Duck Duck Goose — Restaurant in Baltimore

TLTR: worst service, humiliating experience.

Our dining experience at this supposed high-end restaurant was nothing short of humiliating and unforgettable, for all the wrong reasons. The appalling service was the worst we have ever experienced, and it is difficult to comprehend how a restaurant with such poor service and mediocre food can receive such high reviews.

Firstly, the servers were extremely rude and unprofessional, showing no courtesy or respect towards their customers. Plates were slammed onto the table without any introduction or warning, and we were served a dish with a hot iron pan that nearly ended up in my face because the server did not give us any notice. Even the way they placed the utensils on the table was unbelievable- they were place on a table without table cloth, and one pair was even put on a menu that hundreds of people had already touched.

The wait for our entrees was unbearably long, taking over an hour to arrive, and when it finally did, it was missing an entire dish. Despite our numerous attempts to ask about it, the servers responded dismissively and would just walk away. We asked different servers multiple times in the next 20 minutes, and they would say something along the lines of ”it’s coming, just wait,” or “it will be ready soon” and immediately walk away without a single apology. Afterwards we realized the must have missed the order, but we simply couldn’t even tell the servers because they were ignoring us and whenever we open our mouth they say “yeah” and ran away. A half sensible server eventually came to us asking “how’s everything” since we haven’t touched any of the entrees yet as a table etiquette. We had to ate everything cold, including foie gras! When the missing dish finally arrived, we were shocked that the sides were never served, even though they were listed on the menu. We tried to ask for a menu to confirm, but none of the servers responded, forcing us to search it up online to confirm our suspicions.

In addition, the scrambled eggs we ordered were a complete disappointment, considering the price of $27, which was never mentioned beforehand. The eggs were overcooked and extremely salty, lacking any semblance of quality or finesse.

The only silver lining to this disastrous night was the fact that the manager eventually took some items off our bill, but this was not what we came for. We came for a fine dining experience, not to be offered a discount. What was more egregious was the lack of apology throughout the entire ordeal. Not one server or staff member acknowledged the numerous mishaps, and we were left feeling ignored and unimportant.

It is perplexing how a restaurant with such horrible service and mediocre food can receive high reviews, and we are left wondering if our bad experience was a random occurrence or due to our immutable characteristics, since none of the other table were having any problems. Regardless, it was an incredibly humiliating experience that we would not...

Unfortunately I will likely not be returning to this establishment. My wife loves this place as a nice setting for cocktails before or after dinner when were in the fells area. They have tasty drinks she likes and things to pick at as well in regards to appetizers. Ive enjoyed a number of their cocktails before as well. However our last trip down there was the other night. I often find that most bars make their Old Fashioneds a little too sweet for my liking, so I usually just stick with a bourbon over a large cube. Now I was a little disappointed last time we were there because I watched the bartender pour in Evan Williams 1783, not a bad bourbon by any means, into a 12 dollar cocktail. I'm sorry but I don't care what kind bitters or simple youre using, that liquor is from a 15 dollar 750ml bottle. Either you need to up the bourbon choice a bit or lower the price point. My one purchase of a 1oz to a 1.5oz pour just purchased about 90% of that bottle. This time I was hesitant so I just elected for the Elijah Craig over a large cube. Then I got our check......it was 16 dollars for the pour and then an additional 2 dollar upcharge for the large cube. Now this wasn't a barrel proof, the 18, or 23 year either. This was their standard bottle as I saw it and tasted it clearly. Charging your guests 18 dollars for a 1-1.5 oz pour of a bourbon that costs on average about 27 dollars is completely outrageous. At that point I think in some counties that is equivalent to highway robbery. I don't want to give the impression of being a cheapskate because that's simply not accurate. But the simple principle of the matter is at stake here. Now you want to charge me 16 dollars for Blantons I'm agreeable....that's usually 60 dollars a bottle when you can find it. But to charge premium bottle prices for things like Elijah Craig and Evan Williams is illogical. I guess another reason I'm a little dissatisfied is that this sort of thing has happened before there. I have had Elijah craig previously and know for a fact I didn't pay that much. The bartender on shift should not matter, a price is a price in my opinion and clearly theyre gouging...

Went to DDG for the second time yesterday evening. Started with Bread Service (very good), Escargot (pretty okay), and a few of the charcuterie items (very good). We decided we want to split an entree and ordered the steak frites with foie gras added on top. The bartender suggested medium rare and that is generally how I request my steaks. The steak came out nicely presented but we immediately realized it was over cooked. It was sliced into about 8 pieces and the other two on each side were basically well done with no visible pink and the very center had barely any visible pink as well, cooked as a medium well essentially. I am very rare to send back a food item but I wasn’t interested in forcing down a $35 steak (with a $24 foie gras add on). We alerted the bartender right away and she politely took the dish back. This is where things got weird. The manager walks over, and with a very weird attitude “yeah, I just want to let you guys know I put it in the order rare this time.” I almost looked at him confused, because I was so taken aback by his tone and what he said. He repeated himself and said “it was pretty close but don’t worry I’ll take care of it” referring to the doneness being close to the medium rare (was VERY far off). I was honestly dumbfounded with his attitude, and replied it was basically well done on the edges and medium well at best. At that point he walked away. We were served another steak shortly after (perfect medium rare this time) but then the manager comes back to check on us and has the same pompous attitude asking if it was okay this time. I said it was a perfect medium rare and he walked away. It’s so disappointing because that weird, uncalled interaction ruined the whole visit it for my partner and I. We didn’t want nor need the steak comped, we had just wanted it correctly cooked. The bartender was excellent, the 6 drinks we had between us were great, the whole place has a very nice vibe, minus the manager. We probably won’t be back...