Cindy Lou's Fish House — Restaurant in Baltimore

The Domino Sugars sign glowed scarlet through floor-to-ceiling windows as two women in conversation leaned into the copper-topped bar, martini glasses catching the harbor lights. This is the Baltimore that Cindy Lou's Fish House sells: a waterfront reverie where Southern comfort meets Chesapeake sophistication, all framed by industrial-chic concrete and constellation of Edison bulbs.

When Tony Foreman and Chef Cindy Wolf opened this ambitious venture in October 2020, they weren't just filling a space in the Canopy by Hilton Baltimore Harbor Point. They were attempting something more intimate: recreating the feeling of dining at a friend's waterfront apartment — assuming that friend descended from accomplished Southern cooks and possessed an encyclopedic wine knowledge.

The whimsical name, borrowed from Dr. Seuss's Cindy Lou Who, hints at the restaurant's playful confidence. But make no mistake: beneath the charm lies serious culinary ambition. Wolf, whose Richmond roots and Charleston training inform every dish, has created a menu that reads like a love letter to Mid-Atlantic waters and Southern traditions.

Consider the Steak Oscar ($62), a dish that could easily tumble into excess but instead achieves perfect balance. The beef arrives with a mahogany crust, crowned with sweet crabmeat that actually tastes of the Chesapeake. Beneath, a cloud of mashed potatoes anchors the plate while grilled asparagus adds necessary restraint. Even the $14 Spring salad transcends its category, mixed greens elevated by quality cheese and a vinaigrette that whispers rather than shouts.

The space, designed by BraytonHughes Design Studios, succeeds in its mission of refined relaxation. That copper bar serves as both visual anchor and social fulcrum, while private dining rooms accommodate everything from intimate business dinners to 130-person weddings. The wraparound patio transforms the experience in warmer months, though the harbor views remain magnetic year-round.

Yet for all its polish, Cindy Lou's occasionally stumbles. Service, while generally professional, can veer into the peculiar. One server insisted on reciting the entire menu despite protests, while another performed impromptu magic tricks tableside. Wait times stretch even with reservations, and the cocktail program feels abbreviated compared to the extensive wine list curated by Foreman.

The Southern influence emerges most clearly in dishes like the Maryland crab fritters (order early; they sell out) and cast-iron crab cake that locals champion. The Banana Pudding Ice Box Cake has achieved cult status, with savvy diners ordering it preemptively. But portions can be inconsistent, particularly with the seafood chowder that arrives sometimes generous, sometimes sparse.

Breakfast and brunch reveal the kitchen's range, from hotel-guest basics to a tongue-in-cheek "Hangover Helper" section. The "In Between Bites Menu" serves off-peak diners, while dinner can easily exceed $80 per person — special-occasion pricing that mostly delivers special-occasion satisfaction.

What elevates Cindy Lou's beyond typical hotel restaurant status is its commitment to place. This isn't generic "coastal cuisine" but rather a specific interpretation of Chesapeake-meets-South, filtered through Wolf's considerable technique and Foreman's hospitality acumen. The restaurant captures something essential about contemporary Baltimore: a city comfortable with both its industrial past and its polished present, where a former warehouse district can house both working docks and destination dining.

Despite periodic service quirks and tourist-trap potential, Cindy Lou's succeeds in its core mission. It's become what its owners envisioned: a neighborhood gathering spot that happens to serve exceptional food with million-dollar views. Like that friend with the great waterfront apartment, it's a place you're always happy to visit, even if you can't afford to drop by every week.

Cindy Lou's Fish House, 1215 Wills St., Baltimore; (443) 960-8670;...

This place only get 2.5 stars from me due to its location/view, cleanliness of the restaurant, and manager whom I spoke with at the end (wish I would’ve caught his name but it was a black young male)

Aside from that 0/0.

To begin our waiter (a little tall, fair skin with curly short hair) was jittery or maybe just anxious which honestly didn’t relax me as I was ordering. I literally felt rushed with decision making do to the energy transfer.

Our waiter also wasn’t knowledgeable about the menu which caused issues because the menu itself doesn’t quite list everything that comes on the plate.

For example we ordered short ribs and it came with mash but it didn’t mention (or maybe it did but being rushed to order didn’t give us the ease of double checking everything) nonetheless, it caused the waiter to ask if we wanted to add mash… luckily my boyfriend said “no” and got rice instead bc it actually did come with mash.

Now had the waiter known this, he wouldn’t have asked us to add mash and he would have also been able to let us know we were going to end up with double starch which almost 90% don’t want. (Yes we sent the rice back rightfully so)

Then I ordered the chicken (undercooked chicken but let’s focus) the waiter then ask me if I’d like to add a side and started ranting about the biscuits but to my surprise I was ALREADY given a biscuit with my meal!!! Why would I want to order that as my side? THANK GOD, I opted out and got the greens anyway( & to be fair, it was actually good)

But the suggestions were coming from a very uneducated place which could have caused issues had we went with them.

Aside from ordering, let discuss how our drinks didn’t come out until we got our entrees. Appetizers were literally finished and table was cleared before we ever got our first drink and how is the possible??? Where is the urgency for the customers? To be real the entrees showed up first and as she was sitting our food down… THEN CAME OUT DRINKS!

Mind you I kept asking about the drink and the waiter said “it’s coming” …. So my boyfriend responsed and said “I’ll just put in my next drink incase it takes the long to make again” and guess what…. Instead of the waiter timing it perfectly he bought all the drinks out at ONCE. So two drinks were sitting on the table and while one was being drank the other was sitting and the ice was melting lololol smh!

Don’t fret, this review doesn’t end here, when I mentioned this to the man who brought me the drink he cut me off and kept saying “but your drink is here” i.e “why are you complaining about something in the past, your drink is here” and I personally don’t care if it was in my hand, it was the fact that it took so long to get to me and what genius brings out two drinks for once person instead of just holding the second drink until the appropriate moment??

Ohhh remember I mentioned the chicken seemed slightly uncooked… I promise I picked through each piece and not one piece was fully cooked videos will be posted

I also guess that after all the constructive criticism the waiter was ready for us to go… in the mist of me eating he comes over and says “would you like a box” to which I replied “when I’m done eating, sure” but huhhhh?!!!! I was literally eating or trying to find a good piece of chicken… why would I want a box right now genius?

And if you have read this far, to be black in a place with so many complaints doesn’t make you feel safe. You assume you’ll get stereotyped for even saying anything about their mistakes but I am beginning not to care! I will stick up for myself especially when I’m paying my fair share!

Yes we tipped, yes we paid for price for the food but NO IT WAS NOT WORTH IT! Like AT ALL. & I’m disappointed because I had been wanting to try out this place...

I’ve been wanting to try Cindy Lou’s for a while now after following their Instagram page and seeing their photos of their delicious Mac N Cheese and of course the amazing views of the Inner Harbor’s waters. My husband made a reservation for Saturday 2/20 at 5:30 pm during sunset and requested a window seating with a view. The restaurant is located on the main floor of the Canopy Hotel, to the right. There were a few tables open by the windows and throughout the restaurant, but we were sat to the left side of the hotel which seemed to be the lobby. Immediately, we asked if there were other tables on the other side and she said no you have to request it and 95% of the time you would get one. My husband mentioned several times that he did request it and was about to pull it up in him email but she did not care to look. So we sat next to a window with the side road view, with the blinds all the way down. My front view was a corner wall, where the waitress stood by the computer. My husbands view was a wall of shelves with books. To the side of us there was a pool table. We felt as if we were sitting and about to eat at a Hotel lobby or “library”. We were just about to get up and leave, when the hostess came back apologizing and saying she took a look at our reservation notes, excuses, etc....she sat us at a big round table, not next to the window, but we were perfectly fine sitting at the restaurant area vs what looked to be a lobby.....My husband ordered a cocktail and a glass of wine for me. Cocktail had maybe a 1/4 of the drink and a brick of ice. My husband enjoyed his steak and I ordered the crab cakes. Now, I was born and raised in Baltimore and have had many crab cakes from many locations and Cindy Lou’s crab cakes by far are the worst cakes I’ve had! (If you can call them crab cakes) I wish I would of taken pictures of our plates but I’ll describe. I received a big plate with 1/2 of the plate being french fries, 1/4 of it were 2 smaller plates, one with ketchup and the other with tartar sauce, and 1/4 of 2 tiny crab cakes that were very flat and mushy. Now on their menu they mention it being jumbo lump crab meat. There were no lumps whatsoever. It was just a blob of mushy crab meat topped with a corn, onion sauce which made it even more soggy. On the menu it says cakes comes with salsa so I figured it'll be on the side but it was on top of the crab cakes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use blue fish in their crab cakes. I mainly went to try their Mac N Cheese they kept advertising on their instagram. What I got was nothing compared to what we saw in the photos. In the photos it looks very cheesy and creamy, almost looks like a lasagne. What I got was a dry, blob that was falling apart....As we were leaving, we ran into the waitress that was going to serve us in the lobby. We felt bad knowing it was not her fault and ended up giving her a tip. Our first experience at Cindy Lou’s was very disappointing from the moment we arrived there. People are paying high prices for the food and drinks and of course the VIEWS. How can someone paying these prices want to sit at a hotel lobby staring at a...