Gertrude's — Restaurant in Baltimore

Never written a review before but couldn't believe our experience with the bartender so here goes nothing. We had tickets to a show upstairs in the museum so we popped down to the bar for a drink and snack beforehand. The hostess was LOVELY and helpful and kind. We sat at the bar and it took a while to be acknowledged, that's fine. But once we were and asked for waters the bartender kind of ignored us, to the point that we actually got up and went upstairs to see how much time we had before the show. After about 5-10 mins we came back down, sat down and then were given a menu and water(almost like we had never left and it just took that long). Now I understand if someone is having a bad day, and I hope that was the case but the bartender was slamming things-Cooler doors, bottles, a few times she yelled at the wait staff about certain liquors. I asked for a double in my cocktail because we were short on time and she said no. Lol. That I could get a second drink if I wanted...I would like to add that I have been in the restaurant industry for over 10 years bartending and serving. I have never and would never, blatantly tell a guest no. She offered no alternative in a kind way, she said it would just be a glass full of liquor and that I could again, get a second drink. I understand what a double is. She continued to slam things around the bar and when we asked for a second round to take upstairs with us, and this time I asked yes please I would like this to be a double, she stared at me like she wanted to hurt me or cuss me out. After a moment staring at me she then explained in a condescending way that the drink would not be good but sure. (I don't think it's unusual for someone to ask for a double Tito's and soda). She actually rolled her eyes and walked away to prepare the drink and give us the bill. We then waited an additional close to 10 minutes for her to actually come back to cash us out, with only two other people at the bar. And had been standing up with the bill presenter in our hand and cash sticking out the top of it because we asked for the check with appropriate time to get to the show, but waited so long for her to come back that we were almost late. Another bar guest actually came over to us to comment on the treatment we were receiving and then told us that she had also rolled her eyes at her and told her she could not get a certain menu item for takeaway because it was prepared in a skillet...I am glad to know that it wasn't just us and the other guest gave us some validation in our feelings but I have never felt so badly treated at a restaurant in my life. And for no reason. I sincerely hope she was just having a bad day and maybe didn't know how to internalize things ( like we all have to do sometimes). But if that's how she treats every guest and some of the staff, I truly feel bad for the patrons...

I took a very special person to Gertrudes tonight to celebrate. First, I made the reservation online for outside. The next day, I called the restaurant to ask to be moved inside. I saw on the news that the temperature was supposed to drop, at the end of the week. I got a voicemail asking me to leave a message. I left a message asking for my table to be changed. I was very firmly told that, no I couldn’t be moved Inside and that there would be a tent. ok, they have it dealt with before and they know the deal. I trusted that they knew what they were doing. I thought that maybe they would put those heaters out. It dropped down to 60 degrees, I asked if they could close the panels? Nope. the sun was going down and everyone was getting chilly. No response from the manager after I complained to my server. Now, I’ll mention the food. I ordered the bass and my friend had the fried chicken special. Her chicken was burnt. And the server told me they were out of the. She walks back to grab a menu for me and comes over and said that the chef found the last fish. She turned around and not 2 minutes go by, when she says here it is. They could not have had enough time to cook it! It looked like someone must have sent it back, because it wasn’t two minutes earlier the server said that they had run out. The rice was runny and the fish had no flavor. I wanted to sit and have dessert and conversation, after dinner drinks. I got my dessert to go because they never closed the panels and I was getting too cold to stay outside. I had to get the delicious goat cheese cheesecake to go, It was getting down to the 50s by now now. The service was terrible!! I knew she had no idea how to wait tables so I was kind. I had asked her what wine would go best with my meal and she said she didn’t know. It’s tricky because their were pickled items that don’t go well with certain red wines. I asked her to ask the bartender. She came back with the least expensive wine by the glass. It wasn’t good. there is a certain level of quality and service that you can expect when dining in a nice restaurant. John Shields totally missed the...

My granddaughter selected Gertrude's as the venue to celebrate her 19th birthday. I loved the fact the restaurant is located in the Baltimore Museum of Art as I a big fan of the arts. We were a party of six. The seating location and service left a lot to be desired. We were located near the front of the restaurant near a column, which resulted in the server reaching over indivudals in the party to serve the food. If I did not know better, I'd say the table was a plastic outdoor table with leaves. Each side of the table sloped down and was not very sturdy. Hence, we had to be conscious not to lean on it.

Overall, service was slow. Once we completed our appetizer, which were delicious by the way, the server failed to clear before bringing the entree making for a very crowded table. We had to ask the server to remove the appetizer plates and utensils in order to make space. We made multiple requests for drink refills.

Given it was my grandaughter's birthday, I asked the server if they had a complimentary slice of cake or some other dessert. Not an uncommon practice at most restaurants. I was told I would have to purchase a dessert. Okay, no problem. I ordered carrot cake as a birthday cake. Unfortunately, the cake was burnt and inedible. In addition to ordering the slice of cake, everyone ordered dessert. All but one person received their ice cream or sorbet. We waited and waited and waited for the mango sorbet. So much so, we decided to forego the dessert. However, my son who was frustrated with the poor service asked the server to bring the dessert.

I was so excited to dine here. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with the service and have mixed feelings...