🍦Remembering Joe Dinoto

Good morning, Columbia. These are the top three kinds of mac & cheese and you’ll never change my mind:

In today’s Columbia Scoop:

Let’s get to it.

— Michelle Sinclair

HoCo Restaurant & Craft Beverage Weeks kicked off Monday and run through Sunday, August 9 – and 17 of the 43 participating spots are in Columbia. We read the menus so you can skip straight to the reservation. On Thursday we’ll highlight out-of-Columbia spots.

Victoria Gastro Pub (2 courses for $30, 3 for $35, lunch and dinner): Start with the fried green tomatoes topped with pimento cheese and cowboy caviar, then the drunken crispy chicken Chesapeake – crab béchamel, charred corn, and Old Bay. If you have room for course three, it’s the mango coconut semifreddo for us. Weekdays it runs all day; weekends starting at 4 PM.

Cured (3-course dinner, $45): Burrata flatbread into chicken Milanese is the move here. Dessert is a coin flip between strawberry crème brûlée and Basque cheesecake – you win either way. You just win a little more with Basque cheesecake.

Frisco and the Reckless Shepherd (3 courses, $59.95): Bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers with hot honey, then the 14 oz center-cut pork chop in garlic herb cream sauce. Finish with the whiskey white chocolate bread pudding, and add a flight of Reckless Shepherd beers for $8. You won’t need to eat for a week.

See all participating restaurants.

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Columbia was master-planned down to the quarter-acre – but nobody told these houses. We rounded up homes on the market right now sitting on some of the biggest lots in Columbia proper, from just over half an acre to three full ones. All five share a zip code: 21044.

My favorite: the Tudor on three acres with a temperature-controlled wine cellar, an in-ground pool and spa, and a pool table that stays with the house.

See all five.

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🍗 National Chicken Wing Day - Union Jack’s celebrates the one made-up holiday we can all get behind.

🍽️ Food Truck Wednesdays in the Merriweather District - DF Mexican Food & Tasty Empanadas post up at Merriweather Row Plaza for midweek lunch.

🎈💦 Wilde Lake/Town Center Community Pool Party - Free pool party with food and music for Wilde Lake and Town Center residents at Faulkner Ridge Pool. Pre-registration required.

🎸 The Red Clay Strays - The Alabama southern-rock outfit brings its breakout tour to Merriweather Post Pavilion, 6:30 PM.

🎶 Headliner: Alysha Brilla - JUNO-nominated artist Alysha Brilla blends Indo-Tanzanian roots and reggae at the Lakefront’s free concert series, 6:30 PM.

🍝 The Art of Making Fresh Pasta - Learn to make gnudi and pici from scratch with Chef Alba at the Inn at Mary’s Land Farm.

🎈🎬 Movie Night: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - Bring a blanket to the Columbia Lakefront for a free outdoor screening at dusk.

🎶 Spiders From Mercury: A Tribute to Queen and David Bowie - One night of Freddie-meets-Ziggy glam rock at The Collective Encore.

🩰 Dancin’ Under the People Tree - All-ages dance fitness under the People Tree sculpture at the Lakefront.

🎶 “Weird Al” Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2026 Tour - The parody legend takes Merriweather on Sunday.

🎶 Lakefront Concert: Columbia Concert Band - The 90-member band plays movie music, marches, and medleys Saturday at 7:30 PM.

🎈🧚 Building Woodland Fairy Houses - Kids 10 and under build tiny homes from bark, twigs, and pine cones at Belmont Historic Park Saturday morning. Free, but registration required.

🏓 Round Robin Pickleball Tournament - A full day of timed games at Owen Brown Tennis & Pickleball Club Saturday.

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🍎 Last Call for Lunch – HCPSS’s free Summer Meal Program wraps up Friday, July 31. Kids 18 and under eat free on weekdays, 12:30–2 PM – no application, no fees, kids just have to be present. Columbia sites include Atholton and Hammond high schools, Stevens Forest and Swansfield elementaries, Wilde Lake Middle, and the East Columbia library. Full site list here.

🎒 Stuff the Bus – HCPSS, Bright Minds, and Prepare for Success are collecting school supplies for Howard County students who need them. Drop donations at any HoCo library, Columbia village association offices, and several CA facilities through Sunday, August 16 – or load them straight onto a yellow school bus at Uno’s in Ellicott City on Friday, August 14, 2–6 PM. The list of needed supplies is here.

🏗️ Pike and Demand – The Midas property at 9438 Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City just sold for $2.6 million. Buyer BNP Developers plans a roughly 5,000-square-foot addition behind the building – Midas moves to the back, and the front gets renovated into new retail space.

🕊️ Remembering Joe Dinoto – Joe Dinoto Sr., who operated Chick-fil-A restaurants in Columbia for 36 years, died last Wednesday at 81. The retired Army colonel earned a Bronze Star in Vietnam, then opened his first Columbia Chick-fil-A in 1990. When Columbia’s fourth location opened on Snowden River Parkway this April – with Dinoto as operator – he called it “a dream come true.” He leaves Linda, his wife of 59 years, and a large family, several of whom also operate Chick-fil-As. Joe’s obituary.

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82 🌡️ 65 | ⛈️ | 95% ☔ | 💨 S 10 mph

82 🌡️ 65 | ⛈️ | 41% ☔ | 💨 NW 13 mph

83 🌡️ 65 | 🌤️ | 13% ☔ | 💨 NW 10 mph

Cured 1821 | Bronson Hoover | 6–10 PM
🌳🎵 Merriweather | Muse, Bloc Party, The Temper Trap | 7 PM | Tickets

Cured 1821 | Kevin Howard | 6–10 PM

Bare Bones | David & Paula | 7–10 PM
Cured 1821 | Chordy | 6–10 PM
🌳🎵 Merriweather | The Red Clay Strays, The Revivalists, Haley Reinhart | 6:30 PM | Tickets
The Morgan Inn | The Fog Acoustic Trio | 6–9 PM

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