Not technically Columbia but Savage Mill has 2 great coffee house options.

Brewing Good Coffee is a small cozy vegan coffee shop right on Foundry street. They just opened more indoor seating at the storefront next door and they roast their own beans so the place smells incredible. They also make some vegan food as well for snacking. Parking can be a hassle if you come midday though.

There is also a small Roggenart at the mill entrance closer to Foundry Street. This used to be a french bakery even before Roggenart moved in (R.I.P. Bonaparte) so there are some nice vibes with the interior seating. Coffee is not as good as Brewing Good imo but the pastries are a nice treat and it's slightly less expensive.

Either of these would be nice for a first date, and if it goes really well you can continue the date by walking around the mill and checking out the neat stores inside.

*There's also a nice walking trail behind the Mill that follows the Patuxant River to keep in mind for -not- first dates. Because taking someone into the woods as a first date is a bit of a red flag. I see a lot of couples taking selfies on the bridge around sunset, and a TON of wedding photographers around there too so you know it has romantic vibes.

Tous les jours on rt 40

Starbucks in the mall closed about a year ago.

If you want a relaxed local place, mad city coffee in hickory ridge is nice. Decent breakfast/lunch food too it’s pretty small though FYI. Roggenart is another spot for coffee, it’s like a French bakery with fresh pastries and bread. More seating than mad city

Mad City Coffee is good. There’s also a Starbucks in the mall, then you can walk around and talk, go in stores, etc

I mean, what self-respecting CPA would ever want H&R Block on their resume? Can you really blame them for such a poor talent pool?

I think that if your taxes are easy and you're on a budget, just get TurboTax and do it yourself. Simple taxes are really a lot easier than you think and since you're a amateur, worst case scenario, the IRS sends you a notice correcting what you did.

If you have a small business and feel like TurboTax would be out of the question, just go with a real CPA firm.

I recommend against h&r block, the "experts" there are lazy and just outright wrong about a lot of things and made some submitting issues even harder for us last year

If you genuinely have simple taxes, why are you afraid of an audit? As someone who pays a lot of money for an accountant every year, I personally wouldn’t recommend one just to avoid a few hours of diligence.

If you're an Engineer you shouldn't be afraid of a little math. I've done the TaxCut / H&R Block for many many years and it's very idiotproof. The year I got married, which should have been the most complicated, my new uncle-in-law did them as a gift to use since he's a CPA. For the $20, I did them myself again and matched to the penny.

Edit: On a whim I just checked and I have 2012 thru 2022 installed on my server still.

I’m an Engineer with simple taxes too. I highly recommend Ajit John from icseztax.com. He’s been filling for me for the past 3 years. Everything is done over encrypted email and he’s very responsive and prompt. They charge anywhere between 70 to 100 usd for a filing.

Tax Guru in Silver Spring is great (can do remote too). She’s been doing our taxes for years.

If your taxes are simple I’d recommend using FreeTaxUSA, if you pay for deluxe (which is 7 or 8 dollars) you get unlimited amendments and their support system if you do happen to get audited

What’s the going rate?

I've also had great experiences with Ehrhardt Brothers.

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This post has been locked. Too many comments are getting out of hand and the conversation is no longer productive.

Please do not use this language. Keep it civil or your comments will be removed.

We had Ehrhardt replace the the exact thing for us a few months ago lol. They did a great job

Yeesh are you okay? Is this how you handle all criticism? Take it easy, ya kook. You didn’t answer the question that was asked, just accept it and move on.

Gesus Krist … I hate you and I don’t even know you

Fucking A man .. so much passive aggressive “I know better than you” bullshit for a conversation about pizza

Lighten up

I’m allowed to like my own pizzas .. you go like your own pizzas

Bridges are nice, trees, mountains, rivers. Just not buildings lol. Thanks!

OP specifically asked for one that won’t break the bank.

Kaiser might be a good option if you want something that’s a bit more affordable and streamlined. Kaiser doesn’t have the best doctors but everything is in house, which makes everything from the scheduling of appointments to picking up a prescription really easy as it’s all from the same place. There’s a Kaiser clinic here in Columbia. I will caution though that Kaiser isn’t the best if you want flexibility with selecting a specialist, as Kaiser requires that you first get a referral from your PCP, and I found that my PCP was extremely reluctant to make those referrals (which is probably one of the ways they save money and keep premiums low).

Haha what garbage taste in pizza you have. Downvoters agree, grottos is the worst pizza columbia has to offer, hands down. Grosso Pizza.

“Buy a flatbread” is definitely not the answer. That’s flatbread, not pizza dough. Shit, even the Pillsbury “pizza crust” soda-dough is better than an already baked flatbread. Miles better. But if you’re cooking it at home why not just grab a ball of pizza dough. It’s sold at like every grocery store around here. Regardless, your answer is wrong as OP is asking for restaurant options. Clearly they aren’t looking to cook one at home.