Rye Street Tavern — Restaurant in Baltimore

I was visiting from out of town and my cousins raved about this place because they mentioned how amazing their previous experiences were. Guess we chose a not-so-good night to come. Firstly, we were told there was a 45 minute for outside. Fine, no problem. After about 25 minutes, we saw people leaving but the host staff were kind of just standing around. So I went to ask how long was the wait for outdoor or indoor seating, and the hostess just nonchalantly says, “oh, we have a table available now if you don’t mind sitting on the terrace”. In my head, I’m thinking…glad I came to ask because who knows how long we would have been waiting. Once upstairs and seated, we were greeted by a person with extremely long nails and totally mishandling our water glasses. The person came to the table with a bottle of water in one hand and a stack of glasses in the other. They then proceeded to pull the glasses a part with their hands on the rim of the glass where we had to put our mouths and then proceeded to distribute the glasses to us, picking up the glasses by the rim. Needless to say, we didn’t drink our water. Next, our server. Out of respect for privacy, I won’t give his name but for management, he was a server on the second floor Terrace section during evening shift and his name is the same of a nearby restaurant. Not sure if he was having an off day, but he was not good at all. When taking our orders, he wasn’t very engaging and almost seemed annoyed by questions we were asking. He really seemed annoyed as well when we were ready to put in our full order. He tried to just get our drink order and walk off but considering all of the time we were already waiting downstairs, we were hungry and knew what we wanted. Once he took our order, we never saw him again. It took about 20 minutes to get our drinks that someone else brought to us. An hour and 10 minutes goes by and we still don’t have our food so we asked for the manager because we were ready to leave. We had to ask another server for the manager because again, our server never came back to our table to check on us even once or even apologize for the gross delay in receiving our food. While waiting for the manager, there was a couple next to us that sat down around the time we received our drinks. So that was at least 40 minutes. They had the same server and said he took their appetizer order but they hadn’t received their appetizer, nor had the server returned to take their dinner order. The gentleman of the couple said the only reason they had drinks is because he got them himself from the bar. At one point he did get up to try to get assistance but no one came. Once the manager came to speak with us, he profusely apologized and asked if we could give him a moment to check on our food and that if we wanted to still leave, he would have if packed for us to take with us at no charge. Meanwhile, our server was standing nearby and never once came over while the manager was speaking with us. Once the manager left to check on our food, our server came back into the section and bypasses us, never even acknowledging us. The couple next to us flagged him and told him to just close out their check. Our server’s literal response was “Ok” and proceeds to walk off. He then doubled back and says to our table that the manager is still checking on our food and then walks off. Please know, I am not trying to make this a “color” issue because again, the main reason my cousins chose this place to bring me to was because of the excellent service and experience they previously had. But all I can say is during this experience, our table and the table next to us are people of color and had no real attention. However other guests who were not people of color in that same section were better attended to and even received items before us but came in after us. This restaurant has amazing ambiance indoors and outdoors. And the food that we took with us was really good. But aside from the amazing manager with the ginger colored hair, the service was deplorable and I will...

TLDR: Wonderful brunch service. Newly renovated and revitalized space is gorgeous with solid fare and cocktails. Elevated prices, but on par with the food/drink quality. Perfect for a special occasion (Whiskey on the waterfront anyone?)

Vibe: 5/5. Located on the Sagamore Distillery campus in Port Covington, Rye Street Tavern recently underwent a top down refresh to both the restaurant and menu concept. During our visit of Rye Street 2.0, my group of 8 were impressed by the new facilities. Oozing Baltimore from every corner, the restaurant is well themed, giving off rustic Kentucky barrel house vibes meets a modern Chesapeake seafood restaurant. The main dining room is gorgeous, with a beautiful view of the back patio/lawn of the distillery and water. Rye street has 2 levels, complete with a bar area as well as an outside patio bar and seating. The complex is sprawling, a perfect place for large get togethers.

Service: 5/5. The staff at Rye Street were very accommodating from start to finish. I had made a brunch reservation for my party of 8 a week in advance, so we had no problem being seated on time immediately. Our waiter was polite and professional, taking our food and beverage orders when ready. Drinks were also kept well stocked throughout the meal, which was a task in itself when we ordered multiple rounds of their excellently made whiskey cocktails.

Food/Drink: 4/5. Overall, a Rye Street put on a solid brunch showing. We ordered a sprinkling of the entire menu including 2 dozen raw oysters w/ caviar, remoulade calamari, smashburger sliders, crab artichoke dip, Old Bay honey wings, the mile high roast pork sando, tidewater BLT, blue catfish sando, turkey avocado powerhouse and the scallop risotto. Everything came out hot and overall very tasty. Best in show awards to the oysters with caviar (no surprise), which came perfectly shucked and the wings which have the sauce game down pat. Some of the sandos needed some fine tuning, such as the BLT included a basil mayo that overpowered the sandwich and the blue catfish sandwich could of had the fish stay in the fryer a touch longer to give it more crunch. On the cocktail front, the table ordered virtually every whiskey based cocktail on the menu. The overall crowd favorite was the O-Ren Ishi, which uses Japanese whiskey, rum and mole bitters in a symphony of balanced flavor. One oddity we encountered was that several of the drinks are priced to include a flask ($30+ for 1 drink). Many of us just wanted the drink without the flask, which we had to preface each time we ordered them. Maybe this is an attempt at marketing similar to a theme park souvenir mug, but I think most diners wouldn't be interested in it, unless it came with...

The restaurant remains beautiful, with minimal changes to the interior. There is a notable enhancement to the waterfront property, which now features an impressive outdoor bar and dining area.

The restaurant was filled to capacity. We sat at the bar as there were no tables available for dining. The gracious host, Morgan, escorted us to the bar where two open seats were available. Initially, the bar staff were not attentive. We sat on the right side of the bar in the sun, while the bartenders stayed mostly on the left side in the shade. A barback provided us with water and menus and informed us that a bartender would assist us shortly. Fifteen minutes passed, and I had to request a bartender to take our order. When he arrived, I recognized him as a former employee of the Pendry Hotel in Fells Point. He promptly took our food and drink orders, which were served relatively quickly.

We ordered the wedge salad, which was overly moist, with the lettuce nearly wilted, suggesting it had been pre-cut and stored in a cold environment. The honey Old Bay wings were tasty, though they seemed to have been precooked and tossed in the sauce. The mini sliders were unavailable as they had sold out, indicating that many items on the menu might be precooked. The chicken and rice bowl arrived with a hair in it. The bartender swiftly removed the dish and took it back to the kitchen. The manager, who had dreadlocks and appeared somewhat overwhelmed, brought out a replacement bowl and was very apologetic. Since the sliders were not available, we ordered a type of seafood cocktail served on ice with crackers. Unfortunately, it was quite unpalatable, with a slimy texture that I, as a foodie, found unacceptable.

We finished with the blueberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream, which was served without a spoon. It took eight minutes to receive a spoon, by which time the ice cream had melted. The coffee milkshake, however, was delicious.

Overall, the experience was mediocre. It felt akin to dining at a chain restaurant, albeit one with beautiful decor and stunning water views. The staff requires more training; bartenders should be stationed on both sides of the bar. The lead bartender, who previously worked for Maximon at the Four Seasons Hotel, was...