Oscar’s Alehouse (West) — Restaurant in Frederick

I hate to write this because this was a go-to spot, but I recently had a burger that smelled like literal poop which was handled in a way that suggests food quality issues are not taken seriously.

I got my standard black bean burger, formerly my favorite in Frederick 😭, at lunch with my kids the other day. I bit into it and immediately smelled something gross. I sniffed my hand and realized it smelled like poop! I assumed I missed washing my hands after wiping my toddler earlier and hurried to the bathroom to wash up. My older daughter asked for a bite of my burger and I held it out for her - before she could even take a bite she drew back and said "yuck!" I gave my burger another sniff and sure enough the poop smell was still there, and my hands were covered in it again! I figured out the smell was coming from what looked like black grill marks on the top of the bun. I asked my kid to give it another smell and she confirmed what I was smelling. Just re-emphasizing that I get this burger regularly and definitely know what it should smell like.

Next time our waitress came by, I let her know about the issue. She said "ok...?", asked if I wanted to order anything else (which I declined) and then just...walked away. She came back a few times to check on refills and didn't mention the stinky burger again. Having worked in restaurants, if someone said our food smelled like poop I would ABSOLUTELY have been following up, like checking in with the kitchen at minimum. When she cleared the plate I mentioned we figured out the smell was coming from the bun. She said she would go back and "smell it herself." I told her that def wasn't necessary but just wanted to let them know in case there's a problem with the other buns. She came back to insist she didn't smell anything, and then in the next breath abruptly asked me where I lived and where I went to high school. It was just super weird.

I paid for our food, including the full-price burger, and hurried out bc I was feeling really ill at that point. Things don't always go right, but sweeping the issue under the rug when something goes wrong is not great - not following up with management or the kitchen, denying there was even a problem, not offering a discount, etc. This all suggested there is not a clear process or training for addressing food safety issues. I actually feel guilty for not pressing the issue more at the time bc I'm worried that others may have gotten sick off of whatever was on the buns. A simple "I made our kitchen staff aware of the issue and we checked to confirm the expiration is ok" would have made this situation...

First time and doubt I would return. Food was mediocre at best and can't justify price point. Even if there was good food, the service was horrible

Upon entering the guest in front me had to wait for an less than motivated hostess to turn. Took maybe five or so minutes to he greeted and never once did the hostess apologize for a wait (zero wait time for tables) and she did not really acknowledge guests as guests. No 'how are you?' , no 'how many?'. She just grabbed menus and walk towards the tables. A different staff member saw us waiting and walked us to our table (not the mean grumpy hostess)

Once seated had to wait for our actual waitress. Once she arrived it was a 'what do you want to drink'. She did place the menus on table and just walked away. Even at a Denny's the waitress will hand you a menu and upsell specials , drinks, etc... Waitress made no attempt to sell or even describe their drink menus. It's an Ale house right? At least point to the chalk board with the beer descriptions.

Food eventually came about 23min later. The order was a burger and fries, chicken breast with mashed potatoes. You could tell the food sat for awhile before being served because it was all cold. I could have easily fed my 3yr old without any concern for temperature. The burger bun was soggy and falling apart from sitting too long. Also want to mention the chicken dish came with asparagus. The chef apparently does not snap the stalks

I would have said something,but the waitress never returned for a 'how is the food?' or a 'can I get you anything else?'. She only returned when she brought the check. She more or less just put it on to the table and walked away. We paid and left.

fYi if you Attempt to use a coupon for the meal advertised in flyers, he aware that the minimum spending required exclude drinks from the bill. Bill was over the $29 requirement but the drinks were subtracted from that total and we we're told that we didn't meet the requirements. Just...

This is an update to my review of about a year ago. Rather than allow one bad experience to override the good, which includes a convenient location and good food, we decided to give Oscars another chance. We have been treated courteously on each visit and the food is still good. Actually, we've become regulars and will remain so unless we feel that the service declines in the future.

My wife and I have been to Oscar’s a number of times since it opened and for the most part the food was good, for pub food, and the service was pleasant and fairly efficient. So why only two stars? The crowded parking lot indicates that so far, Oscar’s has been well received and I believe that their success may have given at least some of the staff the idea that they can treat customers with disdain. Specifically, I called last Tuesday asking for a reservation for a party of seven at 6pm on Friday. The person who answered, Anna, said that they do not take reservations later than 5:30 on Friday, Saturday and I believe she also said Sunday. As 5:30 was actually the time my group had originally planned to meet, I told her that 5:30 would be fine. Her response was that she’d still have to check with her manager. After a couple of minutes on hold, she returned and said that her manager said it would be OK, but we all had to arrive at the same time. Then she had the nerve to ask if I understood. The implication being that if only six of us made it promptly and the seventh was somewhat delayed, they would do a headcount at the door and turn us away. Now whether or not they want to take reservations is clearly their decision to make; however, I will not allow any establishment that wants my business to treat me in a condescending manner. So even though Oscar’s location is very convenient for me, I will no longer patronize them, at least not until the crowd moves on to the next new pub in Frederick and they return to treating their customers as...