Lot 12 Public House — Restaurant in Bath (Berkeley Springs)

Listen - this is gonna be a long review so saddle up; I have a lot to say in praise of this place. Our visit here in October was our first trip to Berkeley Springs, and we booked a table at Lot 12 on the recommendation of our AirBnb host. My wife and I were on our honeymoon and I have to say our visit here was the highlight of the entire trip. I would gladly get in my car and drive the two hours from DC to Berkeley Springs just to have the pleasure of dining here again. For background - DC is an exceptional food town, and I'm a decent amateur home cook myself, in that I can reasonably make restaurant-quality dishes some of the time, but I have never had a meal in DC or at home up to the standard set here.

First of all - dining out is always a tad dicey during COVID, but they have several outdoor tables on the porch and they have also constructed a beautiful patio to the side with several tables. We sat on the patio, where we were surrounded by plants and string lights and a friendly resident cat. All of the staff seemed like they were taking their COVID precautions seriously - this was like my third time actually eating at a restaurant during the pandemic and it felt as safe as it could get. I still wouldn't eat inside, but hey, it's a darn nice patio out there.

We started with the "southern sampler" appetizer - pimiento cheese, fried green tomatoes, and hushpuppies. The only weak spot here was the hushpuppies; fluffy, moist, heavy, but lacking just something in flavor. However, the fried green tomatoes were everything I waited in vain for my garden to produce this summer- perfectly tart, breaded just the right amount. The pimiento cheese had an impressive kick and could easily hold its own against my grandmother's.

We ordered cocktails as well - a perfectly lemony, bright Tom Collins for me, and a delicious fruity berry vodka cocktail for my wife. The bartender here knows their stuff and the prices were quite reasonable for drinks.

The appetizer was followed by a sorbet intermezzo - lemon basil, which sounds like an odd combo but worked perfectly, with neither overwhelming the other.

But the real stars of the evening were the entrees- I ordered the roast duck. Now, duck is easily my favorite meat - I can sear a duck breast and make an orange sauce at home just fine, and duck legs confit are surprisingly easy to make at home as well. But I could cook and watch youtube recipe tutorials for a thousand years and never get close to this. This was the Platonic ideal of a duck dish. The skin was absolutely, perfectly, mouth-wateringly crisp, and yet the meat underneath, both breast and leg meat, was fall-apart-in-your-mouth tender. Duck at its best is packed with flavor and needs little accompaniment, but this came with pear chutney and a wine reduction that added up to far more than the sum of its parts. This duck is my white whale, my one-armed man. Like a good member of the faithful I will embark upon a pilgrimage and sacrifice at its altar.

My wife's bolognese was rich and creamy in a deliciously full sauce. The only flaw I can think of was the sausage served on top of the bolognese - I'm not sure that it added much to a dish that was terrific on its own.

We finished up the evening with cappuccinos and the chocolate torte. If their barista and their bartender are the same human, give them a raise please. The torte was more cakelike than I expected, but it came with fresh berries, fresh cream, and a cappuccino reduction sauce that balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate.

Tl;dr, this isn't exactly a cheap place to eat, but you get what you pay for, folks, and what we paid for here was more than worth it. I'll be chasing this dragon for a long time to come. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, please please give...

I’ve dined here a few times and have never been as disappointed as I was on our last visit. When I called to make our reservation, I was sure to tell the restaurant that we will be bringing 2 dogs and it would be fine to put us in the corner outside. The person on the phone confirmed our reservation and told us it wouldn’t be a problem.

Everything was fine up until one of our dogs barking. This is when the hostility from the manager began. I’d like to note, our server was wonderful and took no issue with our pups. The manager however, was incredibly condescending and passive aggressive. As she was serving our main course, she proceeded to scold us for bringing dogs that “barked or growled”. It was embarrassing, so much so we began to rush through our dinner.

On the second bark, she then came over and basically suggested that we leave or move to the tables further away. But her tone was absolutely abhorrent and incredibly rude. To the point where we chose to leave and skip the last course of our prefix meal.

We are fully aware that our dogs may have bothered her. We did our best to be kind and respectful to the entire staff. It’s unfortunate that this manager felt it was acceptable to treat us the way she did.

I don’t say this lightly, but we couldn’t help but notice that we were the only non-white people in the restaurant. I do wonder if she would have treated us with more respect and dignity if we weren’t who we are.

Suggestions for owner/management: One of our dogs barked twice over the course of over an hour. If a restaurant takes issue with this (and they have every right to) don’t claim that you are dog friendly. Never treat people with such disregard and disrespect, especially when they are patrons to your business. Treat all customers the same regardless of their race/ethnicity.

We tipped our 20% because the server was kind and even said “your dogs are so well behaved”. She should not be punished for her manager’s poor performance. We will never return to this...

My husband and I have visited Lot 12 Public House twice before and were looking forward to a return visit. We arrived at our reservation time and there was no one at the host desk- we waited for just a minute or so and another large group came in behind us. When the host came over, she did not look at us or acknowledge us in any way- we might not have been there at all for her- but she immediately greeted and seated the large group that came in after us. A minute or so later she came back and again did not look at us, but I stepped over to her desk and gave her our name at which point she said it would be a few minutes. After another few minutes, she left and came back- again never looking at us- sat down, used several different pens to highlight and mark things in her book- and when my husband finally said something to her she snapped at him that yes, our table was ready and that she had already said that (she hadn't). She seemed to think we were bothered by the wait- like waiting 10 minutes after a reservation is a big deal- but really it was her rudeness that was the issue. The food was tasty and the servers were lovely, but the meal felt rushed and I don't know that I have ever felt so uncomfortable in a restaurant. We ended up asking food to be wrapped so we could just leave. We certainly...