The Choptank - Baltimore — Restaurant in Baltimore

A deeply disappointing and upsetting experience—especially for anyone expecting kindness or basic courtesy.

My husband and I came in hoping for a nice, low-key outing. Unfortunately, the red flags started immediately at the host stand. When we arrived, we asked if we could be seated outside since it was a significantly quieter area to be seated. I’m currently pregnant and was hoping for a more relaxed dining experience away from bar noise. The host assured us that the upstairs area would be calmer and less noisy than the bar area downstairs. We agreed to that but then the host took us to a downstairs table just a short walk from the stand. Confused I asked if upstairs no longer an option—she apologized as she said she couldn’t hear me! We were corrected to seating upstairs but it was just as bad and it also had a bar—so no reduction in noise at all, with loud conversations that made it nearly impossible to hear or be heard.

This initial miscommunication set the tone for the rest of the evening. It felt like no one was really listening, and worse—no one seemed to care.

My husband ordered a beer while I inquired about any mocktail options, but again, the noise level made it hard to communicate with the server. I tried to speak clearly, but the server seemed to barely catch what I was saying. Despite the obvious struggle to hear each other, she didn’t make any effort to move closer, clarify, or ensure she understood. I then asked about the oyster options using a promotional chip we had from our hotel, again stating I was pregnant and could not eat raw oysters. She nodded vaguely, took the chip and our water orders and left, which left me uneasy.

When she returned with our waters, I attempted to clarify again—just to make sure she had understood my dietary restriction. That’s when everything took a sharp turn. Her demeanor shifted from neutral to cold and curt. She immediately shut down my concern, saying the order was already placed and couldn’t be changed. When I asked if it was possible to accommodate a cooked oyster option instead—given my pregnancy—she bluntly said, “No,” and added, “If you want cooked oysters, you’ll have to pay for them. You don’t get those for free—it doesn’t work like that.” Her tone was dismissive and laced with attitude, as if my request was somehow unreasonable or annoying. To be clear I wasn’t asking for any additional things added to the oysters just that they be cooked to a safe temperature.

I was stunned—not just by the lack of flexibility, but by the sheer absence of empathy or professionalism. I wasn’t trying to exploit a promotion—I was simply trying to ensure my food was safe for my consumption. Her response made me feel belittled and unwelcome.

Feeling completely uncomfortable, I asked if I could cancel the order, and my husband decided to cancel his beer as well. The server pushed back again, insisting it was too late for us to cancel, even though barely any time had passed. At that point, it was obvious our experience was only going to get worse, so we left. Our server was middle aged and blonde and seemed exhausted from the Friday night rush—but I feel this is still no excuse to treat first time customers.

Between the host misleading us about the seating, the impossible noise level, the server’s rude behavior, and the complete refusal to accommodate a pregnant guest’s health concern, this was one of the most disappointing and alienating dining experiences we’ve ever had. Absolutely no effort was made to make us feel welcome, let alone valued.

I would not recommend this place to anyone solely based on the interactions and not even having any food—if you’re hoping for even a basic level of care, consideration, or courtesy. Sadly I can’t comment on the food and don’t think...

Went here two weekends in a row and had absolutely terrible service from the same waitress each time. The short brown haired female waitress with the pink winged eyeline is absolutely horrible and needs to get her act together or find a new job. The first time I went, the place was empty on a Saturday and it took 30 minutes for the waitress to bring me a white claw. She brought out my friends mixed drinks and forgot mine. We had to go to the bar and get it and the waitress completely forgot about my drink till I mentioned it. We each got a small appetizer, which was delicious. When we were ready to check out it took another 45 minutes to get our checks. We spent around 2 hours there between waiting for drinks and check. We had to go to an uncaring manager to get the check and the waitress said something nasty about our friend to us when she saw her talking to the manager. Very unprofessional. I decided to go back the next weekend because I liked the food and wanted to try more. As soon as we sat down, and I saw we had the same waitress I knew it was going to be a miserable time. She didn’t come see us for 30 minutes and when we tried to order everything since the service is so slow she told me the frozen drink machine was down and that they were out of nachos and the Shore bird sandwich. We asked a manager if they were really out of the food and he said he would check and come back, and he never came back out to give us an answer. We went to a separate manager and they said they were out of tortilla chips and chicken breast. Two very simple ingredients to pick up at one of the many grocery stores that are very close by. When the waitress came back 20 minutes later with my boyfriend’s drink we tried to order, and they were now out of the pretzel bread appetizer and brussels sprouts. In frustration of a completely clueless waitress not knowing what is on the menu and the lack of her attention to customers we left the restaurant. The walk past us the entire 50 minutes we were at the restaurant without giving us any updates other than the time she took the drink order and when we told her we were leaving. We talked to the lady manager and she was not sympathetic at the pathetic service we received and said she would email us a gift card, which she never did. Why did we have to wait 50 minutes for a drink when the people next to us with a different waitress got all their drinks and food way before us. Why is nothing on the menu when this is a fancier restaurant owned by the Atlas group. I have been to many Atlas group restaurant and this service would not fly at them. Why were we not offered anything for wasting 50 minutes of our time with a horrible waitress who needs to be reevaluated. Even chain restaurants like Olive Garden will offer you something for bad service. The bathrooms were also filthy and resembled a frat house with filth everywhere and no toilet paper. We were really looking forward to trying the food, but between waiting 50 minutes on an airhead horrible waitress to bring us one drink and inexcusably explain the menu and not apologize for her below standard service, I would not recommend...

My husband and I have been here a few times, and I’ve always found the food good, as well as the service. Today we dined with our extended family for Easter brunch. I made the reservation about a month ago, noting our party size and the need for a highchair. I received a phone call from the restaurant about five days ago confirming these details as well. This is an addition to the text from the reservation system last night. Upon arrival, they had us wait as they pushed the tables together. We were only four minutes early, so I don’t understand why they weren’t prepared (there were tons of empty tables inside), but no big deal. Then they told us they didn’t have a highchair for our young toddler. One of the hostesses even scoffed that “that only family used TWO highchairs.” The manager then came over at that point and was honestly very lovely; she apologized and said she was going to do everything possible to find a highchair, but they only have four in the whole establishment. So this is my huge warning to families; this place is NOT family friendly. we were grateful for the kindness of the only other family seated inside, who gave up their highchair for our toddler.

They did have a kids menu and crayons — even the good kind of crayons that won’t roll off the table. They also brought my kids food out first without us asking, which was awesome. And the food was delicious. But the service was pretty slow, and even though it was a holiday there didn’t seem to be a lot of tables filled.

Unfortunately, there was also a live band playing inside that was extremely loud. I could barely hear the people sitting next to me talk, nevertheless the people across the table. We did eventually ask them if they could turn down the music, and they did a bit, which helped a little, but it was still very loud (my watch “noise” notifications affirmed this).

The mishaps continued, as my order was placed wrong, and I had to wait quite a while for my food to be redone while my entire party ate their entrée. I will give credit to both the managers and the server, who were quite apologetic and brought out free drinks and dessert as an apology. Special kudos to manager Sarah, who accompanied us through every mishap with the utmost professionalism.

Would we dine here again? Maybe, but only just me and my husband. Definitely would not bring our out-of-town guests or my kids back for...