Mt. Washington Tavern — Restaurant in Baltimore

5/26/25 -

Another disappointing dining experience. I now remember why I stopped coming here 13 years ago. Yup, 13 years ago.

The restaurant itself is still fun and inviting with cheery staff.

Our waiter started off great. He informed us that Happy Hour was about to begin. He offered us menus, and drinks were ordered.

Long Island Iced Tea - made properly

Truffle Fries were dark, hard, cold, and seemed like they had been sitting for quite some time. The seasoning of the fries were straight on point.

Tavern Burger - Flavorless. It was ordered medium rare but was served medium well, which is perfect for me but not the person who ordered it. The sliced pickles were tasty.

Regular Shoe String Fries - These fries were so much better than the old Truffle Fries received previously, albeit not good. They would have been great if they weren't fried too hard.

Tavern Burger with Fries were thankfully 1/2 off

Korean Short Rib - bland and desirable aspects with Mashed Potatoes that didn't taste freshly made with String Beans that were seasoned perfectly, but didn't match the meal, in my opinion.

Keynote - I asked to replace the string beans with spinach, but was told that I would have to actually pay for a side of spinach because this restaurant will not swap out vegetables. I remember this quirk from 13 years ago.

The most upsetting issue with this dining experience was that everything that was served was luke warm to simply cold. Our waiter had the audacity to serve the Short Ribs in a cast iron skillet on top of a plate that was cold. How can a waiter not even check to see if serving dishes, especially cast iron, is warm to the touch. I didn't even want to leave a tip because this definitely offended me as someone who has worked as a waitress. We all know that fries look at a certain way once finished. Waitstaff should definitely know the timing for appetizers.

I included pictures of the dining area, which was empty. We arrived at 3:45pm. We we entered there was a table of 3 who were finished their meals and another table of 4 who were finishing their meals. There is no logical reason why our meals were all cold because the...

I moved to the area 3 years ago and had never tried this place, because someone mentioned it was really just an overgrown sports bar. But I thought what the heck, try it for brunch with a visiting relative, it's nearby. I hate to be telling a business how to run itself (although, isn't that what reviews are for?) but you would think a place this large, with something like 4 huge dining rooms, would realize the neighborhood customer base includes more potential than just football fans. There were two very large dining rooms functioning on a Sunday afternoon, both with large bars dominating the space, and both bars were populated (not packed, but simply each stool occupied) by middle-aged straight guys glued to one of the four gigantic TV monitors hanging from the ceiling. Conversation was difficult during commercials, which were twice as loud as the play-by-play. Despite that the bars were full of fans, there were, actually, twice as many people sitting at tables, trying to have a meal and talking amongst themselves, never looking up at the ball game. The upshot: I would never, ever return to this establishment unless what I wanted was that very niche, peculiar experience of watching a ball game with middle aged guys over a beer. The idea that you'd run a place this large and have only one atmosphere choice, targeting only this tiny, niche clientele-base, is myopic to say the least. I can't even remember whether I liked the food, because the Ravens game clearly was the only thing that mattered in this restaurant. But I do remember the 14 year old somebody's-daughter working the a hostess role - she's too young, has no interested in this line of work, and you can't hear a word she's saying (especially over the blare of the TV screens). Why torture this poor young person, forcing her to work at a sports bar full of old farts, when she could training for volleyball with kids her own age, or even just doing...

Mr. Washington Tavern is a local standard off of Falls road. It has survived fires and serves as a neighborhood icon as well as a Baltimore favorite. I have dined many times at the MWT, but tonight was a serious disappointment.

Service was mediocre with drinks served promptly and then long intervals with no attention or update save constant water refills. My rockfish was charred in the bottom and drowned in buerre blanc to conceal the over cooking. Food was well over an hour in arriving. The redo was not crowded and there seemed to be sufficient staff.

When the bill arrived the waiter explained a service charge had been added as our party of five’s bill exceeded $150. Additionally, two prices were listed for “cash” and “card”, with the latter being 4% over the total.

When confronted, the waiter mentioned this was detailed in the menu. It was, but in small print and not pointed out to the diners. I took this up with the manager on duty, introduced to me only as “one of the owners” but with no name. He seemed embarrassed and offered to remove it stating that the staff should have informed us at the start.

Let me start with the statement that 20% is the top end for gratuity. If your establishment needs to charge more, change your overall prices or pay your staff more. Secondly, the service we received was certainly not worth 22% of our bill. Finally, a non-cash penalty of 4% suggest to me you don’t know how to run your business. Almost no one carries cash anymore and there were no electronic cash options even offered (Apple lay, Venmo, etc.).

Average food, slow service and nickel and dime charges are unworthy of the reputation of the Mount Washington Tavern. I suggest patrons split their bills to avoid the ludicrous service charge for no service and bring a stack of bills to avoid the punitive credit penalty.

Poorly run and...