Eggspectation - Gambrills — Restaurant in Crofton

If you're looking for an Eggspectations Ellicott City (now closed) replacement, unfortunately this location in Gambrills is not it. There were four rude/petty signs on the entry doors regarding Ellicott City's closure and this location made it clear they don't associate with the EC restaurant. To management, just write a note that you're unable to accept customer gift cards from the closed location and apologize for any inconvenience, it's unnecessary to include petty remarks about another establishment - it makes your restaurant appear low-grade.

Although our server, Gunnar, was perfectly friendly and knew the menu well, he was inattentive despite it being a very slow Friday evening. It's uncomfortable to sit for minutes in need of a drink refill and napkins, so I'd recommend team members remember to check on your tables. There were seven tables (4 top max), plus us, the entire time we were there and two full sections were closed - very low customers for a Friday night.

The atmosphere is not conducive for a romantic date night. The decor is lovely, like hip barn if that makes sense, however it was SO bright in the restaurant. It felt like we were under interrogation-style lights in a diner. Couples may enjoy a date night with a nice dinner but the restaurant's very bright lights took away from the cozy romance the Ellicott City location and other local restaurants have. Beautiful style but way too bright. The lighting would be perfect for an early morning breakfast though.

The food was alright. My boyfriend had the Eggspectation burger (egg and bacon on top of the patty) and said it was tasty and cooked to his liking. My Beyond burger was awful - the patty had been flash-fried and extremely crispy on the outside but barely warm and cooked throughout. My burger bun was somehow burned on the bottom so I had to scrap the blackened burn off, and it came with no cheese or condiments. We would have requested assistance from Gunnar but, as noted, he didn't check on our table unfortunately. The veggie burgers I make at home are far better and much cheaper. Another table nearby had crepes and they looked delicious.

Last note, don't waste your money on the cakes! $10 for a small slice. Ellicott City had nice large slices for $7, a much better deal. All the Gambrills location served were cheesecakes, which I love, however actual cake or pie selection creates more options for diners.

Overall, not an awful experience but we won't return. Too bright, inattentive and sub-par food...

So I visited this location for the 1st time today 4/21 to place a to go order. I first encountered a male hostess who was extremely polite. I was told to order at the bar. So my experience went from 10-0 really fast!! There was no one at the bar, I didn’t have to wait long as a woman approached seconds later and threw a menu at me (didn’t think much of it at the time) I politely told her no-need I’m here to place a take out order - in the process of trying to finish my statement she abruptly cuts me off “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT” .. to which I reply yes (I looked at the menu online before going in) then I continued to give her my order, she rang it in and took my payment. All was well- signed and asked for a time estimate, she replied 10 minutes or less. I walk away for 2 mins and back to sit at the empty bar and surf on my phone while waiting for the to-go to come out (she had already taken the signed cc copy back when I returned) I was brought out of my daze n phone surfing once the bag of food was literally thrown at me “Thrown”!!! By the time I looked up in a state of shock her back was already turned and talking to another employee that came out of the kitchen, that employee was also shocked because she saw it happen. I could see her whisper to the woman bartender “what was that about” to which the bartender replied to her with a whisper. The only thing I could think was I did not leave a tip! Well Ma’am ( I say that with the little grace I have left for u) I COULD HAVE CONFRONTED YOU AND MADE A SCENE BUT DID NOT! I shouldn’t have to tip you for taking my order you did NOT DO anything outside of your scope of work that warranted a tip! I did not employ you, Eggspectation Gambrills did! I do not owe you a thing. Your attitude was rude and unprofessional! My biggest pet peeve is unwarranted terrible customer service behavior! Find a new job! I shared my experience with the manger, whether or not he chooses to speak with her is his choice but I will never ever patron this specific location again! On that note everyone else I encountered was polite except the witch behind the bar!! Note to management word of mouth goes a long way- take that...

Summary: POORLY MANAGED! I would not recommend coming to this location. Wait staff is patient and kind but management will go out of their way to make your experience difficult and awkward. Food is subpar at best. DEFINITELY do not go for dinner or specials and if there’s a wait for breakfast/lunch you’ll have a better experience and better food at any other restaurant in that surrounding area.

Full Experience: My partner and I deciding to go to Eggspectation on Friday night because of the heavily advertised date night special and 3-8pm happy hour. After being sat we were told they needed to find the date night menu. This took 10 minutes before the manager came and apologized saying they did not have the menu at this location and they would give us our meal 50% off to meet the special requirements. We were gracious and continued our experience. We were not allowed to make substitutions to our order which was fine by us. We ordered our appetizer and entrees that were comparable to the date night menu and our first round of drinks. The manager dropped off our mediocre food and asked if we needed anything else and we responded with another drink. She told us we would need to order that with our server. Our server came around and asked for our drink order before going to the bar. He was stopped by the manager to not put the order in yet. She then returned to the table and told us that if we ordered anything else she would not give us the special as promised. To preface nothing that we ordered was priced any differently than the happy hour and date night special. Due to this awkward encounter, subpar food, and so many stipulations after NOT recieving the advertised specials, my partner and I decided to end our meal early. Management is extremely unprofessional and unprepared for what is advertised on their website. A nice outing quickly became an awkward and stressful encounter. I strongly advise not going for dinner or any of their specials and if there’s a wait for brunch to go to any other restaurant...