Take a look at any menu throughout Maryland and you’re sure to find crab, crab cakes, crab dip, crab pretty much anywhere it works. But more than just that little blue crustacean, you’ll find fantastic seafood of all varieties on the menus here in Frederick County.

Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. At least, it feels that way. Secularly, “St. Paddy’s Day” is an excuse to share good cheer and camaraderie while indulging with something tasty. It’s commemorated with colorful parades, lively dances and flowing music. For the faithful, the Feast of Saint Patrick is a story of bravery, undaunting spirit and overcoming evil. Either way, it’s an opportunity to celebrate…

Thurmont— This town is known for its wildly popular festivals, its nearby and newsworthy presidential retreat, and its natural beauty, surrounded by Catoctin Mountain and all the myriad outdoor activities available there, including daytrip hotspots like neighboring orchards and wineries. There’s even a zoo. Now, Scott Austin, CEO of Gulf Group LLC, wants to make the town a destination for dining.

Diversity brings many benefits: expansive ideas, complementary strengths, broadened knowledge and so much more. It’s also great on a plate. American burgers and loaded pizzas are awesome, but Frederick’s gifted food scene embraces plenty of world cuisines celebrating our population’s diverse food heritages. So, what’s for dinner? Today it’s Thai.

The folks at Glamourview Creamery, 9847 Woodsboro Pike, Walkersville, are going all out to make sure customers get the freshest dairy products possible from their herd of 180 cows—two-thirds of which are Jerseys, said to produce the creamiest milk.

You don’t have to be a gourmet to love pasta. Plenty of us cozy up to microwaved noodles, sloughed from a can, tasting of comfort and nostalgia that blooms forth to warm, full bellies. Such dishes get no shade here. The beauty of pasta is that it can be anything from humble to highfalutin’ and still satisfy a range of senses.

Food in Frederick is no joke. Folks come from miles around to sample our celebrated restaurants and meet local chefs. Once here, they find a thriving community of passionate culinary artists incorporating local products, seasonal ingredients and beloved favorites.

John Thompson started with a food truck in 2021 and recalls having it parked across the street from Olde Mother Brewing Co., 526 N. Market St., on an 8-degree winter day when one of the owners came out. “I said, ‘I heard you were thinking of opening a kitchen.’” That thinking became reality recently with Thompson’s Fifty Fifty burger opening inside the brewery.

John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich (yes, a real place, title and person) famously inspired one of the world’s most popular means of corralling tasty eats for easy consumption. He may not have been the first person on earth to put meat, cheese and fixings between bread, but it makes a great story.