Schaefer's Canal House — Restaurant in Chesapeake City

My family has been to this restaurant many many times and this past time I think was the deciding factor for me not to return. Disclaimer, my picture is the left over crab cake I brought home because I didn't want to take a picture of the dissected crab cake while I was at the restaurant and cause my family to have a worse experience then it already was.

To begin with the parking lot makes me nervous. I always have to park in the second lot and it's like the Wild West getting in and out of there, and since there's no guidance outlined for how/where to park in that section, you get people who just make it up as they go and it's a fender bender or a side swipe waiting to happen. I was worried about my car the entire time I was there. To top that off there's not an easy way to walk through from the second lot to the restaurant so if you have elderly guests and/or people with mobility issues, good luck. Once there I was seated right away, it was moderately busy but no wait time and plenty of empty tables inside and quite a few on the deck as well. I arrived a little earlier than the other members of my party, and as I was setting my bag down to sit an employee comes over and starts wet mopping a big pile of bird poop that was directly behind the chair I was about to sit in, so that in turn was sloshing and splashing water mixed with bird feces all over while I was standing right there about to take my seat. He said nothing to me, no "excuse me" or "wait before you sit down" or "sorry about that" just wordless poop mopping then he left. Our waitress was nice but she seemed flustered or overwhelmed and there were a few kind of atypical things that happened, but that's not what I want to focus on, because an overworked waitress is, unfortunately, not abnormal these days. It was difficult to even hear anyone to place an order or have a decent conversation with the person sitting right across from you because of the noise/music. However, the food is what I would like to highlight here. For appetizers we ordered the chicken wings and chips and salsa. Nothing special there, wings were bland, some were juicy others were dry, the tomato salsa was like that from a jar. I ordered a crab cake dinner, this came with string beans, a potato and a side salad. Side salad was tiny, old looking and so much dressing had spilled into it somehow that it was over dressed before I even got it. So I ate a couple bites of it before setting it aside because the state of it made me nervous. The potato was just like a microwaved potato and the string beans were not terribly seasoned with garlic like they normally are. Just some oil. All this could be chalked up as an off day if it weren't for the crab cake. $29 for one at this time mind you. This thing is tiny, lukewarm, mushy and at least 60% bread with stringy little bits of crab and about 8 actual lumps of crab meat studded over the outside of it so that it still qualifies as a "crab" cake and not a crab flavored bread puck; not even served with a slice of lemon to give it some flavor.

TL;DR Parking is a mess, employees acting squirrelly, food isn't fresh or prepared with care, "Crab cakes" (crab flavored bread pucks) are not worth the price, especially for a Marylander who knows what a good crab cake should look/taste like.

I'm just getting tired of trying to have a good experience outside of my house and leaving knowing I could have made that entire meal better myself at home for less hassle and cheaper and not had to worry about my car...

Decided to try this spot instead of some of the other restaurants in Chesapeake City because it was reasonable, and the menu didn't change at 4 for dinner. The location is gorgeous, right on the water and plenty of seating with great views. The outdoor deck was open with plastic sheeting over the deck windows for heat. It was warm and comfortable inside, but still had great views of the water. The staff were all friendly, coming in and leaving we were greeted by anyone we passed and wished a good night as we left. Bathrooms are very nice and clean. We ordered soup, drinks and 2 apps. The Maryland crab was fantastic, very flavorful and seasoned well. The Lobster Bisque was extremely salty, it had a good taste but the salt overpowered flavor. The crab brushetta app was on point, plating, flavor and quantity was great. It was fresh tasting, especially the crab meat and it was very filling. The other app, a Seafood Mango Avacado app was nice looking, but the taste was lacking. Thr description quoted "Mango Salsa"...but it was definitely more like diced mangos with about 2 fragments of Cilantro and maybe a chunk of onion. It had no tomato, zest or really acid of any type which made the underripe avacado and potent crab meat stand out. The avacado was also only sliced which then made it difficult to eat as a part of the tower design in the app. It was disappointing due to the fact it sounded utterly delicious on the menu, but was just ok. We asked our server if we could possibly get a small dish of regular salsa, and she willingly obliged. Again, the staff was great. The salsa made a huge difference in flavor as it added the much needed acid spike the dish claimed to have. Although it still was not as desirable as we had hoped, we were able to eat more of it with the adjustment. We definitely plan to try this location again, the experience overall was positive and it definitely has a lot of great features. I honestly find it difficult to find a restaurant that has a great location, awesome staff and decent food anymore... and although there were a few things about the food we weren't impressed about, this is a spot I...

On 8-10-24 in the morning we called to see if reservations were needed, as we were planning to visit later in the day. We were told they only take reservations for a party of 8 or more. We drove an hour and 30 minutes to go there. Looking forward to the atmosphere, good food, and nice outdoor dining. We arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon. We asked to be seated outside so we could see the water and boats.( I mean this was why we drove all this way, for the view. ) We were told that they only had seats under the canopy, not the deck because of reservations. We repeated what we were told about reservations were taken only if it was a party of 8 and the young lady verified this policy. There were many tables open on the deck, and we watched as tables opened as diners finished. We asked the young ladies at the hostess desk if something might have opened so we could sit by the water. Nope, they are all reserved was the answer. Ok, we will just accepted it as fact. However in the hour and 15 minutes that we were there we watched as no less than 7 different plus couples were seated on the deck, all separate couples, not a party of 8. Since they do not take reservations unless it was a party of 8 this was very puzzling to us. This was the only reason there were not 5 stars given. We enjoyed our meal, but it would have been more enjoyable had we been permitted to sit at one of the many scattered open tables on the deck. I will say the food was very good. Oyster's Rockefeller were tasty, 4 shells were served some with a whole oyster, some with chopped oyster. The chicken chesapeake was very good, chicken was tender, and just the right amount of crab dip and melted cheese served on a pretzel bun. Cesar side salad was good. My husband had cheese steak egg rolls that were very good, not greasy, and were full of meat. His Bacon cheese burger was cooked as asked, and he enjoyed it, along with seasoned fries. His Bloody Mary was just ok, but my Oyster shooter was exceptional. Our server was attentive,...