Jerry's Seafood "Home of the Crab Bomb" — Restaurant in Bowie

I visited Jerry's today to celebrate Mother's Day for my wife and a few of my family members. We excitedly reserved the Captain's Quarters. Our waiter, Isaiah, was top notch and we had a great experience until we were informed that we had to pay a penalty for being short of 8 people.

When we booked, we were going to have over 8 people but life is never perfect so we ended up falling short of the 8 people. I went back to read the details of the reservation and made the decision to move forward with our booking because it said that it would cost [$75 per person for any party that shows up with less than eight people]. I told the folks who were coming that they would just have to make sure they spend $75 per person if they decided to come so that we adhered to the reservation policy. I knew that even if we cancelled, the $100 Room Fee was non-refundable and would not go towards our final bill. That was clearly stated. So I didn't want to waste the opportunity especially because everyone agreed that they could pay the [$75 per person for any party that shows up with less than eight people]. I didn't want to ruin our nicely planned Mother's Day dinner. However, the fine print did not say that we had to pay $75 for every person that was not there up to 8 people. It reads as quoted:

Join us in the Captain's Quarters for a private dining room experience! This is order off the menu private dining room with a two hour time slot. It is very important to be on time to enjoy the full Jerry's experience with us. ($75 per person for any party that shows up with less than eight people)

Reservation for parties of 8 to 12 $100 Room Fee (Non-refundable, this will not go towards your final bill)

I have also attached a screenshot for reference. I told Isaiah about it and showed him the exact same verbiage as above. He immediately referred the issue to a supervisor. It was a valid point and I thought that this was something I could easily show to the managers and get everything settled, however, they did not think their customer's concern was remotely significant.

The first manager was Edwina H. She came to us bright and seemingly concerned but she said that she disagreed with me about why I should not be charged $75 per person for the individuals who did not show up for the reservation. She said that this was a contract and that their policy was strict. She said there was nothing she could do about it. I explained in detail that I was not trying to abuse the system and that if the details were clear I would not have moved forward with dinner tonight. We could have ate in the open area if that was the case. I asked her since she didn't have the power to make the change is there anyone else I could talk to regarding the vagueness of the reservation policy. She told me she would send someone else that could help. That person was Kelly S. He came in with a straight face. When I showed him online what the reservation details said regarding being a party under 8 people, he had no care in the world about what was coming out of my mouth. He said he's not going to tell me anything different than what the first manager said. He didn't read it himself to see if it could be misconstrued or anything. He was just the hammer to bang down the nails that stuck out. He told me that I could use Yelp or Facebook for my review. I asked to speak to the owners and he said he could take down my number to give to Phillip and Jason (hopefully the owners) and they could give me a call but as far as he was concerned the charge was the charge and there was nothing that he or anybody could do about it because it was policy. Needless to say I was very disappointed and sad honestly because even the managers at this seemingly great establishment had no care to thoroughly review my concern, connect with me, or keep me as a customer. This was not my first time at the establishment. My wife swears by it and loves the food here but I don't think that we will return after...

this was my first time at Jerrys, I had told my family I wanted a solid maryland crab cake for my birthday today and this is where we landed, while the food was good i wouldnt say it was particularly exciting or special outside the crab bomb. they start you off with a warm bread basket with butter, the entrees come with two sides I got the caesar salad and wedges. The Service here left much to be desired the managerial staff was very seemingly very selective as to what tables they chose to check on, and our waiter was absent often and while I can appreciate staggering between courses the wait times were still considerably lengthy especially given that they didn’t really get filled up until about 25 mins into my dining experience. one of my party members got the cream of crab soup which she found to be extremely bland and sent back, the oysters she had she did enjoy. they split with our other guest the crab and shrimp bomb with the house salad they both reported the salad lacked toppings and the blue cheese less than desirable. when our main courses finally arrived I can say the crab bomb was certainly the star. It was nicely filled with real lump crab meat and had a nice sauce within, and the shrimp x crab bomb combo i found to be very juicy! for my platter I found the haddock to be surprisingly well executed it was light flaky appropriately battered and flavorful I really enjoyed it , at $56 though seeing that tiny scallop on my plate next to those large shrimps was disappointing and the scallops were somewhere in between slightly overdone but also under?! weird ! the steamed shrimps were lightly seasoned, listed as devined but i did find one shrimp that definitely was not I get that no one really wants to do that to begin with but if you’re going to go through the trouble of listing that on the menu as a prime feature of a dish then please make sure that that is the case across your plates. the fried shrimps were seasoned nicely, as were the wedges! Overrall id rate the mariners plate 7 or if being nice 8 out of ten. It left more of / for something to be desired. the server when they finally got back to us did bring me a brownie for my birthday unprompted which was nice and appreciated. If i come back its definitely going to be to go! or right...

Listen, I am extremely late to the game as I have been needing to try this restaurant for about a year. Decided to try them after a trip to the zoo. Was seated immediately, and my server was Mixy. When I tell you she is absolutely FABULOUS 👌. Found out she has been working for the restaurant for about 14 years. She is top-notch. Never forgot anything and was spot on with the recommendations. She never made you feel like she was rushing you to order or to wrap up your meal. She will be requested when I go back.

Let's talk about the food... soup phenomenal. I went with the crab bisque based on Mixy's recommendation. I loved it so much that I went back several days later for takeout. The restaurant is about 35-45 minutes away as I live in Virginia, but well be worth the drive. Also had the crab dip which I can attest to being delicious even when coming straight out of the fridge. The crab bomb was probably my least favorite item. Now, before you attack me for saying something about the most well-known item on the menu. I'm not saying the crab bomb is bad. I'm just saying out of all of the items ordered, I could leave or take it honestly.

My mom ordered the fried fish, and it came out golden brown and perfectly crispy. It unfortunately has a sweet cornmeal batter, which honestly we weren't a fan of. I would love it if there was another option.

Green beans smh don't eat those that's all I will say about that.

Lastly, the pound cake. My mother can bake, I can bake my grandmother made a bomb pound cake. Listen, that lemon pound cake that was served to me that day was so darn delicious, and I normally will say nobody can come close to my mother's or grandmother's pound cake. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Trust me, you will thank me later.

Don't walk! Run to Jerry's and ask for Mixy! Sit a spell and enjoy all the yummy items...