Up on Market Bistro & Inn — Restaurant in Frederick

I was so disappointed with my experience here. We were a party of four and had a reservation for 2 p.m. on Mother's Day. After arriving a bit early and being completely ignored by several employees who kept walking right past us, we were seated. We placed our order at 2:10 p.m. and didn't get our drinks for another 20 minutes. Our food did not arrive until 3:55 p.m., 1 hour and 45 minutes after we placed our order. Everything we ordered should have taken a short time to prepare - scrambled eggs, French toast, eggs Benedict, and the hash special. At around 3:30, 1 hour and 20 minutes after we placed our order, the waitress informed us that they ran out of the hash special and she talked my brother into ordering the beef stew. We repeatedly asked our waitress about the status of our order and were told "it's being plated right now," "it will be 3-5 more minutes," etc., none of which was true. (3-5 minutes was actually 20 minutes.) The restaurant was filled with frustrated people who, like us, were waiting excessively long for their food. We kept saying to ourselves that the food would be worth the wait. It wasn't. Two pieces of the French toast were hard, and it wasn't served with the orange zest as stated on the menu. The scrambled eggs weren't served with tomatoes as stated on the menu. The English muffin served with the eggs Benedict was so hard and burned that it could not be cut with a knife, no matter how much pressure and sawing motion was exerted. The hollandaise sauce came out about 10 minutes after the eggs Benedict because, as the waitress stated, "everything is made to order." Okay, but the hollandaise sauce should be served WITH the eggs. The brunch food was very basic and there was nothing at all special about it, especially considering the cost. IHOP has much better (and much cheaper) breakfast food. The only positive note is that my brother said the beef stew was good. Our waitress was professional and kind, but she disappeared for long periods of time. The restaurant is quite small and we figured she was hiding from all the angry customers. I don't blame her. We were very polite throughout this ordeal yet nobody offered any compensation for anything. We just heard excuses like "we had a lot of large parties today," "everything is made to order," etc. I can understand that, but we should have been warned about how backed up the kitchen was from the beginning as we made it very clear several times that my brother and sister-in-law had a flight to catch, which they very nearly missed. We anticipated getting out of the restaurant by 3/3:30 for a 2 p.m. brunch reservation and we left at 4:30 feeling extremely anxious and exasperated. It doesn't matter how fancy the menu and facade are when the restaurant is managed poorly. I hope improvements will be made so that other customers don't have the same experience...

First for the bright spots, Olivia the Hostess was an absolute dream. She was incredibly accommodating, very welcoming, and for a busy service, was prompt and attentive throughout. The atmosphere and decor reminds me of some of my favorite French style bistros in NYC. However, you can not charge more than NYC or Paris prices and not deliver. Our three entrees were all let downs. My mother ordered the “Your Mother’s Meatloaf” which in her words was an insult to mothers everywhere. Upon tasting myself, I had agreed. That came at a price tag of $24. My mother’s meatloaf equals out to roughly $3 a serving. They would be better off asking for her recipe. I’m honestly surprised she finished it. My girlfriend had the Beef Bourguignon, it wasn’t flavorful as this hearty French dish is known for. She like myself is a big foodie and she spent a lot of time in Paris. This would not be considered Beef Bourguignon over there and definitely would not have been that pricey. Mominette a well known French Bistro in Bushwick, NY serves the same dish for about $15 less and double the portion size. I had the duck, I love French duck dishes, and while I go for a more rustic version of this dish, the version I had tonight was incredibly tough with a very bland glaze or reduction, one can only guess because it was a mess. All sides had no seasoning whatsoever. The green beans were just sautéed green beans and that’s it. There was no garlic, salt, or pepper to be found in the potatoes. The most egregious part of the experience was paying at the end. We are no strangers to large bills or spending $200 a person for a spectacular meal. But when you pay less at Internationally known and Michelin Star French Bistros in NYC and overseas, then to have a meal that was on par with something like Applebee’s but $165 for 3 people. You write an accurate and detailed review to save anyone you can from the mistake you made or to provide areas of opportunity for the restaurant itself. So for those wanting a good vibe and some great staff. Go in and grab a glass of wine or a cocktail. Just don’t order any food on that menu. Because for three dishes at the same table to be that utterly disappointing. I’m sure the entire menu will be just as bad in quality and taste. This is not a place to get food. One last thing when the owner came to the table and asked how things were. We all gave the most unenthusiastic “fine.” I have never known a restaurateur to hear the words “fine” from a whole table and not ask a follow up. So again the prices are a slap in the face for what you get. But to bring some light back to this review, the staff were amazing and the spot is cool. It just needs a reality check in regards to prices, quality, and taste. (PS we don’t eat at chain restaurants unless that’s all available. So no disrespect to Applebee’s intended. But a necessary...

My sister and I took our mother here for brunch for her birthday, August 17, 2021. We were seated, brought water, and asked if there was anything else we wanted to drink. It took about 20 or so minutes before our beverages came and for the waitress to get our orders. My mother, nephew and myself ordered steak and eggs, but I asked that my eggs be made scrambled with cheese. My sister ordered the French toast. It took about 30 minutes for our food to get to us even after hearing the bell ding that it was ready. The food arrived to the table lukewarm. As the waitress gave everyone their meals, I asked,”does this have cheese?” The waitress said, “no” as she walked away. I waited a few minutes for her to come back to the table to check on us, but that never happened. By this time, I had gotten up and walked over to the bar to inform the waitress what I was given versus what was ordered was incorrect. The waitress was very argumentative and begin to tell me, “No, you didn’t order cheese because I would have asked you what kind.” Again, I stated, “when you asked how I wanted my eggs, I stayed I wanted them scrambled with cheese so if this could be corrected that would be great because my food is now cold!” The waitress revisited the table, again didn’t ask how their meals were and never asked if we wanted refills on our beverages. She was asking about the eggs and by then I had asked to speak to the manager. The manager finally came out, unprofessionally and cut me off as I was trying to explain what happened. The manager wasn’t a great listening ear at all. At one moment, I had to pause so that I could finish the story . The manager said she would speak to the waitress and get the new eggs w/cheese but by then, my party was all done, I told the manager this and her response was, “oh they are?” Everyone was done with their food. The manager walks away and begins scolding the employee in the back where my whole family could hear! They then walked from the back to the bar area and the manager was still scolding the employee. In front of customers? We couldn’t believe as we have all been in hospitality for years! The manager brought us our check, and proceeded to a call at the desk. I walked up to pay, she stayed on the phone, took my money, and that was it! As our family left, the manager made it her business to come outside to inform us that she had fired the waitress! The amount of unprofessionalism we experienced was baffling and to think we thought we were going to have a great brunch for my mother’s birthday and that fell short of my expectations. Our intentions were never to have anyone lose their job but to be corrected so it wouldn’t happen again. Unbelievably disappointing experience to...