Bare Bones Restaurant

Lets be honest this place is just ok. Came with my mom and sisters and wasn’t impressed. The server took forever to wait on us in every aspect of the meal. Additionally my sisters «summer sangria «was gross like old wine. The fruit inside had turned white, yuck! The steak special I ordered was ok but pretty fatty. The décor of the place was very cluttered and mismatched, not a fan of the place.

Eh – so so at best. With so many great BBQ places around, not worth a special trip to Bare Bones. I liked the Old Bay wings a lot, but the fish sandwich was a big disappointment – just a piece of fish on a bare bun. No taste at all – pretty sure it wasn’t fresh.
And what’s up with a BBQ place that doesn’t have brisket or pulled pork on the menu? Probably Bare Bones should be listed as a Ribs place, but not a traditional BBQ restaurant in any sense of the word.
I also didn’t like the waiter. He’d disappear for long periods of time and then just barge in without letting us finish our sentences. They were obviously understaffed and he was probably very busy, but he really lacked professionalism.

After a Great brunch for Mother’s Day, we decided to grab a beverage close by. We stopped at Shannon’s they we closed for a private event so we ended up at Bare Bones. This was our 1^st visit there, greeted with much enthusiasm. We seated ourselves at the bar originally for 1 drink. Carter our bartender was Super! He made our drinks perfectly. Seriously, kept us entertained. The atmosphere is very pleasant. We will return!

Unusually disappointed in my lunch today. The barebones special salad is usually moist and delicious. Today the chicken was dry and the roll was as hard as a rock. How did it leave the kitchen like this?

We were seated right a way, but it took the waitress several minutes to show up to take our drink order. This was our first and last time here because the food was just ok; certainly not worth the $$$.

The food here is awesome. However let me tell you about my server!!! She was just the sweetest girl. She was so on top of things… She knew what we needed before we even asked. My husband’s drink stayed full the entire time and that is near impossible whenever we go out… He drinks really so fast.
She made the entire experience!!! Can’t wait to go back and we will definitely be asking for Rose again!!!

Love this bar! Live music three nights a week (Thu at 8, Fri and Sat at 9). People dance! Good bands, often rock; I’ve also heard blues, soul, country, you-​name-​it.
Bartenders are fast, they’re also fun! They get to know you quickly. I mostly run into Bryan and Kim, but they’re all good to me. Decent range of liquors and wines. Weeknight have a free mini-​buffet. Yeah there’s a couple that have recently started coming every evening, taking ALL the wings, and hardly buying any drinks. They’ll shape up eventually, I hope.
People talk to each other; a nice mix from younger to older; not a cookie-​cutter crowd, which is a plus ;-) A good number of regulars. I myself get here one to three times a week, for the music or on the night they have the wings I like best on the buffet. It’s crowded enough that night, so I’m not telling. Same good food as the restaurant is available in the bar! I love the french onion soup, the steak sandwich which is a steal, and of course the ribs and the oh-​my prime rib! Watch for the weekly specials on those last two, nothing wrong with a deal :-)
It’s always a comfortable neighborhood bar, every time I go in there. Review too positive? Sorry, there’s even plenty of parking. Hmmm. Trying to think of a negative. Sometimes they bring in a bartender who’s a little green, a little tense. Sometimes they get so crowded you have to stand at the side bar. I don’t really like one of the regulars (but we still talk).
That’s all I got. If you’re a people-​person or a people-​watcher you’ll like this place. If you like to dance, please come!

I been to the restaurant many times on different occasions and today was the worst service ever. Our waitress i belive her name was Rose was horrible. Apparently she was only waiting on one table because that one table with four people (our party was a party of three) was the only table she was attentive to… i had to flag her down for our bread. She never checked on us and when she did come to the table she asked did we want boxes (and i was still eating my food) i said no we would like refills because we had not had refills since before she took our orders. The food was good but not good enough to be ignored like i’m not a paying customer. The guy who brought our food out was very friendly. I won’t be going back anytime soon and i will not recommend to my colleagues who usually hold Christmas parties and retirement parties in the back room.

Had 2 return my food twice and STILL not done 2 my request. Fries was ice cold and burger burnt (bread also not toasted and I made this request TWICE) when I asked for medium temperature.
When I asked 4 a remake they basically, brought back the SAME food!
Manager was not helpful and somewhat short with me. Last time I will visit this restaurant.

This is a favorite of many especially for happy hour. The parking lot is always full and people leave quite satisfied. They have a varied menu with delicious ribs, crab cakes, soups, salads, vegetables and much more. There is plenty of room for families to dine.

My favorite crabcake of all time. I live in Maryland and have had 50 years of access to crabcakes. This is the best. Always moist, lump crabmeat. Tastes like crab and a bit of spice, but not Old Bay (which doesn’t belong in crabcakes but rather on crabs). I never get tired of them. I get the crabcake sandwich, which comes on a thick but not terribly tasty roll with 2 sides. I always get their baked butter beans – delicious – and corn fritters.
If my stomach were more cooperative, I would get the ribs. These are also the most delicious version of a food I’ve ever had. Incredibly moist baby back ribs with a mostly sweet barbecue sauce.
They do a hopping carryout business and have a small separate entrance for that. It’s not terribly fast but convenient.
The parts of the restaurant I don’t take advantage of might be cool for others: a separate big bar area with a really busy happy hour and occasional live music, and a bunch of microbrews.
I would recommend everyone go here, but then it would take longer for me to get my crabcake.

The ribs special on Monday nights is always a hit. The BBQ sauce is very good. The corn fritters are the best side! I always like to get the Bare Bones chicken salad. It is huge.
The service is sooooo lacking here. No one fills your drinks. You can see the servers hanging out together. It’s like there isn’t a manager on site. The place never seems busy either. I remember when it used to be a happening spot.

Barebones is on of our favorite restaurants since it was across the street. We love the salads, crab dip, sandwiches are all great. The fries are crispy and flavorful, unlike some places that serve mushy cardboard tasting fries.
I will say that the chicken portion size on the chicken sandwiches has been getting smaller, as well as the salads.

Not what it used to be. Used to be a weekly watering hole for about 3 – 4 years. Entire bar staff is new and woman managing asked us to move out of the bar area with our baby. Sadly, she didn’t know us and we typically tipped the staff $ 15 – 20 on average. Miss the old staff where «everybody knew your name.» Came here for the atmosphere, since the food isn’t all that great. Now, the bar’s weekly free appetizers attract non-​beer drinkers looking for cheap food who quickly fill the tables.

I ordered the bbq chicken sandwich and a bowl of cream of crab soup for dinner the other day. I had the coleslaw, bbq beans as sides. The soup was good, but came out lukewarm. I didn’t care for the bbq beans, the portion size was small as well.
My son ordered the mac n cheese which is stouffer’s, you would think a bbq place would make their own.
The chicken sandwich was pretty good, especially with the house bbq sauce.
Finally, the service was excellent, the restaurant was well staffed. I might be back, but it was hard eating here after dining at Dinosaur BBQ last week, this is clearly a couple of steps down from that.

I really like this place. The prices are reasonable and they offer a very extensive beer menu.
I always order their Cream of Crab soup, which is delicious. They also offer many different American cuisine choices like burgers and barbeque.
I will say this; service is really hit or miss. You’re seated pretty quickly, which is very nice. Bare Bones is either under-​staffed or their waiters are absent minded. We don’t usually get drink refills unless we flag down a server. I don’t think you should have to do that just to get a coke refill. You’re pretty much on your own after you get your meals. We always ask for the check as soon as someone *does* check on us, otherwise we end up waiting forever.
Also, a tip… they have pre-​meal bread available, but it never comes automatically. You have to ask for it. It’s free and quite tasty, so make sure to ask. They also offer take-​away, which has always been very fast.
Also, they have a prominently displayed «NO TANK TOPS» sign, which seems pretty weird. Maybe it’s aimed at guys in «wife beaters» or something, because it’s not exactly a swanky place. I’ve worn tank tops plenty of times and have noticed many other women doing the same.
Half of the restaurant is a bar, which is open later than the dining room. You can get full service on either side, but the bar hosts musical acts at night (during the weekend? I can never tell,) and those can be VERY loud. You can’t exactly talk to your companions in the bar section when they’re playing music.

This place is celebrating 25 years!
Also, I believe Bare Bones was named Best Ribs and Best Happy Hour in Howard County for 2014. They are known for their easy take-​out menu (they have a separate window just for take-​out), overall monetary value of food (food to plate ratio is crazy here!), live entertainment (check happy hour calendar for the entertainment schedule), and buffet styled bar food (check times)!
Special mentions:
Happy Hour is Monday through Friday from 4:00pm — 7:00pm which includes complimentary Buffet and $ 1 off all 16oz Drafts, House Wine and Rail Drinks.
Monday: $ 1.50 Natural Lights and $ 5 Bombs
Tuesday: ½ $ price Bottles of Wine with purchase.
Thursday: Ladies Night with $ 3 Margaritas and House Wines…4pm to Close
Saturday: Late Night Bar Menu and Happy Hour from 9 to midnight
Friday & Saturday: Live music starts at 9:00pm
I come to Bare Bones when I want ribs. The ribs here are always tender, cooked specifically to your liking, and have just the right amount of sauce and seasoning. I honestly can only speak to their ribs since it is the only entrée I ever order when I come here.
*You need to make reservations here since the area doesn’t have many yummy places to choose from and this establishment tends to fill-​up quickly.
*The restaurant is definitely outdated and is in need of a renovation, however, don’t let the poorly lit rooms and bad choice of paint turn you away from this place.
*They are known for their beer selections and brewed beer, if you like wine I suggest you stick to ordering a rail drink or let the bartender pick since their wine selections aren’t the best.

I have been here a few times and I get different things each time. The ambience in the dining area is good for the large lunch group I was with. Drink orders were taken right away. Our server constantly checked on us and refills kept coming. Our food orders were taken quickly. Some ordered from the lunch menu while others like me ordered from the regular menu. I got the lunch Perdue chicken with fries and cole slaw. The chicken was covered with barbecue sauce and was cooked but bland. Fries and cole slaw were good. I plan to go back again maybe on a date and not such a large group.

This place is an Ellicott City institution. It’s been here for as long as I can remember. However, even though I’ve passed by it day in and day out when I lived in Ellicott City, I hadn’t been there in quite some time. In fact, when I went a few weeks ago, it must have been the first time I went there in years.
I went to the bar to join some friends. The restaurant and bar has a very vintage feel to it with lots of wood panelling and warm, yellow-​ish lights inside. Yeah, it’s definitely dated… but it’s kind of charming too. It definitely gives off the neighborhood bar feel. And it’s nice to have a locally-​owned and run business in Howard County, the land of chain restaurants.
Anyhow, when I went, we were promptly waited on by our server. He took our orders and even recommended the appetizers (we didn’t order any entrees as it was kind of late). Our food and drink arrived quickly. We got a appetizer sampler, which was good but nothing special – it’s your typical bar food. The drinks, however, were different. Bare Bones makes their beers themselves and there are some very yummy choices out there. My favorite of the night was their Savage Mill Porter.
There was live music as well when I was there. It was a guitar duo and it was fun listening to them perform music as well.
Overall, a fun experience and certainly a place I would have no issues returning back to based on my experience at the bar.

I had eaten at the Montgomery County location 15 years ago. Stopped here for the buffet but missed out.
I had the crab cakes which is the special for today. It’s was very good. No filler just pure crab meat. Good flavor. No heavy mustard flavor. Cooked to perfection. If I knew the crab cakes were this good, I would have stopped by more often.
The food for my other family members looked fantastic and tasty