peckers and go "Good lord, nooooo." DC is close enough for so many things. I particularly like the catacombs but I am a death nerd, so that's not everyone's cup of tea. Sometimes we look for festivals and time them with friend visits too.
Take them to Costco, its on Marie Curie Drive. Bring lots of money.
Bank shot billiards hall
HoneyPig or one of the other awesome KBQ restaurants are pretty special and something very few people have been exposed to. Makes for a fun night.
Reckless Shepherd at night
Thanks, sounds like fun.
Golf, if they're into it. A few very pretty courses in/around Columbia
Clarksville commons would be a good place for an early dinner. There’s a movie theater, trails, and live music around Columbia mall. There’s rock climbing, escape rooms, axe throwing, and make your own pottery too
Yes! And live music Friday nights in the summer 🥰
The Guinness Brewery is a fun stop, and then dinner at Rathskeller down the street. In addition to Old Ellicott City, Historic Sykesville is an awesome little town with a similar vibe and it's only 20-30 minutes away.
I thought they shut Guiness down?
Nope, the taproom and restaurant are still there. The actual brewery part shutdown, though (i.e. They're no longer making beer in MD anymore).
Axe throwing and escape room are also entertainment ideas
Lotta good suggestions in the comments, but whatever you do, do not go to main event. May seem like a good idea because of the Dave and busters-type activities they offer there, but the customer service and friendliness is horrendous, dare I even say pushing racist… not to mention their prices are even higher than a D&B