Harper's Waterfront Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

We've been coming here since they opened and have seen a steady decline in food and service quality over that period. Part of that decline, we feel, is due to the head chef being in the dining room more than in the kitchen. Additionally, the prices are high. Even when trying to save money by sharing, you still end up paying over $150. I believe they increase prices to offset the restricted operating hours. The restaurant is only open for dinner Wed-Sat and only for brunch on Sun.

Reservations are required for the dining room and must be made by calling the restaurant or using Google assistant. Google kept sending trying to reach restaurant texts until it said it couldn't make a reservation. My wife tried calling directly and an automated message said they were busy and to call back later. We got to the restaurant and it was mostly empty so they weren't THAT busy. The hostess looked at me blankly then reached for the phone when I told her about Google but apologized and sat us.

Last night was the worst experience and I told both the manager, who wasn't at all sympathetic, and the head chef who was surprised by my answer but thanked me for the honesty. Our waitress, Lily, also apologized though she was missing for most of our meal. When she did arrive, she wouldn't clear any plates, glassware or unused flatware from our small table.

We started the meal each asking for the Harper's Sangria to which Lily told us it wasn't available because they were still waiting for the peaches. It's peach season, how could they be waiting for it? Also, if you don't have the ingredients, remove it from the permanent drink menu. I tried ordering a frozen drink but they don't make frozen drinks (A bit odd for a waterfront/marina restaurant). So then I asked for an espresso martini. Thankfully they had that and it was good. My wife got a rosé which was very strawberry forward and well balanced.

App was a very basic shrimp cocktail consisting of 5 (mostly shelled) large shrimp dusted with Old Bay and accompanied with store bought cocktail sauce.

We opted for The Trio entrée special and split it between us since it sounded like a lot of food. All of the entrée specials specified sides except for The Trio. Upon asking, we were told it comes with mashed potatoes and green beans, but they don't allow substitutions even though all of their sides cost $8? Lily said, it's "because they're part of a special." No, that's just pretentious BS.

The Trio comes; no green beans and it's covered in Hollandaise sauce. Steak medallions are cooked medium (we weren't asked what temperature we wanted). Atop 1 medallion was 1 shrimp, the next had 1 scallop and the third was a pinch of very cold jumbo lump crab. It's a good thing the steaks were tender because we weren't given steak knives. A little sawing with the butter knives was able to cut the steaks. We would've asked Lily for steak knives but she was nowhere to be found after bringing us our drinks. We also ordered a side of bourbon mushrooms.

Now for food quality. The Trio steaks, seafood and demi glace were a salt bomb almost to inedible status. It was so bad for the gentleman at the next table that he returned it and ordered something else. Thank God for the mashed potatoes being woefully under-salted to cut through the sodium in the rest of the dish. Now, I like bourbon and drink it on the rocks frequently so I'm no stranger to it. However, when I have bourbon mushrooms, I expect to taste the flavor, not the burn. These mushrooms were sautéed then just drenched in straight Jim Beam.

Even though displeased, I intended to pay for the entire meal. When the manager came around to check on everyone, I complained about the food. I think she thought I was trying to cheat them and snarkily said, "Well, you ate all of it." Yeah, because we're hungry, we shared it and Lily didn't check on us.

4 drinks, a Coke, basic app and Trio came to $160 with tax and a small tip. If we return, it'll just be for drinks and a basic app. There are far better upscale restaurants in Annapolis for that...

Wow! Where to begin? I know they are new but so many things could have easily been better. We had 430 reservation for 13 guests on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023. I'll list the good then the bad. I had steamed mussels in a coconut curry sauce (very good and large portion), my entry was scallops and pork belly, very tasty avg portion. No dessert. Server was very good for most of the meal. My wife ordered salmon and it was great!

My daughter ordered a large filet medium rare, it came out very rare. Her boyfriend ordered filet rare and it was served medium well. One guest ordered soup and entry and both were served 1 min apart. Tables are small, no room. I did not really hear complaints from others but one guest had 2 issues with his meal.

When taking out order, it was by seat location but when delivering the food, staff had no idea who ordered what. Our seats did not change.

Flies were horrible! We complained and so did most other tables but at this point there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation. We sell retractable bug screens. If you want open air, you need both screens and isinglass which costs a lot and then requires air conditioning if isinglass is down. Open air concepts are popular but you cannot do open air indoor as well. Flies come in but don't leave. Especially on waterfront with seafood. When dining outdoors, you expect the occasional bugs. Estimating 20+ flies at our table of 13. Constantly waving your hands to keep them off your food.

Drinks were just ok, I had muddled jalapeno in gin and wife had spicy margarita. Some of the soft drinks had little or no syrup in them. I can make the cocktails better at home.

Our server was very good most of the time. Had to keep asking for more water and dishes could have been cleared a little sooner. Waiting for our bill was unnecessary long (15+ minutes). Paying our check was unnecessary long at 7 minutes. Maybe it just seemed worse with all the flies!

The decor was pleasant although they need bug screens. The lighting was attractive but seriously needs diffusers. I was blinded by track lights the entire meal. The custom made shades were not measured properly and off by over 1" in some cases (I know because I do this for a living). Signage was a bit confusing. Chairs were comfortable. Tables were a little small. I don't really get why they preset tables with dishes you will never use. They are gathered up when you place your order. I get the presentation of it but again the tables were kind of small and made things difficult.

I'll try them again in a few weeks. I think this is a great venue with a lot of potential! Overall rating 6 out of 10 with...

Best restaurant we have ever visited. And we have tried a lot! We have been twice in one week now. First, we tried Mother’s Day brunch and just wow. The crab cake Benedict was better than any crab cake I’ve ever had! The portions are gigantic too! Mother’s Day was packed and the service was phenomenal. Diana was our waitress and she didn’t miss a beat. The manager and chef were also so sweet and so friendly walking around making sure everything was up to their high standards. Just can’t say enough. We were all stuffed and even ordered desserts to all sample just bc everything else was so good. We were not disappointed. Coffee was excellent too. Next trip was dinner and our server was Rose. She was also phenomenal. We tried every special on the menu. The fried green tomatoes with crab meat were delicious. But the show stopper was the tuna tower. I have no words. First off it was HUGE. We plan on going back next week and having that and drinks for dinner it was that delicious. Blew any restaurant we previously thought had the best in downtown Annapolis out of the water! My husband ordered the 1 pound bbq special sandwich and it was amazing. We were all so stuffed by this point it was laughable. But we just can’t say enough. We knew we would be taking all that was left home for delicious leftovers for the next several days. To top it off we were extra fatties and ordered the special cream puff dessert to which we then asked to be wheeled out to our truck in a wheelbarrow. To be honest they’re so friendly there I bet they would have done it 😂

Just can’t say enough. So clean, so bright. So beautifully decorated. Wonderful staff. Whoever does the training deserves a gold star. Can’t wait to go back. Oh and also : they have key lime crushes that transport you directly to Key West. We live 2 minutes from downtown Annapolis and will gladly be driving down to Mayo to dine here from now on for date nights. Well...