B&o Tavern - Baltimore

Service was horrendously slow (took over half an hour to get a martini and the bar was far from packed); food was mediocre and definitely overpriced for what it was. Water was gushing from the ceiling so we had to eat at the bar. Poor experience all around.

Came here for an early dinner and we were pleasantly surprised that we made it in time for happy hour. We ordered the fried ravioli, meatballs, and crab dip pizza from their happy hour menu, along with some happy hour beers. The fried ravioli... you can't go wrong with deep fried cheese. I didn't realize that the meatballs were spposed to be spicy. It didn't taste spicy for me nor for my friend's 4-year old daughter, but it was tender and tasty. THe crabdip pizza wasn't that memorable, aside from being savory and creamy. We also ordered the crab cakes and carbonara from the dinner menu. The crab cake portion size was very large! In terms of ambiance, it has lots of wood and tables with booths. We had 3 children and 3 adults in our party, and they were able to seat us in a booth near the back, so we didn't have to worry about being louder. Our server was attentive and came back to check on us multiple times, as we ordered in waves based on what dishes the kids gobbled up and wanted more.

So, before I get into this review, I 'll say that I 've been here many times. I 'm a longtime customer of Kimpton Hotels, and I 've stayed at the Hotel Monaco (where the restaurant is located) a dozen times or more. Always end up getting drinks or breakfast and have always enjoyed it. Not sure what went wrong today. There was a big wedding at the hotel last night, and when we went down for brunch this morning, the place was packed with exhausted celebrants. There were three of us we got squeezed into a two top and the host told us, flat out, that they were trying to save the bigger tables for the large groups at the hotel (any other time, seating 3 adults at a four top would be perfectly normal). But whatever. A note, before I go on: the evening before, we 'd gone there for cocktails and there were just 5 or 6 people in the restaurant. Just as many staff. This morning, the place was PACKED and they had (visibly, anyway) just three people working. If you 're the GM at this place, take note of this. ANYWAY, we sat for about 20 minutes before being offered coffee or water or anything. Another 20 or so before we could order meals. Had to ask for everything. Can we have some utensils, please? May we have some salt and pepper, please? And so on. 2 out of 3 meals, once they got to the table, were fine. Not great, but *adequate*. But the third was straight up BAD: an omelette so overcooked that it was dry as a bone and inedible. Really disappointing. Not sure if people called out sick or what was going on, but they were totally unprepared for the crowd they were serving (which is silly given there was a big wedding the night before and revelers tend to want breakfast and ****** Marys and such the morning after). TL; DR: they should have been ready for this. Like I said, I 've been here many times. The space is beautiful and inviting and the staff is generally good natured and fun. But they were totally out of their depth today. Kimpton nearly always has cool restaurants in their hotels and the food, across the board, is nearly always great. Today 's experience was not close to being up to that standard.

Great place for a nice dinner before a show at the Hippodrome. We had some happy hour special cocktails and appetizers. We also enjoyed our dinners and the staff was very helpful and friendly.

They accommodated us for last minute reservations on a Saturday night before we hopped over to the hippodrome for a show. We were sat promptly at 530 and took advantage of the last few minutes of happy hour. Drink specials were on point! $5 beer/$6 wine/$7 cocktail! Few food options also. Our waitress was awesome, she was so attentive despite how packed this place got. The crab pizza was very good, the dough was cooked perfectly and I spotted a few piece of actual lump crab meat. The wings, could've done without- pretty dry and small. Spicy pork meatballs were nothing special and not spicy at all, but good. Burger was tasty and tender- pesto Mayo was a good touch- and the fries cooked to perfection.