O'Lordan's Irish Pub — Restaurant in Westminster

When a friend told me that he was taking me out to celebrate my birthday and asked me to pick the restaurant, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I've never been to O'Lordans before but they have such a beautiful spot and it's always caught my eye when I pass through Westminster.The hostess was very friendly when she welcomed us and took us up to our table. The inside of the restaurant was beautiful and I got to sit in the big throne like chair! Unfortunately that's where the hospitality ended.

When my friend ordered a cup of coffee, the waitress delivered it slopped all over the plate the cup was sitting on and spilled even more on the table in the process of setting it down. Then she left without so much as apologizing or giving us anything to clean her mess up with! We had asked for a few extra minutes to look the menu over(as a side note, the lighting of the dining room is extremely poor for anyone with eye sight that isn't perfect, I didn't have an issue reading the menu myself but my friend is older and had to use the flashlight on my phone in order to read anything) and didn't see our waitress again for another fifteen minutes. We actually had to bother another waiter(who was much more attentive to his tables than our waitress was, he gets props for being good at his job) to find her for us. When she came back, we could tell she was annoyed and made a point of telling us that the dining room closed at 9:00. Mind you, the website is extremely misleading and says they're open until 11:00 and I certainly would have picked a different restaurant if I knew we were going to be hustled out of the quiet dining area and forced down into the bar after 9:00.

We placed our order and my friend asked if they have bread or anything to nibble on while we waited for our food(still no silverware or napkins at this point so we were basically left to sit at the table and twiddle our thumbs) and the waitress was pretty blunt in saying no, buy appetizers if you want something. My companion tried to make a joke to lighten the mood and the waitress just gave him a strange look before walking away. We had to flag the male waiter down again after another ten minutes or so because ours never came to check back on us and I needed a refill. Mind you, I've worked as a waitress and I know how demanding the job can be. I tried to take everything in stride but our waitress was completely inattentive and verging on rude. I was becoming steadily more embarrassed at having chosen this place for our "fun" dining experience. I been hoping that we'd get a chance to talk to our server and learn a little bit about the establishment, maybe even mention that it was my birthday to see if they do anything special for situations like that, but she wanted nothing to do with us so I never got the chance to do either. In contrast, I saw her at another table smiling and laughing with her guests. So I know she was capable of providing a friendly atmosphere she just chose to deny us that level of courtesy for some reason or another.

I will say that the food was quite good. I got the salmon and my friend got the Gaelic strip. The chef certainly knows what he or she is doing, it's just a shame that their delicious food was so soured by the incredibly poor service. I was only half way through my meal when the waitress started trying to rush us, bringing our bill, asking if we wanted boxes, and eventually sending her supervisor(I assume) in to tell us that we had to wrap up and move downstairs because they were closing that part of the restaurant off for the night. Downstairs was loud and rowdy, not at all an environment where we were able to sit and talk with one another. We ended up leaving very shortly after. All in all it was an extremely unpleasant first experience, a very disappointing birthday dinner, and I felt like a fool for suggesting that we go to a place where my companion spent nearly a hundred dollars for a good meal while we were treated...

We visited here to enjoy a nice dinner before traveling back to Baltimore from a conference in PA. It had good reviews, and the photos were highly influential because we wanted some good stew and pub food.

THE ATMOSPHERE The place has an Irish pub theme and we thought we would sit downstairs. But our server took us up to a quieter upstairs without the music and tvs. We had called ahead to reserve seating since it seemed popular according to Google and what others had said in their reviews.

Upstairs was a different vibe than downstairs. It was less 'pub'y and more like a casual dining setting complete with painted walls and decor connected to Irish lor. The tables and chairs were set in sets that weren't just mismatched, but they weren't all the same. There were some tall bench backs and little alcoves to be able to host small groups of 10-15. It made the space feel more intimate even though they could easily serve 60-80 people in this upstairs space. The pictures show it better than I can describe it. I loved the space (except the floating mantel above the fo-fireplace).

We were seated in a high-back bench that seemed more like a loveseat with a 5' back and arms. It was its own alcove and probably the place of more than a few make-out sessions, or naps from students of McDaniel College who stayed up too late. The photos illustrate this phenomenal piece of furniture, and there was another just like it in the space behind us. It also felt like a special VIP throne that you might see in movies. However, the cushion wasn't as cushioned as it looks, and that's definitely more in favor of the restaurant so that people don't get too comfortable.

There was a room in the middle with several wooden Lords chairs at the back wall and others in front to give a more 'Lords & Ladies' feel to this alcove.

THE SERVICE We engaged with 3 staff. The hostess greeted us warmly and after taking our name and reservation, she brought another young lady to us who would take us upstairs. Once seated, she gave us the menus and walked away. Our server was a young man. He was also serving a large party nearby of what appeared to be 2 young families catching up. He handled them well, as they were well into their meal when we arrived.

He helped us with our order, providing answers to our questions and then bringing the food out in a timely manner. He wasn't sure how to respond to our "it's interesting 🤔" comments with the food.

THE FOOD We ordered the Brown & Ton onion rings, which were the best thing that we ordered. The breading wasn't too thick or too crunchy. The horseradish sauce was amazing.

Then we also ordered the Shepherd's Pie, and the Beef & Guinness Stew. And a Dirty Rum to enjoy the food with. The drink was delicious. The Shepard's Pie was underwhelming and unorthodox with how much tomato was in it and how little mashed potatoes were present. We're from the Midwest, so our expectations were different. The presentation was great. The flavor was... interesting 🤔. It was worth trying once, but won't be our choice when we return (there were more things in the menu that looked equally appealing, but we can only eat 1 meal at a time).

The Beef & Guinness Stew was thicker than I expected, but it wasn't as lacking as the Shepard's Pie.

We ended with ordering a chocolate bottomed creme brulee, and the Apple Bread Pudding to go. We were so stuffed when we left.

It was a fun adventure and we'll probably be back again to try other...

I took a large group (15) in to celebrate over a nice meal. We had a reservation. The service was very slow to begin with but we were enjoying each other and visiting so it didn’t seem a problem at first. One of the dinners (steak) was VERY over cooked when it was served. When asked to bring a new steak, the serving staff insisted on returning the overcooked steak before they ‘could’ reorder a new one to be cooked. The steak had been cut into several piece, as the person was trying to find some part of it that was edible and really didn’t want to complain. The server stood across the table from her and waited for her to offload the overcooked steak onto another plate. She gave the server about half of the pieces from her plate (feeling very uncomfortable and conspicuous as everyone at the table was taking notice at this point)... and assuming that whatever she had shoved off her plate for the server would be sufficient to take back to the kitchen to show the chef. It was unmistakably overcooked. Any small amount of it should have been more than enough to establish this. Within a minute another person (manager maybe!!??) stormed out demanding the rest of the steak from her plate. I have NEVER seen such incredibly poor response to a concern about the way a steak was cooked... or any issue in a ‘decent’ restaurant in my life. It was unbelievable.

To top it off... it took 30 minutes for a new steak to come back. Everyone else was finished eating by then. And the person sat with an awkwardly empty plate in front of them the whole time. SHAMEFUL. Absolutely shameful. No one ever apologized for the inconvenience or offered to comp the meal or make any sort of attempt to make it right. When they finally brought the new steak they stood over her and demanded she cut into it in front of them right then to see if it was ‘to her satisfaction’ which might sound ok - but it was, again, very confrontational in its execution. She didn’t eat it. I can only assume the event ruined her appetite. It certainly did mine.

I will NEVER take a group here again and I recommend no one else does either. It was embarrassing the way they treated my guest. I was horrified and so was the lady that ordered the steak. She was mortified and embarrassed. Probably sorry she didn’t just pick at the hockey puck of a steak and not say a word in the first place.

When you’re paying good money for a nice meal - you should never be confronted about it, asked to sit with an empty plate in front of you while everyone else eats or be made to feel sorry you requested the order be made right. Shame. Seriously. I’m sick over it. Whatever reason they had for this - it is without giving any thought to how the customer feels sitting there like that! Could they have been concerned she might EAT some of this overcooked steak while she waited for another!? GOD FORBID she might try to pick at it while she waited. Unbelievable. I can’t even imagine how that made sense to these people.

The tab was over $800 in the end. Please tell me how one overcooked steak is worth potentially losing 15 future clients... and any number of others these 15 spread the word to.

Find some place that is more concerned about customer satisfaction than whatever foolish policy or just general lack of professionalism that prompted them to treat my guest so horribly in...