The Bygone — Restaurant in Baltimore

Summary: The Bygone is squandering an opportunity to be what could be a truly classy upscale and respected restaurant. Avoid going here for food or holiday events. Not a a place capable of accommodating special occasions or large groups. Overbooked and underdelivered, generally rated poor for every metric that matters most. Literally the only reason this place should be considered is strictly for the view. Unlikely to visit this or other Atlas Restaurant Group establishments in the future. Cost: $700+ for 2.

Table Availability: (2 out of 10) Severely Lacking. Nobody was coordinating seating. First come, first serve luck of the draw if you just so happen to walk past a table where a busser has recently finished. Table Service: (2 out of 10) Practically nonexistent. No direct seating, order taking, or ability to request drinks, but the cleanup busboy also handled refilling water glasses on occasion.

Food Choices: (6 out of 10) Reasonable for events, met at least the bare minimum. Beef, poultry, seafood and vegetarian (albeit sparse) options. Sauces or condiments are bland, but useful to counter dry foods. Food Quality: (3 out of 10) Subpar compared to an average restaurant. Caviar was served on pancake style bread or cucumbers. Jumbo prawns are hard to screw up. Oysters were small and nothing special compared to every other place I've had oysters. Prime Rib was clearly conventionally grown and could have come from your local Safeway. Baked Salmon was the one food item that was actually prepared and served well. The cook and serving station should be commended. Chicken skin was lightly seasoned skin but dry inside. The fresh shaved horseradish was absolutely NOT fresh and oxidation had destroyed its flavor profile. The cute custards and peanut buttery chocolate sweets helped bring up the tone but could have been brought in from offsite.

Bar: (5 out of 10) Beautiful bar, slammed during event times. Fastest time we were able to get drinks was 20 minutes, with most times pushing 30. Multiple times had to work to clear an area and direct people to queue for their libation of choice. Bartenders on duty were completing a drink order at a pace of about every 4 to 5 minutes.

Cleanliness: (4 out of 10) Lack of adequate locations to dispose of napkins, wooden sticks, even plates or glasses from hors d'oeuvres. No rubbish bins available to guests apart from the ones in the restroom (unsightly), and the solution is simply to leave stuff around and hope a staff member will identify it and deal with it. Support staff routinely observed not washing their hands at appropriate times after touching certain surfaces.

Ambiance: (6 out of 10). High in the city skyline offering excellent panoramic views. Fun music choices but overly loud, particularly in the bar area. Outdoor balcony provided great views. Interior lighting was good enough to see around and the tables have small little candle lamps, which is a nice touch. Chairs were good in the dining area, though tables needed balancing as there was a slight rockiness from unstable legs. Booths added to the bar area are questionable and the style doesn't match that of the waiting area.

Facility: (5 out of 10). Slow wait for the elevator to get from the lobby to the restaurant. Coat check area is fully exposed like a mini goodwill store.

Recommendations to Management: For dated holiday events, put more emphasis on table seating and service to be able to get people in and out in a timely manner. Reduce music volume to 11 so guests can place orders with bartenders. Consider fixed drink menu to make timely and consistently to ensure guests want to come back. Condiments need to be freshly prepared, within an hour at most of presentation. Shaving horseradish so early that it loses it's flavor and potency is an absolute sin. If you can't do it proper, don't attempt it. You only have your reputation to lose when putting in subpar effort. Reassess security and safety protocols for cleanup. Consider delineating coat check with a tasteful partition so as to avoid ruining...

This is one of those dining experiences you don't forget. My best friend and I get together when our schedules permit and we're excited to enjoy brunch at the Bygone on 4/6. I made reservations well in advance(at least 2 weeks) for 12:30 pm and provided the required credit card deposit. We decided to Uber to the restaurant and arrived prior to our reservation. Upon arrival, we were told our table was not yet ready. Okay, we waited in the lobby and after about 10 min we checked with one of the hostesses again to see if our table was ready. Not one of the hostesses could find a table for us. Fifteen minutes go by and other patrons began to ask us what was going on since there still was no communication from the hosts, although they had there side conversations going on behind the desk. Finally, around 12:50 without any explanation or even an apology we were taken to a table placed in an awkward high traffic location on the corner near the coffee station, a patron had her cruches on the bench it was very cramped table. We asked for another table as many were available. The host then takes us to a booth located next to the kitchen. The KITCHEN! We again asked about the other tables. After playing musical tables and us standing around still waiting on someone to seat us we sat at one of the available 2 party tables. This is 25 minutes upon arrival. To my surprise the rudest "manager" who called herself Raquel came over to the table reprimanding us, stating the tables were reserved and we could not sit there. She stated we could sit in the bar area for brunch with the low tables if we didn't like the other two tables. I was shocked, was this the Bygone at the Four Seasons or Hooters? I have never been so embarrassed as we were being chased around the restaurant and all we wanted was to celebrate a special event with a great brunch with cocktails.

At this point, out of irritation and hunger we sat at the table beside the kitchen, that was after 1pm. We should have just left, however we were starving. We ordered cocktails, they took 20 minutes to come out to our table meanwhile other waiters and waitresses passed by our table multiple times with other tables drink orders. How could we miss anything sitting by the kitchen?

The food was less than desirable and perhaps due to the experience we had, we could barely eat. Waiting on our cocktails we both had plates in front of us after returning from the "buffet" and the hosts or manager Raquel returns at 1:23pm stating a table has opened up by the window and do we want to move? Excuse me, I was beginning to think we were being trolled. Our waitress emphasize with us as well and stated if we came back for dinner she would give us a better experience. That said a lot. The customer service should be revisited with ALL of the employees at the front of the house and management needs to take a few management courses. You cannot come to work with an attitude, stay home. As a frequent restaurant diner, reviewer and foodie I am extremely disappointed in the experience I had at the Bygone. I have never had a bad meal in Baltimore, especially not one on the water. We spent over $200 not including the tip on a truly disappointing experience that literally left us hungry with a bad taste. I felt the need to share my experience as it is the worst restaurant experience I have EVER had and want management to know of these situations. While I have reached out to the GM and Atlas Group I have not been responded to and hope many will reconsider other brunch options...

First time eating at the bygone and actually any Atlas group restaurant very high expectations based on reputation and prices on the menu

We were a party of 6 for a friend’s birthday. Note parties of 6 or more can only get one check no split checks. Which is an absolute nightmare at the end attempting to cut that up between couples.

We started with spiel from the waiter about local seasonal ingredients and a rotating menu. The waiter was very tentative, giving us a lot of information and making us feel valued. Another thing to note is you have to order everything at once which is also annoying. No apps then entrees but we push forward.

As soon as we placed our order we became noticeably less important to the waiter. He maybe came back to our table 2-3 times the rest of the dinner to check in on us and refresh our drinks. Just ruins the vibe of the dinner and entire experience, makes it feel like a complete money grab.

We started with the shellfish tower, which came at a price of $48 per person which included two shrimp, two muscles, four oysters, and 2 ounces of lobster and crab meat. Shrimp was bland, oysters were absolutely terrible, dry , no taste and for a “local and sessional” menu they should be removed or changed. The crab tasted like it was out of a can from the Philippines. Lobster slimy, rubbery and the muscles were okay. Overall not great

The beet salad on the other hand was amazing. Came with a moose like base and bunch of different kinds of beets topped with arugula and a dressing. Very good salad.

We also order the mozzarella toast appetizer which was very good ( my wife didn’t like it but I loved it). The bread was grilled which gave it Smokey notes it also was topped with a nice arugula salad on top.

I ordered the prime rib (medium) as my entree, with the mashed potatoes as a family size side. The prime rib came out lukewarm along with the rest of the food. I guess it was designed to be “warm”. The prime rib was undercooked which is so disappointing when the waiter confirmed how it would come out when I ordered it. Even worse as I got to the middle of the prime rib there was a long black hair wrapped through the meat. Which I get it it accidents happens but at a “fine dining” establishment and at this price tag, very difficult to accept. When I informed the waiter he apologized which is good but the worse part was a “manager” that came over took my plate away and made it seem like it was my fault. No empathy, or personal interaction not change the course of the experience. Maybe the bear (tv show) is setting a bad expectation but spending $100+ on a plate and getting not only sub par food but a lacking customer experience should be a real focus area for this restaurant to improve on.

Drinks were good when we got them, getting a drink could range from 7 mins to 45 mins depending on how much attention we got from waiter who only had 2 other tables ( not a big place)

Skipped dessert after flossing my teeth with the hair in my prime rib.

Atmosphere was great, top floor of the 4seaons. But that quickly fates as does the quality of the experience

Bill was 1400 bucks (6 people and my prime rib was taken off the bill) which again they won’t split checks, so hopefully everyone can do basic algebra at the table to figure out their portion.

Would I come eat here for an event that didn’t require me to pay yea probably but would I get a hotel, child care , parking, and eat here with...