49 West Coffeehouse, Winebar & Gallery — Restaurant in Annapolis

I have never experienced anything so condemnable in my life as my failed attempt to explore this place as a new regular breakfast option. It was clear that I was unwelcome from the point of view of my "server," who apparently did not want to wait on a one top. Her bad attitude was noticeable from the start, and even though I gave her the benefit of the doubt at first, it soon became clear that she simply was mad that I was by myself, and had no intention of waiting on me.

She brought me my beverage, but REFUSED to take my meal order, spending the entire time acting as if she were busy with other things. I am a patient man who likes to relax with breakfast and coffee while reading. So at first I did not mind a few extra moments. But I started to get restless as my hunger was awakening. I looked around and my server made eye contact with me several times; each time she immediately turned as if suddenly needing to do something else. At one point, she was standing directly in front of me, and when we made eye contact she turned around to pre-bus another table. After nearly 20 minutes I had decided that this was all a disaster, but decided to see if she could manage to take my meal order before I finished my coffee. That was when I saw some other folks be escorted to a table on the back patio. I then saw my server pass by to greet the new table, bring them waters and a dish for their service animal, and I began to wonder if they would have their order taken before me. I watched my server walk back inside, and once again when she made eye contact with me she began to turn as if going to do something else. This time she hesitated and turned back to me. I thought perhaps she would finally ask to take my order. Wrong! Instead, she picked up my menu and asked "You don't need this anymore, do you?"

What!?! Of course I don't "need" it anymore, because I figured out what I would have wanted 20 minutes ago! So she took my menu, without ever taking my order, to give it to someone else!! It took that table less than 5 minutes to be seated and have their order taken, using MY menu, all while I had yet to be asked for a meal order. I finished my coffee at that point, and was about ready to be out the door.

This "server" who obviously didn't want my business did manage to notice my empty coffee cup the very moment it was empty and refilled it. Still didn't ask for an order. So I got up and asked someone else to speak with a manager. That's when I find out that there was no manager or supervisor working. Great. No wonder something like this happens. The cat's away, and the mice will play. To her credit, the other person I spoke to at this point was very apologetic, and diplomatically suggested that maybe it was a miscommunication and that maybe each thought the other was going to be my server. But that's not even close to what happened. My server clearly knew she was my server, she just didn't want to be bothered with a solo top, so thought she'd be clever and push me out the door! Guess what....you picked the wrong person because I spent too many years in the industry and I know all the tricks that unscrupulous servers try to pull.

I guess I'll just have to make myself a regular...

We went to listen to our friends play, and we would definitely do that again. The room is nothing to write home about, cramped and not at all "decorated", but we were close to the front, and it was great to watch our friends play.

There was only one waitress, and early on she was a bit overwhelmed. But she was sweet and kind. She tried to assist with finding a drink that the bartender could make for my sister, which was great.

Where they really fell down was the food. I had the Margherita flatbread. It was practically inedible for me. There was enough cheese on it for at least 3 flatbreads. I was unable to taste the sauce. My sister had the quiche of the day, and it was covered in a blanket of cheese. She said the actual quiche flavor was acceptable. She also ordered the gazpacho. She was unable to eat it, as it was entirely too spicy. I ate some of it, as I can handle a bit more heat, but I eventually gave up on that as well. My husband had the ginger soy glazed salmon fillet. It was served with an absurdly huge serving of rice, probably about 2 cups. I was initially excited as I thought I'd have some of the rice with the left over "glaze". Well, it was not a glaze at all. It was about the consistency of gravy. And the flavor was horribly unbalanced. It was so ginger forward that it was almost inedible. The vegetable of the day that came with it was sauteed green and yellow squash, with a ridiculous amount of onions. Some onions for flavor is great, but the dish was about 1/3 onions.

As I said above, we will return, but I will try to get the most simple item on the menu in the hopes that it will be edible. We paid entirely too much money for less than...

Good food. Went for my birthday. The smoked salmon dish is really good, and plated beautifully (though a bit impractical to eat). Cozy place. Took my groupon with no problem. EDIT: went back again with some family and was still a big hit. My 80 year old grandfather said it was the best lunch he has had in a long time, it is a big deal to get a compliment from him lol ( he got the open faced crab and shrimp sandwich). My grandmother loved her bean soup and said she never had anything like it before.Food was great, they definitely go heavy on cheese, crab, and cream here. Even the side salads had tons of topping on it like peppers and olives. The crab dip and crab quiche are very good. Since it is a coffee house the service is a bit relaxed, many people there were just enjoying some wine while doing stuff on their laptop, so you may need to send a small wave towards your server if you need anything. The server was very friendly, turns out he was the son of the owner. They have two rooms to eat, and some outdoor tables in front and behind (smokers seemed to use the back). If the back room is being used for an event it may be hard to find seating for groups over 6, we had 5 and were able to put 3 tables together. groups of 1-4 should have no...