Ocean Pride — Restaurant in Maryland

I'm going to leave my 5 star review from 4 or 5 years ago stand so im using a different email for this one. Cannnot believe this just happened. I'm still in shock, tbh.

I have been a loyal patron of Ocean Pride Seafood since I was a child. Living within walking distance, it has always been a staple in my life. Ocean Pride is one of the last independently owned seafood restaurants in our area, which makes it even more special to me and my family.

Recently, my mom and I decided to grab a quick meal there, as we do every once in a while. As we were finishing our meal, my mother asked me to get a bottle of wine from the carryout section. I realized I had forgotten my credit card but had Apple Pay on my phone. When I asked Pat, the friendly lady who works at the carryout, if they accepted Apple Pay, she informed me that they did not.

To solve the issue, I went back to the bar and asked the bartender if he could add a bottle of Kendall Jackson to our bill. We decided that I would get the bottle myself. I went to the cooler, found the bottle, and noticed a man behind the counter who wasn’t paying attention. Out of politeness and to avoid any misunderstanding, I tried to get his attention to let him know I had paid for the bottle and was grabbing it (watch a video if you have it, I approached him, he wasn't paying attention, and wouldnt have even known I was there unless I said something to him). Bc ya know, normally, thieves don’t announce their intentions, and since I'm not, and I wanted to ensure there was no confusion.

As I was leaving, I remarked to my mom that the guy behind the counter looked at me like I was stealing the bottle, which I found odd and kinda weird. We stopped at a gas station on the way back, and to my disbelief, I noticed Pat from Ocean Pride’s carryout behind me. I couldn’t believe it – I felt like I had stepped into crazy town. We weren't at OP anymore...literally down the street at another business.

I asked her if she was there because of the bottle of wine. She confirmed, which made me feel even more humiliated. With my mother by my side, I had to ask my mother to present my receipt and prove that I hadn’t stolen a $20 bottle of wine (which is more like $12, but that’s beside the point). I have never felt so insulted and humiliated in my entire life, especially in my own neighborhood. To add a bit of irony to the situation, Pat mentioned that we could get a free dessert as compensation, which felt like a small price to pay for such an embarrassing experience.

This experience has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Ocean Pride has been a cherished part of my life, but this incident has significantly tarnished its image for me. I hope they reconsider how they handle situations like this in the future to avoid humiliating their...

We went today memorial weekend didn’t realize we needed a reservation, but the staff there was very accommodating and worked it out for us to be seated and served before their reservations. Rush-hour started. We were not rush and had excellent service. The staff work together, they were professional, polite, courteous The food was phenomenal, and the crabs were season , a nice size for a medium crab full of sweet crab meat I will be doing my birthday celebration there this July i was definitely pleased!!!!! Well after this last visit I scheduled my 70th birthday party there on July 19, 2025. It was a disaster. My event was scheduled months ago and when we got there today, they had no idea we were coming so nothing was prepared the down Deposit was paid. a month ago The menu was set through the catering department.the event was from 3pm-6 pm scramble to get our food together, which was unlimited crabs; corn on the cob, crab soup,cold slaw, hush Puppies, Fried chicken, which they did not have so they voluntarily substituted it with chicken tenders and did not say anything until My Daughter brought it up and later brought out some dried over cooked fried chicken it was 80 a person for 15 people. The corn on the cob was not done,no taste and hard.The waitress named May was the best part of our experience.She did a wonderful professional job basically all by herself to turn the situation into what it was pleasant at the end.It was most displease moments but I am going to stop now for $1764.00 I will not be returning to ocean Pride anymore was very disappointed continuing with this review from the weekend experience today 7/21/2025 I did speak to the manager Kathy was kinda disappointed on some of her response to our situation. The crabs were great. Most of the food was good and as I said, the waitress was awesome, but I wouldn’t advise planning a event of a large magnitude because the manager is also the catering manager.She she offered me a $50 gift certificate. It was my 70th birthday a special occasion a $50 gift certificate or any certificate can satisfy the disappointment. I had walking in there and nothing was scheduled or prepared at the time that it should’ve been and the manager on duty never presented himself to me or my guest through the whole event, poor service, and that I was surprised of except with our waitress May she was...

Visiting family from out of town. They wanted us to go to Ocean Pride for food first. Here is what was most notable from the negative experience.

Our server did not care to write down any of our order which came across as just arrogant and annoying, especially since several aspects of the order ended up being messed up. Specifically - well done was not well done but medium, the oysters were forgotten about, and point #2. We had asked right away that our group of 4 people, two couples, be split into separate checks from the start. At the end, she completely ignored this and presented one check with all items. Then when we made her aware of this, she did a last minute crapshoot guesswork of who had what, and presented us effectively with a bill that was equally halved. Right down to the plate of 12 oysters ordered and enjoyed by one couple, to be split 6 oysters and 6 oysters on each bill. I am from Wisconsin, and the value of the food is just appalling. They want nearly $20 for a burger, that comes with absolutely no sides other than these horribly cheap and stale chips. Every topping was another add on - it is a shame to even call it an Ocean Pride Burger if the only thing it has on it to start is just a burger and patty. +3.09 for crab dip. +1.03 for cheddar. +1.03 for american! Let me save you the trip to say the $25 burger is not at all worth it. False advertising. At best they are either incompetent or at worst dishonest, but the Crab Mac and Cheese came with absolutely no crab. You can also bet that the $20 “Crab” Mac and Cheese was not worth it at all.

Save yourself the disappointment and find somewhere else that actually values your patronage.

Edit from 2 stars to 1 star for the typical shallow negative google review reply with zero follow up to the email sent. Seemingly only wanting to appear...