The Stables at Westminster — Restaurant in Maryland

Omg, why is this place ever packed? It was awful. Got seated, no service for 25 minutes and the hostess walks by for the 10th time and asks if we've even had our drink order taken, we said no. She asks us what we want, I said we don't have a drink menu, she said we don't have a drink menu but that I can look over at the bar and see what I want. I just went with my old standby, a vodka Collins and I had to explain to her what it was. Another 15 minutes and the drinks finally come out - just as I was about to get up and leave. Drinks were ice and mixer, the bartender might have waived a bottle of booze over the glasses because there was no alcohol in them. Good thing they were only $6.

She takes our food order. We were here for the gyro. I had to ask her what the difference was between the platter and regular gyro, well the platter is a deconstructed gyro and costs $5 more. I was blimeyed by this, so stuck with the regular gyro. It wasn't bad, wasn't particularly good either. It was over-garlicy that you couldn't tell if it was lamb or beef based. Fries were burnt, but it looks like their standard is to burn them.

Now you are thinking it was busy. It wasn't. It was a Wednesday and there were about 4-6 people to a quadrant and 4 waitresses sometimes running around, plus some guy in a cap with sunglasses on top who looked to be the manager and who looked to be 3-sheets to the wind at 6:30pm doing various things, but certainly not managing. I watched some kitchen guy walking around with a cooked lobster trying to find where it went. Hope your cold lobster was worth it. The bartender was the only one actually working. Oh, they had some guy doing family fued-style trivia. He was taking so long between the question and the answers that I couldn't remember what the question actually was. People were leaving mid-game.

When we arrived, the table next to us was unbussed after a crab feast. When we left, the table still had not been bussed and cleaned. Another couple that got seated in our section got up and went and got a waitress because they had been waiting so long.

This place should be called Stables Follies. I guess it's for you if you like watered down drinks, ok food, and a complete cluelessness on how to operate a restaurant. We will marvel why this place packed, but we will not...

I'm trying to be as fair as I possibly can. I've been going to Stables for years, to eat and also to dance. First I'd like to comment on the food. Everything I've ever ordered has been good. The portions are large so I always wind up taking 1/2 of mine home! Plus and this is a sweet plus, the price is within my budget. On a positive note, I will say that new management is working at improving the decor. I was there this past weekend and I noticed that they've added lights and it looks like they've repaired the dance floor. I'm not sure why but when I go just for the band and sit at a table on the dance floor. I don't get waited on. I sat for 45 minutes without anyone coming up to take my order. I thought if I got my money out, that would tip them off that I wanted to order but it didn't help. I actually touched the waitresses arm as she walked by, she then came back. My guess is, they see a single girl (who doesn't drink) and that translates into not a very large tab. I always tip double to triple because I understand this. As far as the entertainment, I do miss the old bands. We use to line dance (and maybe they still do) but the last few times I went, it was way too loud and it was all Rock. I like Rock but I also like a mix of country. Only deal is, due to it being so loud, you can't talk with anyone until the band takes a break. This past weekend my friend came up from Baltimore and met me at Stables. She kept trying to talk to me but there was no way I could hear her nor her me. After dancing to a few songs, she asked if we could leave and go to the Ott House. I said ok BUT I would much rather stay at Stables. My friend asked for her cover charge back due to the music being too loud. Stables was very nice and gave her cover back. We wound up at the Ott House, which was not near as loud. I would love to ask if maybe Stables could turn the volume down a bit or a good bit as I would much rather go to Stables to dance and close the place down!!!! My over all review for Stables is a B+. That mark will jump to an A+ if the few issues I mentioned could be addressed. I do like Stables and I thank the owners for the positive attention they are giving to the place! ...

Sigh. Where do I begin. Let me preface this review by explaining that I grew up in Greektown in Baltimore City. If you are coming here expecting to find authentic Greek dishes(the owners of this establishment are greek and they advertise a small section of "Mediterranean" dishes on their menu) you will be highly disappointed.

I made reservations for 2 for Mothers Day. I treated my mom to dinner. Our reservation was at 1pm. When we arrived we were seated promptly, however that is the extent of the quick service. It was not extremely busy when we arrived however it was apparent they were short staffed. It took the waitress who was actually the bartender(she jumped in to help out) 15 minutes to come to our table to take our drink orders. Once she returned with our drink orders we put our order in for food. Like most restaurants now days, Stables uses Toast for their POS system which allows servers to digitally enter your order from the device and send it back to the kitchen. 30 minutes go by after we placed our order. Our waitress never stops in to check on us for refills or updates on our order. I go over to the bar and ask her if she can go see what is going on. She says sure and goes off to the kitchen. She returns to our table to let us know it would be coming out shortly. 15 minutes go by and still no food. I go over to the bar again(I'm irritated at this point) and tell her we still haven't gotten our food. She goes back to the kitchen only to come out with a look of frustration on her face. She apologizes to my mom and I that the kitchen lost our ticket and was making our order as we speak. She then told us she would take 25% off our bill and would comp us a soup or small salad for an appetizer. I understand that it wasn't her fault the kitchen screwed up. We finally received our food over an hour after we got seated. My mom and I both ordered the special with 2 jumbo lump crabcake and 2 sides. The crabcakes lacked seasoning like the rest of the food. No seasoning on anything! Everything is bland, like they are cooking for nursing home residents.

Overall, this was a disappointing experience. I've always had good crabs from here from their take out side. I won't ever...