Truly unique experience with a fun welcoming staff, great gelato, and many pop-culture related…read morememorabilia. A must visit for everyone !!!

Had a great experience at Unusual several years ago, and it hasn't changed a bit. The gelato is…read moreamazing and service is exceptional. Definitely recommend stopping by if you're in the area! My friend and I stopped by on a Friday night right before closing. We had a coupon for buy 1 get 1 gelato. The man working was super kind and didn't charge us at all. The owners and rest of the staff have always been really friendly as well!

I love this bookstore with the tucked away bar upstairs. The selection of books should cover…read morealmost every age and genre. I especially enjoyed the travel and wine centered books. The bar is quaint and cute. Not a vast menu, but it's not needed! Love the local select beers that are available although I opted for the gin cocktail. Very reasonably priced. It's very quiet during the day, quite a few there to read and work in a quiet space and it serves that purpose well. I've also visited in the evening before where a book club meeting was ending and a D&D campaign was beginning and it was quite lively, but still a great vibe. I've had 2 visits now with many more to come. Store workers were super friendly and greeting me upon entering and looking around. Bartender was friendly as well and seemed to enjoy engaging with the guests.

I stopped in to shop at Backwater Books when I was exploring Old Ellicott City with my husband and…read moresome of his relatives when they were in town. The store was a great surprise. It's larger than I thought it might be - two stories. While not the best stocked bookstore I've ever been to, Backwater offers more than just books. It has a bar upstairs and it's set up for live music as well. It has some great seating for opening a book to read a few pages to see if you want to take it home. The customer service was great as well. Folks in Ellicott City are lucky to have this amazing bookshop. I'll definitely be back in the future (hopefully for a shop, drink, and music next time)!

What a fun shop with excellent, friendly baristas and fine coffee plus more! I was looking for a…read morejolt of caffeine and was in the area. I couldn't actually find the place vis GPS because it's actually in a larger building. Being a clueless tourist, I called and Tess kindly gave me some directions... they are across from Ledo pizza! Parking is available in the back. When I came in, Tess greeted me and ended up showing me around the store! It features an amazing assortment of fun, locally made, crafty artsy items like magnets, cards, clothes and much more. It's really pretty large and quite fun to explore. I bought artsy, unique, colorful Maryland and DC fridge magnets because my fridge door is not quite full and we love the area. Lucy helped us on our second visit and was also gracious and welcoming. They have a large assortment of in-house made flavorings for lattes so my wife was very happy. My pure double espresso hit the spot and got me going! Life is great with a fun, unique, local coffee shop.

It's hard to know how many stars to give here. We came wanting to chat over coffee and a pastry,…read morebut that's not possible to do in this place. LIBRARY SILENCE REIGNS. Perhaps it was the time of day, a Sunday afternoon. Whatever, everybody was working diligently on their laptops and, not wanting to disturb, we left them to it. The pastries looked good, if expensive. The decor is pleasant enough. But in no way is it possible to have a social experience. Great for working though.

What an amazing day to have an amazing iced ginger tumeric latte made with oat milk…read more The relaxed hippie spot is calling you to endulge in a peaceful drink specially prepared by the friendliest people. Stop by and make a cool selection of your choice of drink whether hot or cold. You wont be disappointed unless your tastebuds are off

This review is solely based upon an event I attended here, not the actual bookstore itself. Bird in…read moreHand is a really cute cafe, bookstore, which I plan to return to try the coffee and pastries I stopped for their Community Dinner event called Eat with Me. It was a community dinner party with Chef Char. You had a choice of a ticket with or without wine pairing. Me and my friend chose the ticket with wine pairing. The ticket included two glasses of wine. The menu was not printed online so we went in kinda blind on what was served. The first course was a roasted vegetable dish which consisted of broccoli, fingerling potatoes and pears with a Greek yogurt sauce. The second course was chicken thighs with risotto in a tomato sauce and the third course was a granola strudel with pears. There was also an arugula salad with grapefruit segments and parmesan cheese. I can be brutally honest, none of the courses were seasoned well. The first course was cold, the vegetables were wilted and did not mesh well. Was not expecting pears to be with my roasted vegetables. The second course was underwhelming as well. The food did not have any flavor and the dessert was not my favorite at all. I only ate the fruit out of the dessert. The chef did come out and let us know what each course was, however I felt that she really wasn't too personable with the guests. A few of the guests at the table were her friends so she only engaged with them, and of course they hyped her up, however the food was bland and underwhelming and the majority of the guests including myself did not finish their plates. If there is another community dinner, I hope it will be with a different chef in mind As I stated before my review is of the event, not the business as a whole.

It's so refreshing to see a local bookstore that truly cares about its curation and being apart of…read morethe community. As stated on their website, "We take pride in being more than just a bookstore. We are a vibrant community hub, hosting events, book clubs, and providing personalized reading services that deepen your connection with stories and fellow book lovers. We believe that everyone can find themselves in the pages of a book, and we're here to help you on that journey." You can clearly see that mission reflected as you walk around the store. The book selection, displays, and merchandise all demonstrate thoughtful attention to detail. Everything is well organized, making it easy to browse, and the staff is knowledgeable and happy to help with finding the right selection or suggesting information about upcoming events. They also offered to order certain books to store if they were not on the shelf! In regard to community outreach, their social media pages clearly communicate upcoming events and highlight their wide variety of book clubs. I attended the Dark Romance Book Club and was please with how well the store facilitated the discussion, especially given the large size of the group. Coming in for the meeting, chairs had already been placed out in a circle for members to sit. The conversation was engaging and well organized with employees asking questions that had clearly been researched beforehand. My only complaint is that parking can be scarce during busy hours such as book club events, particularly after snowfall when available spaces are more limited. Overall, I love visiting this bookstore. It has a lovely charm and a makes a wonderful connection with its customers. It is an asset to our local community as a small hub. I look forward to seeing how their small business grows. I felt comfortable to ask followup questions - I love to talk!

Having just left a conversation about Spider-man with fellow teenager, Peter Parker, Mary Jane…read moreWatson, after reluctantly being made Homecoming Queen, is surprised to find her tempestuous best friend, Liz Allan, who deeply coveted that title, waiting for her in front of her home. "I decked Flash...He wouldn't shut up and, without even thinking, I balled up my fist and...Principal Gorbert chewed us out. Said we were a bunch of selfish brats. Said tonight was for everyone, and we ruined it." Moments later, with tears running down her eyes, Liz makes a startling confession. "I care about you so much. You're my best friend, my sister. I try to think of what my life would be like without you in it, and it makes me sick inside." Liz pauses. "Your popularity and success, it's all great. It's what you deserve. I should be happy for you, right? And, I mean, in a way, I am, but...I needed desperately to be Homecoming Queen. Not because I am trying to feel superior to anyone, or because I have it coming to me. I needed it so...so maybe I could stop feeling like...I hate you." Eventually, the panels of the fourth issue of Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa's Mary Jane: Homecoming miniseries end in complete silence--with the two lifelong friends each riding one of the adjacent swings Liz seized for them in elementary school, but the words that Liz spoke before are what spark the imagination and trigger empathy, regret, anger, and love. Sentences in the best-written novels, mysteries, fantasies, speculative histories, and gothic horror do that too; and there is no better place to discover new sequences of words that will linger in your memory than Queen Takes Book, located at 6955 Oakland Mills Road in Columbia, Maryland. There, the friendly service will welcome you as if to the sparking embers of a fireplace in which only your imaginations are lit.

Sandwiches are awesome and there's wide selection to choose from. My favorite is the steak sandwich…read morewith pickles. Would come here again for lunch

Everything here is great, except that it took 15 minutes for soup to be put in the microwave…read more.. But other than that, so good! They just seem busy, and need to hire more than the one lady working in the kitchen. Cute couple. Always friendly!

Stopped by this quaint establishment and they had lots of goodies. We were intrigued by the variety…read moreof yogurt breads that were low in sugar and very light. There were so many spices and sauces that I had no clue what they were. Try stopping by as you may find just what you need to cook the perfect asian dish.

I was dropping off some donations at the Goodwill and saw this little store and had to stop by…read moresince this is the first time ever seeing a Burmese goods store in Maryland. It reminded me of the markers you'd see in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia: small, stacks of stuff everywhere, mixture of this and that even Asian blankets and Burmese traditional outfits. There definitely were Burmese goods, but there were some Thai, Korean and Chinese things, too. Prices seemed reasonable as far as I could tell.

Came here to pick up some toiletries items. This Marshall's had a great selection toiletry items…read moreand the value was great as well. I did manage to pick up some items at a great price. They had a great selection of women's clothing for this season, but I didn't want to get distracted from my initial mission.... The checkout line was long, as usual, but moved rather quickly with the service being ok and staff very pleasant. I would suggest going to this store once it opens and preferably during the week to cut down on the long checkout lines. All in all, a nice store to pick up toiletry items at great prices. Sorry I didn't get pics of the inside, I was in a rush and had to tackle more runs on my to/do list!

I visited the Marshall's today looking for particular items…read more I was pleasantly surprised to find garments in my size and on clearance. I didn't notice one of the garments didn't have a price tag at all, and so when I went to the clerk to be rung up, she pointed it out. I told her that I got it from the same clearance rack, and that there were other garments on the rack of the same brand. She started speaking low and put it to the side; I was under the assumption that she would perhaps call an associate for assistance to find a similar item. No! She just put that item to the side! I told her, I still wanted it, and if it was possible to get something similar. The other garment set I was rung up for was the same price - clearance - and same THING - right down to the quantity in the set! It was just not the same brand. She then shrugged her shoulders and offered a sheepish smile, and I just took that as my indication that I was going to have to get this item myself. So I went - walk of shame - while there were associates in the area who were on walkie and could have easily been communicated with to find an item - to find it myself. I initially became frustrated when I returned to the queue and found it to have accumulated quite a line. I was relieved to see that the clerk waved me back to my spot - though I'm not sure if the customers in front of me were going to be serviced or were communicated with in any capacity... Asides from the lack of initiative from customer service - the merchandise selection is pretty broad and there is are generous clearance deals throughout the store. I was able to find what I was looking for and some things that crossed my mind.