The Wine Source

The Wine Source
3601 Elm Ave. (at 36th)
Hampden, Baltimore
410-467-7777
liquor store
www.the-wine-source.com
Date of visit: Tuesday September 11th, 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: On It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Extends It

Yesterday, I went to The Wine Source to buy alcohol. They have an extensive selection of hard alcohol, beer, and wine. To give you an idea of their selection, I was able to choose from a few types of pear brandy. They have a section where you can buy obscure brands of beer by the bottle and not just the six-pack. I find this mix-and-match approach very appealing when exploring unusual beers to figure out what I want to buy more of. The wine selection is extensive as well. They also have a small section of gourmet foods where you can get fancy potato chips, Zeke's coffee, jams, etc.

The store is clean and upmarket. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. Prices are reasonable. In short, one would be hard-pressed to do much better than The Wine Source anywhere in the U.S. (Of course, there are warehouse-style places that have slightly lower prices and specialty wine stores with a bit deeper wine selection and probably better advice.)

As an economist, the surprise to me is that the liquor store 50 feet down the hill on 36th can stay in business. (I believe it is called Keller's Liquors at 865 W. 36th St. but its negligible web presence makes this hard to determine.) This store has higher prices, a much smaller selection, and less appealing decor. It is just a corner store where you can buy beer, a few types of vodka, lottery tickets, and cheap wine. Not that I'm judging this per se, it is just that these same items (perhaps except the lottery tickets) are available at The Wine Source.

Cafe Hon

Cafe Hon
1002 W. 36th St. (at Roland)
Hampden, Baltimore
410-243-1230
Traditional American
www.cafehon.com
Cost: $$
Reservations: Not Needed
Date of meal: July 2007
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It

Before I moved to Baltimore, I had never heard of a Hon. So I looked into it a bit. Apparently, Hons are archetypal white, working class, big-haired, middle-aged women of Baltimore. They are given this name because they call everyone "hon". If you look around Baltimore, you'll see bumper stickers and signs with ", hon" as a suffix. For example, "Believe, hon" ("believe" is Baltimore's branding slogan), "Impeach Bush, hon", or my personal favorite:

Note that this combines Baltimore's madison avenue branding campaign, "Believe" and the slogan of the Church of Flying Spaghetti Monster, particularly appropriate for this blog since it is the only religion I know with a food-based diety (no, not a deity).

I digress; back to Cafe Hon. It is straight out of the 1950s. It looks like an idea place to share a root beer float if you were a 14 year old on a date in 1958. This is the restaurant's angle. They push it pretty hard, and pretty successfully. To my taste, they are trying a bit too hard (or not quite hard enough, waitresses could be in costume if they wanted to put a little ironic distance on it), but I think this is more taste than fact. If decor is your priority and this is the kind of decor you want, Cafe Hon is the place for you.

As one would hope, the menu is sandwiches, burgers, meatloaf, crab cakes (it is Maryland after all), and other things you'd expect on a traditional American menu. Prices for sandwiches, burgers, and salads were about what you would expect ($10 range) but some of the entrees were quite pricey; given food quality I think I'd avoid these. When we went for dinner, we found the execution of the food completely fine but nothing special. Quantity was large; quality was so-so. If I was in the neighborhood and was in the mood for that vibe, I might go again for sandwiches or burgers. However, there are tastier places to go for a soup and salad in Hampden.

Holy Frijoles

Holy Frijoles
908 W. 36th St. (at Roland)
Hampden, Baltimore
410-235-2326
Mexican
Cost: $$
Reservations: wait at the bar
Date of meal: various
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It


The name is almost reason enough to go to Holy Frijoles. This is a good American-style Mexican joint. This is a great place to go with friends for margaritas or Corona's after work. Plus, it's in Hampden, and who doesn't like walking around on 36th Street.

There is a large bar with lots of seating (much of it full, the place is often quite busy) in case you have to wait for a table, assuming you want one at all. Lots of people come just to sit at the bar. Food here is just fine but nothing special: enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, etc. Decor is unexciting but unobjectionable. Prices are quite reasonable ($10+/- entrees). The place is not going to change your life (unless you happen to pick up your life partner at the bar), but it is a solid place to go under the right circumstances.

For dinner, I see no reason to go to Holy Frijoles when one can go to Arcos in Fells Point/Butcher's Hill. For roughly the same price (for similar dishes, Arcos has higher-end options that cost more), Arcos offers higher quality ingredients, a more creative menu, better service, shorter wait times for tables and more authentic and pleasant decor. Holy Frijoles is clearly not on the price quality frontier given this better option at the same price point.