Libbey's Coastal Kitchen and Cocktails — Restaurant in Maryland

We had the pleasure of trying Libby’s for a Christmas party. The experience was better than I would have thought reading some of the reviews. We love a good plate of food and will literally travel the world around good food, this place serves up some food worthy of making a trip.

First off, the remodel and the coastal theme fit the views of the bay and the bay bridge. Tastefully updated without going overboard. Nothing too eccentric but just elevated enough to fit the experience. Beach casual.

The service and the food were exceptional. We were greeted with an eager service staff willing to make the experience one to be remembered from the moment we arrived. From the drink order until we paid the check, the service was top notch. As for the food; we had a happy table.

Seafood “nachos”- 10/10 Hand cut potato chips fried crisp topped with jumbo lump crab, jumbo shrimp, a seafood béchamel sauce garnished with grilled corn. Absolutely amazing. We will be back for that dish in itself.

Fried calamari- 8/10 delicious fried calamari accompanied with a pepper relish and house made dipping sauce. Elevated calamari, not frozen bagged stuff, cut and lightly breaded in house and flash fried. Very good dish if you like calamari.

Crab dip- 8/10 Creamy crab dip loaded with crab, cream cheese and kissed with old bay. I liked how it was served in a bread bowl. I’d have preferred something other than chips as an accompaniment but the bread bowl at the end was just what I was looking for. Crispy bread.

Tuna tower- 9/10 fresh sushi grade tuna sashimi layered with mashed avocado. Not entirely sure what else was on this dish as I was so occupied with the nachos, I just grabbed a spoonful and ate. The tuna was extremely fresh, lacked any “fishy” flavor at all and was a good fit for the chips I had left from my crab dip. Very light and delicate dish that I will order again when not distracted by them nachos.

Crabcakes- 9/10 Chicken Chesapeake- 9/10 Rockfish special- 10/10 Ribeye- 9/10

Overall- 9/10 Exceptional!!!

We had bar drinks that I am overlooking. They were all up to par with what we’d have expected. Good old fashioned! But the drinks were overshadowed by an awesome meal. We will be back often. If you have a chance to get here prior to the busy season, do yourself that favor. This place is going to be a madhouse come spring time and I will not be waiting long to get more of them seafood nachos. I think the tuna to start and then nachos for my meal!

Run here for...

Better than they were when they first opened but they still struggle on small things. The good…we’ve enjoyed the burgers, crab cake sandwiches, Cobb salad and mixed drinks. Nothing really that bad, but they need to improve on some other stuff. Calamari as pictured had no breading that stuck after it came out of the fryer. How do you plate this and send this out? Side of greens (which was an up charge instead of fries) is literally dumped from a bag with no olive oil or anything as I’ve seen as normal in other restaurants. Do you serve water ? Last time you did not but the time before it you did. I like calamari, but we can’t order that here anymore. I want this place to be more than a burger place but for us right now, they’re a weekday location and not good enough for Friday/Saturday. Maybe we go out too much, but we know when a place is a 4 or 5 star restaurant and this just isn’t…as of now.

Update: I would have appreciated the owner's response but found it in tune with my dining experience; cookie cutter and no individual thought put in it. As for most of your diners...I have no doubt that most diners leave happy, and we didn't leave unhappy; but the restaurant doesn't measure up to other options. We go out A LOT, and look at the collective reviews and measure them based on number of reviews posted against what they gave your restaurant. I think you'll see posters that get out, don't find Libby's more than a 3 star restaurant once they get past the view. I do expect that to get better though and we will be happy to visit again as long as not on a prime going out night as I don't think the quality is there. When you hear people talking about your food when they are at their tables, and not the view as much, you'll know you're...

Let me start this review off with saying I am a Kent Island Local. It seems all the reviews for Libby’s are from employees. We finally came to Libbeys after the iconic Hemmingway’s closed. We asked the bartender if the crab cakes were good… she paused and said best on the island. So my wife being the crab cake lover she’s is tried them as well as buffalo wings and Mac and cheese. The buffalo wings came out and were just BBQ’D type wings not buffalo wings like you would expect and about as good as a low class diner. Mac and cheese was pretty good. Then the crab cakes came out with asparagus and fries. The crab cakes tasted OLD.. to the point I thought I might have food poisoning after one bite (seriously). I never have said anything to try to get food compd in my life but did because of how bad it was and it’s price. I nicely told the manager it tasted very old, and he said “we get it fresh every day”. The only thing I knew to say was I love crab cakes and eat them all the time. I knew the manager was full of it when The ketchup for fries was like frozen to the container and we said is this normal and he said we pump in fresh into every container… I literally held the ketchup upside down and not one dropped spilled out. Help it upside down! ughhhhhhhh. He compd the crab cake but nothing else, the bill came to roughly 60, the bar tenders were great so of course I still tipped 20%. We will never come here again. From a local the best crab cakes are at BRIDGES then Adams grille is a close second on crab cakes. We eat out all the time and this is the first review we have negatively left for a KI business. Word of advice Libby’s … if a customers says something is old.. don’t try to tell them it is caught...