Oh, did I have a wonderful time last Friday night when I met my dinner companion, Brenda Golden, at High Stakes Bar and Grill. High Stakes is located a few blocks north west of Coastal Highway on Route 54 in the same strip shopping center as Happy Harry’s. And yes, my friends, Brenda and I surely had a high time at High Stakes.
    I have been a part-time resident of Ocean City since I was conceived many many many moons ago. I’ve seen lots of establishments come and go and watched OC grow from a sleepy town where the boardwalk ended at 15th street to the lively year-round city it is today. I’ve watched the surrounding communities grow and seen how our most successful businesses grew from small beginnings. If you’ve been around since the ‘70s and ‘80s, you’ve seen how John Fager and Leighton Moore started Fager’s Island and Seacrets on a modest shoe string. They both provided excellent food at reasonable prices in an interesting setting with well-trained staff. Each year they expanded a little more and offered a little something extra to attract an ever-growing customer base.
    Mark my words, folks, this is just the successful pattern High Stakes owner Brian DeLuca is following. Brian is a young man hailing from the suburbs of Philly. His parents, Sue and Butch, owned a successful deli for 25 years and told me Brian was tucked in a crib in the corner of their store when they first started, so he literally grew up in Butch’s Deli and saw firsthand how to run a successful business.  
    Brian opened the original High Stakes in 2005 as an eat-in or take-out deli. In 2008 he expanded into the next unit. He then added a bar and more tables for eat-in dining. In 2009 the next unit became available so Brian expanded yet again and modeled this next section as a mirror twin to the middle part. Brian describes it as dueling bars. The two newer areas comprising High Stakes are decorated in rich paneling with beautiful wood bars. These  locations have arched entries placed at the front and back of each with large window-like sections in the middle to open the spaces up. This makes it great for enjoying live music as there isn’t a bad seat in the house. You can see and hear the band from every location. The acoustic tile ceiling makes for great sound.
    Frankly, I had not heard of High Stakes until they started advertising with Coconut Times and I saw that my pals from Lower Case Blues were playing there about a month ago.  My gentleman friend Dew and I met up with Brenda for the LCB show and had a great time. Dew got a BLT and Brenda and I shared the oh-so-delectable Crab Dip. We were all three happy campers with our awesome late night food selections and hearing one of my favorite bands. The place was absolutely packed and Chris Button and another musician stopped in and played a few tunes with the band at the end of the evening. There are just a handful of establishments where I feel totally at home as soon as I walk in and High Stakes is such a place. I just loved my first outing to High Stakes and was thrilled when Brenda asked me to do this review.
    When writing a food review, I try to go with whatever a place is known for. High Stakes has Philly’s Finest by the Cheesesteaks section so I decided to totally break the low carb diet and go for a cheesesteak loaded with fried onions and green peppers. I told Melissa, our top-notch server, that they couldn’t have too many onions and peppers for my taste and she took me at my word. I want to tell you, that cheesesteak was the best I’ve ever had.  My mouth just waters now thinking about how great it was. Well, now, I figured I just have to have an order of onion rings to go along with the cheesesteak to totally blow the calorie count through the roof. I limited myself to half the order of onion rings and enjoyed every morsel - yum! The prices are great too. Where else can you go and get a huge order of Onion Rings for just $3.25? Most places would charge at least a buck for extra cheese on the steak sub; it’s only 25 cents for extra cheese at High Stakes. Want Pepperoni on your pizza? Just cough up an extra quarter for that as well.
    You may ask how High Stakes can afford to sell such great food at such reasonable prices and the answer is volume, my friends. As with the other time I went to High Stakes, it was packed with every table and bar stool filled in the two bar areas. Of course, it helped that Lower Case Blues was again providing the entertainment. Just in case you are dying to know, I asked Jake and BJ of LCB what their favorite food was at High Stakes and they both said the grilled sausage sandwich which costs all of four bucks.  
    Brenda ordered the Crab Pretzel for an appetizer and Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap for dinner. The Crab Pretzel had their fabulous crab dip with cream cheese as a base and topped with cheddar cheese. It’s loaded with the best crab and just melts in your mouth. Brenda said the chicken wrap was outstanding. We split the Crazy Cookies & Cream ice cream mix of fudge and Oreo Cookies for dessert and were well pleased with this delicious end to a wonderful meal.
    Brian describes his food as ‘Beachie Bar Food.’ In addition to doing a full house restaurant business, he does a tremendous take-out business as folks leave the beach and drive home via route 54. His menu is well designed with areas highlighting the Appetizers, Wings, Soups, Salads, Philly’s Finest Cheesestakes, Hoagies, House Specialties, Grilled Sandwiches, Build Your Own Cold Sandwiches, Pizza, Wraps, Sliders and Burgers.  
    High Stakes has different themes and specials every day. Monday is Trivia night and features mini Cheesesteaks, Tuesdays its $2 for all bottles and the meatball sub is featured, Wednesdays and Sundays are poker nights with buffalo chicken wrap on Wednesday and cheeseburger sliders on Sunday. Baltimore Bob plays piano from 5 to 9 Thursday evenings. DJs provide music most Friday and Saturday nights. Thursday’s food special is mini pizza, Friday’s is the oh-so-fabulous crab dip and Saturday ends the week with the chicken salad sandwich. Bobby Burns provides music in the afternoons Friday through Sunday.
    I have to mention that Lower Case Blues will again play at High Stakes on Nov. 5 and again on Dec. 4, so be sure to come and let this trio take you to places you never knew were exactly where you wanted to go as they perform a mix of their originals along with standard covers they truly make their own.  Tonight was such fun: everyone really enjoyed when the guys asked Brenda to sing Bonnie Raitt’s hit “Love Me Like a Man.”
    Don’t wait another minute to try out High Stakes. I say hats off to High Stakes; it’s just simply a wonderful place! Check them out at www.myspace.com/phillysfinestde or www.facebook.com/HighStakesBar. Or call 302-537-6971. Hope to see you there soon.