The Grille At Maple Lawn

ZERO FOR TWO
I have given this restaurant two chances and have had horrible service experiences both times. The first time was a busy Saturday night. The server was slow in coming by to take our order, but after that the true test of patience began. How long should you have to wait from the time your order is taken? 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour? When we got to an hour and fifteen minutes, the most disturbing thing was the lack of concern of the staff. They tried lame excuses, like «they are short staffed and the kitchen is really backed up,» and then just started avoiding us. After 1 hour and 30 minutes our food arrived. It was OK. The cuban dishes were decent, but Cuba de Ayer in Burtonsville is better for Cuban. The paella was passble, but uninspired. Ranazul across the street has better food and even Looney’s has better service. Some of the dishes were cold. Even after the food came, it was very difficult to find any wait staff to get us refills on the drinks or get us a check or bring it back. The whole affair ended up being a 2.5 hour test of patience. We were celebrating a birthday, so everyone tried to put on a happy face, but it was plain painful.
We decided to give it another try on a slow Sunday night. Another birthday dinner at the request of a different relative. There were three other tables occupied and we thought that we might have better odds with the kitchen this time, but it was more of the same. The food took almost 45 minutes for the first few dishes to come out, but some of the other dishes, including a salad, took another 10 minutes to arrive. Some of the dishes that came out were cold and clearly had been waiting a while. I had a salad with chicken that was so cold it was rubbery. A companion had chicken frickasee that was off. The plantains seemed to be the thing that was hard to get wrong. Once again, the waitstaff went into hideout mode and didn’t offer any apologies for the lackluster service. I think our server was embarrassed. No manager was visible anywhere. It seems like the management here likes the idea of a high end restaurant, but really isn’t committed to quality service. I wish them luck in the future, but I won’t be giving them a third try.

First time going here. We went went early on a Friday night and got there about 5pm for dinner and the website said happy hour and to sit outside. There was almost no one inside and no one outside. Took about 8 minutes for our waitress. She then tells us the happy hour is Monday to Thursday and the website is incorrect. I’m sure she sensed us about to get up and leave so she went back in and check with a manager and said that indeed it was happy hour. Let’s be honest. Nice food or not. You gotta offer some type of «happy hour» deals. You can get a great atmosphere outside at looneys across the street and not pay an arm and a leg.
After the happy hour snafu we ordered and everything from that point was ok. I got the chipotle chicken something. The meal came out and it was not a huge portion but it was feeling counting that we had an appetizer. We got a bucket of 5 coronas for $ 15. Plus food we paid a little over $ 80 for 3 people.
Food was not bad. I prefer Cuba de Ayer in Burtonsville. Smaller location but a lot more food and they have plenty of drink specials and a little cheaper. Just my 2 cents. I was surprised by the slow service considering there was no one there on top of the happy hour thing. Just my opinion.

It was my first time at the restaurant. All I can say it was delicious and fresh! I already recommend this restaurant to my family and friends. The variety on the food is amazing and the people that work there dedicate their 100% of their attention to costumers.

WORST.EXPERIENCE.EVER.
I had made brunch reservations for Mother’s Day for 2pm as it was the earliest timing they could do. No problem. When asked, I was also told that the menu would be a la carte and not a pre fixe which was a must. Again was told it would be a la carte so no problem.
Fast forward to the big day.
My family and I arrived a few mins early, already I had a bad feeling when we opened the door to see a family ahead of us and no host. Maybe they were seating another family? When the hostess finally showed up, it had been at least 10mins, she asked me how many in my party. Not if I had a reservation. When I told her I had made reservations she just smirked and replied even with the reservation we would have to wait an additional 20 mins. Her excuse? Families were not leaving.
Let me throw down some facts.
1. There was no reservation list. I guess that was just for some s*!ts and giggles.
2. From my vantage point I could clearly see a free table
3. As she said her excuse, at least 3 families were leaving.
Back to the story,
I made my younger sister go to Ranazul across the street to see if we would have better luck there. I did not want to keep my mother waiting. She came back and said they could have a table ready for us no problem. I left the choice up to my mom. She decided to stay, so after another 10min wait in which the hostess again disappeared and had to be called by a waiter when more families were showing up, we were seated at the table I saw free originally.
When we sat a waiter came, it was explained to us there was no a la carte menu. It was a buffet style for a set price. When I told them how I was told otherwise we found out I was not the first person who was told that. Again we left the decision up to mom to stay or leave. She got up to look at the food, there was barely any food left. I’m assuming this was because the brunch time was ending in a few mins. It came to no surprise that we got up and left.
Ranazul welcomed us with open arms. They were friendly, attentive to our needs, and delivered food promptly. Our hostess and waiter were amazing. Even the manager was out on the floor helping and mingling with the guests. It definitely made up for the experience we had. I’m glad I could salvage the day with that meal there.
As a final note, the grille at maple lawn should be ashamed. They were ill prepared, rude, and unorganized. I wanted to have a great meal with my mother to celebrate her day. The grille provided nothing of the sort. How they are still in service I have no idea. I know I am not the first to have this opinion. You may have great food but if no one is there to enjoy it why even work in this business? A truly frustrating disappointment.

Food was amazing the bottomless drinks were strong the best part was our server Olivia very personable and friendly. We will def be back!

Lovely, accommodating, and fabulous food. I went in blind, happy to see a place serving Cuban fare.
Only criticism was the pacing of food/​beverages. It seems to be a bit slow at the bar, and from what I’ve read, that’s a general theme. The food was a little slow, but we were not in a rush, and we ordered appetizers to share, so we weren’t starving. I actually liked not rushing to eat. It was my birthday and I wanted to spend time with my friends. Six of us, small enough to manage, but large enough to be festive, and it was a Monday night. So the criticism was more of a projection of scale on nights when it’s really busy. If the bar isn’t able to keep up on those nights, I can see where customers would be agitated.
That aside, the food was delicious. Every single thing we ordered was delicious. I called ahead and asked if it would be ok to bring my own birthday cake since I have a gluten allergy. They were incredibly kind, and brought it out with a candle in it at the end of the meal.
Our server was lovely. None of us were racing to get out the door. One guest had to come late, and it worked out perfectly. When she ordered, her food came out rather quickly, so she wasn’t racing to finish eating. Our reservation was at 6:45. We left close to 10. I actually didn’t realize they closed at 9. They said nothing and seemed to be happy to share the evening with us. There were a lot of people there for a Monday night, which I just discovered is burger night… but seriously, focus on the entrees.
And slow down. If most of the complaints are about the time of the food coming out, or the drinks, work with your waiter, plan to be there for a while. We didn’t actually want to go, but since we had to work the next day, we had to be grown-​ups and call it a night.

Came for burger night (half off $ 14 burgers). We got 3 regular burgers and 1 chorizo burger. The regular burgers all came well done even though we asked for medium. The chorizo burger is always well done because of the pork. The burgers have no flavor, the fries were decent. Our waiter was getting in trouble and took awhile to bring us our check. The burgers took over 30 minutes to come out. It is a monday night but the place closes at 9. Not coming back. Sorry not sorry.

I totally agree with the other reviewers, the service is horrible. I saw my waitress twice, when she took order and when she delivered our check. I asked for a wine list, my God, if I was a waitress and my customer asked for the wine list, I can assure that I would never let go of that table.
No one checked on us so a bottle of wine was skipped.
I feel sorry for the people who own this restaurant, this is a beautiful restaurant, it can be a classy one but the service is just like you could find in a cheap place .
Food is so so, not impressed me at all, I try to find something good to say but I couldn’t. I am glad that I used groupon for this visit, otherwise I would kick myself for paying that much.
By the way, the groupon 58.00 for 115.00 meal with one appetizer, 2 entrees and 2 glasses of house wine, you save 57.00 is not true, we ordered most expensive appetizer, pick 2 most expensive entrees, 2 glasses of house wine, the regular bill for them is only 80, you save only 22.00 dollars

My other go to spot for lunch in Maple Lawn. For $ 10 I get a delicious soup and a nice entrée (fricassée de pollo and ropa vieja are my fave right now).
I also LOVE their homemade chips! I used to work downtown SS and Cubano ’ s was my lunch spot there. This is the sister restaurant I now work across the street. What are the odds?
I am surprised at the negative reviews but can’t comment on the service as I usually just place an order to go. The staff I was in contact with was pleasant and Armando (owner) is a great guy!

We went to celebrate my son’s birthday. The mojitos where great.
My husband and I shared the ceviche, yuca rellena and Mi Tierra Sampler. The food was amazing. The restaurant if beautifully decorated. We will definitely be back.

If I could, I would give this place no stars. The first time I came to this establishment under the current management, the experience was excellent. It was just two of us and the service and food was great.
After my great experience, I recommended this place and my friend decided to have her birthday celebration here. BAD IDEA! We had reservations and they knew it was a party, mind you. The worse service I’ve ever experienced, which is shameful considering what a nice area this establishment is in and how great my first experience was.
It took our party over a course of four hours to have our plates served. Getting water and refills was a nightmare. The place wasn’t even at capacity, and we even had dancing/​music as a distraction, but when you enter an establishment at 8pm for dinner and cannot leave until after midnight because you still haven’t been served the dessert, no distraction can hold back the disbelief, frustration, and complete dissatisfaction.
Needless to say, we complained. The General Manager finally came out, and offered to at least take the drinks of our bill, but once he found out how big our party was, he took the offer back, lol! Really? Imagine just for a brief moment, if we actually received great service, we would have ordered a hell of a lot more drinks. Some of us only got one drink (the entire four hours) because we couldn’t locate our server…
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I’d like to start off by saying I hope the owner or management notice this review as this restaurant has so much potential. The ambiance is great, the hostess staff was amazing and the food was delicious. Unfortunately, there was only one waitress and it took about 45 minutes to receive one plate. I’d only recommend this restaurant if you have at least an hour or more with good company.

The place is very elegant and great atmosphere. We came for lunch and the food was great! ! We will definitely be back. Try the Cuban sandwich was excellent.

Service and food was great. We had the Cubano sampler, Red Snapper and Turf and Surf! Everything was delicious with good portions! Definitely recommend eating here!

Food was amazing! Beautiful restaurant with great live music. Servers were fast and capable. Food was serve fast. The Duo Blanco y Negro music around the tables was beautiful and fun. Defiantly, recommended. Coming back soon!

Dinner reservations for 8pm — large party for a birthday but I emphasize reservations… Arrived at 8:15, 80% of our 18 person party is already seated. We don’t even receive water in our glasses until almost 9pm. We don’t receive food menus until after 9:30pm. It’s restaurant week and a Salsa dancing night, so I get they’re busy… But the restaurant is not at capacity. First course arrives around 10pm… We’re dancing Salsa in between courses rather than waiting hopelessly at the table for sustainance. It’s now midnight, and we’re still waiting on the final of four courses, our dessert… Our waitress has abandoned us… I think she clocked out an hour ago. One of the poor hostesses has no idea if they even have anymore flan… This is not a good sign.
The food flavor is delicious… But this restaurant is poorly equipped for restaurant week or any busy weekend night.

I had an awful experience at this restaurant. After waiting well over 4 hours just to complete my four course meal, my friends and I had to not only clear our own plates, but had to basically beg for water, ask for our menus, be offered things on the menu that were no longer there, etc. this is completely unacceptable. The food was good for what was actually served to us. After several complaints to the multiple managers on duty, the general manager finally came out to offer a small monetary discount off of my large party’s bill. He finally agreed to something a little more to make up for the hassle and have us return, but that is doubtful considering we were treated like second class citizens in what is supposed to be a nice establishment.
The music however, was a nice distraction to our horrendous service.

I rarely write reviews, but after this lunch I find myself compelled to say something.
Went for lunch with a coworker and can say with confidence I’ll never return or recommend this place to a friend.
We arrived to an empty reception desk littered with random flyers and papers advertising beer buckets and other equally random offerings and a menu. Three minutes after skimming the (apparently incorrect) menu, we were haphazardly thrown lunch menus. Not entirely sold on the offerings, and getting a bad vibe in general, we quickly searched our other options within walking distance, only to find the selection is crippling if you don’t have the time to drive elsewhere and with only an hour until our meeting we agreed to give the Grille a shot.
We’d later come to regret this.
After flagging someone down to get a table, we were led into the dining room which we were then told had no open tables and we could sit at the bar if we wanted, so we led ourselves into the barren bar area and sat ourselves at a high top, assuming a staff member would come and set the table with the usual layout. Nada.
When someone finally arrived to take our order, with no review of the specials for the day, we put an order in for two chicken sandwiches with chips, assuming it was the fastest option on the menu as our time was dwindling.
20 minutes later, there we sat wondering where our food was. Finally, at 25 minutes, two chicken salad sandwiches arrived. With fries, not chips. Being in a rush we just accepted it and began eating. No refill of water or coffee, by the way.
The chicken salad left a lot to be desired. Bland– lacking an fresh herbs, spices, or mustard. Mushy — the chicken appeared to be shredded, maybe in a food processor, rather than chopped. The most offensive, however, was this: PEAS. Yes, peas in chicken salad. Absolutely not described in the menu. And rather starchy (as if just defrosted and not actually cooked) and bland at that. My coworker despises peas and routinely avoids them, so you can imagine her level of discontent upon this disturbing discovery. I was left wonder if they were attempting to thin the salad and have it go farther by diluting it with peas. I couldn’t come up with any other reasonable explanation.
The person assisting us asked how lunch was and I just couldn’t hold back. I had to comment on the chicken salad, I left the underwhelming experience as a whole fall to the wayside, begging the guy to tell the chef, or whoever is in charge in the kitchen, to TASTE the food before sending it out.
I won’t be back, there was no redeeming factor for this place, and I pity the residents of the area who are left to muscle through the meals there.
Just for reference, I am a professional chef and worked in the industry for years, and this was one of the most lackluster meals I’ve ever had the misfortune of paying for.
The only way I’d step one foot back into this restaurant is if I was being paid to fix what’s wrong with it. Management, call me if you’re looking for an industry consultant.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly…
The Good… Great looking location inside and out. The décor is tasteful, the lighting is low, the large circular bar area is inviting for conversation, they have outside seating, they have tons of parking in the rear, and the owner/​manager couple who run the place seemed very nice.
The Bad… No hostess at the door when we came in… When we asked the wait staff where to sit, they didn’t appear to know what tables were assigned to them… (In hindsight, this should have been our cue to just get a drink from the bar, and then bail out)…
The Ugly… We went on a Saturday night and the place was reasonably full, but what followed wasn’t just from extra patrons or a missing waiter or two. It was uncoordinated chaos from wait staff to the kitchen staff to management who all seemed to have no idea what the other were doing…
No host/​hostess meant we were left to wander around inside the restaurant until the party we were meeting found us and actually told us where to sit. After sitting at our table, the owner showed up, took our drink order, but then he disappeared for 30 minutes. So someone at our table flagged down a waitress from a different section who had mercy on us and found everyone’s drinks. Shortly after this, the MIA owner reappeared and took our appetizer & entrée orders, but then was never seen again for the rest of the night…
After another hour appetizers finally arrived for just 2 people (out of a table of 8) and those same people got their entrees at the same time as their appetizers, which had to be sent back since there was no room on the table in front of them to put all those dishes. Meanwhile, the wait staff walked away, empty water glasses were left empty, and no one ever asked if if we wanted more drinks for the remainder of the night…
Another hour goes by with no one even looking at our table, so individually people started getting up from the table and hunting for wait staff wandering by to ask about their orders. Also at this point 3 of our party of 8 say their goodbyes and just leave the restaurant out of hunger and frustration…
After waiting 2−½ HOURS, the rest of us decide stick it out because we’re thinking «How much longer could they possibly take?», and FINALLY the food shows up… The entrée for 1 of the 3 people that already left arrived… 1 order was completely wrong… 3 orders were correct… And 3 orders just never showed up at all… So the last person at the table without a meal, just ate the entrée intended for one of the people who left rather than what he ordered.
At the end of this fiasco, no one appeared to be coming with the check, so I got up and stood around the register until the female half of the management duo finally noticed me standing there. She asked how everything was, and instead of telling her what I really wanted to say… I just told her in a calm voice that it was our first visit and most likely our last because of the service. She comped our drinks and one of our entrees (the one that was wrong after 2−½ hours of waiting for it), which was nice. But really…
All I can say about this place is that just being nice people isn’t enough… The owners appear to be out of their depth and really need to hire some experienced restaurant managers to run the place. Absent that, I don’t see this business surviving very long.

This restaurant has not gotten it’s due. It’s located in the Maple Lawn center directly across from Ranazul. The main entrance is in the rear as is plenty of parking.
I visited for the Sunday brunch buffet costing $ 25. The buffet is a traditional breakfast with a Cuban flare The buffet had the breakfast staples: eggs, omelet station, sausage bacon, waffles & cheese grits (omg yes!). Additionally, the buffet served: baked ziti, ham, croquettes, green beans, salad, pork loin, eggplant parmesan, arroz con pollo, etc.
The buffet traffic is slow up until about 12:30p when the church folks arrive in swarms. As you eat you are serenaded by a jazz band. The performers switch from week to week.
I was able to meet with the owner, who also owns the restaurants: Cubano in Silver Spring & Nellie’s in DC. He is clearly one who is passionate about the industry as was apparent when shared his vision of this restaurant coupled with the success of his others.
My biggest grievance of the restaurant is one thing: no dessert (gasp)… I know, I know… Don’t worry, I’ll mention it to him the next time and we’ll get that little tidbit resolved.

I went today for the brunch. The food was delicious. The music was nice. The dessert was really good.