Linwoods — Restaurant in Maryland

TLDR: Wonderful dining experience on all fronts. Fine dining service with a easily approachable menu. Come for the pizza and the apps.

Vibe: 5/5. Located in a small business park in Owings Mills, Linwoods is not what you would expect in a sea of chain restaurants in the heart of suburbia. When you walk in, the ambiance is welcoming and elegant, not stuffy in the least bit. White table clothes, oversized plush booths and wood accents adorn the entire restaurant. Linwoods has both small and large tables, as well as a bar so all party sizes are welcome.

Service: 5/5. A true fine dining experience when it comes to the service. Our waitress did a remarkable job at making our dinner service special. Some of our party was running a little late, so our waitress took the present groups drink orders and periodically checked in until the rest of the table arrived. When it came time to order, the waitress did a great job making recommendations and even helped us with ordering the ricotta ravioli appetizer. The appetizer portion only came with 3 raviolis, however we had 4 people dining with us Fortunately she worked with the kitchen to add one more to the portion so everyone could have one. Meal pacing was spot on with all apps were served together as well as mains. We were celebrating a birthday, so the staff was made aware and presented a delicious s'mores cake to the table. Overall, perfect service all around.

Food/Drink: 5/5. Linwoods presents an interesting menu that could be deemed elevated American bistro food. Their menu definitely focuses on sharing and family style dining, with a heavy selection of appetizers and their infamous gourmet pizza. During my visit, my table ordered apps such as the charged octopus, brussel caesar and the ricotta ravioli. All 3 were amazing, with the brussels being some of the best I have ever had due to the seasoning. The octopus was also fantastic, pairing perfectly with the red pepper hummus. For mains, we ordered several of their peppered tuna dish as well as a mushroom margarita pizza. The pizza, which is an odd thing to have on a fine dining restaurant menu, was superlative. Leaning towards the thin crispy side of the pizza spectrum, the texture was spot on and paired nicely with the toppings. The tuna dish was also excellent. The rare ahi pepper tuna worked nicely with the crispy rice cake and sesame soy sauce. One must not forget about the bar program at Linwoods, as every cocktail we ordered was expertly prepared and balanced. A favorite of the night was the Horse with No Name, which is a bourbon based cocktail that uses green tea simple syrup, lemonciello and mint to make a drink that sips like a mint julep meets Arnold Palmer. Make sure to leave room for dessert, as the banana cream raspberry pie is a fun take on the classic as well as the s'mores cake. Overall, if you find yourself looking for a laid back, yet elevated dining experience without having to drive into the city, Linwoods has...

Compared to other fine restaurants near Baltimore such as Charleston, Rusty Scupper or Tersiguels, I honestly was disappointed with Linwoods. First, the restaurant’s ambience is uninteresting and lack of character-there’s no theme in the decor-not historical, not contemporary, not upscale, not quaint-not in any particular style-which would be ok for a restaurant with a scenic view or near attractions. But this one is in Owings Mills. The tables are very close so it’s not an ideal place for romantic or private conversations. We could hear the conversations from tables next to us when people weren’t even speaking loudly. The food was average. My husband had beef and I ordered sea bass-both mediocre, like their decor. We also had salad which was actually better than the entrees. Finally the service was average too. The lady who waited on us was polite but not warm or friendly. She checked on our table once during the entire meal. It was a busy Sat night and the restaurant was full, still with a restaurant marketed as fine dining, the service should be up to par with the price tag. For those who care to know, I was slightly stunned to notice that the customers in the whole restaurant were entirely white, 65+ seniors-at least on the evening we went. I was the only minority there (my husband is white). Maybe that was why the gentleman next table kept staring at us, either he wasn’t accustomed to see minority dining in this restaurant or he didn’t know we Asians typically look younger than our age so he thought my husband was robbing the cradle..Lol. (My husband is in mid 50s, I’m in late 40s). The lack of diveristy of the patrons in a restaurant doesn’t necessarily bother me, but it DOES say something about the restaurant itself. Normally a truly upscale fine restaurant near big cities tends to have a very diverse customer pool, and this one is not that far from Baltimore/DC. As far as I could see that night, their staff was as homogeneous as their patrons. Just something to keep in mind if you’re a minority and...

I came here because the reviews on Google and my experience was not the same. I gave it two stars because the restaurant is very nice but the food is very adequate adequate. The proportions were ridiculous I got the goat cheese ravioli with two tiny pieces of Asparagus it was $14 for 3 pieces. Are you serious who's that gonna full a baby ?? I got the Margarita pizza it was OK nothing special about it, but it wasn't the worst thing I ate. Then I got a complimentary desert very tiny as you can see in the picture below. I couldn't even choose my OWN dessert, they chose for me! They gave me marshmallow with dark chocolate. I do not even eat marshmallows like come on. I can also get a bigger dessert at the cheesecake factory or other restaurants for free. The only thing great about this meal was the complimentary bread. The bread was the only delicious meal I had here. The only thing is they give you ONE I had to ask 2 more times can i get bread. At Olive garden and other Italian restaurants they just lay out a basket of bread. Why do I have to keep asking?? I am not trying to watch my figure I love bread, like stop being stingy with the bread. The last thing to this bad experience was my waiter her name was Barbara. She was not terrible but she wasn't great either. She was always in-and-out catering to other customers. I've had better experience at less fancy restaurants. Maybe because it was kind of busy but I've been at restaurants where it was very busy and the staff are still attentive. If I'm coming to a fancy restaurant I expect the service and the food to match the decorum. This is why I do not go to overly fancy restaurants because the food never matches!! The only thing this restaurant had was the look of being fancy WITHOUT any real QUALITY. What a waste of money I should ask for a REFUND!! I'll just stick to more simple restaurants with quality. Also the iced tea was terrible add sweet tea to the...