2 Best Restaurants in Frederick and Western Maryland, Maryland

Within the Deer Park Inn B&B, the proprietor prepares an exceptional French menu with ingredients procured from local Amish farms. Duck confit is marinated overnight and served with savory braised red cabbage. Beef tenderloins are served with a tantalizing sun-dried cherry sauce. Desserts—such as a tart of local strawberries and rhubarb with whipped cream, or local organic blueberries with crème fraiche—are simple and elegant. During the area's off-season months, the inn and restaurant may be closed Monday–Wednesday, so call ahead.

Since 1732, this sturdy bluish gray stone home has welcomed travelers along a road called by turns the National Trail, the National Road, the Old National Pike, and (least romantically) Route 40. Historic figures Daniel Webster and Henry Clay stopped here, and during the Civil War, John Brown's followers seized control of the building for a day. Just prior to the Battle of Antietam, it served as the headquarters for a Confederate general. The menu is as elegant as the setting: highlights include fillet Mona Lisa, a seared filet mignon with a cabernet sauvignon demi-glace, served over crispy fried leeks. The extensive dessert list includes peanut butter, fresh apple, and bourbon pecan pies; Godiva chocolate cake; and ice cream sundaes.