The Furnace Grill and Crab House — Restaurant in Thurmont

I went here with 2 other people and we were super hungry after being at the zoo all day so we ordered a ton of food. Server was friendly and knowledgeable. They have a nice outdoor picnic table area with umbrellas

They have a full bar and all their portions are huge! The entrees we ordered all came with 2 sides.

Appetizer:

Crab dip 10/10 Delicious flavor, nicely crusted melted cheese on top, more than enough toast.

Sides:

Hush puppies 10/10 SO GOOD. Served with a yummy honey butter.

Spiraled Fries 10/10 crispy, flavorful. Can't remember what these were actually called but they're like a thicker curly fry. Highly recommend.

Macoroni salad 10/10 Tangy, creamy. Everything macoroni salad should be.

Vegetable medley 10/10 Don't sleep on this. The server sad it was her favorite side and I understand why. Super flavorful and perfectly steamed. This day it was broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots but I think it changes regularly.

Onion rings 8/10 Pretty good but could've been a little crispier

Entrees:

1 lb crab legs 10/10 Fresh, decent price (I think $35)

Surf n turf ribeye and 1/2 lb crab legs. 9/10 I was hesitant about getting steak at a mostly seafood restaurant but it was juicy and flavorful. Cooked to a perfect medium.

1/2 rack baby back ribs 6/10 Unfortunately I thought these lacked flavor and I wasn't a fan of the barbecue sauce which was all over the ribs. $15

Fried seafood platter 7/10 This came with a crab cake, fried fish, clam strips, and fried shrimp. Shrimp was really yummy, nice and crunchy, crab cake I really didn't like. The only thing that I tried and only had one bite of. Tasted super super fishy to me. Clam strips were pretty good and I didn't get a chance to try to fried fish so no opinion on that.

Overall I loved this place and we plan on coming back next time we...

Terrible! Seriously, don't waste your hard earned money. Our check was about 167.00 for 4 people. ALL the seafood, and I mean ALL the seafood, was extremely salty. Someone please remove the salt from the kitchen. The jumbo lump crab platter / dinner was horrible and I am embarrassed to say how much I paid so just know it was WAY TOO MUCH!!!!!! There was nothing jumbo about the crab meat as it seemed shredded. One crab cake was fried, too long I might add, and the other was broiled but not long enough, and just about raw. There was no consistency to hold it together. The steak was salty and didn't look a bit appetizing when delivered to the table. Definitely not worth the money. The cream of crab soup was way too salty and a bit on the watery side. Good cream of crab is on the thicker side. The mixed vegetables were mushy and had a spice on them to mask that they were reheated multiple times. One of us got a hamburger and another chicken sandwich which was reported as not to bad. Both had fries that were golden brown just the way I like them but upon better inspection were greasy. If you are reading the reviews, note that most of the positive are from 2022. Just don't go, it is not worth it. Additionally, the bathroom, at least the female's has a lot to be desired. The silverware was from the 1900 mess hall and left me thinking if I should actually use it. While it was near Halloween, the rat in the trap, hanging on the mens room door was not just distasteful, it should have been a sign to run! The server was nice, friendly and wanted to do a good job but the food coming out of the kitchen was very slow. Gordon Ramsey go...

I have been praising this place the last 5 years maybe more. I used to have my parents from wv to meet us there for crabs. Tonight was not good. Ruined a datenight. Im always the one that is really patient.

First of all being sat at the table by the bathroom when other tables were available. I should have said something there. And I mean right by the bathroom. Like 12 inches away. Why when other tables are available!!!!!????? Its the last place you should sit someone. So first red flag. And Soooo there was a table of like 20 near us. They were what any server paid attention to. Now mind you I have been a server at a crab house before and patient. We got 6 crabs to start. Ok gone in a second. It took a long time before someone asked can i get you anything? Yea crabs!!!!! We waited like 20 minutes besides the wait to ask us if we wanted more (come on we only had 6, mind you they usually ask before you clean your tray if your ready for more) And again we got some and sat with an empty tray for 20 minutes. No one asked in between before tray was empty. Crickets. Plus we dumped our own crab trash bucket. Soooo finally got another batch. Yay. I was pretty upset by now because I've never seen this here before. I didn't say anything verbally to anyone but I gave 15% tip just because Ive worked as a server not because they were good. I will be looking at...