Surfside Rooster — Restaurant in Maryland

$21 for the worst chicken biscuit I've had in my life. So beyond dry it'll choke you, and completely flavorless. The biscuit was so dry and crumbly (no butter even on it) that it was pointless to try to eat as a sandwich. So instead, I attempted to cut it up, but the chicken was so dry and tough I couldn't even do that, I had to tear it into chunks with my knife and fork. The cook here probably used to work at an expensive nursing home, because even though it was stupidly expensive and looked fancy, there was ZERO seasoning on the chicken. I actually like my chicken well done, but this was dry even after dousing it with hot sauce to try to moisten it up and give it some kind of flavor. With "rooster" literally in their name, you'd think they'd know how to brine and season chicken!

I ordered without cheese or egg, but add bacon, you would think since it's $17 and missing 2 parts, they could thrown in the bacon for free, but nope $4 for 2 slices of bacon (hence $21, $17 for biscuit which does come with potatoes, plus $4 bacon). The bacon was thick sliced, but very unremarkable. No smoky, savory or sweetness... just there.

I had high hopes at first because the potatoes had onions in them, but nope, the potatoes too were unseasoned and dry. Not a drop of oil or butter, no seasoning. No salt, no pepper, no garlic powder or paprika. They would think turmeric is the name of a guy they don't want dating their daughter. I had to add salt, pepper and hot sauce at the table to choke them down. Of course they use the cheapest/stalest powdered black pepper they could find to fill the pepper shaker. At least some fresh cracked pepper would have give a bit of flavor. (I put the pepper you see on before taking the photo, because I could already see no salt or pepper on them)

The decor reminds me of my grandmas old kitchen, and so did the food. If I could eat here once I week i absolutely would.

Everything looked and tasted like it was made from scratch. The potatoes were the perfect texture. The smoked salmon Benedict was probably the best I’ve ever had. Of two eggs I one was slightly over done and the other was perfectly runny. I would take it EXACTLY how it was 100 times again. It came on a croissant which was nice n crispy, and i tell you what I’d eat a bowl of that hollandaise. My partner got the fried chicken, i think it was called “ rooster steak “. It was great too.

BONUS: Homey, and rustic. The coffee mugs are all different in the cutest way. The server was kind and attentive even though they were absolutely slammed. they provide hot sauce at every table no need to ask.

Because it’s so good there are a few things you should be prepared for: • a pretty decent wait on a weekend morning (but no worries they have a large outdoor waiting area) •The only reason I didn’t give the atmosphere 5 stars is because the acoustics / echo in the main dining room make it extremely loud. If you are elderly, have ptsd, or autism, I’d recommend trying to come outside of average breakfast hours to avoid the large families with kids OR bring earplugs. Or maybe try being seated in the smaller dining area ! it’s worth it! • there isn’t a whole lot of parking in front of the restaurant ( though I got lucky and got a great spot) it fills up quickly. But it’s in a strip mall so there is more parking behind and around the building. Also the entrance/ exit in front of the restaurant is tight and risky, I recommend using the larger entrance behind the adjacent parking lot.

Stopping by on a Thursday about 10:30 and wrote our own names on the list as there was no hostess, just a sheet of paper that was placed obscurely under the earrings. I put our name on the list and we began to wait.... And wait.... And wait some more. There were several tables open for the 3 parties in front of us yet no one was being seated. After about 45 min, those parties finally were seated at the empty tables. And then we were seated, where we waited some more. We waited 20 more minutes to get our order taken, another 10 min after that to get drinks, then another 10 min to get silverware. While we waited the 40 min sitting here I counted the only waitresses tables at 14. The person that was "hostess" seemed to have no clue how to do that or bus tables or set tables and she was doing all three. We continued to wait some more for our food. There was no communication how long the wait was, that they were short staffed or anything. Perhaps they were short staffed and for that I'd be understanding but I don't know if that's fact or if they operate with two wait staff for the place, one on each side. I waited for a refill on my coffee and for some creamer. Our breakfast turned into dinner by the time we were served. When the food finally came, it was piping hot, but missing several items. It tasted great but wasn't worth the extreme wait. We asked about the missing items and recieved one of them for my son. We didn't ask again because we figured it would be another 2 hour wait for the biscuit. I had to get my own fork from the hostess when my kid dropped his. This was a far departure from the previous time we came here on vacation. Unfortunately we will not be back again.