Mari Luna Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Pikesville

This place was recommended to me by a coworker. Since last year my family and I have made regular visits, with each of us having a favorite dish, my being the $34 sea food soup. On 7/10/25 I told my daughter, who was out of town, that I will dine at any restaurant she recommended that evening and she recommended this one and asked that I be adventurous and order something different. When I got there it was very busy, only one waiter, with the owner picking up the slack in the room to the left when you walk in. As luck may have it. I was seated at the same table we frequently sit when I dine with my family. He provided me a menu and I ordered seafood soup, unsweetened ice tea and a serving of nachos to keep me busy until I get the soup. When my meal came I sensed something was different, that is the only thing I order, dine in or carry out. The value was just not there, a lot of mussels and tiny scallops. When the owner came back to serve others I asked to see the menu again and went over the ingredients supposed to be in the $34 soup, I think lobster (typically lobster tail) was the first ingredient, of course that’s why the soup is premium priced. I asked him of the whereabouts of my lobster and he said he was sorry, that they were out of lobster and that he should have told me in advance but made it up by adding extra shrimp. I am not a fan of shrimps but if the only mistake he made was not telling me that he was out of lobster, I can move forward. So, I decided to count my shrimps. There were 4 regular sized shrimp where it would have been roughly 8-10 without the extra. I told him about the shrimp count and he again apologized for not having the lobster and offered and gave me extra rice. I eat rice because my wife cooks and loves rice.

This is the problem. Before last week the waiters would take my order and give it to the owner and and because he doesn’t know who is getting the meal he ensures that it’s as intended. He looked at me and felt he could give me a middle sized bowl of liquid with mussels and four shrimps, charge me $34 and I would not know the difference. Inbred ignorance, greed, poor customer service, coupled with disrespect is for me enough reason never to go there again. When my $44 check came I paid it and didn’t leave my traditional 20 percent tip. I got up, took my watered down soup...

Walked in and waited for a 1/2 hour Without even being greeted. Asked a worker walking by if there was anyone to seat 2 people? The woman said she would check and come back. She never returned. I then went to the bar and asked the bartender who was responsible for seating guest?, because I had been waiting for a half hour without any service and expressed that I was not pleased with the service. She then stated there was a party of 15 in front of me that was waiting to be seated and would not seat me until they were seated. I told her that the entire party wasn't there and that I didn't understand why I had to wait for their entire party to show up before I was able to get service. She then in response stated she would seat them shortly. Another 5 mins went past and she sat the partial party. Without any time frame or communication with me about when I could be seated. Then after 10more minutes I asked another server how long the wait was and he said he would come back and also didn't return. Another customer noticed that I was upset, and suggested that I sit at the bar because there were open seats. I sat at the bar with the same rude bartender. She did not greet me, cleaned the bar, and closed tabs before coming over and asking me if I was going to sit at the bar. I asked her if I could participate in the brunch from the bar? and she said "I can find out how long a table will be", I told her no, I would like her to answer my question because I'm tired of the wait, she then suggested I leave, I told her no, I wanted to eat here. She then said you can get up and grab a plate it's on you. I went to get a plate, but I was so disgusted in her tone and poor customer service that I decided to leave. This was my first time at this restaurant, and the Sunday brunch came highly recommended, but this service, I was not expecting and will not return...

I remember this place as the old Carvel. My mom and friends have been here many times, but for some reason, this was my first time. It won't be my last because the food was outstanding, and everyone's dishes look delicious, from appetizers through entrees through dessert. Everything that I tasted was excellent. This restaurant was good regarding the food; our service was also fantastic. Since I used to know this place as Carvel Ice Cream, the front of the building looked similar, but then it looked like they had built it out to the side because it was different than I remembered in the past. We came here to celebrate three birthdays, and we started with some chips with guacamole, queso, and salsa. We also had some yucca and fried plantains, which were delicious. Because it was such a cold day outside, I ordered the seafood soup, which I had forgotten was a cream, but it was okay. It wasn't too creamy, and it was chocked full of seafood. It had so much seafood that I had to take about a third of it home for lunch the next day. Everyone else had fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, and burritos; one person had the stuffed salmon. For dessert, we shared several desserts: the chocolate lava cake, which looked amazing, the fried ice cream, the churros, and another dessert that I can't remember the name of, but it was delicious. Overall, it was a great meal and a place I...