The table that earns the babysitter.

Crab cakes and a patio with its own outdoor bar on Glendale Road, across the bridge from the main Garrett Highway strip. Weddings and events fill the calendar on summer weekends, so a walk-in dinner works better midweek. The lake view from the deck is the reason regulars tolerate the wait for a table in July.

Sits on the shore at the lake's widest point, which makes the deck the pick for watching boat traffic work the main channel. Craft cocktails get more attention here than at most Deep Creek kitchens — ask what's new before defaulting to a rail drink. Reserve for a Friday; the bar side seats walk-ins most other nights.

Steaks, seafood, and a bourbon list deep enough to spend an evening working through, on Deep Creek Drive near the marina cluster. The crab cakes and crab soup get mentioned as often as the steaks — order both before deciding the kitchen's specialty. One of the few McHenry dinners worth booking ahead on a summer Saturday.

Upscale American kitchen known for a steak cooked exactly to order and plating that outruns the room's roadside exterior. Live music some evenings turns dinner into a longer night. The attached MoonShadow Cafe out front handles the daytime coffee-and-scone crowd under the same roof.

Restored manor house on Memorial Drive in Oakland, set up for the special-occasion dinner rather than the after-the-beach meal. Small enough that a table needs a reservation most weekends. Worth the fifteen-minute drive inland from the lake when the night calls for cloth napkins instead of a picnic table.

Historic inn dining room in Deer Park, a short drive south of the lake toward Oakland — the kind of place locals point to for an anniversary dinner rather than a Tuesday one. Quieter and more formal than anything directly on the water. Call ahead; this isn't a walk-in kitchen and the room is small.

Garrett County's only winery, a short drive from the lake near Friendsville, minutes from Wisp and FireFly Farms. Paul Roberts and Nadine Grabania have run the estate more than fifteen years, working European-style and natural wines from Maryland grapes, some grown on-site. Small enough that a Saturday tasting feels like a conversation with the winemaker rather than a pour-and-move-on line.