Port Tobacco Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

TLDR/ lipstick on a pig.

New owners, new menu, new staff. The renovations look great! Modern coastal vibes, new furniture, more seating, fresh paint, new tile, and nice updated decor. No longer a crab place.

We had reservations and waited 45 min to be sat.

Drinks & food- the appetizers came out surprisingly quickly. The hush puppies were decent. The ranch chips were tasty but it was a small handful of potato chips for $10. I’d expect that amount as a side dish. The drinks came after the apps. A canned beer was served without a glass & not offered. The PTR crush was watered down and small. My mojito tasted like it was jug lime juice, a splash of rum, a splash of soda. No muddling, no mint, definitely not fresh lime and it was garnished with a sad bit of mint and a lemon slice(?). Then we wait. The entrees took a very long time to come out. Our server seemed very busy/maybe a bit overwhelmed. There were other servers standing around, managers walking around talking to each other but not engaging tables. We asked for water 3 times before we got refills. When the food finally came- it was mostly wrong- or maybe the menu was wrong? The Caesar salad had romaine, cucumbers, onions, but no Parmesan, no croutons? The PTR garden salad- came out just like the Caesar but no arugula, no corn. The kid’s salmon was fine. The Smokey Bacon Chicken sandwich-apparently it wasn’t entered when the rest of the order was placed- no biggie! It happens. When this sandwich showed up just a few minutes later… cold. The whole meal was cold. My BLT was good- the bacon was thick and crispy and had a great flavor. The fries- to our surprise, are sweet potato fries! This was not mentioned on the menu. They could’ve been good if they were hot but they were cold. At this point it was almost funny how bad it was. The table next to us was having a pretty similar experience. We finish up, ask for the checks- our server had offered to split it in the beginning, then asked again at the end of the meal and still came back with one check. At this point, we asked to speak with a manager. When she came over, she never asked about the food, the service, nothing. We asked for the checks to be split. We asked what the $4 “supplemental fee” on the check was. She stated that it was a fee that the state of MD automatically adds and that PTR has nothing to do with it. This is not true. I don’t know what that fee is but the state doesn’t add it.

The bathroom- If I had used the bathroom before I ate, I’m not sure I would’ve eaten there. The bathroom has been renovated and looks nice but there were dozens, if not hundreds of flies in that bathroom. Dead, flying, landing on everything. Everywhere. A fly trap full of flies. Dead flies on the floor, live flies on every surface. It is so gross. Why are there that many flies? That makes me wonder what does the kitchen look like? Are there that many flies in there? A few flies that came in from outside is one thing but this is an infestation.

Some questions- What is that “supplemental fee” actually for? What are the managers doing? They’re definitely not actively engaging with customers. Who is running expo? Someone that knows the menu and cares about presentation should be there but that’s obviously not happening. Why are random servers (that don’t even know what they have) delivering food after a mess up? This should absolutely be a manager of some sort. Why is there only one POS machine? There was constantly a line for the servers to place orders. Why are there so many flies?

As a long time local resident, I’ve seen this location go through several owners and even more managers. I really wanted this iteration of this local eatery to flourish. It’s such a great location and has so much potential. As of now it feels like they threw lipstick on a pig. It looks nice but the problems that have plagued it-mostly poor management by owners and/or managers- continue to do so.

I hope for their sake (and all the other locals that want them to do well) they make some changes and have a successful...

This is a tough review to leave, as this is a new restaurant to the area, and there are always issues to work out when first opening. My opinion is based on a 42-year career as a business manager and having lived in a resort town my entire life, until moving to Maryland last year. My understanding is that the restaurant was now intended to be an upscale restaurant and that they were bringing in a great chef. I can't speak to the inside revamp, as we always ate outside previously. It looked neat and clean. I think the tables could have spaced a little further apart. The outside was a nice change. You could see new umbrella's and that the all of the wooded tables and chairs had been freshly painted, along with railing. There was another seating area with fire pits on either side of the bottom deck, and that was great addition. The only thing that did not make sense, esthetically, was the turquoise wall out back. Either painting it white, or the same dark blue to match the chairs would give a visual connection. Food: he had the crab cake dinner and I had the crab cake sandwich. He had a few beers and I had 2 glasses of wine. He felt that his crab cakes were bland with a little flavor drizzled from sauce. And no sides, other a corn salsa or corn relish? I could not finish my sandwich. all of the flavors fought each other, from the drizzle of sauce on top, to whatever was slathered on the bottom bun, to the peppered bacon. His dinner was $48 and I don't remember what my sandwich was priced at, but your new restaurant is nowhere near the quality to charge those prices. It also would have been nice to see a chicken dish among the entrees. Let's talk about the drinks. $6.50 was reasonable for the beer. However, $16 for the wine by glass, for not even a full pour, was offensive. Let alone for 8–9-ounce specialty drinks. You’re not that restaurant, and this is not a resort town, nor do you have the reputation that has earned those prices. You haven't even put up a new sign at the road, and using the previous restaurants old, beat up, weathered sign. That is so tacky. I also called around 5 pm to move my reservation from 7 to 6, and was met with a voicemail stating that you are still closed for the season. I would also encourage you to stop with requiring reservations, as you are nowhere near this quality of restaurant, at this time. You absolutely can be, but you have to earn it. And lastly, the dress code was such a turn off. There was absolutely no professionalism in the dress code. You either had females in second skin jeans with EVERYTHING showing, there was a young lady in black spandex workout shorts, and 2 others with shorts stopping at ass cheek. This all speaks Hooters and not someone trying bring a higher end restaurant to Southern Maryland. I’m starting with a 3-star, in hopes that you will take your reviews constructively and become the 5-star restaurant that you want to be.

I do want to add that Nikki was fantastic...

We were so excited when we learned that the Port Tobacco Marina restaurant was reopening. We always enjoyed it. It was casual, fun, the food was consistently good or great and very affordable. On a typical Saturday afternoon or evening, there would be good music, people dancing, eating and generally having a good time. The mix of people was great also. Bikers, families with children, young folks, church folks, boaters, and good old Charles County peeps. So, on a Saturday night, the hubby and I went. It’s awesome that the parking lot has been resurfaced, everything inside has been repainted, redecorated with new lighting, new tables, booths, and updated bathrooms. Nice!!! We were seated even though we didn’t have a reservation. Reservation? That’s new. Frozen drinks are in the menu, but I wasn’t allowed to order any of them because the Tiki bar wasn’t open. Huh? Oookay… I’ll do the Lavender Lemonade “ thingy, which actually was good, but it was also $16. We ordered the crab dip and their signature salad as appetizers. Both were just OK at best. As for the menu, they are clearly trying to go for a more upscale restaurant. That includes more upscale prices. Really? In Charles County? At a marina? I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and my husband ordered the lump crab meat sandwich. The word lump is a misnomer because there were no lumps in the lump crab meat sandwich. Any Marylander knows what lump crab meat is and what a Maryland lump crabcake should look and taste like. My chicken sandwich was actually very good and craveable, but I won’t be returning in the near future. Service was not great. I recognize that this is a new restaurant and they have not hit their stride yet. But they are off to a poor start when you see staff having impromptu staff meetings at the bar, while people are waiting for drinks to be made orders to be taken and food to be served.Overall, our bill came to a little over $120. That was for two appetizers two cocktails and two sandwiches. With tip we paid $135. Prime St., Grill or Charles Street restaurant would have been a much better use of our money and our evening I will As to how long this restaurant will survive. If you are going to do upscale at the marina, the food has got to get better. You’ve got to have a better menu and your service should be exceptional. Those things are not happening at the moment. For those of us that remember the good old days think of it this way Port tobacco Marina restaurant closed as we know it. The restaurant that is there now is something completely different. And in my opinion, not worth the money or the time even with the...