Serengeti Steakhouse Baltimore — Restaurant in Maryland

We came here for my birthday last week. I understand that this restaurant is trying to portray itself as a fine dining experience, but the way to present yourself as a fine dining establishment is by delivering a quality experience, not by having unpleasant waiters. Our first request was if we could please receive a plastic cup. I understand that this is not part of the restaurants image, but it shares a kitchen with a restaurant that certainly supplies plastic cups and, even in a fine dining establishment, the customer is always right. Instead, the waiter rolled his eyes and argued with us about the fact that there were not any available. When we pointed out that they shared a kitchen with a place that did have them, he brought one out, 20 minutes later. The appetizer we split, a sort of carnivore dream poutine, with barbecued brisket and bits of lamb bacon on top of fries, was delicious. But when our entrees came out, one of our steaks was room temperature at best. Even stranger, the barbecue brisket sandwich had very uneven temperature. The brisket on the sides of the sandwich was refrigerator temperature, while the middle was steamy hot. Again, fine dining establishments should probably not rely on their microwave. I let our server know that the food was cold, and he promptly whisked it back to the kitchen, only to come out a few moments later and ask me whether I meant the food or the plate. What?!?! First of all, you don't argue with your customer over the temperature of the food, which he did, claiming that they had "opened it up and it burned their fingers." Second of all, even if the plates were cold, which they weren't, they are not supposed to be cold if this is indeed a fine dining establishment. Finally, I reiterate. The customer, not the pretentious waiter, is always right. The barbecue brisket sandwich came out again in warmer version after about five minutes, and it really was quite tasty when it was the appropriate temperature. The steak, however, was a different story. After 15 minutes, the waiter brought back the original cold steak, and asked if we wanted it, adding that he was going to throw it out anyway. But it took a full 20 to 25 minutes for a new steak to come out properly heated. I should point out that the steak was supposed to be done medium, so 25 minutes is a bit excessive. While the steak was, I'm sure, perfectly done, everybody else had already finished eating and so it to went home in a doggy bag. Did I mention it was my birthday? The waiter did ask if we wanted dessert and presented a free dessert of two cookies and a scoop of ice cream on the house to mark my birthday, but by that time it was late, I was grumpy, and I had already written off the service at this restaurant as completely unacceptable for a place where we were going to enjoy a fine dining experience. I am well aware of the fact that kosher restaurants think that they are God's gift to kosher Humanity. I was a restaurant reviewing partner for a major Israeli publication for over half a decade, so I have a bit of experience reviewing kosher restaurants, since that is all we did. Serengeti delivers when it comes to the quality of the food, but if I were writing a review, the food would get a short mention after I finished excoriating the service. To be honest, next time we are looking for a celebratory meal, I'll take a little bit less fine dining and a little bit more respect for...

It's unfortunate that I can only leave 5 stars for this review.

I went to this restaurant tonight with my 3 kids -- reservations were a cinch and we were seated immediately. The bread was warm and delicious and the herbed margarine was very tasty. We asked for more and it was provided in abundance and with a smile.

I ordered soup to share with my 8 yo daughter and requested 2 spoons -- instead, they split it into two bowls without me even asking. Wow...how great that was!

We split two 12oz long steaks for the 4 of us and said we liked peppercorn -- they obliged, even though the peppercorn treatment was for a different one of their steaks. We ordered them medium-rare, and when they came out and we sliced into them, one was perfect and the other was overdone. When I showed the waitress and asked if one of them was overdone, she whisked it away immediately and brought another one in its stead as soon as it was ready. These steaks were tasty, full of juiciness and the texture was delightful.

We also ordered the shredded brisket over french fries, and that was super tasty!! The garlic mashed potatoes were boring and bland -- skip that when you go.

We finished off with a crème brûlée which was very well made, but the dish was very small and deep, instead of shallow and wide, so there wasn't enough crusted top for my liking, but that's a personal preference, I suppose. :)

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. The wait staff is very attentive and the water was refilled almost as soon as we noticed the need ourselves. We'd definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants a delectable dinner. The price is more than Dougie's, but if you have the money and you want the better quality, you'll appreciate it...

Last night was my first experience at Serengeti and I expect to visit more frequently. On the plus side, the appetizers and main courses were surprisingly good - the food was well seasoned, the meat was prepared as requested and the servers were very attentive to bringing the food out as soon as it was ready - but we all received our food at the same time (party of 5). In the words of a member of our party, "they know how to cook a steak". The serving sizes were generous. At our table we enjoyed the ribs - 6 large ribs with meat falling off the bone; tournados - always a great cut of meat; a prix fixe meal (steak main). For apps we had the flat bread (delicious with an olive tapenade on the bread and a chimichurri sauce on the flank steak. The fried green tomato app was delicious as well. For dessert we had a chocolate brownie worh strawberries and ice cream) and lemon meringue tart. The former was good - melt and delicious. The lemon was a miss - probably the biggest miss of the whole meal - not tart at all... more of a lemon cream and it tasted artificial - skip it if you like lemon. While the restaurant is next to two others inside this small mall, they do a good job of creating an island of...