Knoxie's Table — Restaurant in Maryland

Rude, humiliating, and bizarre...those are the only words I am left with after I was party to one of the most absurd hospitality experiences of my life.

My family and I are locals and have been coming here regularly since they've opened. We have spent thousands of dollars with the restaurant, and spa over the years, and I have even stayed in one of their suites after my wedding.

At some point maybe three years ago my dad received a meal that wasn't all that great (it happens), he complained, there was some back and forth with the server and that was the end of it...or so we thought.

The exchange wasn't heated or that noteworthy, however, it earned my dad and mom a lifetime ban from the restaurant...which they weren't told about! They visited 3 or 4 more times after the meal that garnered the complaint and right around Christmas time with our entire family around we were harassed by a server and told to leave. We were shocked, angry and worst of all we were humiliated.

To figure out why this happened we talked to Bill Redman the manager the next day, he didn't really have a specific example of what happened to cause a life time ban, but he agreed that we could start with a clean slate and let by-gones be by-gones.

Great! lifetime ban over! Right? WRONG!

Fast-forward to yesterday April 17th of 2024... 3 years and dozens of visits later. They kicked my family out again! There was no complaint about the food this time, we learned our lesson... Offering any feedback on their mediocre $50 steak is unacceptable!

Apparently, while the manager Bill Redman was able to start with a clean slate, the server, Kristen took it upon herself to kick my parents out of the restaurant when they had just spent $300+ on a 45 minute massage.

Here's my problem with this place...its not the overpriced mediocre table fair, the over hyped spice gardens next to the highway, or the aesthetic of the building (it looks like a ski resort you'd see in the Poconos not a seaside lodge). My problem is the hospitality and how they treat local people.

If they don't want our business that's fine, but don't take my money and humiliate me TWICE. If something that horrible happened I should remember it, and if I'm black listed I should know about it. Apparently there is a long list of locals that are black listed...interested to know if they're aware of it. You can't treat people like this and succeed, hopefully they straighten out the staff and let everyone on the "do not serve" list know before they take their money.

The response below to my review is a crock, there weren't muliple interactions and your manager told everyone there was no issue. It's funny last week no one could remember or was aware that there was ever an incident or problem. I would like to know where you were able to get this deep understanding. I would have liked the same deep understanding before I dropped $800 on gift cards at your spa. That's a lot to pay for some stellar hospitality. Here's a suggestion why don't you put pictures up in the lobby and behind the bar so that your entire staff knows who to throw out? At least everyone would be on the same page. I normally charge for that kind of advice...that was free....

My husband and I were looking forward to going to Knoxie's. We have not gotten there in quite a while (we have been disappointed with the restaurant and thought we would try once more). We finally had a chance on Sunday evening. It was disappointing. We ordered 2 glasses of wine and the watermelon salad to start, and told our server that we would share this as we would then order separate entrees. The salad came on one plate, which is rather unusual, especially in what is supposed to be a nice place. It was supposed to have feta cheese, but I am pretty sure it was crumbled goat cheese, which I hate and can definitely tell the difference. Ok, I went with it, because I am a decent, patient person! I had to ask another server about our wine, which was delayed for quite a long time. As I mentioned, I am a reserved and mannerly person, but there was truly a very long wait for it, our server was no where to be found, and I was getting tired of sitting and waiting. Found out that our server was taking care of a large engagement party and did not seem able to divide his time well for us. We were like the forgotten ones in the restaurant. My entree was ok. It was the chicken parmesan, which I think was cooked nicely. My husband ordered the shark special which came out looking good, but the corn risotto was gelatinous. The bottom literally looked like congealed jelly. He said the rest was ok, however. We aren't unkind, and are patient people, but when paying this amount of money, we truly expect better service and food quality. We had to ask for rolls, we had to ask for our wine, and had to ask for a little salt and pepper. In fine dining restaurants, this should happen automatically. I have become disappointed in the restaurant. When it first opened, I just loved it. They had the different spreads for the bread (where are they? We miss them!), and a seemingly better menu with more entree selections. I remember getting a summer tomato salad that was out of this world- haven't seen that either. There didn't seem to be a lot of choice with the entree selections, and since I am not a huge seafood or french fry fan, I went with the chicken. I don't know if I will go back. This isn't the first time I have been unhappy here. I have a couple of other restaurant options on the island at which I would rather spend my money, especially if I am spending quite...

An utterly disappointing experience tonight after many pleasant previous visits.

While we usually have come to expect exceptionally friendly and courteous service at Knoxie's, tonight started off on a different note. Our server was not at all understanding of the fact that several members of our larger party were engaged in conversation and continued asking if we were ready to place an appetizer order. Upon finally placing said appetizer order, we all felt as if we were being pushed through our meal.

The food brought on perhaps the larger of the issues with the meal though. While all of the adults in our party order appetizers, 4 of the 5 felt underwhelmed. From the oysters on the half shell where 2 of the 6 were so small they should have never left the kitchen, to the daily special roasted butternut squash "bisque" which was in no way a bisque (they should check the definition of it) and every bit a thinned puree of squash without any of the cream, or even creaminess, a bisque requires.

We had hopes that the entrees would redeem the kitchen, but again, disappointed. Ordering a $16 cheeseburger that comes with but a single slice of cheese after asking for extra Swiss (literally stated a mound of cheese being desirable) is unacceptable, but having the burger arrive nearly well done after ordering medium rare, is inexcusable for an establishment claiming such level as they do. Another member of our party had a wedge salad served with what amounted to ketchup and mayonnaise served on top of a non crisp wedge of lettuce. After asking for blue cheese dressing and having it never arrive, the wedge remained unfinished.

While these were the biggest issues from the kitchen tonight, the whole meal was uncharacteristically sub par and given the pricing, I don't know that we will be returning...