April 13, 2014, Camden Yards (Baltimore). Frank and Nic's West End Grille

On Sunday April 13, 2014, I decided to check out a restaurant I've never been to before prior to the Orioles game.  The day was bright and sunny and in the mid 60's so it was perfect to be outside after the freezing winter (unfortunately some of my pictures don't show that since they were over exposed...probably due to one to many Camden Crushes...).  The restaurant was Frank and Nic's West End Grille just next to Camden Yards near the infamous Pickles Pub and Sliders. 

Frank and Nic's West end Grille

Frank and Nic's West End Grille (http://frankandnics.com) had an outdoor patio area which was perfect for the day.  Me and my friend arrived at the restaurant around 2 hours before game time (game time was 1:35) and there was no wait to receive a patio table.  I've wanted to check out this restaurant for a while since I saw they had some awesome happy hour specials during the weekdays and really wanted to try some of their adult beverages. 

The first adult beverage I ordered was the Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  The drink is described as a blend of Fireball cinnamon whiskey and RumChata served in a chilled martini glass.  I'm sure most people are familiar with Fireball, but not RumChata.  RunChata is a cream rum based liquor similar to something along the lines of Kahlua but no "coffee" taste.  The best description of RumChata I can give is it tastes like Cinnabon Icing.  

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

So the drink definitely looked a little different then the picture on Frank and Nic's website.  Our server wasn't very good or much to talk about so he may have even given us the wrong drink (I think it was the server's first day on the job so I'll cut him some slack and won't hold it against the restaurant...it did take us about 20 mins to get a drink after I flagged down another server to "help" our server).  The drink was good but all I tasted was chocolate, no RumChata (so I don't think we got the right drink).  I think I'll have to go back to try the drink during happy hour with a more competent server.

I also wanted to try out Frank and Nic's version of the infamous Orange Crush (they call it the Camden Crush).  For non-locals the Orange Crush is a bit of a local drink in Baltimore that was imported from Ocean City, Maryland.  Basically, its fresh squeezed orange juice, triple sec, vodka, ice, and sometimes with a splash of soda water (they're also other versions with different fruits one of the other most popular versions besides Orange is Grapefruit).  I like to sell myself as a connoisseur of the Orange Crush.  I have traveled many Baltimore pubs and Ocean City establishments for the quest of the best Orange Crush.  

Camden Crush

The Orange Crush was excellent.  I'd have to rate this as probably the 2nd or 3rd best Orange Crush I've had.  Arguably the 2nd best Orange Crush in Baltimore, only behind my favorite Orange Crush establishment in Baltimore Ryleigh's Oyster in Federal Hill. 

After a few drinks we decided to order food.  As it got closer to game time the place started to fill up and patio seating was full.  I'd say about an hour before game time there were no tables available on the patio (they did have plenty of room inside at the restaurant or bar area), of course Frank and Nic's patio was nothing like the mad house over at Pickles Pub which was shoulder to shoulder people.  

My food choices I had to go with the Crab Dip Appetizer, and I'm glad I did.  I also got the Shredded Beef Short Rib Sandwich.

Crab Dip and Shredded Beef Short Rib Sandwich

The sandwich was awesome.  It was a great BBQ sandwich with plenty of meat.  The crab dip was also excellent.  I'm glad I got potato chips with my sandwich since they gave us more crab dip then the one loaf of bread could handle (which I'm perfectly ok with).

Overall the food and drinks were excellent.  I'd defiantly return to the restaurant for other pre-game activities.  Their week day happy hour also is a great deal if your catching a game Monday - Friday (i.e., their Happy Hour is from Monday - Friday 5pm-7pm).

The food prices are probably about the same as you'd pay in the Stadium, but I say you get better quality food and more of it.  The sandwich was about $13, the Camden Crush was $8, Cinnamon Toast Crunch was about $8, and Crab Dip was about $11.

Their Happy Hour though has plenty of specials depending on the day and will drop the price of many items almost in half. 

We then left the restaurant about 30 minutes before game time to go into Camden Yards to watch the Orioles take on the Toronto Blue Jays.  It was a beautiful day and I was really hoping the Orioles would pull off a win.  Unfortunately, the Orioles lost 11-3.  I did get to see Chris Davis' 1st home run of 2014 and also got to see Adam Jones reach his 1,000th hit.  

Even thought the Orioles lost, at least it was nice outside and I was full from Frank and Nic's.

Camden Yards view from my seat in Section 67, April 13, 2014