A Fun Day in Baltimore County's Country and Soup'R Natural, Parkton

Soup'R Natural is located in Parkton about 30 minutes away from the Baltimore city center.  I know that's a hard sell for those living downtown, so I decided to create a Baltimore County Country itinerary for you that includes lunch at this lovely restaurant.

Baltimore County Country Daytrip

Why not start your day with some winery tours?  There are a bunch in that area, such as Basignani Winery, Woodhall Wine Cellars and Royal Rabbit Vineyards.  Sure, Maryland isn't much of a wine destination, but it's always fun to visit local wineries and find some new favorites!  Check the Maryland Wine Association's website for any events that are going on in a particular weekend.

When you are ready for lunch, drive to Soup'R Natural and relax after your hours of wine tasting, and perhaps pay for your DD's lunch :)

After lunch, make a quick visit to Gunpowder Bison & Trading Company to see where a ton of restaurants get their bison meat. It's a small little farm, but seeing the bison and looking around the cute little shop is worth it.  When Dan and I stopped in, we ended up getting some ground bison (he uses this recipe to make amazing bison sliders) and some bison sausages.  Of course the meat isn't cheap, in fact we somehow spent $50 in that trip (!), but it sure is delicious.

Head south on York Road for an easy drive back to the suburbs.  Stop in at The Filling Station if you need a cup of coffee, and then, since you probably packed a cooler to store your bison meat, head to Hunt Valley Towne Centre to load up on any foodie delights at Wegman's before taking I-83 back home!

See!  What a fun day that would be!

Crabcake sandwich (foreground) and chicken salad sandwich (background)

Now, onto my review of Soup'R Natural!  

Soup'R Natural is a small restaurant that prides itself on using local meats, eggs, and produce from nearby farms.  It has a very casual farmhouse atmosphere that is great for families as well (my sister brought my niece with us). 

My sister and I split the Chicken Salad Sandwich ($8.75) - Roasted chicken with diced fennel, grape halves and sweet almonds and we both agreed it was one of the best chicken salad sandwiches we had ever tasted.  I loved the crunch of the toasted sweet almonds, and I personally LOVE grapes in my salad, so that made me happy.  It came with regular and sweet potato chips on the side, and the sandwich itself was a nice portion.

My bro-in-law got the Crab Cake Sandwich (Market Price) - served on your choice of bread with Old Bay aioli and capers, which he really enjoyed as well.  Though I didn't try it, it definitely was a good looking sandwich.

For dessert we all split their homemade apple pie with ice cream.  The pie was STUFFED full of sweet apples, and it was quite a crowd-pleaser.

This was a wonderful, comfortable, locally-sourced and family-owned restaurant in a scenic part of Baltimore County.  What's not to love?  Next time, I'll definitely try the soup :)

p.s. Thanks to my brother-in-law for taking some awesome pictures!  If you're into biking, check out the blog he writes for!