B&O American Brasserie — Restaurant in Baltimore

This is a regular lunch place for myself and co-workers. This was our second time dining there before a concert at the arena.

The food is always good and fresh, so even after a rather unpleasant experience back in April, I thought we'd give it another try Saturday night. I made our reservation in early November for 6:00. We arrived at 5:40. We were seated right away on the second floor. After our previous experience and saw how crowded they were we seriously considered leaving. But, didn't. Our mistake. Our waiter (I believe his name is Dominic) was clearly overwhelmed. He was the only server for the 8 occupied tables (approx. 24 guests). There was also a private party upstairs that he was assisting with. Although he was overwhelmed, he was very pleasant and kept apologizing the entire time we were there. At 6:00 we immediately ordered two drinks (a beer and a mixed drink) and a pizza (nothing else) hoping to save time. At 6:30 we were still waiting for our drinks. Finally, got them at 6:40 and were told our pizza would be out soon. At 7:00 we asked the manager to check on our pizza. He came back and said, "They just put it in the oven." Really?! While we were waiting for our pizza, two tables who were there before we arrived had their drinks, canceled their food order, paid their tab and left. We finally got our pizza at 7:20....an hour and 20 minutes for a pizza! The manager also apologized and said they only had one bartender and "not enough kitchen staff". I told him I appreciate the situation they were in, but clearly they needed more servers, more kitchen staff (including expeditors) and another bartender. He didn't disagree. We were told by many staff members they didn't even have a hostess until recently because "the owners didn't think we needed one and the managers could handle it."

We felt so sorry for our server. We made sure to tell him and his manager he did a great job considering the circumstances. And made sure we tipped him well over 20%.

CFG has done a fantastic job renovating the arena and bringing top-notched talent to the area. So, it would be in the restaurants best interest to get their issues worked out...and fast.

Management - if you have a private party reserved, don't accept so many reservations! If you don't have enough staff close off tables! Hire more staff before! Open your eyes and help your staff or you are going to start losing lots of business. Think about how many staff members you could hire with just the money that walked away from...

I regularly stay at the hotel and at times visit the restaurant. Sadly, I will not be going back. Although sometimes the service is okay, it is often bad and the food is marginal at best.

Food: I was served freezer burned sorbet and when I mentioned it the server took no action--no offer of apology or offer to refund. Just an "I understand." Ok, I let that go because I actually like the server.

I got the breakfast one morning and ordered the chef's special inhouse cooked blueberry muffin. The muffin was heavy/dense and tasted old with a crumbly texture. The server did replace the muffin with fruit and was apologetic.

Service: I have requested "to go cups" at time and the servers have given them to me which is nice of the servers. I do try to tip when they do so.

Recently, I was seated for dinner and asked for hot water instead of cold water--I was given a to go cup with steaming hot water even though I was dining in. I ordered the crab soup--the server left and started setting up other tables. A short while later a cook/chef from the kitchen came out with my soup and spilled it all over my pants and shoes. He did not know what to do and offered no apology or solution and walked back to the kitchen- -which was no surprise he is a cook/chef. I then asked the server for a napkin and the she gave me a napkin. I asked for the manager, and I explained the situation--and there was an offer to pay for the soup. I asked for another napkin and water to clean the soup from my pants He gave me a napkin and after looking at it, I saw that there was crusty white stuff on it that did not look like soap. Gross!!! The manager explained it was probably soap--that was when I left. I left without finishing the soup and feeling disappointed to say the least in the experience.

Yesterday was the final straw--I went for the free morning coffee service which was relocated to the restaurant during the hotel renovation. Although I had been there regularly during the mornings for several weeks, Jaymo a server insisted that I provide my room and name in order to get the free coffee that I had been served regularly including by him. I asked why I had to provide my name and hotel room number--Jaymo replied, "we serve the public"--that was it. A man came in after me and requested the free coffee, but was not asked name or room number and was given...

Came here because it was raining and near our conference. Took 5 minutes to get seated, it was not busy. Took 10 minutes to get our drinks. The hostess ended up bringing them. Ordered our food, my fiance got the crab cake sandwich, even though he ordered the burger. Took 30 minutes to get the food. Still not busy. Our drinks were nearly empty when our food arrived (someone else delivered our food). The waitress never came back to check on is, so my fiance simply ate what was brought to him. Food less than average for price. The chicken on my salad tasted like it had been in a Tupperware container in the fridge for two days. We stacked our empty plates and stared at our empty drinks. Finally, the hostess came and took our plates. By this time, it was 12:45pm. We arrived 60 mins prior. Finally, the waitress came for the FIRST time to check on us. We simply asked for the bill. Poor service, the atmosphere was cool, but very cold (temperature).

Maybe would give a second chance if I lived in the area and had no other option. I don't like giving poor reviews, but I don't have any other choice. Don't go here, especially if you are from...