Chesapeake Grill — Restaurant in Havre de Grace

The owner/manger might call the cops on you and your children too if you complain about the bad food, poor service, and his nasty attitude. The waitress was nice. However...

We've had decent food there before, however I'm not sure if it was owned and managed by the same people. But, this visit was pretty bad.

I went with my family and we ordered a cheese stake, eggs, pancakes, toast, bacon and I ordered a simple bowl of soup that was on their "specials for the day" menu. I learned shortly before my family's food was to be served that there was no soup. So I ended up just getting a pancake platter. My daughter asked, "What do these pancakes tasted like?" At the same time I was thinking myself that they were a bit off. First of all half mini cakes were way over done, and they had a deep yellow coloring to them with a tangy hard to explain flavor. They turned into a gluey mush upon the first bit. The waitress over heard us talking about them and asked if there was a problem. We explained what the problem was and she took my plate away, minus the bacon. And she allowed my daughter who said she didn't want the pancakes, to keep her plate because of the broken up pieces of bacon she was still eating. I requested toast for her instead, but nothing for myself.

The toast never came, so I had her share a piece of my other daughters toast. We got our bill and it was pretty expensive for what we had, and for the quality we got. We asked that my daughter's platter be removed from the bill, which they did. But the manager was sure to add back the bacon. Just a little petty but okay.

As we were leaving, the manager was at the register. We explained our experience, but rather than listening he cut us off and made several excuses for the poor service and sub par food. I told him about the pancakes which were like no pancakes I've ever eaten. He told me it's their homemade recipe that no one has ever complained about in 2 years. Had not been so busy cutting me off and being defensive, I would have had the opportunity to tell him that I've had decent pancakes there in the past but something was way different this time. He goes on an on, and I finally had to stop him and say "I'm your customer and I'm trying to tell you that we had a bad experience here and all you want to do is talk over me. So we won't be coming back." To which he responded that he'd rather we didn't. And my only response at that point was "Wow." And I reminded him that this a small town and word travels fast, and I'll be sure to tell anyone about our family's visit here. He said, "That's your choice". Then he continued to ramble on about something to which I responded that we were done and it's our choice now to leave, I turned my children towards the door to leave. My husband let him know that he was disrepectful for the way he was dealing with me. Next thing I know the manager is threatening to call the police. In front of my children! So of course my kids started freaking out, and I turned and let him know that he had upset our children over complaint about the service. But by then he was already on the phone.

This manager was stubborn, rude, and hateful. If you've ever seen an episode of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare's this owner is the perfect candidate. I almost wish I could say that I was rude and that my husband was threatening to justify the call to the police so that I could explain to my kids that we (their parents deserved that kind of treatment). But we weren't and we didn't. We left. No need in sticking around to explain to the police that the manager was just being a jerk. My children's peace of mind is far too important. But if I'm at all right, he won't be owning that restaurant for long because he's a poor excuse for a restaurateur. Seriously, how do you make nasty pancakes then call the cops because your patrons told you that they weren't good. I would have recorded the whole thing on my phone, but my kids come first. ...

Here is the message that I sent to Chesapeake Grill. I don't expect a reply, and based on the comments I see on here, I know I am not the only one that had a pour experience.

My boyfriend and I came in tonight after viewing your menu online. It was very appealing and seemed reasonably priced. Our opinions changed soon after we walked in the door. The waitress was very inexperienced. When we asked her what was good on the menu she said "everything" rather than offering an entree or two that she has had herself. Asking her that question wasted our time and did not help with our decision making. I ordered the french onion soup and the Chicken Parm sub. The french onion soup had an odd taste to it. It was a very dark base (unlike any other french onion I have ever had). The worst part was that it was incredibly salty. I ate it because I was really hungry. The chicken parm was disgusting. The sauce had a sour metallic taste to it. The chicken itself was fatty and mostly breading. I took two bites and left the rest on the plate. The only thing I enjoyed was the baked potato I had as a side. But honestly, who can mess up a baked potato. My boyfriend ordered the french dip. There was very little meat on the bread. Although he enjoyed the onion rings, the au jus was too salty to use. My guess it was the same stock as the french onion soup. Our waitress brought our check but never offered a box (which I would have turned down anyway). She never questioned why my entire meal was left on the plate or offered something as a replacement. We did talk to the lady at the register who seemed somewhat concerned with our dissatisfaction. She offered to take the soup off our bill. She should have taken off the entree considering that was the main complaint and was left on the plate. In the end, we paid for food that we were unhappy with. We left your restaurant hungry and with a sour taste in our mouth (literally and figuratively). The staff and food were very unprofessional and did not live up to what we expected when we walked in. We will not...

Fortunately for Chesapeake Grill this review requires at least 1 star because i would rate it a 0! The guy that works in the front is incredibly argumentative! He asks you how your meal was and when you tell him the truth he wants to argue with you which is such a terrible look for this place! My 2nd experience here was a breakfast door dash order and Chesapeake Grill did not send my coworkers meal. When I called to sort this out and report it the same employee wanted to argue about it and started the convo by asking what i wanted him to do about it and the only way we would get the meal is to come pick it up ourselves which defeated the purpose of delivery (that we also had to paid for) and interrupted our event at work. I will not support this restaurant for the simple fact of this employee. If the food was worth it then I could maybe get over the employee issue but to pay money for instant mashed potatoes (like back in the day 1990s type instant) and then have to argue about it because you were asked how your meal was and told the truth is a huge turn off. I was told by this employee that they make their mashed potatoes fresh every day! LOL no way pal, I'm no chef but i can tell the difference of their instant vs. Real just by looking at the plate. You could have stuccoed your home with these potatoes they were disgusting and thats a shame cause its 2020 and instant potatoes have come a long way so if thats what you wanna serve then at least do the good ones and be honest! Don't tell me I'm wrong when you know I'm right and then want to argue! I'm interested to know if anyone else has this same experience...