B-Side Cocktail Lounge — Restaurant in Baltimore

Had an unfortunate experience for my birthday at B-Side for Karaoke. I can't comment on the food or drinks since we left before we could order, but I can confirm that my group and I were severely disappointed with the customer service at B-Side. It was an odd situation overall. Major miscommunication and poor hospitality from the staff.

We had reserved room 110 (the biggest room with a max occupancy of 8) for our group. We were about 10 minutes late, but had let the bar know that we were on our way via their automated text system. Upon arrival we found that they had given away our room and put us in a much smaller room. We didn't really understand what had happened, and the host told us that since we booked room 110 for 5 people (instead of the max 8), the "system" automatically put us in room 109.

This didn't really add up since it seemed like the group in 110, the room we reserved, had been in there for quite some time before we got there. We asked the host about this, and he told us that this group had shown up early for their 11:45pm reservation, so they put them in 110 (2 hours early and you give away our reserved room!?). The host told us that we were marked in the system as "not confirmed" because we "did not answer the confirmation text", but we 100% did. My friend had the text to prove it and showed him. At that point the host told us he "didn't really know what to tell us..."

Honestly, I don't know what really happened with the room mixup, but the problem more lies in how we were treated after the mixup. The host was not willing to move the group that was in our room and offered to let us utilize two smaller rooms at the same time, but the point of our visit was to be together in one big room. It felt like we were being blamed for this mixup. We had no way of knowing that our room would be downgraded just because we initially put 5 people. (Not for nothing, but I don't really buy that excuse - I think someone just gave away our room carelessly and they were trying to put the blame on us and their system).

However, once the host said he would be back to show us how to use the karaoke system and get our drink orders, we did not see him for about 20 minutes. It felt as if they were actively avoiding us (I got the sense there was a lot of confusion on their end about the situation). Finally, after members of our group went out to flag down some employees to even look in our direction, a staff member came in to show us how to use the machine and take our drink orders. It was an extremely awkward vibe, because we were pretty upset that we had 1) been put in the smaller room despite our reservation and 2) been kept waiting in that small room for over 20 minutes with no service at all.

One friend finally asked if there was anything that could be done about the $300 food/bev minimum at the very least because of all that had happened. The staff member and the host did not seem willing to do this at all (not even a round of shots or something, anything?!). Finally, the host said he would get the manager to speak with us. 5 more minutes past and we had no sign of the manager. In that time, we decided to cut our losses and leave, since no one was in the mood for karaoke anymore because of all this. The staff really killed our vibe and made us feel unwelcome.

The bottom line is that this could have easily been rectified if the staff had been even a little apologetic and offered to do really anything to make us feel comfortable. They gave a pretty clear "we do not care" energy, and that is what ultimately made us leave. This was Lesson 101 on what NOT to do when working in hospitality. We were so excited to do karaoke for my birthday, but this was a...

My experience with this establishment was very disappointing after such high hopes to celebrate my husbands birthday. I made a reservation through open table for 5 people because that was the max. (Reservation for B-Side speakeasy and karaoke)…I called this past Monday 10/28 for assistance in adjusting it to reflect my party size (10 ppl at the time). The woman I spoke with said the size was fine and if for any reason my party INCREASED to give a call back, which I did on Wednesday 10/30 to advise our party was 15ppl. At that time she advised this was fine she’s just going to make a note of it. I asked was there an issue w/ the room space or F&B minimum she said no it’s still a $300 min w/ 20% gratuity. So Saturday 11/2 comes and we are “greeted” by Delante he said our reservation is in the karaoke room 101 1st, we seen the room which resembled a closet, I asked if there was a bigger room he said NO, I don’t know who you spoke with but your party size is tooo big so y’all will just have to make it work. Rude tone from the jump and no accommodations made, all of his statements were open ended responses, but dare not ask an additional question. I asked if we could go back and forth to the speakeasy side to free up the room space some, he advised No, they have reservations up until 9:45, (they close at 1), so I asked if our party can enter around 10 since the karaoke room has a time limit of 2 hours, he said yes! So we made the best of the room and ordered a bottle and some food. One of our guest asked the food runner if she can bring a chair and can she order something else, the runner said “no we’re already doing you’ll a favor by LETTING you be here with this party size.” Unprofessional, at that point our 2 hours our up and we pay the bill with Delante and ask if we can migrate to the speakeasy area, he said NO we’re fully booked! I asked how are you booked when we requested to come in at 10, he said we have an 11:00 reservation now and typically you need a contract to buy out the area with your party size, I said, you never said that in a beginning, please get a manager at this point. So he does and is over in the corner cursing and scrolling through the iPad for managing the reservations he allegedly had. Andrea the manager speaks with me and apologizes for the experience and said they were suppose to give us TWO karaoke rooms and tell us about a buyout for the speakeasy in the beginning during my Monday and Wednesday call. I requested an apology from Delante, which she advised he WOULD provide, in the meantime she asked where we were with our night and would we be okay with going upstairs to the Topside area, although the closed at 11, she was willing to allow us to stay there longer, provide us a special seating area, 2 bottles of champagne and a round of drinks for free. We accepted, I can appreciate her attempt at turning the night around and the staff upstairs was very patient and accommodating & even brought my husband a small dessert. Delante was never sent upstairs to apologize and honestly at that point it didn’t matter because it wouldn’t have been genuine, but it comes down to the principle. My overall issue here is the miscommunication, and lack luster customer service from the people on the phone from F&B, Delante and the food runner. We got attitude left and right in person. I understand a large party can be intimidating, but making us feel like an inconvenience and not welcomed was enough for 15 people to conclude...

This was my first time visiting, and while the atmosphere was really cool and the cocktails were great, the service from one of the staff members—specifically a tall, dark-skinned woman with short hair who seemed to be either a server or hostess—was unfortunately very off-putting.

My friends and I were seated at a booth for drinks before our dinner reservation upstairs at topside. I arrived a bit after my group and wasn't greeted or acknowledged when entering through the secret door, despite seeing me enter. Eventually, the bartender took my order instead, as the server/hostess never returned to our table to take my order after taking my friends’ orders earlier.

At one point, I stepped out to use the restroom outside the front entrance. When I came back and opened the door, the same woman greeted me with an exaggerated "Hiii"—but once she realized it was me, her tone immediately shifted to disappointment and she turned away without saying anything else. It felt very strange and unwelcoming, especially since I hadn’t received any greeting from her earlier. Confused at the behavior, I still tried to brush it off and enjoy the night.

The space was relatively quiet at the time—just us and a couple nearby. As our group shared a few laughs, I gently pulled a small portion of the curtain near our table to help muffle the noise out of courtesy to the other guests right next to us, who appeared to be on a date. Seconds later, the same woman quickly came over and abruptly pushed the curtain aside, stating coldly that “curtains stay open during service,” then walked away without any other word or checking on us at all. Her tone and demeanor made us all feel extremely uncomfortable, like she just didn’t want us to be there or order any more drinks, just wanted us to leave.

We left shortly after to head to our reservation upstairs and as we were leaving I turned around before closing the door and saw her roll her eyes at us and quickly closed the entrance curtains behind us.

The bartenders were great and the drinks were well made, but that one staff member's attitude really affected our visit in which could’ve been a great experience to share with others. Everyone has off days, but it shouldn't be taken out on others, especially guests. When I first saw the place, I felt it would be a nice spot to return to with others or for a date night but sadly, this experience was enough to make us not...