Red Hot & Blue Annapolis — Restaurant in Maryland

On November 4th 2022, my family and I visited this restaurant. We frequent this restaurant once a month as we travel to the area from Stafford VA. When we go there, the food is always good, hot and quite tasty, and the service is usually great as well. However, tonight was the exception as the waitress we had, Briona D, did not provide the best service. They were not busy at 630pm, and we were able to get to our seats quickly. Briona D came to the table and took our order about 5 minutes later, yet our order (Chicken wings, fried pickles, mac and cheese (2), ribs and catfish) weren't put in until 655pm. It took another 35 minutes for our food to arrive even though four other parties in our area and other areas came in, were served, ate and left before we got our food. Meanwhile, Briona spent time at other tables chit chatting, didn't necessarily pay the best attention to our needs, and did not apologize for the delay in our food. When the food came out, she must have been so behind that another waitress had to bring the food. Initially we gave her the benefit of the doubt in assuming she was overwhelmed, but that could not have been possible because there were four to five empty booths in our area. We had to ask for our check, to go containers, etc., which by this time frustrated me even more. When I got the check, I paid for the food and left a 2 cent tip. I signed the check, and wrote an explanation of our subpar experience and left the restaurant. As we were loading up our children in the car, Briona D came out of the restaurant and aggressively yelled towards us and quickly went back inside. At this point I decided to go into the restaurant and ask for the night manager. I told him what transpired and he admitted they weren't busy and there should not have been a delay in receiving our food. He also stated that he would take a look at the cameras to see if there were any issues between our party and Briona D.

There are many concerns that I have, particularly when Briona D was dissatisfied with the tip she received. Coming out to the parking lot to confront us about her dissatisfaction of the tip could have caused a bigger problem, because she was hostile and aggressive in her tone and actions. These types of actions should not be tolerated in any type of work environment, especially in a great establishment as Red Hot and Blue.

Secondly, while we were dissatisfied with tonight's service, this will not deter us from eating here in the future, but I felt it should be known that this took place so that it is understood that no one should receive subpar service, especially with the increase in the cost of food,...

Stopped by in early July and ultimately I was pretty disappointed.

We put our name in and we were told it would be a 10 minute wait by the host. While we were waiting another couple came in and were seated immediately by another host. WTH?

I ordered the ribs with catfish, Mac n cheese, Cole slaw and corn bread. ($19)

The Mac n cheese was bland but creamy, not bad but not good either. The Cole slaw was the same, bland, but the cabbage was cut very thin and it didn't have any extra stuff in it like peppers or pickles. Again, not bad but not great either.

The catfish was moist and flaky and the flavor was nice but the coating was very tough, almost paper-like. I had to use a knife to cut it to bite sized pieces, fish shouldn't need to be cut with a knife.

The ribs were the most disappointing. When I ordered I was asked if I wanted my ribs sauced or with a dry rub, so I could choose my own sauce. This seemed like an odd question to me as most places do one or the other, I guessed this place must smoke some ribs with sauce and some with a rub. (Turns out I guessed wrong). I chose the dry rub option. The ribs did NOT have the membrane removed. (That's just lazy BBQ) The meaty side was coated with a spicy mix that was completely dry and was obviously applied after cooking. This is not a dry rub, a dry rub is applied before smoking and allowed to liquefy on the surface of the meat before smoking. This place must be smoking their ribs essentially naked then applying the sauce or "rub" afterwards. More lazy BBQ. The ribs were over cooked completely falling off the bone and dry. The meat had a pink color but I didn't taste any smoke so I'm not convinced they were even smoked at all and the pink color is faked. These ribs could have been cooked in an oven and come out exactly the same. Lazy BBQ.

Price wasn't terrible, average for BBQ and restaurant decor was appropriate for a BBQ place the waitress was good, no...

My Boo and I visited here on yesterday, Sunday, June 1st, for the 3rd time this Year. We drive over an Hour from Fort Washington, MD. It is always well worth the ride. As usual, our dining experience was superb!

My "favorite" Dish is the CREAM OF CRAB SOUP. Their Recipe, whatever it is, should be "against the Law" it is so Delicious! It is creamy and "filled" with Lumps of crab.😋 We always order the Bowl because the Cup is just not enough.

For the first time trying, I ordered the Smoke House Salad which is a Salad of Greens with cucumber, tomatoes, fresh corn, strips of Tortilla Chips and topped with Chicken and Smoked Brisket, YUMMY 😋

My Boo is not one to venture trying different Dishes, so he ordered his usual Platter that comes with a 1/2 slab of smoked Ribs ( with your choice of Seasoning) a couple of Chicken Wings, Potato salad and Baked Beans. Even their Potato Salad is tasty and you know everyone can't make good potato salad......

We usually just order Beer or Ice Tea, so I can't comment on their Drinks, but they do have a pretty good variety to offer. I'll order a Cocktail on our next Trip.

The Wait Staff are always pleasant and attentive. The atmosphere is casual and comfortable. The prices are quite reasonable.

My only complaint is they are located over an hour away. They do have several other locations, but we will just continue to take this drive to Annapolis for their Delicious CREAM OF CRAB SOUP. However, be sure to Call ahead because the Soup is not served "every" day and that's a shame....

So, if you're ever in the area, do yourself a big favor and treat yourself to a delicious meal you won't...