Sip & Bite Review

 Sip & Bite Overall Review

 

Restaurant #3 in our dive series is Sip & Bite, a diner located in Canton. It has been open since 1948. The food here is your typical diner fare, plus some traditional Greek offerings such as Spanakopita, Hummus and Gyros. The atmosphere can best be described as 1950’s diner, complete with wooden booths, white ceramic floor and a guy behind a counter in front of a great big grill cooking up vittles while one waitress moves back and forth between the grill and the booths with hearty, down home cooking and frank, entertaining conversation. There is street parking, as is pretty much the norm here in Canton, with its big, busy street that runs right through it, behind which streets are filled with quaint, close set row-houses. This is a great spot for after-hours or when you want breakfast at lunchtime or vice versa. This is definitely family-friendly establishment.  Overall we give Sip & Bite ♪♪a half note. 

2200 Boston Street

Baltimore, MD 21231

410-675-7077

Combo Appetizers

This appetizer came with Onion Rings, Calamari, Mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders.  Interestingly enough, the fried calamari and chicken tenders were wonderfully seasoned with a herbed batter that we really enjoyed.  The Mozzarella sticks and onion rings were prepared in a plain unflavored and extremely boring batter.  Why the difference?  We have no idea.  If you do visit the restaurant, please try the fried calamari, because it was delicious. 

Spanakopita 

Imagine layers of phyllo dough stuffed with spinach and an assortment of cheese.  The phyllo was light and flaky while the filling was creamy and rich.  It had a nice flavor, reminiscent of a floral creamed spinach.  We actually liked it considering neither of us are Greek food fans.  

 Crab Cake, Mashed Potatoes and Pickled Beets

Well Sip & Bite is known for its crabcakes.  This flat pancake like crab cake was ok...  It had quite a bit of filler, yet housed a lot of flavor.  We enjoyed the spiciness of the dish; the spice was a nice compliment to the crab.  The mashed potatoes were real and not out of a box.  Thank the Lord!  The beets on the other hand were rather concerning.  They were oily and oniony....the only way we can sum them up is STRANGE!  We recommend not trying the beets.  

Chicken & Shrimp Sub with Fries

Now this was exciting!  They took shredded pieces of chicken breast and whole fried shrimp, grilled them with cheese and slapped them onto a wonderfully gummy sub roll.  The sub was not greasy and the shrimp had a fresh oceany flavor.  The fries were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.  Very Yummy!

Baklava Cheesecake

The chef took traditional baklava and made it both the crust and the topping of this super rich cheesecake.  It was delicious, but so heavy and, did we mention, rich.  We each took 3 bites and had to put the fork down.  This is a must try.  

Angela's Review

So, this had to be the most fascinating dining out experience we 2-SoulSisters have ever had. And I mean that in only the best way. This 24 hour diner boasts on its website having been featured in Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  They have been open since 1948 and are famous for their crab cakes, so you know we had to try them. I actually knew about this restaurant from having read about them in Baltimore Magazine, being lauded as having one of the best crab cakes in town, and I have driven past them repeatedly in my jaunts to my friend Mandy’s apartment in Canton. You cannot miss the great big red and blue sign, SIP & BITE… open 24 hours. Now I am very picky when it comes to crab cakes. I used to always say I did not like them, but as I have gotten older and tried more and more variations on the theme, I have realized that it is not that I do not like them, just that I am very particular about how they are prepared. I am used to eating them deep fried, made with mustard and lots of filler. I definitely do not like them that way. I prefer big chunks of crab meat, sans mustard, lightly packed and held together with minimal filler. Sip and Bite’s crab cake was yet another variation. I was sort of shocked to see them come out more flat than round and pretty darn big, reminiscent of a flapjack. They had a really good flavor. I was not disappointed and although they seemed to be as much filler as they were crab (not that there was not enough crab) I enjoyed them.  As for the service, what can I say? It was like being at home with mom. Our waitress; a blond, robust, cheeky woman reprimanded us for not eating all our food and still ordering dessert. I commented that with all the food we ordered, did she really think us two little girls would eat it all? She laughed. She even showed our plates to the table behind us, as she took the remainder of our meals away, to let them see how much food we left on our plates. Overall, I give Sip&Bite ♪♪♪.

Melissa's Review

 

Sip & Bite is a curious little place.  Sitting on the edge of Canton, it is a small hole in the wall diner.  It was featured on the Food Network’s hit show Diner Drive-ins and Dives.    Since this was a spot close to us Angela and I thought we might as well give it a try.  I have to admit I was not that impressed.  The food was pretty good , but far from amazing.  Realistically one should not expect AMAZING food from a diner but since this one was featured on Diner Drive-ins and Dives, I had high hopes.  Alas, my hopes were dashed.    The highlight of the evening was the public tongue lashing we received from our waitress who was offended and aghast that we would not take our leftovers home.   It upset her so badly that she went to the next table and told those folks how unbelievable it was that we were not willing to take our food remains home.  She encouraged them to join in the public shaming.  Being publicly shamed was an interesting experience.  I have to admit that it did not upset me, but rather made me laugh that someone who was waiting on me would so quickly get upset and speak her mind before her tip was given…Lol.   No worries readers, she still got a 20+% tip.  What I have decided is that Sip & Bite is one of those places that if you were hungry and it was late, this would be a good spot to try.  Again, the food is not bad it’s just not the over the top special either.  Overall I give Sip & Bite ♪♪.