Cantler's Riverside Inn — Restaurant in Annapolis

I normally do not write reviews about any Restaurants. I was compelled to right one today however because of the terrible experience I had at a restaurant that I hadn't been at for over 25 years. I came here today to eat because of the reviews that I read online. I remember going there as a teenager and loving it and the review seemed pretty good. Unfortunately, that was not my experience today. The first thing is this restaurant looks old and outdated.

With the prices, they are now charging for their menu items. The place should look a lot better than it does. The menu price is here are more than some of the best restaurants in Annapolis MD yet they serve your food on paper plates with plastic utensils, and plastic cups. A soda in this place is four dollars. It comes in the smallest possible plastic cup!

It was not busy at all on our visit and there was about five people standing around that worked there doing absolutely nothing. We ordered the fried shrimp platters which sells for $35 and you get 12 shrimp and two sides. They don't provide bread with any of these expensive meals if you want you have to pay for it. we also got the cream of crab soup, which was the only thing that was even good that we had here.

The fried shrimp arrived. You got 12 fried shrimp and two sides, but the choice for sides is very limited, especially when you're charging these types of prices.. we got the hush puppies and potato salad for our sides.

The fried shrimp were too heavily battered and fried way too long to where they were actually too hard to even chew. Also, they tasted like they were fried and old grease. The hush puppies were also way over fried, and the potato salad was terrible like a store-bought brand. also, they give you the condiments and teeny tiny plastic containers and if you want anything additional to that you are charged for them. Again, if you have a menu where your items range anywhere from $16 to over $50 per meal you should not be using all these plastic and paper products. It's tacky.!

The waitress had not come back after she took our order. A bus boy brought the food and the next time we saw her was one of the time to drop off the check and wait for her tip when she came to the table to do so we let her know that we were not happy at all with the quality of this food and that it was hard to chew and extremely overcooked. She offered no options to maybe get something different or maybe take something off of the check because we were not satisfied. She was actually rude about it and said would you like to check and do you need a container to take it home?

She dropped off the check and walked away. I had tried to get her attention earlier to get a refill on my four dollar small plastic cup soda, but she never came back for any of that. We were sitting there for a while talking after this and she did walk back over I want to say is the check ready? I told her no because at that point she was only asking that because she was worried about her tip! I will add that her tip reflected the service that she provided...

Amazing Food, but Be Aware of Payment Policy for Large Groups

We had a great time at Cantler’s Riverside Inn in Annapolis, MD — the food is top-notch, the setting is laid-back and fun, and it’s a classic Maryland crab house experience.

We kicked things off with the Crab Pretzel, which was a hit — warm, cheesy, and loaded with creamy crab dip. Then came the main event: steamed blue crabs dusted in Old Bay. Perfectly cooked and full of sweet meat. It’s the kind of meal you roll up your sleeves for and get messy — and it’s totally worth it. But one meal never came out and we had to ask where it was and they never put the order in. But we had lots of crabs to open to pass the time.

However, we did run into an issue when it came time to pay. We were a large group and were told they do not split checks for parties of our size. Instead, they handed us a pen and told us to add up the individual totals ourselves and tell them what to charge on each card. While this seemed simple enough, it led to a lot of confusion within our group.

Here’s what happened: Our total bill was around $360. Each group should have paid about $120 plus tip, but because we were manually writing down totals, two groups accidentally wrote $150 (thinking they were including a $30 tip), and the third group jut got the rest of the bill and was changed only $60 and added $40 as a generous tip, not realizing they were also supposed to tip for the entire bill. In the end, we unintentionally tipped only 10% overall.

It was embarrassing and not the impression we wanted to leave. Had they split the check or made the process clearer, we could’ve avoided this entirely.

TL;DR: • Food: Excellent — especially the crab pretzel and steamed crabs. • Atmosphere: Classic Maryland crab house, casual and perfect for groups. • Service: Friendly, but strict on their check-splitting policy. • Heads up for groups: They won’t split your check. Be very careful when manually calculating and tipping — or you might under-tip without realizing it.

We’d come back again for the food — but next time, we’ll bring...

7/2/2023 I was in DC and had to get some of my favorite crabs!! Unfortunately they were sold out of large crabs so I bought a dozen of the mediums and half a pound of peel and eat shrimp. Delicious as always but get there early because there’s always a wait!

Service was phenomenal as always! My bill was $92 and gave a $50 tip for the phenomenal service! I swear she checked on me 10 times, probably trying to get me to hurry up haha

I highly recommend stopping here for some crabs! It’s in the back of a neighborhood so yes you’re going the right way!

8/2/2022 My fourth time getting some Maryland blue crabs while in Annapolis MD! I absolutely highly recommend coming here for those beloved Maryland blue crabs!!! This place is in the back of a neighborhood, it’s a hidden gem!!! The locals even think it’s a great place so that tells you something about it!! Thank me later and enjoy your evening here!! You will be right on the water eating this yummy crabs! 🦀

I’ve been here THREE times now!! July 18, 2020 is the most recent time.

Your prayers to the Blue Crab God’s have been answered right here at Cantler’s Riverside Inn!

I have been to Cantler’s twice and I absolutely will go out of my way to stop here for some true Maryland Blue Crabs!! Your hearts desire for blue crab will be full filled here with the delicious crabs and excellent service.

If I lived near this place it would be a monthly visit to celebrate just the fact that blue crabs are so dag on delicious! Ask for the Jimmy’s which are the largest male crabs and if you have no idea how to eat the delicious crustaceans then ask one of the servers and they will show you how to get every single delicious piece of meat out of that crab!

I’m telling you that this place is a must visit! Stop what your doing and make this trip out here to Cantler’s! Thank you for such delicious food and great service and I can’t wait to visit again...