Phillips Annapolis Crab Deck

Doooooooooo not go here. My nephew, daughter and I went there Sunday, May 24, 2015. It was a holiday weekend and we knew it was going to be busy. Upon checking in were told the wait time was an hour. After leaving our name and phone number we decide to take a tour boat ride that was 40 minutes, 20 minutes into our ride they called and we told them we would be there in about 15 minutes or so. After getting there we were seated right away. While waiting for our server there was a young Hispanic girl bringing out silverware, mine you not she placed our forks and knives down touching the part we were to eat off. When our server came 15 minutes later we informed her we want new silverware because of what happened. We ordered our drinks and 2 appetizers and believe it or not they took another 20 minutes to bring to us & they never brought plates or serving utensils to serve the appetite. We waited another 20 minutes to get our bowl of soup which should have been brought out with the appetizer and was luke warm and very thick. When we got our crab leg pots & lobster pots another 30 minutes later the food wasn’t very hot and didn’t receive the proper tools to open our seafood with. Our onion rings came out 15 minutes later after reminding our server and we were never offered refills on our drinks. A table across from us was complaining about the service also and stated they had their bill split between the two parties with them and was charged for food they never got and each other were charged the other party bill on their credit card. I have never had bed service like this in all my life. I could have went to Joe’s Crab Shack for better service and better food.

Came here on Memorial Day. Was told we would have to wait 45+ mins to get to the crab deck. Agreed to stay by the bar where we would be served «right away». 30 plus mins later nobody has even bothered to say hi. Bar is half empty because people are dropping their menus annoyed and leaving. We did as well.
I get the whole «it’s a holiday» excuse, but is it the first holiday this place is open? Thank God Buddy’s is just a few feet away. Happy Memorial Day everybody!

Food was good but our waitress was the worst! Our food order was so messed up and the food took so long to come that some of us (our party was 10) Canceled our food cuz we just wanted to leave. Needless to say only half of us ate.

«„Rats“»” I happen to be a local and this was my first time heading to Phillips Crab Deck. I have been coming downtown for all of the great eating experiences. This was not one of them. My girlfriend and I were walking by and figured we could get out of the cold New Years Eve during lunchtime. At first the downstairs bar area seemed friendly and inviting. The bartender Scott gave a friendly gesture and told us our host would be right with us. We were greeted with a smile as the girl directed us upstairs to our table. She was very pleasant and introduced us to our server who was a girl named Alex.
Her service was the only highlight of this meal. She could not have been more polite or informative during our stay. We started with a recommendation of drinks by her, I had a signature Blue Crab Margarita as suggested and found it to be quite tasty and made me feel good about the donation that would be made to the Watermans Foundation. Good Ploy guys! We ordered a Crab dip which was wonderful accompanied by some pretzel sticks. The 2 sticks was not enough and asked our server Alex for another 2 sticks, she comes back less than 10 mins. later and informs us that the kitchen was backed up and should be out momentarily. Well regardless of what was going in the kitchen how hard is it to heat up a pretzel. It took another 10 mins for us to get our last two sticks for a total of 20 mins after asking for them. I don’t know if they had to make the batter, hand roll, cook, and place individual salts on it cause I have seen Auntie Anne’s dish out 15 whole pretzels in that time! My 1^st impression of a place is the appetizer as making a first impression. Needless to say our Crab dip was cold… No Bueno.
My girlfriend ordered the Salmon, Which was dry and tasteless. I had the steak and shrimp. This steak was rubbery, overcooked, and tasted like it was straight out of the freezer. I couldn’t even get A.1. sauce to cover up the terrible taste. We were not pleased and out server know it. Even though my girlfriend may have been a little harsh on Alex she handled the comments with a very pleasant smile and apologies. Knowing very well that it was the total mess up of the kitchen and out of her control. There needs to be a complaint box on the outside door of the kitchen for the head chef to take some pointers. Obviously there is no culinary experience in this kitchen or culinary influence on this menu. I would bet that every dish would taste bland down to the kids menu!
Halfway through shifting food around on our plates as we were not going to digest anymore of it, my girlfriend caught something run across the floor. After waiting a moment sure enough a RAT, not a lil mouse, but a full sized Rat ran from out behind a heater on the floor clear down the wall in the middle of the second story restaurant in the middle of the day. At that point we had nothing further to want from this place. I could only imagine what the kitchen and storage areas look like to condone such huge rats. We grabbed our check and was pleasantly invited back by our server Alex as she did a wonderful job with what she could control. We left a gracious tip as I am sure no one has been pleased as of recent in this establishment. Which may be due part to not having enough returning customers to turn a profit to allow their doors to be kept open during the weeks in winter.
As a local I will never recommend this restaurant to any friends or family who visit annapolis, MD.
P.S I hope someone takes this review with some serious though, the company needs to take another look at themselves and make sure they pay their front of house staff double just to put up with this. I have no idea how they will make a living.””“RATS”””

Attempted to branch out and eat at different spots at the waterfront. Well, when something isn’t broke, don’t fix it. My mother and myself were sat. The section was not full as there were some empty tables. It took almost 10 minutes to be greeted by our server. We ordered 2 cokes, a mussel appetizer, and 2 crab cake sandwiches. Then we sat. And we sat. Then sat some more for our sodas. 18 minutes had passed for sodas. We saw our server bussing tables in a section that had clean open tables (no line to be sat either) instead of bringing our sodas. 18 minutes was too long in any scenario for soda; especially when it was at 2pm and not slammed.
So we got up to leave and I asked the hostess to speak with the manager. Here’s the worst part…
The manager simply gave us excuses as to why it took 18 minutes to get sodas. They are understaffed and without a busser we were told. Regardless, we’re understanding people but no attempt was made to rectify anything. We weren’t looking for a free meal out of it. However, at least some effort to right the wrong would have been nice. Instead it was just excuses.
So we went where I usually go, McGarvey’s. We were seated quickly. We were greeted quickly by our server and got our sodas within a minute. The young girl serving us at McGarvey’s had more tables at the time too.
I am never going back to this place. Not worth my time.

Horrible… horrible food, horrible sercise. MANAGER didnt have the guts to come address issue. Crabs old, shrimp under cooked, food old… just horrible horrible food…

2.5 stars. My boyfriend and I recently made a day trip out to Annapolis harbor and were looking for a good place to eat with a view. I had visited Phillips when I was a kid (at least a decade and a half ago) and remembered it fondly. Upon a quick search on Unilocal,we discovered that this place got an average of 2.5 stars! 0.0 The horror! Normally, I would rarely ever voluntarily visit an establishment that received that low of an overall rating on Unilocal,but since I’d had a good experience as a kid here, I decided we should go for this anyway.
Anywho, I was a bit disappointed… it was nothing like I remembered it. I had remembered it being classier, and maybe it once was, but this place has gotten a bit dilapidated. The tables were more like park picnic tables and the view of the harbor is obstructed by a board… you really only get a good view of the street. I did, however, enjoy the open, airy feel to the place. Service was decent, though our hostess at the beginning could have been friendlier.
The food was mediocre. We both ordered the crab soup to start and it was really chunky and tasted old… my boyfriend ordered the lobster roll and I got the crab cake. Neither of them tasted super fresh, though they weren’t awful either. They were just. mediocre…
I think I’m being generous when I give this place 3 stars. I still have fond memories visiting as a kid. I agree with the other reviews — this place is a tourist trap. But based on Unilocal,there aren’t too many great harbor-​side restaurants in Annapolis generally.

IF you can get past the touristy part of this restaurant and see beyond the ill-​trained service staff, and compromise your taste buds for over-​priced food… then this is a great experience with a view.
If you can’t…eat anywhere else.
Seriously gang… train your employees to work as a team and help them to be aware of their customers needs.

Tourist trap. Awful experience. Two of us ordered salads with crab cake side for $ 13 but when we got the bill it was $ 23 a salad! It was $ 13 to add a tiny tiny golf ball shaped crab cake on top of a minuscule salad (barely an appetizer) that didn’t even have the goat cheese it said it would have on it. Our baby was with us too and we asked for a small amount of meat and soft veggies for him and they could only charge us for a full burger and the veggies were hard. (We ordered our baby’s food BEFORE our food and drinks because he was hungry and it came last)
Their excuse on both the burger meat and crab cakes for $ 13 was ‘commodity cost increase’. Every excuse used ‘commodity cost’ the way ‘Tucson’ or ‘Artisan’ is thrown around these days. We had to ask for napkins then forks then knives for our table. After complaining a few times the owner finally came out and gave us a discount on one of the crabcake salads. Too late. We left hungry and unsatisfied and ripped off.

This place you go to for the company your with and the view. Pretty much in impressive. Took 3 times to get drawn butter w the steamed clams (yes the menu states it comes with) Clams were huge almost raw. Dirty bowl of Steamer water, yech.
Soft shell Crabs Cornmeal coating way too salty, Corn relish pretty much tasteless.
Again had it not had been for the company of my wife and beautiful dock view, no dice folks.

When you order a soft shelled crab and it is so bad between two people we took two bites. Maybe for regular crabs, sitting out on the deck and having a beer it is fine. But the food otherwise is average; we tried twice.

Worst place I’ve ever been to! Came to get dinner and put our name with the hostess (who was very rude) sat at the bar to wait for our table and found out the kitchen was closing in a few minutes after we waited 20mins. The bar staff was disorganized and no help. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.
I’m revising this because after we were told that we couldn’t eat they said we could. They sat us next to these two girls — one was very drunk and was passed out at the table while her friend ate. The girl that was passed out then woke up– puked in her water glass and fell down trying to get up almost hitting my boyfriend. They shouldn’t let people in that drunk or let them get that drunk — poor management. They moved our table but I lost my appetite after that. Not changing my review rating just shows what a bad place that is!

Wir haben seit Jahren mal wieder Annapolis besucht, und damit auch das Philips. Wir waren angenehm enttäuscht. Wir bekamen zum Essen das verkehrte Essen, welches zwar sehr lecker war, aber man hatte uns was anderes erzählt. Zum Nachtisch bekam ich statt 3 Kugeln sage und schreibe 12 Kugeln Eis.
Die Bedienung war sehr nett und niedlich, nur für den Beruf nicht geeignet.

Terible portions I pay 10 $ for large salat that is smaller then a side salad lol.
Real excuse for for it.
The table was right next to a trash can.
I never write reviews like that.
But please guys don’t come to that place your waist your time, money and experience.
Annapolis is great place and there is 10 000 other better locations even Mc. Donald’s it’s better chose than that place. Terrible Terrible Terrible …
Never even again :-)

Overall bad experience food wise. The Chesapeake wings came out undercooked– pink in the middle. That order was remade. In the meantime, my lobster roll arrived with Luke warm and floppy fries. The roll itself was nothing fabulous, served on a piece of hot dog bun-​like toasted bread. Management was very apologetic about the wings and charged us only happy hour prices which was nice. Atmosphere at the bar was blah.

My partner and I decided to come to Annapolis to spend some time exploring. Since the restaurant I wanted to introduce him to wasn’t open until after we got hungry, we decided to pay a quick visit to the crab deck to satisfy our seafood craving.
The entrance is so obvious it was easy for us to walk right by it. When we walked into the restaurant we were immediately seating upstairs in the crab deck area directly next to a window looking over the bay. We were very pleased with there only being about five other couples up there with us. It was a very relaxing and quiet meal. Our server was absent minded forgetting some small things but everything turned out fantastic.
As for the food, we were very pleased! The menu is small but perfect for a quick meal. I ordered the steamed shrimp and my partner ordered the cream of crab soup and oysters on the half shell. The steamed shrimp weren’t nearly as big as I hoped to be but were perfectly seasoned. My partner wanted to comment on the cream of crab soup as it was thin and rather lacking in amount of soup for the bowl. The oysters on the half shell were great but a touch smaller than expected.
For those three meals with a delicious Red Velvet cake for dessert, we spent a total of around $ 50-​$ 60 which was a bit much.
All-​in-​all, I rate it a 4 out of 5 stars for quantity versus quality. There could have been more food for the price you pay. Great meal regardless!

Great view of the City Dock! This is a great low key place to hang out in when you are downtown in Annapolis if you want some beers and crabs.
Its not too cheap, but the food is excellent. It’s about $ 25-​$ 30 pp if you come here. The nice thing is that you can come here crack open some crabs and not worry about getting crab guts all over your fancy clothes that you would normally wear to go to some of the nicer restaurants down there.
Definitely one of the places that I would take out of towners too. From there you can make your way through downtown and not even have to move your car anywhere.

I visited Phillips Annapolis Crab Deck with my partner. Went up to the bar and was pleasantly greeted by Justin. We were in the mood for a couple Bloody Marys to start with. Best I have had and garnished fantasticly. I was unsure what I would eat for my meal, again, Justin to the rescue! He asked what kinds of things I liked and he said I have got just the thing. A steamed platter with clams, mussels, shrimp, potatoes and corn on the cob, along with some tasty sausage. I was completely satisfied with my meal. After our meals we had a couple specialty drinks which Justin whipped up for us. Really, Really good! We will be back again. I highly recommend this spot for great food and great drinks. Look for Justin for great serviice!

Booo! Big disappointment. We brought friends here in the hope that we would find a new reasonably priced annapolis restaurant to visit, but it was a big disappointment.
The food was just okay, but the value was not there. Ordering a crab cake platter was like a miniature display on a tray, and it was super expensive for that. Also, they just give you a bag of crappy chips on the side. Couldn’t you at least open them and dump them on the tray? What is this, a picnic?
The restaurant is like a crab-​based greasy spoon, yet it is nearly on par with every nicer place in Annapolis. The only reason I give it a two is that the bar has good HHs and the drinks are pretty good.

Hmmm… where to begin…
OK, I’ll start with the good. Great location, love the open semi-​outdoor seating, and Wine Wednesday ($ 4 glasses). Our server, Christie, and the manager on duty, Corey (sp?) were great, very friendly and BIG smiles from Christie. She was on her game… checked up on us just the right amount, enough to make sure we were taken care of but not suffocating or annoying. Food came out in a reasonable time, drinks never ran out, and we didn’t have to wait too long for the check. Thumbs up to Christie!
But the not so good… honestly, the food is just mediocre. I came with a friend who (if you can believe this) moved here from Florida but had NEVER had mussels, clams, or crab! REALLY??? His idea of seafood was fried shrimp… again, REALLY??? So as we were walking around looking for a place to eat, I started rattling off some names and cuisines, and when he heard seafood, that’s what he said he wanted… but again, HIS idea of seafood is not really MY idea of seafood. However, moving on… we came in, I ordered some mussels, cream of crab soup, and the cucumber salad. He got a sampler platter that had steamed mussels, clams, and shrimp along with some potatoes and corn. I’m going to try to not put much of his opinion in here, since he’s obviously not a seafood person, but he didn’t care for the clams, saying they were slimy. But that’s all I’ll say on those…
As for me, I was a little disappointed in the mussels, and VERY disappointed in the soup. And I hate to say it, but if they want to know how mussels SHOULD be served, the chef should go visit the Green Turtle… it’s OK to have the butter in a cup on the side, but for the best mussels, they need to be covered in sauce. These were just straight from the steamer, no seasoning at all, no sauce… just a cup to dip them in. Very bland. And the soup… they’re using the cheapest crab meat they can get, in fact I have to wonder if it really IS crab meat. The only thing that made me think it MIGHT be crab meat is the overabundance of shell pieces in the soup. I wasn’t even able to finish the bowl, and I LOVE cream of crab soup.
The cucumber salad was good… I did like the sweet vinaigrette dressing, so at least there was that. But overall, the food was disappointing.

I came here twice, once I stumbled upon this restaurant and was pretty satisfied with my shrimp sandwich and red potato salad. I have to admit the wait to get our food was pretty long but the waitress was really nice and she kept checking in with us, In the end, the shrimp sandwich was really good and worth the wait.
The second time, I actually brought my friends here who were visiting me from Chicago. This time I had the tuna sandwich. It was really good too, and I did not hear any complaints from my friends. However, the wait for the food was extremely long and the waiter was very slow returning with our drinks, lemons and salad that he forgot to bring out the first time around.
In sum, I think this a very nice restaurant for lunch. You can get a satisfying meal for $ 12. The Bloody Mary also looks very delicious (another table ordered some). However for dinner the meals look very pricy $ 30 plus.