Bushel and a Peck Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Maryland

This is a hard review to write because, well, I never got to experience any of the food. I placed an order online for curbside carry out on New Year's Eve. I arrived about 10 minutes early, and when I pulled into the parking lot, the designated spots were full and there were a number of other cars parked around the curbside delivery area with lights on waiting. I found a spot in the lot and parked and waited.

At my designated pick up time, I called the main number. Busy signal. I redialed. Busy signal. This went on for at least 5 minutes. Finally, I got through. She took my information. She said my order was in, but the kitchen was running a bit behind. I asked how long a bit was, and she told me 10-15 minutes.

One of the cars in the designated curbside delivery spots left, so I pulled in there and continued to wait. At least 15 minutes goes by. Nothing.

A woman comes out (very nice and very apologetic) and she is going car by car trying to figure out who is parked where because the few meals that did make it out of the kitchen were being carried by staff who were essentially wandering the parking lot looking for the right people.

Another 15 minutes or so goes by and I decided to set a deadline. I figured if they didn't have my order ready by 45 minutes after it was supposed to be ready...there wasn't going to be much hope. At that point, I also questioned what the quality of the meal was even going to be.

Just before my 45 minute deadline had arrived, a nice employee approached by car with 2 brown bags. He asked me to confirm the name on the order. I did. And....he said, he was sorry. That wasn't my order. He moved on to another car. Ughhhhhhhh...

So, 45 minutes after my order was supposed to be ready, I threw in the towel. I decided to call and cancel. So, I dialed...and dialed...and dialed some more. 5 minutes later, they answered. Before I could even say anything, I was told my order would be ready in another 10-15 minutes. I said I've been waiting now for 50 minutes, and I can't wait another 10-15 minutes...and, on top of that I said you're telling me 10-15 minutes, but you haven't even asked for my information to know who I am or what my order is. To cancel my order, I was told I needed to speak to a manager and I was put on hold again.

A few minutes later, a manager got on the phone. She said it would just be a few more minutes, but I had already left at that point. I was actually in the drive through at McDonald's. I left to pick up filet and crab cake...but I came home with a cheeseburger and Big Mac. Quite the fitting end to 2020!!!

I got home and my wife asked what happened, so I gave her her cheeseburger and the rundown. I showed her my phone. It took 59 calls. 57 of them were busy signals. In a nutshell, that summed it up...

If you're wondering why I gave them 2-stars as opposed to 1 (or less), it's because they deserve the benefit of the doubt. I've had many great experiences at Iron Bridge, so when we heard Bushel and a Peck was taking over the Food Plenty space, we were excited. We just picked a terrible night to give them a try.

I'm sure they'll reset and get things in order quickly. I'm sure we'll give them another try, but we will wait until we can have a normal in-restaurant dining experience as opposed to curbside. If I'm going to be waiting nearly an hour for my meal, I would like the opportunity to enjoy a few adult beverages...and that's generally frowned upon while...

ONE OF THE BEST MEALS SINCE WE MOVED TO MARYLAND IN 2018! PERIOD. And that includes all the local higher-end favs like Stanford, Iron, FoodMkt, GrillMx, etc.

Wife and I visited early June 2024, on a BEAUTIFUL late spring early summer evening & sat outside.

Restaurant is contemporary Maryland maritime decor, very tastefully done. Looks and feels sophisticated but not at all stuffy or pretentious. Beautiful dining and bar areas.

The restaurant is on the upper level of the Clarksville Commons so the outside patio area is really a great layout for perfect nights like we had.

Ilyania who booked our table when I called in was SO nice and efficient and also greeted us when we arrived. Table was ready within 3 minutes of checking in.

Server Josh was extremely friendly and efficient, very knowledgeable about the menu for everything we asked about & helped us as we were deciding what to get.

I went for the crab cakes, wife had the salmon.

Both were literally world class. Drop these 2 dishes in any of the best restaurants in the world and they would stand on their own.

Crab cake: In 6 years, this was without a doubt the best one I have had- ever. I've tried them at all the local favs, including Faidley's in Baltimore, Rusty Scupper, and so many others. This one is just insanely good. 90% of the cake was large lumps, held together with some kind of very moist soft and almost creamy bread with a slight mustardy flavor that just complimented the sweetness of the crab perfectly.

It was a solid 8z cake, and was served on top of a sweet white corn succotash which also had slices of green beans and asparagus, all resting in a perfect creamy burre blanc sauce that pulled the entire dish into the nuggasphhere of incredible flavor!

The salmon was a poster child of what a perfect salmon dish can be. A beautiful center section filet (I prefer these over the thinner tail sections) of extremely fresh Atlantic salmon, grilled to a perfect medium, then top with some insanely good horseradish parm breadcrumb crust and finished off in a broiler to give a golden brown and slight crispy finish to the entire dish. The salmon was served on top of giant asparagus spears which were large but still very tender and tasty, lightly mased and perfectly moist and creamy mashed yukon potatoes, and finished with a light buttery / or light cream sauce that was a prefect finish to a perfect dish. It may have been the same sauce as on the crab cakes but with the slight horseradish crust I wasn't sure. If it was, I dont care that the same sauce was on both dishes- the both worked and worked WELL!

A very nice staff member, I assume a manager, came out to check on us as we were finishing up and just as did the rest of the staff, she really made us feel welcome and appreciated. We gushed over the food & service and atmosphere with her, and also asked her to tell the kitchen team just how great everything was.

I believe the price to quality value of Bushel is absolutely right on point. Based on what $40/$50 pp typically gets you these days, this restaurant is worth every penny.

We will go back and have already told all of our friends.

GREAT JOB BUSHEL and a PECK! PLEASE DON'T LOSE THIS...

2025 06 09

Flat bread pizza and crab cakes were excellent. Bushel competes with crab restaurants!

My brisket was very dry and the spinach tasted acidic and had a chemical smell. Bushel needs to take a brisket course from iron bridge

Dinner was an uphill battle. We waited 30 minutes after being seated to ask whether our bar booth had a waiter or waitress. She appeared soon afterward and took our order. I was very thirsty, when the water arrived it tasted like it had been run through a rusty, oil-filled engine! PTUI!, PTUI! it was awful. Our waitress did check with us again to tell us that the kitchen was very busy so it was more than an hour before food arrived at the table. My wife loved her flatbread pizza, my salmon was just so-so. There was an issue with the bill which took involvement by a nice manager which strung the time out another 20 minutes.

I have a special note for the booths on the window side of the bar. They are very uncomfortable, their backs are at 90 degrees not the 5-7 (95-97) degree incline recommended by every furniture organization. Added to that, the booths are spaced in a way that places you far, far away from the table. We switched booths so that we could pull the seats and table to a comfortable distance.

Problems tonight. All three appetizers were delivered cold. We had waited 20 minutes after ordering and then asked the waiter to check. He then delivered room temperature dishes. Replacements were on the table in just a few minutes

My wife’s calamari was a very dark color and not as good as our last visit. My crab soup was very good but the veggies weren’t cooked, they were tough and chewy. We tried the crab dip and thought it was very good, we will order again

There are very few options on the appetizer and entree menu, we will not be back until the menu changes

Another great meal. The shrimp salad is fantastic and brisket falls off of the bone. There was a snafu with our reservation and they compd us our wines!

We’re here for happy hour. Food is generally well prepared. The menu is a little limited there are only a few entrees and the wine list is fairly short. The happy hour sliders are just ok (lots of onions) but their crab soup is...