Pete’s Grille

Food was really good and cheap. I love that. It’s a bit of a wait because it is bar seating but that’s not why I’m only giving this place 3 stars.
I value servers who take their time to take care of you and I felt like our server did that despite how busy it was… until the end.
We asked for more coffee before we left and the server was like oh you finished eating so you have to leave now but I’ll get your coffees togo. We were understanding because she was pretty polite about it (sort of) until she walked away and made some audible snide remark to her coserver that people «look at her like she’s crazy» when she tells them that they have to leave.
I do not like that. First of all, if that is the policy then Pete’s needs to put that somewhere on the menu or visible to everyone so that they know when they are done eating that means they must pay and leave. Second of all, servers should have a bit more tact in front of customers and try not to say something like that no matter how busy it is. You have one job. And being polite is apart of it.
Otherwise establishment is good but you may get some shotty service.
UPDATE: I received a personal apology from the manager/​owner. Thank you! I wanted to share that because very rare do you get an apology from an establishment the same day you review. Thank you Petes grille!

Have been coming to this place for 20 years, food and service has never changed. I’ve brought just about everyone I know here. Best blueberry pancakes you’ll ever eat, scrapple and sausage made to perfection, and the only place I will eat scrambled eggs! Don’t forget to stop by the ATM if you don’t carry cash though; anyway, if you have never been, this is the place to enjoy a wonderful breakfast!

I can’t wait to go back! The portions are large so go hungry. They only have seats at the counter, but if you go early you shouldn’t have a problem finding a seat. I ordered a ham & cheese omelet with home fries & toast. Simple, but delicious. Great place for Sunday morning breakfast! All of the waitresses seem like they’ve been doing this for a while so they know all of the regulars. This place provides a great local hometown feel. Check it out!
*This is is a cash only restaurant! Consider yourself informed otherwise you’ll be visiting the riteaid across the street for an ATM*

Pete’s Grille is greasy breakfast perfection at its finest. I came here with a friend on a random week day around 9:00 am. I was a bit anxious about space because I had prior knowledge that they just have bar seating. There were about 6 open seats, so we were able to sit comfortably. It seemed to be more packed when we first arrived and then it cleared out rather quickly around 10:30. I ordered the veggie omelette, a short stack and coffee. The omelette was spectacular and super filling. It came with a hefty portion of home fries– which were cooked perfectly. The pancakes were fabulously dusted with powdered sugar and my coffee cup was never empty. Given the history of this place, they are a classic and you really can’t go wrong with any dishes here because they clearly have it down packed.

I ordered a veggie omelette to go and it clearly had bacon in it. That is really unacceptable and disgusting.
Update:
The owner wrote a personal apology and offered a refund. That gesture is highly appreciated.:-) I have been back to this place and overall it’s good.

Fast, friendly, clean, delicious and a fair price. Definitely stands out from all the other restaurants on greenmount ave.

Simple and great. Tasty basic breakfast. Nice people over the counter. Great value for money.

Fun, diner style area with standard breakfast foods. Known as a great place to go in Baltimore for breakfast. Great portions for price and fixes those greasy breakfast cravings. Sometimes the lines are long though, so be prepared to wait! Not great for large groups as seating is limited and diner-​bench style.

I did it! Finally! After four years of trying to walk the three blocks that would take me to this cash-​only nook of the neighborhood, I’ve officially done it! The atmosphere is teeny tiny neighborhood diner, super casual, and you can tell there are regulars. The early bird and Facebook specials (acquirable through getting up at the crack of dawn or liking their Facebook page respectively) are so worth it. This is the type of place where it’s all about bang for buck. Simple food made in satisfying quantities and served with a smile. Don’t expect huge variety or upscale ingredients, that’s not what this place is about. It’s about the type of bacon and egg, pancakes and syrup breakfasts that you can smell from your bedroom and drag yourself out of bed for.
Yum.
Wake up. Go to Petes. Go back to be to enjoy the food coma.

Amazing Grille! If you’re ever in the area go here! I was VERY skeptical about visiting the restaurant but after getting inside I was ok. It was very clean. And I mean VERY CLEAN! The grille, countertops, every area where food was prepared was clean, which I appreciated. The food was great. I ordered a burger without the bread and it was one of the most amazing burgers I ever had. It had the char-​grilled taste which I love and I can’t wait to go back to visit and eat there again.
Service was great and the cook was very friendly as well :)

Pretty Standard bar style diner. Had pancakes, eggs, bacon and potatoes. Everything was pretty good. The service was really good. Fast and prompt and no mess ups. Just what I love.
Someone next to me had a western omelette that looked pretty good too. I would like to return for lunch. They close pretty early (1 pm). And cash only. So be prepared.

Went here this AM for a quik breakfast en route to running errands. It was packed, but I only waited about 5 mins, so it wasn’t too bad. Butttt anyhoo, on to the food. I ordered a blueberry short stack, bacon, homefries and Pine-​Orange juice. It was alright. Nothing to rave about. Just simple breakfast. The pancakes were pretty big, but not light & fluffy as I’d hoped. They were a bit «bouncy» and dense. Also, they didn’t have peppers to add to the homefries. Lastly, they have the worst bacon ever. It is very thin, like the bacon that’s served at fast-​food joints. Considering that bacon has an über special place in my life, I was bothered by that. :/​Service was pretty quick. I was in and out in about 45 mins.
This is a place for regulars and the average quick breakfast pick-​up. If you want to relax and stretch with a nice breakfast cocktail and loads of good convo with friends, this is NOT the place. For one, you can’t all fit inside of the place and for two, you’ll probably get stared down by the folks waiting against the back wall to eat at the next sitting. «Get in, get out» is the name of the game here. I would go back in a pinch, but probably wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

No frills, diner fare in a quintessential baltimore setting.
Coffee is always fresh, drinks are replenished, and food is hot.
Students, seniors, locals and newcomers welcome.
As things change in our modern age it’s nice to have a simple meal and receive a handwritten guest check.
Street parking available.

Pete’s Grille is famous for having the breakfast of Michael Phelps, and it really doesn’t disappoint. I’ve had the waffles, pancakes, chicken waffles, and even burgers at Pete’s, and all are excellent. I love eating at the old fashioned bar where you can see all your food being made, even though it usually means waiting a while because there’s so little seating in the restaurant. They’re always busy, but I’ve never had slow service, nor did I get the feeling that I was being rushed out.
Recently in the winter when there’s a ton of snow, Pete’s will even send a 4-​wheel-​drive vehicle to pick you up and drive you to the restaurant! This is a very friendly and family-​oriented Baltimore-​run restaurant.
If you do want to come here for brunch, I suggest planning ahead since a 30 – 45 minute wait isn’t uncommon. You also want to withdraw some money from the ATM since they don’t accept any credit cards. Because of their popularity, I think Pete’s is slightly overpriced for what it is, but their food is always of top quality, so I’m not complaining. If you’re looking for a more traditional diner-​esque brunch place that isn’t as high class and/​or snooty as Miss Shirley’s, then Pete’s is your place to go.

Good food but so tiny and terrible for groups!!! There is only bar seating a the bar is so small. I went here once with a group of 6 people and we had to sit dispersed in 3 groups of 2. I went here once with one other person and it was much better.
The food is good but not amazing. Pretty classic breakfast & lunch diner food.

Just a great great diner. Cash only. Great blueberry pancakes… nothing fancy here… but perfectly done. I agree… the short stack is PLENTY… I am a big eater.
YES…they have scrapple.
Go…cozy up at the counter… bring cash… have a great breakfast.

Cozy. Traditional. Diner.
This place is popular for a reason. Staff are very friendly. The workflow of the line cooks in conjunction with the servers is impeccable. Orders are promptly taken, food is promptly cooked, belly is promptly filled.
Depending on the time of day that you go, you may or may not hit a long line of folks waiting to be seated, as the restaurant is simply one long bar for seating. The line does move quick though due to the aforementioned process. And with the food served, it’s worth the wait.
Blueberry pancakes are a must. Omelettes are plentiful in size and tastiness. And the coffee just feels right. Oh, and stop by the ATM before heading here, cash only.
It’s places like this that make me happy to live in Baltimore.

Went here on a rainy day just at 11 on Saturday for brunch. Since I hadn’t checked any reviews before coming, I was a little surprised by the counter-​style. The diner was full, but our wait wasn’t too long (around 10 minutes). People don’t stay too long after they’ve finished eating. The vibe is friendly, but very pragmatic — the servers pull you up, and are friendly, but brisk. It was quite nice to see the chefs cook the food on the grill in front of you.
We ordered the Western omelette (tomato, green peppers, and onion, with cheese), which was served with grits, and toast, and the blueberry waffle, with a side of scrambled egg. Your perfect comfort brunch — the best breakfast I’ve had in a while.
The omelette and waffle were by far my favourite. The omelette was fresh, and the portion size just perfect. The waffle was fluffy and moist, and dosed with a generous portion of blueberries. Make sure to bring cash, as they don’t accept credit!

Hubs and I hit up Pete’s after visiting the 32^nd Street Farmer’s Market last Saturday.
Now, as a Baltimore native (and former resident of Waverly itself), I have been well aware of Pete’s for what amounts to my entire life. But — I’d never been here before, which I can now say is a crying shame. Even if you end up NOT liking the food here, you have to come, even if only to scratch it off your Baltimore bucket list. This is a B’more institution, folks. It’s been perched on the corner of Greenmount and 32^nd forever — at least for 40 years, because I remember it being there when I was only yay-​high.
Be prepared when you come — this is Blue Moon-​level seating. You’ll stand against a wall for 20 minutes and stare jealously at everyone sitting at the counter enjoying their food. It is what it is. At least you get to wait in a nice, warm space and take in all of the posters on the walls, including the snarky ones right above the grills. It’s a Baltimore thing.
I would definitely NOT recommend taking more than two at a time here. Unless you want to be seated separately. There was one poor party of four that was skipped over six times because they couldn’t get seats together for all of them at once. So, yeah. A single or at the most, a couple — no more.
They don’t have «fancy» breakfast dishes here. No Captain Crunch toast, no eggs with hollandaise and potatoes, no Miss Shirley’s 24 dollar waffles. Not here, uh-​uh. It’s as basic as you’re going to get — pancakes, home fries, eggs with cheese. If you’re expecting more than good old-​fashioned solid American breakfast that you could probably whip up in your own kitchen, you’re in the wrong joint.
Hubs and I both ordered Western omelettes (the Saturday special) — nothing more than eggs with tomatoes, onions, peppers and cheese, but boy was it good after being in the cold for hours. It came with a side of home fries (you can substitute grits if you want) and toast with butter and jelly — like I said, standard. Coffee is hot, plentiful and comes in little mugs with «PETE’S» written in Old English on the side. Very no-​nonsense.
The waitresses are crusty. «NEXT TWO!» And they’ll yell it right in front of you, too. It’s Baltimore at its finest.
They won’t exactly rush you out, but don’t linger too long, either. That line never goes away, after all. You’re there to eat and go, simple as that.
Prices are about right for a place like this. It’s not dirt DIRT cheap, but it’s not at all unreasonable. We got out of there for about 20 bucks or so (if you can read the scrawl on the ticket, that is, heh).
Pete’s is Pete’s. It’s a Baltimore thing. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Don’t wait decades to come like I did.

I don’t usually go nuts over breakfast but I don’t know if it was my extreme hunger, my extreme hangover or the 20 minutes of watching food be made and served to other people while we waited for a seat, but this was the most delicious breakfast I’ve had in a while.
I pretty much wanted everything on the menu but decided on the french toast with a side of home fries and bacon. I hadn’t had french toast in a loooong time and this french toast was very good. The bacon was my favorite kind… salty, greasy, thin, and crispy. And while I only made it through about ¼ of the home fries, they were pretty awesome as well.
Service wasn’t the most friendly I’ve ever experienced, but it was quick and cordial. It’s cash only, but also pretty cheap so you don’t need to have a ton of cash on you.
My only regret is that a guy who came in after us ordered a coffee milkshake and a milkshake at breakfast didn’t even cross my mind. Probably wouldn’t have mixed well with all the grease and syrup soooo maybe for the best.
I don’t often find myself in this area but wouldn’t hesitate to come back.