“A very memorable meal for me was a dinner I had with the Speaker of the House from Mississippi at Tony’s River House in Benedict, Md. Tony, the owner, told us, ‘Don’t order. We’re going to fix you all Maryland dishes.’ He combined oysters and crab and fried a little bit of everything from the Bay. He made some wonderful appetizers, including rockfish stuffed with crabmeat, and a great salad. My guest was so pleased, and I was so excited to show someone from Mississippi the way we eat on the Bay.” -Sen. Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., president of the Maryland Senate

“My most memorable meal was at 208 Talbot in St. Michaels. My wife Betsy and I went there while we were on our honeymoon in 1991. I’d never eaten at 208 before, but I knew their chef, Paul Milne. We didn’t look at the menu; Paul just did it. I had the steak with housemade Worchester sauce; it was the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s still on the menu and we still keep going there.” -Michael Rork, chef, Town Dock restaurant

“For me, well-prepared fresh vegetables define a restaurant. They can make a meal exquisite, which is why my I remember one meal in particular at Trick Dog Café [in Irvington, Va.]. I had gingered cauliflower braised in coconut milk with veal prepared with a lot of garlic, and steamed, fresh spinach enlivened with lemon and a good créme brulé. The atmosphere was intimate - white tablecloths, unobtrusive service - a great meal.” -Bob Madden, director, National Geographic.com

“My most memorable meals here on the Shore have included a recent feast at The Owl Restaurant and Motel in Accomack County, Va. It’s hard to beat The Owl for big portions of home-style cooking: fresh flounder, chicken fried slow in a cast iron skillet (be prepared to wait half an hour for it), and a vast array of cooked vegetables, including squash fritters. And the pies, especially sweet potato, are killers. It’s cheap, but it has no ambience. The world’s best crab cake is at Drum Point Market in Tylerton, the smallest town on Smith Island. Maryada Marshall makes them up in her kitchen and cooks them in the little general store. Each one weighs about a third of a pound, and you can get some made up to take home, but they’re only available in crab season.” -Tom Horton, author

“My husband and I went to the Kent Manor Inn for the weekend on a snowy winter night in January to celebrate our anniversary. Because of the weather, the inn wasn’t full, so it was very quiet, and we felt like we had gone very far away. We had beef Wellington and vegetables to die for -a wonderful blend of lightly steamed fresh vegetables with puff potatoes; everything was perfect. It was an amazing meal, so well-prepared, and the staff was very attentive. We sat on an enclosed porch and watched the snow fall. It was especially memorable because before dinner my husband ordered a bottle of champagne, and he dropped a beautiful gold bracelet into my glass.” -Pam Wilson, executive director, Maryland Federation of Art

“We went to Mike’s Restaurant and Crab House on the South River in Annapolis by boat with a large group of friends. They kept bringing plates of mussels, crabs, clams, steamed shrimp, and more -it just went on and on. You can go to some fancy places, and have other kinds of dinner, but for the most memorable, this is it.” -Arthur Libby, commodore, Annapolis Yacht Club

“I’ve had the most memorable meal in the region at Stingrays in Cape Charles, Va. It’s inside an Exxon station. It takes about four hours to drive there from Baltimore, and after about three hours, I ask myself is it really that good? Well, it is. Ray Haynie, the remarkable guy who owns it, gets everything right off the boats of the local watermen. You order at the counter, and they bring you fabulous things like fresh bay scallops made with lightly buttered homemade breadcrumbs. The dining room is done all knotty pine, and the menu has a nice blend of Southern flair, with cornbread, hush puppies, grits, and wonderful crab dishes. They’re famous for their barbecue, too. Desserts are all the old favorites: fresh fruit cobblers, pecan pie, sweet potato pie. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area for eighteen years, and I never had pastry on a par with Stingray’s.” -John Shields, chef/owner, Gertrude’s restaurant

“My choice would be Ruke’s Seafood on Smith Island. It’s a general store, but it also has a grill. They make the world’s finest crab cakes. I know you hear that a lot, but it’s never true unless they’re from Ruke’s because they use ‘scrapped jimmies.’ That means they use male crabs that have been caught on the grassy beds where they go to mate. These crabs have a different flavor to the meat; they don’t have a fishy taste. They have a richer, sweeter taste. They make their crab cakes fried or broiled, but broiled is my favorite. They don’t put any junk in them to hold them together, just a little egg and mayo. They’re served with simple stewed tomatoes or standard stuff such as onion rings, fries, and coleslaw. Ruke’s also pride themselves on their layer cakes, usually chocolate or banana, with up to thirteen layers of cake and icing. There’s no better way to concentrate sugar in such a small space.” -Don Baugh, vice president for education, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

“My husband Chuck and I celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary at O’Learys Seafood Restaurant, and both the food and the company were magical. They served us wonderful fried oysters, divine blackened snapper, a great California cabernet, and lime curd for dessert. Excellent food, romantic atmosphere, and a handsome date made this a night I will never forget.” -Iris Krasnow, best-selling author, Surrendering to Motherhood and Surrendering to Marriage

“I remember one night my husband and his sailing buddy picked me up at the gallery and took me to dinner at Picolla Roma in Annapolis. I had a petite filet mignon, perfectly cooked, my husband had the roasted duck, and our friend tucked into a whole rockfish - grilled and filleted at tableside. It was a visually pleasing presentation, and the fish was impeccably fresh.” -Cynthia McBride, owner, McBride Gallery

“When my kids were teenagers, once a week my family and I would go to Cantler’s for what we called ‘mental health night.’ We’d have steamed clams, mussels, and crabs and talk about what was going on in our lives. Although we ate dinner at home regularly, the casual atmosphere at Cantler’s put us all in a different place. There’s nothing like picking crabs to make people let their hair down.” -B.J. Adams, executive director, Talbot County Mental Health Association

“Last summer we were out on the Bay in our open, wooden Outward Bound boats when we were caught in an incredible, scary lightening storm. We came in and tied up at the dock at the Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. The next morning, after our night of horror, we went for a delicious breakfast at the Carpenter Street Saloon in St. Michaels. I had a fabulous vegetarian omelet with whole-wheat toast and great home fries. The food there is always very fresh and well prepared and not too expensive. It was such a sunny, calm morning, a nice return to normalcy and sanity.” -Sarah Zeller, course director, Outward Bound

“The fried oysters for my appetizer at The Inn at Easton were spectacular - perfectly fried and served with a wonderful sauce that had just the right amount of tang. I can’t remember the rest of the meal, the oysters were that good, but it was equally wonderful. The place is very charming. It has a great seating area by the fireplace, really nice for before-dinner cocktails. I went there in the middle of winter, and it was very cozy.” -John Valliant, executive director, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

“I had a great meal at The Grate Steak [in Virginia Beach]. You pick out the exact piece of meat you want from giant refrigerators. Each shelf has a different cut of meat and a sign explaining what part of the cow it’s from. Here’s the catch: you cook your own steak on a big grate. They have gigantic hoods over two big cooking areas probably 15 or 20 feet across and 10 feet wide. It’s all nicely done in brick and stainless steel. They’ll cook it for you if you want them to, but standing around drinking beer and cooking your steak is part of the fun. They have great potatoes, a big salad bar, soup, and chili, too. It’s the most original thing I’ve seen; it’s an absolute blast to eat there.” -Carey Hodsden, PGA player, head pro, Bay Creek Golf Club, Cape Charles, Va.

“Every June on my birthday, I go to Cantler’s for soft crabs. It’s so Chesapeake, and Jimmy Cantler and I went to high school together. Their soft crabs are sautéed and served on rye bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise; that’s the only way I’d eat them.” -Linnell Bowen, executive director, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Annapolis

“I remember the margaritas at Annapolis’ Mexican Cafe. Get ‘em on the rocks, not frozen - why waste a good margarita by turning it into a slurpee? I also liked the homemade chips and salsa; enchiladas packed with cheese, Spanish rice, refried beans; an authentic chimichanga; and delicious steak fajitas brought sizzling to the table. The atmosphere is informal and unselfconscious - and it works. You come here for good, basic home-cooked Mexican food - not for high-falutin’ cuisine or celebrity gazing.” -Charles Babington,congressional editor, Washington Post

“Anne’s Dari Cream by Marley Station Mall is it. I always get the double dog foot-long with everything on it and a strawberry shake. The place has the air of a fifties soda shop -and those waitresses are incredible. You can give someone an order for a whole carpool, she turns around and shouts it out and in minutes it’s ready to go. As a wrestler, I have to watch my weight, but at the end of wrestling season Annie’s is my first stop.” -Walker Babington, star wrestler and gymnast, Severna Park High School

“Peaky’s restaurant in Princess Anne is memorable for crab cakes and fried chicken; the crab cakes have a lot of crabmeat and not a lot of filler. But I’ve had a lot of memorable meals at the Waterman’s Inn in Crisfield. It’s an informal place on Main Street; they do a great job. The seafood dishes and the desserts are good. I always make sure I eat the desserts, especially their key lime pie.” -Hon. Daniel M. Long, Somerset County Judge

“I haven’t been in Annapolis very long, so I haven’t eaten in a lot of restaurants. So far, my most memorable meal was having the premium crab cake sandwich at Phillips in the Annapolis harbor. I’ve had crab cakes before but this one was special. It was so nice to sit by the window and look out at the view, too.” -Captain Luther Alexander, command chaplain, United States Naval Academy

“I had been working so hard and it had been so long since my husband and I had a quiet evening, just the two of us. We went to Carrol’s Creek in Eastport in Annapolis. We got a window seat, had a drink before dinner and watched the boats. Annapolis was all lit up and looked so pretty. We had a delicious flounder dinner, a great view, and the company was spectacular.” -Carol Casper, vice president, Bank of Annapolis

“Zebra [in Rehoboth Beach] is always reliable for its good food and service. A meal I especially remember included a delicate veal marsala - very lightly breaded - and served with a perfectly prepared risotto.” -John Yuhanick, president, Yuhanick & Associates

“The Oldfield Inn in Prince Frederick is an oasis of fine dining in a small country town. In my opinion, the kitchen turns out the best filet mignon I have ever tasted. It’s so tender you can cut it with a fork and it’s topped with a touch of a silky béarnaise sauce. Pair it with a great baked potato and roasted vegetables, and you have a truly memorable meal.” -Stephen Harlan, artist

“The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michael’s. The occasion was a wine dinner hosted by Mills Wine and Spirits under the direction of Hillard Donner, who worked with the inn’s executive chef Mark Salter on the menu. We started with a selection of hors d’oeuvre - including miniature roasted onion tartlets and Beluga caviar served with champagne. The five-course dinner featured pine nut and herb-crusted sea bass with braised leeks and a tomato/red pepper coulis; cannelloni filled with lobster mousse and served with roasted-garlic champagne sauce and garnished with mussels. Extraordinary. The salad was beautiful: breast of squab set off with golden beets and roasted goat cheese. Our entrée was honey- and tarragon-glazed lamb shanks with a cassoulet of Tuscan beans and sun-dried tomatoes. Dessert of a cherry Bavarian cream was accompanied by a vintage Beaunes d’Venise Muscat. All the wines were carefully chosen to enhance the various courses and the company contributed to the occasion. What a wonderful evening!” -Ken Upton, caterer, Ken’s Creative Kitchen

“I very seldom go out to eat; I’m a workaholic. The one place that draws me back is Sam’s Waterfront Café in Annapolis. It’s small and intimate and has lots of ambiance, plus it’s close to where I live. The angel hair pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and seafood is my favorite; every time I go back I’m drawn to it. It’s just what the doctor ordered; it’s low in cholesterol, too.” -Marcella Yedid, headmaster, The Key School

“The first time I had sushi I was very afraid. It was at Joss on Main Street in Annapolis. I blindly went down a little list and checked off items, it was all very adventurous. I especially remember the pickled mackerel with mint leaves. It was wonderful, everything was so fresh and interesting, I wasn’t disappointed.” -Julia Hockenbury, news director, WNAV