McGarvey’s Saloon & Oyster Bar

Today was not my day for good service (see my review of Dockside Restaurant and Sports Bar.) I’m not demanding, really I’m not. But I do expect to be served by servers and not have to wait on myself. I think perhaps our server was just overwhelmed.
Annapolis was super crowded for Father’s Day (Yes, I am even giving some latitude given it’s a holiday.) Still, the wait wasn’t too long and we were seated at a small table for two. Menus were provided promptly, as were glasses of water, then… nothing. Server disappeared. Okay, it’s busy, we get it. EXCEPT, she was very attentive to the two tables next to us, which had 7 and 5 people. We tried to get her attention, but she didn’t even look in our direction.
Ten/​fifteen minutes later she came back to us and we ordered. He got oysters ($ 8.50 for a half dozen), the fresh fish sandwich (mahi mahi $ 13.50) and a beer and I ordered the chicken artichoke sandwich ($ 9.75.) His fish sandwich was so-​so, mine was really tasty.
Then, again… nothing. After we had completely finished our dinner, the busboy promptly removed our plates and we asked him to find our server so we could order another beer. A minute later, a different server came by saying they couldn’t find our server. Ordered another beer, received it promptly. Five minutes after that, our original server came by to ask how everything was. I’m pretty sure I had a dumbfounded look on my face, as I know I simply didn’t have the words.
She did check on us once more after that and we were able to get our check and she still received a tip, albeit a smaller one and a short, polite note explaining why. (We are usually very generous tippers, but when the service – not the food, because that’s not the servers fault – isn’t up to par, then I don’t feel the tip should be either. At the same time, I think it is important that the server understand why, so they can get better and better at their job.)
McGarvey’s is just off Main Street, so it’s not quite as packed. The décor/​atmosphere is very nice. Oysters were fresh, food was good. I would likely go back. The other server who helped us was very good, the busboys were very good.

I went out on a Saturday night to McGarvey’s with some friends from Annapolis to get some drinks. It was the first bar we went to around 11pm. I’m originally from Maryland but go to the University of South Carolina so I have a South Carolina drivers license. When I gave it to the bouncer, he started bending it a ton and then just put it in his pocket and said nothing. When I asked what was going on he said I can’t get in. I then asked for my license back and he responded telling me to call the police. I offered 9 different forms of ID including my credit card and health insurance card. After they were all denied, I had to call the police. It took an hour and a half for them to show up, call in my license number, and confirm that it was indeed real and I was of age. Throughout that process, the bouncers and manager were bending my ID a ridiculous amount (completely unnecessary since the police were coming anyway). When I got the ID back, it was destroyed. The hologram was peeled back and hanging on by about ¹⁄₈^th of an inch. I was then told by the police when they gave me the ID back that the bar didn’t want me to come in (like I wanted to at that point anyway). I called Monday and informed the manager what happened, that I needed to now go down to South Carolina and miss 2 days of work just to get a new ID. The flight was $ 350, he offered me $ 10.
So in summary, I went to the bar as a 21 year old, they thought my ID was fake so they held it hostage for an hour and a half, they destroyed the ID, told me I wasn’t welcome there after learning that I was 21, forced me to have to go to South Carolina to get a new ID, and offered me $ 10 to fix the $ 350 and 2 days of wasted time mess that they made for me.

Best oysters ever. We had to sit outside due to the Memorial day crowd indoors. very hot so we really only wanted to get a pint or two. Rules are no drinking outside without also eating something. Might be a City ordinance. Anyhow, we ordered 6 oysters and they were so good we ordered another 6. first order came out quick, next order seemed to take awhile. We were not provided napkins until we asked. The oysters however are the best I have ever had. They only get one species which they called Chesapeake.

Food was disappointing. Service was mediocre at best. Ordered mimosas and it was served with ice and straw. As a pleasant surprise, it had a hair thus had to return it for another one.

Matt the bartender’s a machine!!! I could watch him whizz up a fabulous line of beverages ²⁵⁄₇. Wow! Food was excellent. Fish and chips was very tasty and perfectly cooked with a light batter on the cod. The chips are a meal in itself — very lightly fried and not greasy. Music was excellent added with fun wait staff — love this place!!! Bathrooms should be on the main level.

Old, beat-​up party bar. I’m surprised they serve food.

We had a large group and where we wanted to eat, was a wait. We were able to be seated at McGarvey’s and our large table was attentively taken care of. The food was what I expected for a tourist stop in Annapolis. We had no complaints.

Was back in town and went here with my family (wife, mother-​in-​law and 2 young kids) for an early lunch. The second star is mostly for the fond memories and because I know it’s a fun place get drinks. Our service was a two at best and the food barely deserved a single star.
DO NOT GET THE CRAB CAKE HERE, IT’S HORRIBLE. I should have known this from past experience but I keep hoping it will be better. It doesn’t. The bun is too big and normally a little stale. The crab cake itself has no lump backfin meat and is mostly filler. With that out of the way I’ll turn to the rest of our experience.
We got there at 11:30am so there were only three tables in the oyster bar but it took our waiter what seemed like forever (maybe just because we have little kids). As soon as we got there we ordered «fries for the kids». Their fries are thin cut potatoes. Not a big deal but most waiters will tell you that, especially when they know it’s for kids. When we ordered our meals «fries» was an option so we asked if it was the same kind since the kids didn’t like them that much and the waiter said that’s the only kind they had. 5 minutes later we saw one of the other two tables getting a dish with more traditional fries.
When my wife asked for avocado on her burger the waiter literally said «we just have simple bar food not that fancy stuff.» Maybe because we’d already asked if they had mash potatoes (no) for our 10 month old. Ok, I admit that avocado isn’t the first thing when you list stuff for a burger but it’s not that far down the list. Wouldn’t have been a big deal if her regular cheeseburger hadn’t sucked.
The silver lining was that the bread for the spinach and artichoke dip is great (and I’m pretty sure they use it for the crab dip too). Wow, how far this place has fallen. It was never fine dinning but it used to be a good bar food experience. I’ll go back for drinks but I can’t see myself going to eat there again any time soon.

Average restaurant. My friend and I visited this place on a nice Fall day for lunch. For appetizer, we got the fried calamari, which was pretty good. It was fried well with just the right amount of crispiness. I got the Fish & Chips and my buddy got the MD Crab Cake Sandwich. They were both okay but nothing fantastic. Average service. With so many seafood options in Annapolis, McGarvey’s manages to keep up with others.

Good food and atmosphere, less than stellar beer selection, and service is good but not great. I’ve been twice and gotten the bratwurst twice. It’s a locally-​made sausage (out of Baltimore) with good flavor and a nice texture with a crisp casing. The sandwich is made by the excellent kraut, however. The fries are a sliced potato rather than the traditional French fry. Good, but typically need salt or they’re a bit flavorless. Crab items are good as well (had a crab dip and the crab balls). Get the crab balls and some saltines and have something akin to the traditional Maryland crab cake like my grandmother prepares.
Beer selection is terrible for a pub. Only like 5 beers on tap. I like microbrews, and 4 of the 5 meet that criteria, but aren’t spectacular. I always go for a Boh if there’s no microbrew that meets my likes, and this place, on the Annapolis waterfront, might be the only place in town without Baltimore’s beer
Honestly, I’d love to give a 3.5 if possible, but it deserves the 4 more than a 3.

Not a huge fan of the food here. There are a ton of options in Annapolis, and I doubt I’ll ever be back to eat.
We were dining with with a friend who was treating us, so we tried not to go overboard on dinner selections. They have a few pricey options, but to be kind to our host we opted for less expensive items.
We started with oysters (.50 a piece for HH). They were good enough. Strangely they were not served on ice but on a paper plate. Very odd. I like my oysters ice-​cold. You can’t beat the price, though.
For dinner, I had the spinach salad with Mahi Mahi. The gentlemen both chose the chicken sandwich. My salad was served on the smallest plate I have ever seen, basically a bread plate, which is not conducive to keeping much of your salad on the plate. The elements of the salad were also strange: clementines that tasted sour, craisins… the only thing that reminded me of a spinach salad was the spinach itself. Both guys didn’t like the chicken sandwich, either. They didn’t get into why, but hubby did mention that the «fries» were weird because they’re more like big, round sliced potato circles rather than thin, crispy fries.
We didn’t stay for dessert…

We came here because of the awesome reviews and didn’t have a great experience. In fact, we left the moment our drinks were empty.
I wasn’t impressed with the oysters, for an «oyster bar.“They weren’t served over ice so they can were warm. You don’t want a new warm oyster. I would go as far as to say they were unappetizing. We have never fought so hard on who was going to eat the last oyster. I was done after about 2.
We sat at the bar and I’m not sure if it’s because we went on a Monday afternoon but I just didn’t like the service. The best way to say it, the bartender rubbed me the wrong way. He just struck me as odd, didn’t do anything service-​wise. We asked for the check and he said yes, stared at the tv for about 30 seconds and then went and got it.
I rarely get nit picky but the lemon we received with the oyster was so dry, I’m not sure how someone could serve that. We asked a server for more lemons and we used two of the three. The bartender put the unused lemon back in the bowl on the bar. Of all the bars we have worked at, if something is given to a guest you throw it away. He had no idea if we had used it or not. Thankfully we didn’t.
The happy hour prices were good but there are plenty of bars in downtown Annapolis we will go to instead.

My one star rating is based on the food alone (we went for lunch, not raw bar or drinks) and ill also preface this by saying that our server was good.
I had the crab cake sandwich, something i assumed would be good at a place in Annapolis on the waterfront. First off, the bun was completely dried out, lettuce and tomato looked old and withered, and the fries (potato rounds) were just soggy, greasy, seasoning less slices of misery.
OK, all that aside, i was still hopeful that my approx. $ 17 crab cake would be tasty so i pushed the bun and accoutrements aside and dug in. Mehhhhhhh, no backfin (lump) meat, lots of filler, and very poor flavor!
I hate to say it but ill never eat here again.

Came here around 6ish with a friend last night, the food: we ordered a dozen oysters $ 6, a doozen shrimps $ 11, fish n chips $ 11ish?, and 3 chicken tenders they were huge. The food was very good I enjoyed it but my compliant is that the service does suck. Our waitress was Alyssa and she wasn’t very attentive, and our food took forever to come out. I probably would not come back here again just because of the service.

I came here on a date with my boyfriend about a year ago. This place has a strong «bar atmosphere» & nice, intimate lightning.
As an appetizer, we got some oysters, which were amazing. For dinner, I got the crab cake sandwich. It came with their homemade fries, which were very different. They we just potato slices… But they were okay.
I really enjoyed the crab cake sandwich but I was under the impression that this was more of a «restaurant»…I was expecting more menu options. Average experience, but decent food.

This place is always totally packed. Despite being so busy they were able to seat our party of 4 right away and get drinks quickly too. I was definitely disappointed in the crabcake especially after discovering that you can get a way better one at the Dockside bar & grill for the exact same price! But they have a good beer selection and the atmosphere is cool. If they did a crabcake like Dockside’s I would be a complete fan!

I would give this zero stars if I could.
First, the server never brought me the drink I ordered. I reminded him about twenty minutes later and he brought the drink out fairly quickly after that. But then I didn’t see him for the next hour. Nor did I see my food. I saw that the table next to me, which came half an hour after me, received the exact thing I ordered. Obviously the server forgot to put my order in. And after he realized it he avoided me. To be fair, he could just be incompetent and the rest of the waiting staff could be stellar, but I wouldn’t recommend eating at this establishment. They don’t seem to care for service.

We came here late on a Sunday morning, to be honest, because the lines everywhere else were off-​putting. In hindsight, that should have been a clue as to why there were no lines here! The interior is dim and grimy, with plastic tablecloths and faintly sticky wooden stools. Service was pretty slow and we had to keep a lookout for our waiter, who didn’t check on us often, though he was friendly enough when he did.
I ordered a crab cake, figuring it would be hard to get wrong in Annapolis, but it was disappointingly small (lost in the huge bun) and accompanied by lackluster lettuce and a pale, mealy tomato slice. Also, inexplicably, a slice of lemon: a wedge would have been nice, but you can’t juice a slice without getting it everywhere, and I’m certainly not going to eat it on the sandwich! The cake itself was on the dry side and practically unseasoned. Once I flagged down the waiter and asked for some Old Bay, it was palatable. The coleslaw was overdressed and on the sweet side, but again, Old Bay came to the rescue.
Only the lovely view of the harbor, and the even lovelier conversation and company (an old friend and a new one) saved the experience from one star. But I wouldn’t go back.

Happy hour here is excellent and clearly a locals favorite. Roughly $ 8.50 for a half dozen raw oysters or raw clams and $ 1 oyster shooters with vodka. Their lumpia (Filipino egg roll) is solid, as is their Maryland crab soup. Solid craft beer selection. We were in Annapolis for a few nights and kept coming back here!
There is also a nice back area with a second bar.

Hip Hip Hurray for Happy Hour!
First off, can we just all agree the back bar is one of the coolest spaces in Annapolis? Skylights provide real light to real trees and vines growing along belt operated fans that cool the bar and loft. History, drinkers!
Then top shelf liquors for 5 bucks, and THE BEST spinach artichoke dip with steaming French Bread. Is that not exactly what I want at Happy Hour? It is, indeed.
Keeping this on my Annapolis highlights list, gents.