Earth, Wood & Fire - Fallston — Restaurant in Maryland

This was my second time coming to Earth, Wood, Fire. The first time was the weekend they opened, so I excused many of the miss steps as being a new restaurant that maybe opened a few weeks earlier than they should have. Decided to take out-of-town family there last night for good appetizer and delicious pizza. While the food was excellent, I will not be returning due to poor service and the front-of-restaurants inability to run this establishment smoothly. I called around 2 to ask if they took reservations and the person who answered the phone, Leslie, put me on hold for five minutes. I hung up and called back, and when I received the same person who asked to put me on hold again I explained I was just on hold for an exceptionally long time when I was asking a simple question. When I asked her if they took reservations she legitimately did not know and said “I think we only do call ahead”. At 5:15 I called and asked what the wait time was for a party of seven, and was told there was no wait. At 5:45 when my family and I were getting ready to leave the house I called again to check the wait time and to put our name on the list if necessary. I was told “there is currently no wait and no one on the call ahead list, but we will put your name on the list anyway Incase it picks up”. I said great and that we would be there in 10 minutes. Upon arriving 10 minutes later I was told there would be a 25 minute wait and the hostess exclaimed “Yikes 7 is a big party”. I get that if there were an increase in customers there would be a little bit of wait upon arriving, so we said okay and stood in their very small waiting area that is also used for carry-out. After 20 minutes, two large parties were sat (of 6 and 8 ) and there was no one left waiting but us. When I asked the hostess what in the world was going on she said we were on the bottom of the call ahead list, however that is not what I was told on the phone. There was also a very large booth that sat empty for 20 minutes. 8 minutes later they sat us at the large booth. Our waiter was nice, but was not attentive and did very little to wait on us. The food was above average, but as I originally stated I will not be returning and will likely not encourage...

Disappointed Visit to Earth, Wood & Fire – We Won’t Be Back

After living in the area for over 16 years and recently selling the house next door to wonderful neighbors, we were excited to reconnect with them over dinner last night. We originally planned to go to Enotria, but realized last minute that they’re closed on Mondays, so our neighbors picked Earth, Wood & Fire in Fallston instead.

They were already seated inside when we arrived, and the server greeted us promptly and took our drink orders. Our daughter joined us a bit later, and the server was attentive with her as well. We were catching up and enjoying conversation, as we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of months. The restaurant wasn’t busy, and neither was the outdoor seating.

Unfortunately, that’s where the positives ended.

Our dinners didn’t come out at the same time – a huge pet peeve of mine. It’s uncomfortable and impolite to have to wait while others are already eating or feel pressured to eat while others are still waiting.

I ordered a small shrimp scampi pizza, and my neighbor ordered a large. After placing the order, the server returned to let us know they were out of ricotta cheese. We agreed to have the pizzas without it, but when they arrived, hers was noticeably overcooked with dark bubble marks. She politely asked for a new one.

What happened next was shocking. The manager/pizza maker came to our table and was clearly annoyed. He didn’t believe the pizza was overcooked and made no effort to hide his frustration. After a brief disagreement, he simply walked away. No resolution. No remake. Just poor customer service.

Meanwhile, my husband’s steak salad – which he asked to be cooked medium – arrived well done with no pink in sight. To top it off, another member of our party found a hair on his plate. After what happened with the pizza, no one even bothered mentioning these issues to the staff – it was clear it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Needless to say, we won’t be returning. From now on, we’ll stick to the best place in Bel Air – MaGerks. Great food, consistent service, and a team that knows how to treat their guests....

I have been here twice in the last few months because it is a friend's favorite place. I only wish my experiences had been as good as hers (apparently) have been! The first visit, I would classify as "OK". Ok service, OK food, but a bit pricey for a place that was OK. Can't remember what I ordered, but that isn't unusual when a restaurant is "just OK" and I would rather erase it from my memory.

I would have been happy with "OK" on the second visit, but that was not to be. We arrived slightly after 1 PM. We were seated immediately, given menus, but informed that the restaurant was "busy" which, I guess, accounts for a 30 minute delay in placing our order. And the longer than normal delay in getting our food. I'm a reasonable person, and that might have been acceptable if both my grilled cheese and fries had not been cold. Really cold.

Soldiering on, after another extended wait, we ordered dessert since we were celebrating my friend's birthday. The restaurant was now empty, but again, we waited over 20 minutes to be served. Then the bill, only to find I was charged $1.25 for whipped cream on my brownie when the menu said "with whipped cream"???? Sigh, another long delay to have the bill adjusted, and for the waitress to act like she had done me a favor by having the unwarranted charge removed. Even though I had also complained about the cold sandwich and fries, no substitute had been offered and no adjustment was made to the bill. This time I left VERY disappointed in every aspect of the meal and thought I had REALLY overpaid for such an inadequate meal. One of the few times in my life that I have left less than a 20% (+) tip.

So why am I going again Friday???? The only plausible reason I can give is that "after quarantine", the restaurant has virus-compliant outdoor seating and I am so happy to see my friend that I am willing to "grin and bear it". I keep pouring over the menu... Maybe I'll order the cob salad -- it's supposed to be served cold, right? I mean, if my friend likes it so much, there must be something this restaurant can do right. ???? Three's the charm, or the TOTAL...