Potomac River Grill | Hancock, MD

Home Cooking in a Family Friendly Atmosphere

Photos By: Josh Triggs
Written By: Beth Vollmer

Make sure to stop in and have a home cooked breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Potomac River Grill in Hancock, MD. The restaurant opened in February 2015 initially giving away free food to all who came out for their opening day and that was a great advertising tool. Try the homemade, country cooking where nothing is processed and they grow their own beef with no hormones since the owner, Ben Lewis, has his own farm with cows, chicken and eventually pigs. The experienced prep cooks and servers are very knowledgeable, having decades of experience so your meal will definitely taste the best.

It’s not unusual to use 18 or 20 dozen eggs and potatoes a day since the food is homemade daily and the French fries are hand-cut, along with the mashed potatoes, that are freshly mashed. The restaurant prides itself on their commitment to using fresh, whole foods, free of processing. General Manager, Sharon Knight, adds, “We give people a good value and a good product.” The employees at Potomac River Grill will make you feel welcome and their commitment to quality will keep patrons returning.

If you’re dining at breakfast, the sweet and creamy pancakes, which are .99 cents each are the number one seller. Try eggs with grits, home fries, county pudding and country pon-haus, along with bacon, sausage, ham, bagels, biscuits or toast. The omelets are made for everyone’s taste like the western omelet, vegetable omelet or the ham and cheese omelet. If you like gravy, try the chipped beef gravy or sausage gravy over biscuits or toast with home fries. Satisfying your sweet tooth at breakfast is easy with French toast accompanied by ham, bacon or sausage for $5.50. Try a delicious lunch of homemade made soup such as the crab and corn chowder or vegetable soup.

Sandwiches are a hit and the hot roast beef and hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and vegetable are sure to leave you feeling full and satisfied. Other sandwiches piled high include the fried fish, BLT, club, pulled pork, grilled cheese, and the fried or grilled chicken sandwich.

At dinner, the hot roast beef and hot turkey sandwiches are the big sellers along with meatloaf or the Fisherman’s Catch, which is a large 10-ounce piece of cod, battered, deep fried and served with a potato and a vegetable. Delectable dinners include the pulled pork platter, boneless chicken breast, pork chops or the pit beef platter. If you’re an Italian food lover, try the chicken parmesan or spaghetti with freshly made meat sauce. If a thick and juicy burger tempts your taste buds, then try a cheeseburger or hamburger with homemade French fries, or the patty melt, the mushroom and Swiss cheese burger or the bacon burger. Of course Potomac River Grill has hot dogs such as the original dog, chili cheese dog and the Coney Island dog with brown mustard, chopped onions and the Coney Island meat sauce.

Those who have an impeccable sweet tooth will love the deserts, made by the restaurants long-time baker with decades of experience.

Sample the freshly-made peanut butter cream pie, coconut cream pie, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, strawberry banana cake, carrot cake, or the German chocolate cake.

The pies are also outstanding such as the peach pie, apple pie, or the chocolate peanut butter pie. The cookies, brownies, donuts and sticky rolls are also a huge hit and will leave customers wanting more. To quench your thirst, coke products are offered along with bottles of beer plus wine by the glass, with refreshing unsweetened and sweet tea, and coffee, tea, milk, chocolate milk, orange juice and bottled water. The daily breakfast special is $5.99 and there are two lunch and two dinner special every day that change daily. A popular special is turkey and ham with stuffing, along with a new special, country ham.

Additional popular choices are pork chops, potato soup, ham and bean soup, stewed tomatoes with made from scratch rolls. Try the mouthwatering Potomac River Grill burger, which is 6 ounces topped with ham.

The signature steak and cheese sub is delicious and everyone loves it or try the butterfly fries with cheese and bacon. Potomac River Grill doesn’t skimp on the salads, offering a nice side salad of greens, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion and hardboiled eggs. The chef salad is large with lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, ham, turkey, roast beef and croutons along with bacon and bacon bits as add-ons with traditional salad dressings. Mouthwatering appetizers include onion petals, breaded mushrooms, butterfly fries and mozzarella sticks or try the pretzel sticks in a beer cheese sauce.

The prices of the sides are extremely reasonable and at the most are $1.75, while the highest price for a sandwich is $7.99. The sides are inexpensive, not overly-priced and offer a good amount of food for your money like the buttered corn, peas, cole slaw, applesauce, seasoned green beans and homemade mashed potatoes all for $1.00. All the toppings offered are different and are free like the jalapeno peppers, grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, hot sauce, A1 steak sauce or barbeque sauce to name a few.

The atmosphere at Potomac River Grill is laid back, inviting, friendly and family-oriented. The restaurant sees a lot of returning customers that the employees have a relationship with and care about. The customers and staff are on a first name basis and the overall atmosphere is friendly and everyone feels like a big family. The employees work well together and know each other well. There is not a big turn-over rate and everyone has been there for a long time.

The outside deck area is enclosed, which will offer more seating in a cozy, fun atmosphere. Potomac River Grill is close to Rails To Trails Hiking with a path that ends at the back of the restaurant with picnic tables so people can order their food to eat outside close to nature. There is also a convenient bike rack in the back by the back parking lot for those who ride their bike and want to lock it up. People enjoy sitting at the picnic tables (hikers or customers) and the restaurant is adding more picnic tables for the summer.

The yellow tabby cat named Angus is their mascot who is loved by all and he loves everyone. Angus is friendly with kids and adults and loves attention.

The customers enjoy the food, enjoy dining there and like the cozy, inviting atmosphere. Knight adds, “Everyone is welcome and we greet everyone and try to make them repeat customers for years.”

Potomac River Grills is involved in the community and often buys advertisements for Hancock schools, as well as donates money and gift certificates to be raffled to schools, churches, police and fire departments and other local charities.

Catering is available so please call for a price and an inquiry. Potomac River Grill is open 7 days a week, 8 am-9 pm except on major holidays. The address is 4 Blue Hill in Hancock, MD and their phone numbers are 301-678-6100 or 301-678-7100 and like Potomac River Grill on Facebook.