Black's Bar & Kitchen — Restaurant in Maryland

"Black's Bar" ? More like "Nasty Bar"!

Long and Detailed Review

It was supposed to be my mom's birthday dinner & this was my first experience at Black's Bar. Let's just say, I will never ever be back! When I first arrived with my family, I felt an off vibe. I needed to use the restroom, so I asked the hostess and he told me it was the third door to the right, in the back. When I got in the bathroom, it was filthy 🤢smelling like a wild animal barn. I had my daughter with me so I had to squeeze us in a little stall, which was utterly ridiculous & sooo hard to do! After struggling to get in & out of that nasty stall, I went to wash my hands and noticed after, that they didn't even have napkins to wipe your hands, instead they had musty old washcloths. And not the nice rolled up ones at the spa either. Trust me on this one, there's a difference! 😒 Anyways 🤢....I came out and sat down with my family and immediately felt the vibe of the waiter who seemed ticked off. Our server was named Jasmine and she was mean! When I kindly asked her, her name and she gave off the "why do you care attitude" and when I asked did she like the cauliflower wings that I wanted to order, she hurriedly said yes asked everyone else what they wanted and walked away. After we placed our orders, I then asked her once she made her way back around, for some hot water and lemon. My father always taught me to use hot water to clean utensils in restaurants since I was little, for sanitation reasons. I used the water & when I was finished, I simply asked could she please take it away nicely. She was pissed y'all, so much to the point I literally felt anxious and uncomfortable thee entire time afterwards. I lost my appetite & I felt her pissy attitude during the rest of our time there. Even my mom mentioned her attitude. Once our meals arrived, & I felt uneasy about my food. As we started eating, I noticed how she never even told us about the specials. How do I know? Because another table arrived, sat right next us and she read them loudly to them😒 I also witnessed how unprofessional half the staff were. Most, if not all the floor staff were standing around, hiding behind walls and even being out in the open in all corners talking loudly amongst themselves, throughout our entire meal. My Cauliflower wings were hard and undercooked and my spinach salad was wilted and wet drenched in oil. My child's Mac and cheese was bland with no flavor. The bread served was hard as a rock and stale. The staff were walking around constantly pacing the floors looking miserable, as if they had nothing else better to do than their jobs, whilst complaining about their jobs. 😒 The only people that were nice were the few people that brought our food , as well as the two people at the front, but that was it. And see to be quite honest, this is the real reason why I never go to restaurants anymore. I've worked in the service industry for over 11 years now, so I know how things are supposed to be. I know how people at all levels should be treated. These days these places are understaffed, unsanitary and the people working are underpaid, unhappy and some could care less if your happy and satisfied. So they're taking they're misery out on the consumers who are actually paying they're hard earned money for an experience! In my opinion, your better off making your food at home or going to spots that your familiar with, or reading reviews before you go, because reviews don't lie. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ REVIEWS! Please save your money,...

BLACKS BAR & KITCHEN GAVE ME FOOD POISONING!!! Not to mention rude staff.

Visited Blacks yesterday with a group of coworkers following a work event. The decision to dine at Blacks wasn't planned. We arrived shortly after 2p for lunch. The restaurant was practically empty with maybe 6 patrons scattered throughout the restaurant. We initially requested seating for 8 ppl which was accepted. The hostess offered a high table near the entrance but we kindly asked to be seated at a lower table given some restrictions and health conditions of some who were attending. The hostess (light-skinned young lady possibly hispanic with a high curly bun- never got her name) was so rude and hostile when speaking with the more senior aged colleagues. She was very rude and dismissive. Moments later we find out additional colleagues would be attending and requested that the table accommodate 10 persons. We still hadn't been seated or a table made ready and again nearly empty. Once seated I asked for an additional place setting to accommodate a wheelchair. The rude and fairly lazy hostess snapped angrily on our table stating that we should have made a reservation because it was an inconvenience to her. We thanked her for accommodating our party and kindly addressed her attitude. We inquired about a manager. To which she replied "they are not in yet and I'm filling in right now." She rolled her eyes and walked away while we were talking to her. She was absolutely disrespectful, inconsiderate and nasty. We actually ended up with a great waiter. He was patient, kind and attentive to our tables needs. Never became rude or upset. He even provided food recommendations. THIS IS WHY I AM WRITING A REVIEW TO WARN OTHERS: I ordered the mussels as an appetizer and the salmon with veggies as my entree. The mussels came in a red sauce that was fairly decent but nothing to rave about. Quite a few of them were closed or partially open (At the time, I wasn't aware of the open/close rule with mussels). Within an hour of leaving the restaurant I started to feel severe gut pain and intense nausea. A fever ensued and i got chills. I even had to pull to the side of the road as I was heading home due to the increased nausea and urge to vomit. As soon as I arrived home no less than 2 hour later I began to vomit continuously along with "the other end" (IYKYK). I was taken to urgent care where I learned I had food poisoning from bad mussels. I am still feeling the effects of the food poisoning and will be reporting the restaurant to their regions food health...

👎 👎👎👎👎

The food was just ok, but the oysters were fishy and just not the right taste. We ordered several flavors and all I could taste was the ocean and couldn’t tell one flavor apart even with a crumpled receipt showcasing the differences…

Here’s the bigger concern. Managers listen up! We dined in your restaurant and we stayed till close. The level of aggression we received from our server for taking too long to order was not ok or appropriate. We already ordered several drinks and 5 appetizers so to treat any customer with a rushed attitude is not ok in a “fine dining” establishment. He actually said he used to work at Ruth Chris. When we asked to order after the 15 minutes he ignored us, he then responded with, “we’ll I’ve checked several times and you haven’t been ready” … teach this man the basics of hospitality. Truly shocking behavior for someone with his claimed years of experience.

You can easily and kindly let a table know that your closing at xyz time, or your shifting servers and would like to close out. I worked in the industry for my whole life. It’s very possible. Do better!

Additionally, we were not made aware of a server change. This was actually a blessing. She was kind and professional. We ordered our meals and almost immediately after I was finished as waiting so long made me hungry. Everyone else wasn’t done eating yet we were rushed by 3 additionally male individuals who wanted to go home. Rushed as in, no water refills, clearing plates forcefully. It was quite forceful, with loud voices screaming “they’re just hear to get the plates” and it felt really rude.

Take a look at your last bill from last night and tell me we didn’t earn a couple extra minutes in those seats. To the man who forcefully grabbed plates and yelled at my table, shame on you. Shaved black hair if that helps you to point him out. This person should be re trained or let go. It was truly that bad. Another server with white or blonde hair forcefully put his hands between two of us and almost elbowed one of us in the face. Another one you may want to coach.

I am shocked you have any stars at this place. If your employees don’t wanna work on Mondays, either close like everyone else or have them find a job that isn’t open on Monday.

Will never return & shame on all the men who came to our table and rushed us to leave. I wouldn’t consider any of these men a professional in the service industry. Laughable yes, but not professional. It seriously ruined what started as a decent experience.

10/10 would not...