The Reserve Restaurant & Carryout — Restaurant in Woodlawn

I stumbled across the Reserve from an advertisement i saw online about a past karaoke brunch event that was had there. From there i went straight to yelp to read reviews and everything was positive across the board from the service, dining experience, food and atmosphere.

From the positive reviews i pulled up and met the owner Phil who kindly showed me both room and packages i could get to accomdate a space for my sisters 40th party and feed 30 people. I was sold on the large lounge area Phil created with the beautiful grass walls, large mirrors, french crystal chandelier lights and an plug in ready dj sound system.

I am a worrier naturally so i would call and text the owner to make sure everything was going to be up to par for the party. Every request I made to Phil, he made it happen. From the small things to moving tables and furniture to have more room to requesting additional menu items last minute it was the easiest planning party experience i've had. Only thing i did was put up a few balloons around the grass walls, we set up a backdrop photo booth and had the best 40th karaoke dj party and everyone had a blast!

After my event every guest came to me and said they enjoyed the vibe, atmosphere and mostly the food. They were very ecstatic on the fresh crispy chicken, mac and cheese, fish, salad and homemade dressing that came along with it. Up to this point i had never tasted Phil's food i went off the reviews off of google and yelp of real people spending their money and giving honest reviews. Let me tell you 'The Reserve' is a southern hidden gem. The food is one of the best soul food places in baltimore and i am a picky eater, the chicken melts in your mouth, the mac and cheese will be the first thing gone off your plate and every option on the menu is great to try.

Thank you Phil for delivering a wonderful service and giving me and my guest a great experience for my sisters party, the ambiance was perfect, the food was excellent and I had a wonderful experience overall and i have referred them to a few people and will be back personally to eat so yal check this...

First let me say I’m always supporting BOB!! Ok got that out to the way. We booked a table for 3 for brunch super excited for a birthday celebration until I got there. First the restaurant is a converted store front which they did not do a great job with converted the room. The tables were made out of cardboard and the chairs were basically lawn chairs. The plates were plastic and there was a steam table where you are to get up from the cardboard table and get food plopped on your plate like you in the cafeteria. We immediately discussed with the owner that we weren’t happy with the atmosphere and he suggested that we utilize the lounge space. The lounge space had paper covering the windows, there was a window in between the store front restaurant and the lounge area to where they would then proceed to serve the food and drinks through the window which me as a guest had to stand at the window and pass the plastic plates of food to everyone at the fold up table the owner presented that we can eat off without a tablecloth and I had to ask him to clean the table. So basically we had to set up the table we were eating off of. Now let’s talk about the food. The food looked nothing like what they presented on the website ( false advertising at its finest) the fried chicken was extremely salty, Mac and cheese no flavors and the noodles were overcooked, cabbage over cooked no flavor, collard green undercooked no flavor, chicken and waffles the syrup couldn’t even combat the salty chicken, the French toast smelled amazing however no flavor not even cinnamon flavor., the fried whiting fish was fired well however it was too salty as well. The food was so bad that we tried everything in the menu and not one dish was edible. Very very disappointed for $65 per person cost doesn’t matter to me as long as the atmosphere, the service and the food is on target I will pay whatever it is. Never again will I even attempt to spend my money with The Reserve. The restaurant could be great however they have a lot of work to do...

Today, I had the pleasure of dining at The Reserve with some of my mentees, and what a delightful experience it turned out to be! To be completely honest, I walked in with a hint of skepticism—after all, we arrived to find the place empty and located in a plaza that doesn’t seem to get much foot traffic. However, we were greeted with a warm welcome that immediately put us at ease.

Since we were the only patrons, there was no wait time, which was a nice surprise. The staff member who attended to us was incredibly professional, and as someone who loves supporting Black-owned businesses, I hold a high standard for excellence. I'm happy to report that The Reserve met those expectations!

The cleanliness of the restaurant is commendable, earning a solid 9 out of 10. In fact, the bathrooms were cleaner than many high-end establishments I’ve visited, which is something I truly appreciated. They also provided us with plastic utensils, which is a thoughtful touch, though I believe investing in pre-packaged utensils could elevate the dining experience even further.

As for the atmosphere, it’s a bit crowded, but you can definitely see the vision they’re striving for. I’d give the aesthetic a 7.5 out of 10. Now, let’s talk about the food! I asked my mentees to rate their meals, and collectively, we settled on an impressive 8.6 out of 10. As a huge fan of chicken and waffles, I can honestly say their rendition was delicious! Whoever cooked that chicken deserves a round of applause—it’s a shining example of Black excellence.

I wholeheartedly recommend checking out The Reserve. With its warm service, cleanliness, and tasty food, it’s a gem worth supporting in Woodlawn. Keep up the great work, and I can’t...