06-27-2024 Howard - Flipbook - Page 26
Best restaurants
The interior at 18th & 21st is decorated like a speakeasy and is located in a back room within Cured in Columbia. PHOTO BY KEVIN RICHARDSON
Bar food, Burger, Cocktail,
Happy hour, Late-night dining,
Live entertainment,
Lunch menu
Cured | 18th & 21st
10980 Grantchester Way #110, Columbia,
667-786-7111, cured1821.com
26
| Summer 2024 | howardmagazine.com
The concept of a restaurant
within a restaurant has found its
niche in Columbia. Enter Cured,
an upscale bistro, and explore a
mecca of cocktails and comfort
food. A telltale unmarked door
opens to a 1920s-style jazz club.
Dim lights, dark corners and art
deco surroundings set the stage at
18th & 21st, a speakeasy throwback
that takes its name from the
constitutional amendments that
enacted and repealed Prohibition.
Each venue has its own menu.
Fans of Cured favor the Philly
cheesesteak egg rolls, while burgers
score high at the hideaway out back.
Spirit-wise, both places offer their
best-selling Smoked Old Fashioned,
made of bourbon, brown-sugar
syrup and house-smoked bitters.
The notion of two watering
holes under one roof appeals to
the clientele, said Vince Culotta,
managing partner of both places.
“People don’t buy what you’re
selling, so much as why you’re
selling it,” said Culotta, 48. “They
care about the culture and the ethos
of [a restaurant]. People dine out
for an experience, and our goal is to
create, for them, a memorable one.”
