Boatyard Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Annapolis

My mother took my father and I here on June 12th for dinner. I have extensive restaurant experience, over 18 years in everything from corporate to locally-owned kitchens, to opening Michelin-started concepts with celebrity chefs in downtown Chicago. So when I tell you that this was the WORST service I’ve experienced since before Covid, I mean it. This place can’t decide if it’s an overpriced version of Red Lobster or a high-end seafood joint, the branding and training is clearly all over the map. We arrived during the dinner rush around 7-7:30 PM. We were told the wait was around 40 min, and we happily waited for an indoor dining table for three. It took our server over seven minutes to greet us, and even then, they did not bring a wine or cocktail list. This shows a lack of basic sales training OR that they just didn’t care. Regardless, the three of us ordered a bottle of wine—which our waitress not only couldn’t open, but she couldn’t identify, as she brought another varietal at first by mistake. We ordered a round of oysters and spinach dip, ordered our entrees, and then our waitress vanished for ten minutes. The oysters arrived but the dip did not…it didn’t arrive until three or four minutes before our entrees, when we visibly saw our waitress (standing ten feet away on the open kitchen line) panic and hold the entrees on the line while someone unceremoniously dumped the dip on the table. We ate as fast as we could to clear room, burning our mouths and generally turning what’s supposed to be a leisurely appetizer into a rushed experience, and causing us to finish the bottle of wine. The entrees hit the table, but the waitress did not return to inquire as to whether or not we liked the food (no two minute table touch). The wine glasses on the table were visibly empty, we even turned the bottle upside down in the chiller—and our water glasses went dry, all to no response. It was in the 80’s outside and everyone around us was clearly thirsty…but my mother’s water glass remained empty from the moment the entrees hit the table until we left. At one point, she flagged down the floor manager, who did ask about the food and inquire if she wanted more water—only never to return. The worst moment for me was dessert. I’m not local, but apparently, your establishment won some big local award for some dessert that made the cover of some magazine. My mother had proudly ripped off this cover and kept this picture for over a month, even going so far as to bring it in her purse. At the start of the meal, she pulled it out to proudly let our waitress know we would def be doing dessert—to absolutely no reaction. The waitress could not have clearly cared less about her own kitchen ensuring a $15-20 sale for her benefit, nor did she display any pride in her own team’s accomplishment. After that, NOBODY ASKED ABOUT DESSERT. Our waitress brought the bill unprompted at the end of the meal (it was still well before closing), clearly signaling she wanted us to leave as soon as possible. My mother was crushed and embarrassed on behalf of your restaurant for being so openly rude to us (imagine that: a GUEST felt embarrassed on YOUR behalf!!) and asked that we just leave… I stopped at the hostess stand on my way out and mentioned ALL OF THIS to, yet again, absolutely no reaction from your staff. “You have a problem with flow of service and your FOH staff clearly aren’t training—“ to total blank stares. She was even training at the time, and neither she nor the new hire asked about fetching a manager for us to speak to about our experience…because she didn’t care. I’m not sure if the attitude is that ya’ll are ‘too big to fail’ or what, but with the Marina’s restaurant across the street and a Ruth Chris steakhouse right next door, I’m advising everyone I know to stop spending their time and money at this overpriced shrimp shack until some serious changes are made.🤦🏼‍♀️ 4/10, EXTREMELY disappointed, and I will not be back nor buying my yearly anniversary/Christmas/birthday gift cards as usual for my...

We live in St Mary's county MD (1.5 hours away from Annapolis) and decided to eat at the Boat Yard for our daughter's 21st birthday. She flew home that evening from college in Ohio and Annapolis was a perfect spot to have her birthday dinner and the Boatyard had excellent reviews, so we planned for dinner there despite never having eaten there before. Needless to say, she was excited to be able to order hir first "official" alcoholic beverage as an adult since this was her 21st, and we were looking forward to letting her do so over what we hoped would be a special meal.

Because the dinner was on her actual birthday, and she lives in Ohio, there was no way possible for her to go to an MVA in MD to trade in her vertical "minor" ID for a horizontal "over 21" ID (it was a Saturday, so the MVA was closed, and besides, I had literally just picked her up at BWI and drove her to Annapolis to meet my wife and son for the birthday dinner) but her MD ID clearly shows her birth date. It was clear that this was her birthday and she was now 21.

Our waitress came to the table to take our appetizer and drink orders and my daughter excitedly presented her ID and asked for a cocktail, whereupon she was informed by the waitress that the restaurant's policy is to deny service of alcohol to anyone holding a vertical ID card, regardless of the birth date shown on it. Keep in mind that this policy is not required by MD law, it is purely a decision made by the restaurant, presumably for liability reasons.

I appreciate (to some degree) the fact that the waitress was following the instructions set by the managers/owners of the restaurant, but this was ridiculous in our circumstance. We were clearly a family celebrating a 21st birthday, and our daughter clearly had legitimate state ID. This was very obviously not a group of kids hoping to score a few drinks using a fake ID. One would think that at the very least the restaurant's policy would allow the wait staff to ask the manager to make an exception in cases where out seemed appropriate, but obviously that's not the case.

Being denied a cocktail obviously wasn't the end of the world, but it definitely put a damper on her party from the very start. The fact that 3 of the four meals we ordered were average at best (the cream of crab soup and fish tacos were only ok, the fish and chips were bland, the crab ball appetizer and rockfish over risotto special were quite good) did not help our impression of the restaurant. All in all it was a bad experience and not worth the ~$200 (not including tip) that we spent for a family dinner for four.

I recommend incorporating some flexibility and common sense into your restaurant's policies. I understand protecting yourself from liability, but for goodness sakes, let your managers get involved if the situation seems to call for it. You turned what should have been a special dinner and right of passage for our daughter into a frustrating memory. We're very unlikely to be going back in...

We came to Boatyard on a short stop in Annapolis last night. Our meal here was going to be the only representation of the local food in Annapolis and Maryland at large! They absolutely delivered! My personal favorites were the Flounder BLT (highlighted on their menu as a recommendation), the Oyster Frittes, and the special Clam and Shrimp Chowder. That Flounder BLT was something special! I don't write reviews on Google often, but the Flounder BLT was so mind-boggling, so tasty and at a great price point that it's entirely worth the visit and subsequent review! I was blown away by this Flounder BLT!! You will be amazed by it as well.

Boatyard offers an oyster selection that has some widely-available high-performers like Wellfleets and Raspberry Points, as well as some other local options. I wasn't really blown away by the local oyster options by the half shell, but they're likely great as cooked oysters.

The atmosphere is loud! When I ordered, there were multiple times where I asked our server to repeat what she said because of the ambient noise. I believe this is due to the layout of the restaurant, they need more space to seat people. This is a good problem to have, as it means business is good! The issue is that it impacts the timing and rhythm of their appetizers, entrees, and desserts. In a closer, quiet, more intimate environment, longer pauses to fire apps and entrees is desirable. In this environment, it's better to get food and service out quickly because the food speaks volumes for itself; the ambiance is difficult for intimate conversation and our party felt like we were yelling to communicate.

My recommendation: try the Flounder BLT, get some oyster frittes, the soups don't disappoint, and get seating outside! We had a great...