I stopped into Choptank with a friend, hoping for an enjoyable, low key lunch. Instead, the experience felt more like being shuffled through a logistical experiment run by teenagers.
My friend got there first, and when I walked in there was a long line at the host stand, and a general sense of chaos. It took not one, not two (where I met her), but three table assignments before we landed at a spot considered “final” — each move polite, but I’ve worked as a hostess, and could tell that that the front-of-house had lost track of its seating strategy (assuming they had one).
Once seated, our drinks—a glass of wine and a prosecco—took very long to arrive. Meanwhile, our soups appeared with surprising speed, only to be followed by our entrees before we were done. The low point came mid-entrée, when someone—likely a manager—approached and asked if we’d be willing to move AGAIN, to accommodate a larger party. This was framed as an “upgrade,” but requesting a table change while we were in the midst of eating was… a ridiculous lapse in hospitality for a restaurant at this price point.
What saved the afternoon from being a complete loss was our server, who was exceptionally friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Her recommendations were thoughtful, she clearly loves MD cuisine, and she managed our table with warmth in the midst of obvious disorganization behind the scenes.
In the end, Choptank is overpriced and overrated. I’d come back for the soup, and only if they let me stay in one seat.
Jason Smith
Excellent dinner experience for my wife's birthday
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rob OBryan
Our waitress was Carley and she was kind, knowledgeable, and quick to serve. We were there on a Tuesday evening and was taken right to our table. There was three of us, myself, my wife and my adult daughter. We started things off with cream of crab soup and the wagyu meatball. Both were excellent. The meatball was so big we took half of it home. My wife & daughter got the crab cake platter and were not disappointed. Filled with chunks of crab and just enough filler to keep it together, it was very tasty. I got the scallops, pan seared with ponzu shitake brown butter sauce. They had just the right carmelization on the outside and the sauce was the perfect compliment. We also had a side of Brussels sprouts which were flash fried and drizzled with some sort of sauce and tossed in seasoning. If you are not a fan of Brussels sprouts, trust me, these are the best you will ever have. I had a lemonade and the others had just water. Our bill was $173 before tip so it is pricey, but I think worth it if you are looking for great seafood while in Maryland. I would definitely return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Harlem Natural Hair Salon
Nice rooftop bar but go early for best seats. Otherwise use yable seats. Just not as much activity and interaction as the rooftop bar seating allows.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Scott Murri
Atmosphere is cool. Service is horrible. Bartenders won’t serve you unless you pass their eye test. Waited over 20 minutes at the bar to get while they deliberately served others. This place sucks
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Jesse
I was here for my birthday yesterday. The oyster selection was exceptional and the accompant sauces were delicious and definely homemade. The gumbo was excellent and had HUGE chunks of crab meat!.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Meridith U Muhonja
I had the best Brussels sprouts everrrrrrrr, try them!
Keara Graham
Shout out to Jeremiah everything he recommended on the menu was amazing. His customer service was great and welcoming. The food was amazing. I would definitely give this a 10 out of 10.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Salvador Vega
This is an amazing spor for a date and even better to have some drinks at a rooftop bar with great views of Annapolis. They close pretty late amd the bartenders are always smiling and on point!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brian Holder
Good food and great location in the heart of Annapolis. Fabulous when the weather is nice.
Without a doubt I experienced one of the worst servers I’ve ever had. Where to start. Once we were seated he did not come up to our table for 20 minutes. When he did eventually come up to us, he did not welcome us or engage in any type of conversation. We were there for an hour and a half and he only came over to us 3 or 4 times. Never asked how our food was, didn’t bring over peoples drinks (never got a few of them), and quite frankly short with us. Overall, it seemed like he had zero interested being there. Automatically gave himself a 20% tip, which is totally standard for a 6 top, but let’s just say none of us would have given him that much if given the choice. Disappointing considering how much we liked the food and atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 1
Jill
Choptank's seafood is always the best in the area! We usually have great service as well but our recent visit was not stellar. Our waiter did not come over to tell us what food our party member with an allergy was able to eat before the kitchen served the food, nor did he stop by soon after to let us know so we sat and waited then had to find him before we could eat. This happened both with the appetizer and the meal. Both times, there were things she could not eat.
Neerav Shah
We came here for a business dinner. I ordered the cream of crab soup and a filet mignon. Both were exceptional. The atmosphere was great - nothing like eating on the water with yachts parked in front of you. The service was fine - not bad, but not as exceptional as I would expect. I definitely recommend and will be bringing my family here in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Joseph
Our meal was excellent. We had fish and chips, the crab cake, lobster roll, and rockfish with ponzu. Everything was great!
Stefani
FOOD POISONING. Went as a party of 2 yesterday afternoon, and we both got food poisoning. It is a beautiful restaurant, but not worth being sick. On top of that, the waitress made us very uncomfortable. She visibly rolled her eyes at us the first two times she came to the table, with us having barely said anything that would warrant that. The service overall was definitely the only bad service we have ever received in years of dining at all the restaurants in downtown Annapolis.
I stopped into Choptank with a friend, hoping for an enjoyable, low key lunch. Instead, the experience felt more like being shuffled through a logistical experiment run by teenagers.
My friend got there first, and when I walked in there was a long line at the host stand, and a general sense of chaos. It took not one, not two (where I met her), but three table assignments before we landed at a spot considered “final” — each move polite, but I’ve worked as a hostess, and could tell that that the front-of-house had lost track of its seating strategy (assuming they had one).
Once seated, our drinks—a glass of wine and a prosecco—took very long to arrive. Meanwhile, our soups appeared with surprising speed, only to be followed by our entrees before we were done. The low point came mid-entrée, when someone—likely a manager—approached and asked if we’d be willing to move AGAIN, to accommodate a larger party. This was framed as an “upgrade,” but requesting a table change while we were in the midst of eating was… a ridiculous lapse in hospitality for a restaurant at this price point.
What saved the afternoon from being a complete loss was our server, who was exceptionally friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Her recommendations were thoughtful, she clearly loves MD cuisine, and she managed our table with warmth in the midst of obvious disorganization behind the scenes.
In the end, Choptank is overpriced and overrated. I’d come back for the soup, and only if they let me stay in one seat.
Excellent dinner experience for my wife's birthday
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Our waitress was Carley and she was kind, knowledgeable, and quick to serve. We were there on a Tuesday evening and was taken right to our table. There was three of us, myself, my wife and my adult daughter. We started things off with cream of crab soup and the wagyu meatball. Both were excellent. The meatball was so big we took half of it home. My wife & daughter got the crab cake platter and were not disappointed. Filled with chunks of crab and just enough filler to keep it together, it was very tasty. I got the scallops, pan seared with ponzu shitake brown butter sauce. They had just the right carmelization on the outside and the sauce was the perfect compliment. We also had a side of Brussels sprouts which were flash fried and drizzled with some sort of sauce and tossed in seasoning. If you are not a fan of Brussels sprouts, trust me, these are the best you will ever have. I had a lemonade and the others had just water. Our bill was $173 before tip so it is pricey, but I think worth it if you are looking for great seafood while in Maryland. I would definitely return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nice rooftop bar but go early for best seats. Otherwise use yable seats. Just not as much activity and interaction as the rooftop bar seating allows.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere is cool. Service is horrible. Bartenders won’t serve you unless you pass their eye test. Waited over 20 minutes at the bar to get while they deliberately served others. This place sucks
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
I was here for my birthday yesterday. The oyster selection was exceptional and the accompant sauces were delicious and definely homemade. The gumbo was excellent and had HUGE chunks of crab meat!.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
I had the best Brussels sprouts everrrrrrrr, try them!
Shout out to Jeremiah everything he recommended on the menu was amazing. His customer service was great and welcoming. The food was amazing. I would definitely give this a 10 out of 10.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is an amazing spor for a date and even better to have some drinks at a rooftop bar with great views of Annapolis.
They close pretty late amd the bartenders are always smiling and on point!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food and great location in the heart of Annapolis. Fabulous when the weather is nice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Without a doubt I experienced one of the worst servers I’ve ever had. Where to start. Once we were seated he did not come up to our table for 20 minutes. When he did eventually come up to us, he did not welcome us or engage in any type of conversation. We were there for an hour and a half and he only came over to us 3 or 4 times. Never asked how our food was, didn’t bring over peoples drinks (never got a few of them), and quite frankly short with us. Overall, it seemed like he had zero interested being there. Automatically gave himself a 20% tip, which is totally standard for a 6 top, but let’s just say none of us would have given him that much if given the choice. Disappointing considering how much we liked the food and atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 1
Choptank's seafood is always the best in the area! We usually have great service as well but our recent visit was not stellar. Our waiter did not come over to tell us what food our party member with an allergy was able to eat before the kitchen served the food, nor did he stop by soon after to let us know so we sat and waited then had to find him before we could eat. This happened both with the appetizer and the meal. Both times, there were things she could not eat.
We came here for a business dinner. I ordered the cream of crab soup and a filet mignon. Both were exceptional. The atmosphere was great - nothing like eating on the water with yachts parked in front of you. The service was fine - not bad, but not as exceptional as I would expect. I definitely recommend and will be bringing my family here in the future.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Our meal was excellent. We had fish and chips, the crab cake, lobster roll, and rockfish with ponzu. Everything was great!
FOOD POISONING.
Went as a party of 2 yesterday afternoon, and we both got food poisoning. It is a beautiful restaurant, but not worth being sick. On top of that, the waitress made us very uncomfortable. She visibly rolled her eyes at us the first two times she came to the table, with us having barely said anything that would warrant that. The service overall was definitely the only bad service we have ever received in years of dining at all the restaurants in downtown Annapolis.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Loading...