Garten — Restaurant in Maryland

UPDATE: I debated deleting my initial review and writing a new one vs. updating, but the dedication to excellence that GM Chris showed us after reading my first review is part of what changed from 2 to 5 stars. Chris immediately reached out to apologize for how their now-former employee had treated us, and to invite my family back for the experience we should have had. We were greeted and seated quickly with front row seats to DJ Crawdads. Chris personally gave us recommendations on cocktails, although you can't go wrong with any cocktail on the menu, which are all served in such pretty glassware, and garnished with fresh flowers from their garden. We said my husband is pescatarian, and Chris gave us insightful recommendations on the food menu. Our server was knowledgable, intuitive, and delightful. DJ Crawdads simultaneously created and upscale and chill atmosphere. The music was the perfect volume to enjoy the sounds and still allow conversation. Highly recommend going on a day that he will be there! Our food was phenomenal and beautiful. We started with the Garten pickles and veggies which were crisp, tangy, and refreshing. Our server suggested the burrata as a starter. GET THIS. Ask for an extra slice of grilled bread with it, because you will want consume every drop, and licking the plate is frowned upon in public. Chris recommended a special kimchi and tofu dish, including information on where the ingredients had been sourced. My husband said it was one of the best dishes he's ever had. My son gave the pretzels another shot; devoured them. I had the pork tenderloin; tender and flavorful. Dessert time was beer-battered apple rings, and Garten Dirt, served in a terracotta flower pot dish and the spoon was even shaped like a little shovel. We were impressed by the creative attention to detail. There were fans outside that provided a nice breeze on a warm evening, and I saw a basket of woven blankets that are for cooler days. String lights created a smooth transition at sunset and, mixed with the music, created an ambiance of magic - the cocktails helped, too! This was a beautiful, unique, and impressive evening, and we can't wait to go back with friends!

(1st visit): We were very impressed by the beautiful grounds, murals, clean bathrooms, and great music when we first arrived. Our server came to get our drink orders, and when I asked what her favorite brunch drink was, she flippantly responded, “oh, I don’t drink or eat here. I only come here to make money.” I don’t know what I was supposed to do with that, so after many awkward, speechless seconds she told me the drink other people order most often. She was nice during our other interaction, which was only to give us the check after I had to ask someone to have her bring it to us. Unfortunately, that exchange totally killed the vibe at our table when she left. We are positive people and tried to move past that weird interaction, but were disappointed again when one of the appetizers came out (we ordered three appetizers, and they all came out so far apart that one would be long gone before the next arrived). The first thing was a $17 salmon spread which was served with twelve Ritz crackers that were just sliding around on a separate dish, making it look sparse and cheap, and not exactly the adult version of cracker I’d expected, and certainly not so few. The server didn’t come back for us to be able to ask for more crackers, so we finished the spread with our forks. It tasted okay. Eventually, our other dishes came out about ten minutes apart, which were also just okay despite the prices being on the higher side. ($15 for a side Caesar salad with no meat, for example) We also ordered the pretzels to take home to our son, and they were very dark and tasted burnt. I think that may be how they were supposed to be, just not the taste we like. Overall, our experience did not meet our expectations, and I can’t help but think we would have overlooked some of the issues if the server hadn’t made that first comment making us feel dumb for being there to...

We were anticipating their opening for over a year now and we're left a bit disappointed.

First, the reservation through Tock. They require a $25 per person charge (in advance) to secure a reservation. It applied to the bill, however, the "deposit" was nonrefundable should you cancel the reservation. Your only option was to transfer it to another person for the same day, time and party number?! This alone will keep us from coming back again.

Parking is tight, limited and there's only 2 handicap spaces. People park on the Rte 648 shoulder for overflow and I'm sure if it gets more popular, people will get more creative with parking.

If you're handicapped, especially wheelchair-bound, be sure to use the side entrance labeled "wine and beer store" because that's the only part of the restaurant where you'll be able to eat inside. The 2 large "all gender restrooms" are wheelchair accessible by use of the ramp from the store side. If you're mobility challenged and seated outside, allow yourself extra time to get to the restroom. You'll have to go all the way around the building, through the parking lot, to get to the side entrance. Otherwise you'll have to navigate fairly narrow steps inside.

The decor is stark with stairs everywhere so mind your step. The tables are plain and oddly arranged. It's also pretty small inside due to the extra large kitchen that was installed. There is no indoor bar seating and we were confused by the pub tables in the center of the restaurant. We were also confused by fridges in that same area. The acoustics make even quiet conversations echo and the odd music choice, best described as indie spa muzak, makes everything into a cacophony of noise.

We were sat in the beer and wine store so we felt disconnected from the rest of the place. There was a man seated at a desk behind us, presumably the manager, who stared at us the whole time making my wife uncomfortable. He was close enough that I'm sure he heard our conversation. If you're going to have a retail section, then you should put all of the retail items together (the fridges too!) and not put tables there. Replace the pub height with standard height up the ramp so the handicapped can dine there.

Steve, our waiter, was pleasant and knowledgeable though he was only repeating the chef's/owner's description of the food. He said the staff were going to get to try the food on Saturday, 10/29 (we were there on Sunday 10/23). Why wouldn't they have the staff sample the food before opening?

We started our meal with Augustiner Brau and Rothaus beers. The Augustiner tastes like Miller Lite and the Rothaus is similar to Blue Moon. We were surrounded by at least 50 different wines behind our table, but there are only 19 wines offered on the menu(?). They don't have Coke or Pepsi, rather a German "kola" that's similar to Maine Root cola.

The pretzel app was just 2 small pretzel loaves served with mustard. We opted for the obatzda cheese which was nasty. It tasted gamey like sheep or goat milk which is strange for a cow milk cheese based recipe. We weren't very hungry so we decided to split the sausage platter. We opted for the bratwurst (mostly parsley flavored) and the knockwurst (big hot dog) and chose the mustard and the raclette cheese sauce (both the raclette and the obatzda are additional charges). The raclette was a slice of solidified melted cheese swimming in butter and was inedible. When the platter came out, they added the curry ketchup (it's just regular ketchup) even though it wasn't included or requested. For our sides, we had the braised red cabbage (very good) and the deli potato salad with oddly chewy potato skins. For dessert, we tried the black forest mousse which was not a mousse at all. It was a small portion deconstructed black forest cake without the whipped cream.

The total bill came to $89.75 including the $50 prepaid for the reservation. Had we gotten separate apps, mains and desserts, that would've easily doubled before tip. We'll give them another try, but only if they remove the $25/pp reservation...

I’ve now been to Garten 4 times and I would probably give it 2.5 stars overall. I have had 2 good and 2 bad experiences. The first bad one was soon after they opened so we didn’t think too much of it because obviously it takes a while for everything to work smoothly. 2nd visit was nice - food and frozen drinks were good, we were a larger group and everything went quite well. 3rd visit almost 3 weeks ago was great - my husband and I went on a lunch date, the kiwi mint frozen cocktail was amazing, buratta appetizer was perfect (the pickle appetizer for $9 seems overpriced for what it is); the server (a lady with medium length brown hair, maybe late 30’s or early 40’s was very nice). We were so happy that we decided to repeat the lunch date last Friday. The hostess, a younger girl, took us to a small corner table by the wood plank wall (the busy street and traffic noise is right behind it) and next to a utility kitchen cart..we were hoping to have a more romantic vibe so asked if it would be possible to sit at one of the picnic tables (just like last time), she made an annoyed face and said sure. The outdoor area wasn’t crazy busy, maybe 5 other couples?! A family came after us and got their drinks served before we were even seen by a waitress/waiter - we couldn’t shake the feeling that we were basically punished for not sitting where they wanted us to sit. It took someone over 15min to finally come and give us the menus - she did say sorry but no explanation whether they’re short staffed or some other issues (we’re typically not super high maintenance, always have lovely experiences as we go out a lot). Drinks and food arrived in a pretty timely manner (the place was getting busier at this point), I was surprised how small the piece of bread for the burrata was this time (it was a good sized slice last time, I’ll post pictures for comparison). We asked for the check once we were done, gave our card and didn’t get it back for over 30minutes! It was the most bizarre thing - the waitress was back and forth but literally seemed to want to ignore us (it was not the same lady from our last visit). When I went in to look for someone to help us, the hostess was not there and people were waiting to be seated (this was also the case when I went to use the bathroom). It’s such a shame that a beautiful place like this is not reaching its full potential - yes, I absolutely love the burrata (but that’s pretty much the only food item) and some of their drinks but for the price and unpredictable service, we probably will go to other places. Severna Park seriously lacks restaurants with really good food with a nice view!! How very odd for such an...