Willow

About a year and a half ago, I went to Willow in Fells Point with some friends and we were disappointed to say the least. The restaurant was completely empty and it’s more of a lounge (full bar with plenty of great options) than a Mexican restaurant. After our underwhelming meal, I had no plans on ever returning. However, recently I stumbled upon this restaurant review of Willow and I decided to give it another shot even though I love Papi’s and it’s right around the corner.
When my friend and I arrived at 6pm on a Wednesday, Willow was empty. We were the only two patrons in the restaurant and I was having flashbacks from our first visit. I was still determined to try Willow again. Because we were the only diners, our waiter hovered over us a little bit but I don’t blame him for trying to be attentive. My friend and I decided to start with an order of the Fingerling Papas Bravas. They were crispy fingerling potatoes served with mustard seed aioli, chipotle aioli and parmesan aioli. My favorite of the dips was the mustard seed aioli, but we also asked for a thing of ketchup which was also delicious. It was homemade and had some nice spices in it.
As I mentioned, it was 6pm, which meant it was still happy hour. At Willow during happy hour there are half priced tacos. We were at a Mexican restaurant, what better thing to order than tacos? Plus they were super cheap. My friend and I decided to each place an order for tacos and share. One set of tacos we decided on was the BBQ Chicken. These tacos were beautifully presented with tender chicken marinated in house made mango bbq sauce served with fresh tomato salsa, house cheese blend, shredded lettuce fire roasted corn and crème fraîche with a jalapeño. These tacos were very good but I wish they had less of a smoky bbq taste and more of a fruity mango taste that would mix better with the salsa.
The other tacos we decided to share were the Hanger Steak Tacos. These tacos were marinated hanger steak grilled on an open flame topped with house cheese blend, cucumber slaw and roasted red pepper. We ordered the cucumber slaw on the side because my friend didn’t think that she would like it. It ended up being delicious. These tacos had less filling than the chicken ones making the tortilla a little overpowering, but I preferred the flavor in these more.
By the time we finished our meal, Willow had picked up a little bit and there were some other patrons in the restaurant.
Is Willow my favorite Mexican restaurant? No, it’s not even my favorite Mexican spot in Fells Point. But it has improved significantly over the year and a half since I last visited. I would also consider this more of a Mexican fusion restaurant based on some of the funky taco fillings they offered. If I was in the area and there was a long wait time at one of my other favorite restaurants, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Willow (it’s also significantly better than Blue Agave). Because we went during happy hour, the bill totaled to under $ 20 making it a great deal!

Our typical spots had long waits so we decided to try out Willow. I really like the family-​style dinner tables and the homey décor.
The pricing was just off… just too pricey for what it is in my opinion. Worthwhile if you have a large group. It’s supposed to be tapas but our group decided to do individual tacos. The server tried to sell us on a plate and half for each of us but the one plate was more than enough. The bbq chicken ones were delicious.
Our server was friendly but seemed eager to get us out of there.
Bottomless sangria is a nice touch though!

Just tried this last night. Tableside guac is awesome. The tacos are more «fusion» (ie fillings like pork belly and tuna tartare) than authentic, and they’re pretty good. I do wish the tortillas were freshly made in house, but that’s just me being a picky Californian.
Apparently from 3−7pm they have a happy hour with 50% off tacos and 50% off tacos, so I’ll definitely be back for that.

Decided to try Willows because i saw that they make Caprinhas, one of the few places in Baltimore that make this Brazilian drink. So i decided to partake in the spirit of the World Cup. Ordered my drink and after the first sip i decided to pass, not good. Switched it out for a magarita. We ordered a bunch of items since it is a tapas restaurant. Started off with the Salsa and chips, very very good. The lamb lolipop chops were ok-​not a repeat. The Pork belly tacos-​phenomenal, i will go back just to order that, it was that good. The shrimp cocktatail wasnt too bad. Alll in all that Pork Belly taco tho yum…

This place needs a few more stars, y’all.
The portions are tapas style — you shouldn’t expect to fill up on anything.
I liked the house spicy margaritas and also tried their traditional kind. Both were strong enough and not overly sweet. The rim of the house margarita had a salt/​cayenne pepper border, which was a really interesting touch.
The tortillas seemed to be housemade — a plus! They were really fresh tasting. Tacos come two in an order. The duck tacos were delicious, the pork belly tacos were SUPER yummy (slaw on them was fabulous), and the guac was tasty (but not made tableside as described). The chips seemed a little bit overdone to my tastes, but the flavor of the salt mix on top was definitely enough to compensate. The menu seems pretty adventurous — I kinda want to try everything out!
The service was really friendly.
Ambience was nice, a good place to chill for a while and munch on some tacos.
Well-​worth a return visit.

I have lived and gone out in Fells for a long time, and I remember when Willow popped up in the scene, however it never enticed me enough to go in.
One night I had friends from Fed Hill come hang out on my turf and they wanted to stop here. I am pleasantly surprised by this place, I have not herd much buzz about it so I had no idea what to expect.
The cocktails were delicious! And the food was totally awesome, it was a way more sophisticated tapas place than I anticipated.
I give kudos to the waiter and waitress working the restaurant that night, we ordered guacamole that they make table side, asking if each ingredient was okay before tossing it in. However, our waitress was taking an abnormal amount of time kneading the avocado, she showed the other waiter and he said the avocados weren’t ripe enough. They took it back to the kitchen and started a new one from scratch… It is extremely refreshing to know that they would not serve something that wasn’t 100% up to par with their vision. I feel like that is missed in a lot of restaurants and customer service jobs these days, and I am totally impressed.
The new batch of guac was delicious, the duck egg rolls were really good, and I have never seen tuna tartar in a jalepeno boat… omg it was awesome! OH and I almost forgot the ribs… oh the ribs… they were delicious we were all gaga over them.
It was a little pricey, and even though the food was soo delicious, I feel like they need to offer awesome happy hour deals or something (I don’t know if they do or not), otherwise this place might be an occasional visit for me.

MAKE A RESERVATION. The food was great, but the service left something to be desired. I’d go again, but make a reservation.
When we walked in we were told the restaurant was full for the evening, not that there was a waiting list, but that they were full. So luckily 2 seats opened up at the small bar and we just ate there. But by the time we were done, at 10 pm, all the tables were empty. So I guess they weren’t full for the evening.
And I’d be more upset about it but the food was amazing! First of all, the drinks are great. Light and tasty. I highly recommend the Autumn Spice margarita and the Diablo. Then we had some small plates which were very creative, and tacos. The fajitas for 2 seemed to be very popular, and had I known to save room for dessert, the pumpkin pie chimichanga looked awesome!
They did charge us for chips and salsa, so what I recommend is get the venison and shrimp chili for only a few dollars more, and dip your chips in that instead.
i’d go again, but hope for better service.

3.5. Really cool vibe and fun space, and a perfect location in Fells Point. We recently had lunch here (before flying out) and there were two other tables, one with four people and one with six. And us. And ONE waiter. Then another couple in for drinks at the bar. Again, one waiter, on Monday, at lunch. So it took awhile but he was nice and as attentive as he could be considering the many diners.
We started with queso (verrrry thick) and the cactus/​red pepper/​hearts of palm salad which was interesting — tangy, crunchy and squishy, all at the same time.
I had the trio of vegetable tacos. Presentation was nice and the corn tortillas were nice and pliable. The filling — roasted leeks, artichoke hearts, and shitake mushrooms with a tomato salsa and a bit of cheese — would have benefited from a sauce or drizzle of something on top, maybe creamy sour cream or a spicy hot sauce.
The petite filet burrito bowl was good. Lots of lettuce and the steak was tender.
Good spot for lunch or drinks or a night out with friends.

I really want to like this place, but I am slightly disappointed each time I have been. Sure it is fell’s point, but the prices are high and portions are small. The service was very slow and the strife between the employees was not subtle.
We started with the guacamole which was very good. Came with a small number of chips, but after asking twice, we finally got more chips. It is made table side which is nice and gives you the opportunity to adjust ingredients ie cliantro, jalapenos, lime, garlic, cumin, etc. I had the duck confit burrito for 15 dollars which was quite small. There was supposed to be a pineapple salsa which was completely missing. It did come with a side of guacamole, but that’s all. All sides were separate.
The bf had the fish burrito bowel, which was a small arugula salad with 5 small pieces of battered fish on top. Again if you want to do small plates, that’s fine but then have small plate pricing!
As for drinks, the bartender was friendly and drinks well mixed, although service again was slow waiting for drinks.
WOuld recommend for a casual drink or to sit outside, but not for food.