Mother's Peninsula Grille — Restaurant in Maryland

So disappointed. Dining out November 1st is part of family tradition to kick off the holiday season. Since I cook for every other holiday, I get to pick where we go. We'd been wanting to try Mother's, it's close to home, and I wanted to keep it casual. We arrived early - around 5.

First, let me say the staff was great. All were friendly and fun to interact with. What follows has nothing to do with the hostesses or wait staff.

My husband I both ordered burgers (his was Joe's something with bbq sauce, mine was the black and blue). We both ordered medium well burgers. The burgers are $15+ each and only come with chips. Really? Fries cost an extra $2. Okay, no big deal. I like "boardwalk style" fries so, why not?

The burgers didn't fly out of the kitchen, but the wait was not unreasonable. We ordered beer and a cocktail while we waited.

The fries were barely warm, under seasoned and chewy - not a great start. Definitely not worthy of the "boardwalk style" label. The burgers. Wow. Where to start... they were thick, which seemed promising. They were so dense and so overcooked and dry, they were difficult to eat. We took them off the bun but that didn't help. It was as if they were left over from the night before, microwaved, and served to us. My husband's at least had bbq sauce on it, but it was still so dry. I tried to drown mine in ketchup (on the table for the fries) but ultimately left nearly half uneaten, chopped up on my plate. We aren't the folks who send food back - you never know what they do to your food when that happens! - so we just paid the check and left. We also didn't say anything to the waitress. No point in making her feel badly about it. (I wanted to tell her but the hubs did not). All these words to say, our food was subpar and we...

Absolutely delicious. I had the Heart Attack on a Plate, a beer-battered stuffed cheeseburger on a Kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, and onion, typically served with house-made chips (which are also scrumptious here), but I got a fresh, crisp, and creamy Caesar side salad. We started with traditional Maryland crab dip, served with pita wedges and soft pretzel bites, and deep fried pickle chips, served with a zesty dipping sauce. The crab dip was very good, with a pinch more dill than I'm used to, but it was so savory that way. The pickle chips were state-fair perfect, turned up to 11 by the dipping sauce. The burger was juicy and filling, but frankly, to inspire a real heart attack, I could've used some bacon in there! I mentioned that to our server (a lovely young lady whose name escapes me, my fault not hers), and she played along, even suggesting maybe bacon-wrapping the burger! I loved that. The decor is comfy but modern, the space nice and open and clean, with a spacious bar and plenty of TVs with all kinds of games on. The service was quick and attentive and friendly. We finished up with a few different desserts that were absolutely indulgent and divine: a scoop of French toast ice cream, English toffee cake, and bread pudding beignets. The ice cream (for a limited time only) was good enough for breakfast, the English toffee cake was as good as any British chocolatier could do, and the beignets were like a mash up of homemade bread pudding and freshly made doughnuts. I had a wonderful 40th birthday...

You'll appreciate the atmosphere as soon as you walk into Mothers. Servers dressed in Mother's swag, a huge bar to the left, a large open dining area to the right adorned with local.sports photos and a covered open air area out towards the back. We sat in the bar area first but were blasted away by the draft from the a.c. unit. It was like sitting in a wind tunnel so we moved to the main dining area and were greeted promptly by our server. My wife ordered the boneless old bay bites and I got the salmon and mashed with coleslaw for sides. I also asked for a sample of the cream of crab soup. Truly amazing but I'm fat and all I could do was lick the little plastic cup they gave me like a puppy and wish I could get a gallon of it to take home. Awesome texture with loads of crab meat. I'll be honest with you guys, I really enjoyed the salmon! I had asked for it broiled with their garlic butter sauce and man was it on point. The mashed potatoes were hot and creamy and super good. I tried my wife's food and it was great, minus the coleslaw, which I don't like anyway, so I'll take her word for it. Our server could have checked on us a bit more. Overall, I would suggest mothers grill, there were tons of families here on a Friday evening, 7pm, and I hear it's a great alternative to Tinder...