Rod 'N' Reel Restaurant — Restaurant in Chesapeake Beach

Food Snobs You Will be Wrong: Sunday Brunch Will Change Your Life

Today I was wrong. I was wrong about what my food experience would be like at the Rod N Reel in Chesapeake Beach. I was hoping to just enjoy the company and the beautiful day. I figured I would get some eggs and bacon and call it a day for brunch.

It was amazing. You are dumb if you do not go try this place for brunch. At $18.95 per person, it is easily the greatest food bargain I have ever encountered.

A preface. We have eaten at most all of the good eating places in DC: Proof, Oyamel, Rasika, Daikaya, Rose's Luxury, and on and on. We are also not afraid of McDonald's Big Mac for good fare. I find myself not liking much to eat in between the ends of the food spectrum.

Further, I am new to Maryland. I moved to Chesapeake in December 14. I love the area. I don't want to move. All that being said, this was my first visit to Rod N' Reel.

The Rod N Reel is part of a bigger resort. They have motel rooms, bingo, slot machines, and some video poker (which we play as we waited). It is right on the beach and we recommend a view of the bay.

We walked in and the place was hopping. It was a great atmosphere filled with all kinds of folks: people getting off of motorcycles, out of church, just waking up, with families, couples, black, white, brown, and everything in between. One goal: eat eat eat.

First, they have a homemade donut station. I have to start with this. The best donut I have ever eaten. They are hot out of the fryer. Then, you get to pick a vanilla or chocolate icing and can get coconut, sprinkles, powdered sugar, etc. Light and fluffy on the inside and nice and crisp on the outside.

I verified with the waitress, and most of the baked goods are made there. They, for example, have delicious little handmade crunchy biscuits. They are perfect for the chipped beef and sausage and gravy next door. I had two biscuits with one of each topping. The chipped beef was perfectly salty and was great with the biscuits. They also have a large assortment of baked goods: danish, muffins, scones, eclairs, etc. The eclair was fresh and the icing was still wet. So good.

Waffles. You can get a waffle with anything you want in it. I've stayed at a lot of hotels in the past few years. Most of them have a self-serve waffle maker just like the one they use here. However, this batter they use was so light and fluffy inside, we couldn't believe it. The best waffle batter I have ever tasted. We stared at each other with the "wha wha wha it is this?!" face.

French Toast. I loved the french toast. The problem is that I had this last and I almost busted from my gut. It is thick, delicious, and rich. I recommend.

There is also a generous selection of roasted potatoes and egg items. The roasted potatoes we had were spicy and loaded with onions. Very nice. The roast beef hash was probably the only thing that wasn't tasty in the whole place. I barely remember it because everything else was so good. But, I wouldn't recommend getting that.

Coffee. They leave you a big pot of coffee at the table. Drink as much as you want. It was nice not to have to keep asking to get more coffee. You get unlimited orange juice as well.

The Omelet Station. This station was the most popular there, but we didn't try it. The waitress says they make the best ones she has ever tasted. It wouldn't surprise me. The line at the station was 12 people deep all during lunch. Lots of toppings and can get eggs to order how you like.

Bread Pudding. The bread pudding was so rich and warm. If that wasn't enough we put some of the homemade vanilla pudding on top. I couldn't move after this.

Service. The service was friendly. This doesn't surprise me and is consistent with the other great people I have met living in the community. From the hostess, to the waitress, to the donut maker, it was flawless service.

Take a Sunday and head to the Rod N Reel for brunch. You will thank me for it. Well, we probably will never meet. But, if we...

Im absolutely disgusted with this place. I cannot hold my tounge anymore. To ask me how my stay was and give a review....sure google. Im going to tell you this....i cannot believe the amount of disrespect and ridiculousness. I went here for a wedding. It was great. I stayed at the hotel. I won some money. Only to have my car tampered with. And then to be jumped from behind right in front of the place. I was cased inside by a woman with a camera light on recording me winning money. My battery terminals were loosened by someone. Then i was jumped as well as my friend from behind. I was choked...had to defend myself and then choked again. My friend was punctured...they said it wasnt a knife. It was keys?? This is the words of officer strong in calvert county. Im sick of holding my tounge. I was choked from behind while sitting on a bench. And then charged with disorderly conduct. But i was released on scene and not taken to jail. I was described as brown hair and blue eyes. I have black and grey hair with brown eyes. Couldnt be further from the truth. My friend was stabbed with something while defending me from being jumped by deshawn and charles freeland. Both charged with assault and more charges. Ive requested the discovery of this incident multiple times. Nothing. Ive called multiple times. No avail. They wont respond. Officer strong states that i wasnt touched. Yet in his own words said that he has requested discovery 3 times and they wont give it up. Why would they amend the charging documents from rod N reel to rod & reel inc? I cannot swallow food correctly. I have been to the hospital. I was assaulted by charles and deshawn freeland. And they will not get me the discovery video. And i was charged with disorderly for nothing. Officer steong also stated that i was treated by ems. I refused on site. He recanted several claims during a conversation and also admitted that i should sue them for negligent security. This place will not give up the video footage and im at a loss for words of the collusion and shady things that have gone on. Im dead serious about this. I have police reports. Also i have had to file multiple reports for my residence due to intimidation from people outside my house. I dont know why a court daye for deshawn and charles freeland hasnt been set. The discovery footage of that night will not be given to me. It has made my life a living hell. And noone will contact me. I cant eat (trachea damage) i cant sleep (constant intimidation) i have lost wages because i cannot go to work. Its fascinating how corrupt this is and they do not care about my well being at all. Its a shame. And i would watch your back. Charles and deshawn freeland are in the parking garage. Oh and they are a father son combo. Disgusting.

Glenn....you are incorrect I have numerous call logs that will state differently. I didn't want to make a new post so I'll just edit this to update. We were stalked by two people who ended up with assault charges. From garage to hotel/casino front.....back to garage....back to hotel....then assaulted. Your security guard also said that he saw the whole thing and now we have video discovery of the entire thing. You didn't call me back. Your front desk said you were in a meeting....and you would call me back 30 min later. Didn't happen. I have the call log. You dropped the ball. I got choked...my friend got stabbed. We have medical records. If you would like to discuss further. Call me. Apparently you have...

I would like to emphasize before proceeding that I am more than understanding of how re-opening after the pandemic has impacted food service and its employees. I too was a server in a restaurant setting at one time, so I rarely make a fuss and try to be as understanding as possible. Unfortunately, even after discussing the multitude of issues we had with the very sweet manager on duty (who was also serving due to lack of staff) I left feeling less than impressed and quite frankly, disgruntled.

Let me start by saying the manager who spoke with us did make an attempt to right the ship by offering a free dessert for both myself and my partner. Unfortunately, this was not an option because my partner has celiac which requires a gluten-free diet. This was actually the main reason we came as most of their menu is either naturally GF or can be made so upon request. I myself was not interested in a dessert as the experience we had with their dinner service and food quality in general was poor.

Despite mentioning several times that we felt our foods general appearance, taste and portion sizes were less than agreeable for the prices we were charged, there was no offer from the manager to adjust the bill. My partner and I debated on pushing for this solution but chose not to as we felt it would be more appropriate to bring it to the resorts higher authority. We felt it unfair to take earnings away from our personal server despite having several issues with the service itself i.e forgotten drink orders, lack of presence, rushing to get the order and walking away before we complete our requests. I do want to add that he was assigned a large and boisterous group of guests, but our issues began before their arrival and worsened from that point.

With that said, I feel it should be mentioned that after waiting to get the check for what we believe was over ten minutes, then waiting another 10+ for him to actually take our card to process the check, our card was returned by the hostess…She asked US if the black check presenter she had was for our table. I had to ask her to show me the credit card to confirm or deny this as she began walking away to shout at another employee to ask THEM. I fear if she had not come to our table, our card would have been given to another party.

There’s more I can discuss, but I feel there is one major issue that needs mentioning that I have failed to see other reviews discuss. Although the appearance of the outside of the facility is upscale, the inside is in serious need of updates and attention to detail. Dirty floors, outdated furniture and lack of dish-ware are the least of the cosmetic/supply issues…the most glaring and quite honestly appalling issue is the flies. It wasn’t noticed at first, but shortly after starting our meal, I realized there were multiple dead flies of varying types on the windowsills. In fact, my partner had to kill a fly that landed on our table as we were eating. The biggest disappointment with this was that it was brought to the attention of the manager who, despite being very patient and kind, advised us that not only are they blatantly aware of the issue, they attempted and failed to resolve it and have taken no further action.

We have contacted their corporate team and are awaiting their response, but I would save yourself the trouble and enjoy a meal at any other local spot. For the same price you will get double the portions and triple the satisfaction with its taste...