Captain James Seafood Palace — Restaurant in Baltimore

Went here this evening our party total was 14. We had reservations and while they have restrictions about reservations and seating, they were very accommodating with a few stragglers that were late. The staff all were very professional and friendly. I took 3 stars off because 1- my appetizers AND main food were all room temperature and had clearly been sitting. Nothing I ate had flavor and that was disappointing. Wings were bland and the waitress specifically stated their wings are marinated before being cooked even the naked wings. The calamari was just ok. The main dish was unbelievable. Crab legs dry and over cooked or reheated. Shrimp were so dry they broke off as you tried to remove from skewer. The lonely bay scallop under at the bottom of the shrimp served what purpose? String beans were dark not soggy but unappealing and not tasty. Rice was DRY. The 4 crab balls or scoops were far from crab cake style an very much like something processed. The salmon was dry and flavorless. 2- I’m no stranger to eating out and for me I want quality more than quantity and or cheap. When I go to an establishment and my food is FRESH and TASTY, I have no problem paying for it. But again the food was not fresh nothing was hot everything was a minute or two away from being cold. How do you serve unfresh untasty food and charge 17.95 for wings, 13.00 for calamari and 37.00 for the joke of a platter? 3- I understand that after a certain number of guests gratuity is automatically added which is no problem but to have a policy where there is only one bill and the guests are left to break it up is ridiculous. I will have to say the atmosphere was not bad the staff were friendly but the quality of food was not good and the prices were outrageous for what was given in return. What made it worse is the restaurant was NOT BUSY. Why didn’t I say anything to the waiter or manager…because I shouldn’t have had this many problems so my solution is to not return...

I went into Captain James tonight (the side with the deck on the water). I was told by my hotel concierge to go here for the weekday all you can eat blue crab! One of the main reasons I stopped in Maryland on my way to update NY from Texas was to have blue crab so I rushed to go since it was getting a little late. I arrived at about 8:20pm, the guy at the front who was very friendly told me to go ahead and seat myself. So of course when I saw a picnic table seating next to the water available, I rushed to sit down. It took a good 5 minutes or so for a guy (I believe he was a manager or supervisor) to come by and say hello and give me a menu. He let me know that my server will be right over. Another 5 minutes or so goes by and my server comes. I noticed that the all you can eat crab only goes until 9pm ( little passed 8:30pm by now) so I asked the server about the all you can eat crab and he mentioned that it's almost over. I really wanted to indulge, so i just asked maybe if he can bring some extra at 9pm if I ordered the all you can eat. He said sure! And my beer came first and a pile of blue crabs soon after. Server checked on me a few times and piled on more crab in front of me twice. So all in all, I would of given a 5 star except when the bill came. I noticed that there was a 18% gratuity already tacked on there. I thought that was very interesting seeing that on the menu, they automatically charge the 18% only for large parties. So when I went to pay, I asked my server if it was customary for them to charge a automatic 18% gratuity and he mumbled something a out how he is used to charging it. Being that I've been in F&B management for 15+ years, it kind of made me angry but still tipped him $7 on my $50+ bill. You should NEVER cheat your guest, it leaves a sour taste in their mouth no matter how great the food is. I am only writing this in hopes that it is not happening on a...

Visited this lovely restaurant today in Baltimore after purchasing a groupon the same day. The group on was for a $100 to the restaurant, for only $45. I was skeptical at first but after reading everything I was pleased to learn there were limited restrictions. I had the crab soup and fish tacos. The cream of crab soup was okay. There was a decent amount of crab and I appreciated the old bay on the table so that I could add as much as I needed. The fish tacos were the real star of the meal. The fish was perfectly cooked (crispy) and it was just the right amount of slaw topping and crema. I would 10 out of 10 recommend getting these. The kids meals were big (see chicken tenders) and my and 7 year old light eaters could have easily split it instead of getting their own. I will say that my son's drink was not included with his kids meal which was odd, so just something to be aware of. My partner got the crab cake and substituted the rice for mashed potatoes (definitely needed to add salt as it was not well seasoned). She enjoyed it and I could see nice lumps of crab in it. The portion was definitely a decent amount. It does not come with any sauce, but she ordered remoulade on the side and said it paired nicely. She also had the vegetable of the day which was Brussel sprouts. The flavor was great, but they were softer and probably would have been amazing if they had the same crisp as the fish tacos :). We had the apple cobbler for dessert. It definitely isnt cobbler, but more of an apple dump cake. It was delicious, but just not cobbler. Our waitress (Krissy I believe) was friendly and attentive. I would definitely recommend to friends and would go again if I have another craving for seafood while...