Papi Cuisine — Restaurant in Baltimore

I've been wanting to go here for a long time and finally did for lunch not too long ago. However, I wasn't impressed with the food. Everything I tried was just okay, but the waitress we had was very good. She was very attentive and checked on us often, which made having to pay the mandatory gratuity agreeable. Despite the disappointment in food, I still wanted to come back to check out the brunch menu. I was able to do that this past Sunday to celebrate my husband's birthday. We booked at 11 am and arrived early because of their required credit card hold for reservations. We didn't want to be charged for arriving late. We tried to enter but the restaurant wasn't open on time. The hostess opened a couple of minutes after and didn't apologize for not being opened on time. Apparently, we were the only ones who booked for the 11 am brunch slot. So, we thought we would get great service. Instead, we found a group of servers standing around the bar chatting. They were loud enough that we could hear them say that they had no french toast and that they were going to lose customers because of that, and they might as well close the restaurant. Our server finally came to take our order and confirmed that they didn't have french toast today, which we were fine with. Everything was fine until our food came out. We first ordered the crab cake egg roll since I had it before and was really good. However, this time, the presentation was lackluster. You can see the difference in the photos from when I had it during lunch compared to how it was presented during brunch. They also tasted lukewarm like they had them from the previous night and just warmed them up in the microwave. My husband asked for eggs fried hard and received dark scrambled eggs. When he told the person who brought out the food, he just looked in the server's direction, who had her back to us chatting at the bar, and walked away without saying a word. When we finally got the server's attention, we told her about the eggs. She did take them back and we eventually received the fried eggs, which also seemed to be cooked in some dark oil. The lamb chops my husband ordered were cooked well, the grits were good, and the oxtail was pretty good. I especially liked that we were given an entire bottle of champagne and a separate small carafe of orange juice. However, the bottle of Josh Prosecco costs $12 and we were charged $40 for that and a small container of orange juice. We wanted to end the brunch with dessert and ordered the bread pudding to share. When it came out, we were so disappointed. The bread pudding looked burnt on the outside and dry on the inside. We attempted to try the pudding, but it was so dry that it was inedible. We had to ask the waitress to just take it because we couldn't eat it. She didn't apologize or offer a replacement of something else. I'm fine with tipping, but these are the reasons why gratuity shouldn't be mandatory. I'm not saying it was all the waitress's fault, but she didn't help the situation either. I was so looking forward to liking this restaurant, but I'll find better...

Had the pleasure of spending time with my father (who lives 2 hours away) today and take him to lunch. My server (Kiera) was very pleasant but did go missing a few times and we had to wait for things that were needed which caused our wait to be longer. At the end of our meal, my father asks for the check, mind you we were 2 of maybe 7 customers, (which we waited about 15-20 minutes to get) and once he received it and paid the bill, noticed he paid for someone else’s meal after getting the receipt. Our server attempted to assist and was met with resistance from the MANAGER, who was sitting at the bar with her SISTER enjoying their meal. She returned to our table several times but the situation still was not rectified and at this point my father asked for a receipt to show the previous transaction was voided before attempting to pay OUR bill. He walked to the bar to ask the server to just take a photo or provide something just in case the charge wasn’t reversed and had to show the bank it was an error on their part. I asked the woman behind the bar if she was the MANAGER and she pointed and stated no, it’s the lady in the corner (blue and white shirt). I walked over and asked if they have rectified my dads card and whether the incorrect charge was reversed…and she said with an attitude while twirling her pasta, she’s calling to see if it’s clear now (referring to her SISTER). As she finishes her statement, her sister (who loudly stated she was a customer) starts getting disgruntle with me and my dad to where she, at one point, was ready to try and fight me. One thing I will do, is match energy for energy. She literally argued with me in front of customers while the MANAGER (her sister) sat grinning like some proud high school degenerate! As I proceeded to take their picture, the sister calls me old and gets up to walk towards me, as if she was attempting to do something! That would be her day getting free medical assistance, while the ambulance rides her out. Needless to say my father never received the confirmation his charge was reversed and had to pull me out of there and remind me of my good paying $156k job was more important than addressing hoodrat behavior. I will never attend this establishment again, and hopefully whoever the owner is addresses this unprofessional and unprovoked behavior, before next time they don’t find someone so respectful and responsible who won’t hesitate to chin check them. I patronize this establishment often and have NEVER encountered this type of situation but I can assure you that I will never return and spend my hard earned money where the disrespect...

Check-in: We were a party of 4 guests. Had a reservation for 7 pm, arrived early around 6:20 pm and asked the hostess if possible to be sat beforehand if a table became available and she simply responded with No. There was an empty table that inquired about and was told that it was a table for a larger party. Meanwhile, there were 2 people sitting at a 4 top table. Waited for 35 mins before we were sat. There is no designated area for guests to comfortably wait so we were forced to awkwardly wait by the hostess stand and I was witness to them gossiping about who they like or don’t like working with. Bussers who do well and those who don’t. Finally a table became available and the hostess helped get it ready for us which is when things started to take a turn for better, I guess. Also, there was another party of 4 who had a 6:30 pm reservation but weren’t sat until 6:50 pm.

Dinner: Our waitress was great, friendly and checked in on our table frequently. They don’t have a kids menu. Crab cake egg roll to start came out quickly and was decent (3.5/5). The Chimichurri Lamb Chops were really good, 4 pieces with 2 sides all for $35, the mash was good and Brussels sprouts were seasoned deliciously! I’d rate it a 4/5. Honey Jerk Lamb Chops were really good! I’d rate it a 4/5. Papi’s Red Snapper was disappointing, they missed the mark with the snapper (needed salt and more flavor) the rice was mushy (too much water) the beans tasted like they were canned beans, acidic and salty. 2/5 for this dish. Mac and Cheese was mid…3/5 (oh and while you get 2 sides with most entrees, if you choose the Mac n Cheese they’ll charge an additional $10)

Drinks: (it really should be advertised as a MOCKtail menu because there was no alcohol in the drinks) Papi’s Mule - sugary and there was not enough alcohol (usually can get a buzz with 1 drink and not even a tingle on the tongue with this one 🙄)

Pomegranate Margarita - no, just overall NO

Mai Tide (isn’t it supposed to be Mai Tai?) - sugary I’m convinced it had zero alcohol

Overall opinion - for the price point, I was expecting a significantly better experience. Either bring down the prices to make the experience make sense or train host/hostess better (learn how to accommodate guests and make most use of available tables) be more presentable and aware of proper host/hostess etiquette (no gossiping in front of patrons), train the bartender to serve alcoholic beverages and not mocktails, typos on the menu?! Yikes! The focus should be on the customer and it comes off like the focus is solely making money without regard for the...