Heavy Seas AleHouse

I feel so sad to write my first 1 star restaurant review, but, I’m afraid it’s well earned. I love Heavy Seas beer and it was tasty, true to form… only wish I could have gotten some service to order more. Although, on second thought, a 6 pack from the corner store would be a far better bet.
The manager did a good job trying to supplement his awful server but he just couldn’t do enough. We also overheard the issues of our surrounding table’s patrons so it was clear he was slammed trying to fix everyone’s mistakes. We overheard the server working the table next to us use the excuse «sorry, we’re just never this busy» which was truly laughable because the restaurant was less than ¼ occupied.
Food came out wrong, twice, and was overcooked and under tasty once it did finally arrive in its requested form. It took us 6 tries to order a bloody mary & 3 times to get the check right (would have been more if we hadn’t preempted her would-​be miss of yet another critical detail). Honestly, I don’t know where to begin or end with the mess ups of this experience.
Unilocaler who’s reading this: no matter how much you love Heavy Seas beer or how enjoyable your other ale house location experiences have been, I just can’t, won’t, wouldn’t ever recommend you subject yourself to this restaurant.

Great beer selection (Peg Leg is a favorite) and their mac n’ cheese is ridiculous!

Good selection of house brew with just average food. I had the fish and chips to eat. The fish were way too small for the price with a bland taste.

The crab cake starter (way over priced) served on a potato pancake was mushy and had no taste to it,
the lamb sliders were way over cooked like extra well done the only good thing were the mussels

They are always out of something, and the food menu is pretty small, but whatever you end up with, it’s probably going to be good. I prefer the Gold and Amber Cutlass, but had a taste of their seasonal pumpkin. Not my thing, but others at my table liked it. For our afternoon munchies, we got the chicken wings and barbecue chicken nachos. Unlike most nachos, these had pretty consistent toppings throughout. But eat them fast — store bought chips get soggy!

Went here tonight for the first time. Have been wanting to try for some time, but being that we are on a bit of a fixed income, generally we wait to have a Groupon or Living Social deal in order to go. We were thrilled when Living Social put out a voucher and quickly bought one.
Sat at the bar and made the rookie mistake of sitting down near the service end even though there were plenty of seats open. I worked in F&B for quite some time and so I generally like being down near the service end because, well, servers are usually funny and the type of people I like. But, when it is not busy, servers will often hang around the bar, and if their demeanor is on the surly side, it makes for a less than pleasant experience. Things started out fine, and the bartenders were pretty friendly, but as time went on they became less attentive, and the female bartender was more or less bitching and complaining the entire time about anything and everything you can imagine. After we finished eating, we sat there for probably a solid 15 minutes waiting for someone to check on us and ask if we’d like to box stuff up since it was clear we’d finished eating long ago. Overall, I would say the service started at about a 6 and ended at about a 2.5, thanks to the wait staff hanging around the bar, the bartender with the bitchy resting face and the attitude to match, and questioning whether we needed change when it was obvious that we were leaving the cash for their tip as we were gathering our things and leaving, just so she could count it while we exited (it was a 23% tip… I am generous to a fault as I was in the business and will often leave 25−30%).
On to the good stuff… the beer was delish, and I had a flight of 4 beers, all that I liked, especially the Amber Ale and the Imperial Stout. The food that we ate paired nicely with the different beers all around. We started with the Sausage Sliders which were perfectly spicy and yummy. Served with a side of their housemade chips, it would actually suffice for a small meal. We also had the bar nuts, which were a nice addition to the menu but lacking some punch of flavor whether it’s rosemary or cayenne, or maybe both. For dinner, I had the buttermilk chicken sandwich, and it was very good. The chicken was well cooked and all of the accoutrements were fresh and added a lot to the sandwich. My husband got the lamb gyro, which was huge and he said he really liked the addition of the jalapeño to the tzatziki sauce. The lamb was a bit on the dry side, but overall the sandwich was really good and he would order it again. Both of us had fries with our sandwiches which were interesting with what I think was smoked paprika sprinkled on them, but lacking in salt.
One of the things I love about the Living Socials deals is that it allows us to try new places, which benefits both us and the restaurants, as long as people aren’t dicks are realize that you have to pay attention to the rules of the deal and also tip on the whole amount. My husband and I both agree that we would definitely return here but would be smarter in our seating choices.

I absolutely love this place. A DC resident, I“ve been to the Rosslyn location multiple times but having made it out to Baltimore, I knew I had to try the original. However, it almost didn’t even happen (why are you not open for lunch??) :)
A colleague and I showed up at 3:40 thinking we’d have a seat, a beer, and discuss work items before our conference kicked off. Low and behold, it doesn’t open til 4pm on weekdays (except Friday-​Sun) so we were at the door knocking and confused. The manager/​bartender probably fell sorry for us and let us in, have a table, and order a beer while they opened up the kitchen and got everything started (SO appreciative of this — great customer service!)
They were quick to serve us food, the kobe burger was cooked to medium-​rare perfection, and they even plated it on 2 plates because we were sharing one meal for a quick mid-​afternoon snack.
As always, the beer is delicious. I always have to get the Loose Canon (however, I’m always tempted to get the flight of beer — or two!). I wanted to stay and have more but we had to get on our way to a work conference.
Huge kudos for amazing customer service and continued top quality food and beer. Only wish I lived closer to one! :)

If you’re all about drinking locally, Heavy Seas is a nice spot to come to if you find yourself in Baltimore.
They’ve got some nice beers on draft and some seasonals too. I enjoyed the Gold as well as Riptide ales. The space inside is big but if you want to watch sports games, cross your fingers you’ll get seats in the first room. Our party didn’t have food but the selection looked standard too.
Just a short walk from Fell’s Point, come here if you’re looking for a close but off the beaten path type of bar!

Really, really, really enjoy the Heavy Seas beer selection and if you’re ever in the Baltimore area or see it elsewhere, I cannot recommend it enough. To that end, we wanted to hit their gastro pub.
Immediately, the service was a bit sketchy. I dislike flagging down wait staff for drinks in a bar when I’m at a table.
We started with a big pretzel with crab imperial on top — that is crab, mayo and cheese. It was delicious, soft and a flavorful combination with pretzel and crab. Had the soft shell crab sandwich special which was a-​ok.

Decent food, decent prices! Not a place I’m dying to return to, but not a place I’d be opposed to going to either. I think there are many other bars worth going to over Heavy Seas, especially so close to Fell’s!

I really enjoy a Heavy Seas beer, especially on cask. And it’s nice to have the number of choices they have at the HS Alehouse. But it’s also one of the most expensive places to get a Heavy Seas beer, strangely enough!
My most recent experience here was a few weekends ago, when my chickadee and I met up with some friends for a little mid-​afternoon lite fare. I again enjoyed the Old Bay popcorn, which for me is about as crack-​like as really good potato chips and dip! The rest of our food was mediocre at best. M’lady had the Creole inspired dish that was kind of bland. I had wings that, while pretty good, did not seem at all like the wings described on the menu. And the pretzel appetizer was just okay.
Service was pretty good, and I like the décor and feel of the place. But the food just seems to come up a bit short in the quality versus cost equation. By the way, Loose Cannon on cask is the bomb… or would that be cannon ball!!!

Came back on a Sunday for brunch. It was an even better experience than the last time. They had a special for St. Patrick’s Day, green eggs and ham. Absolutely delicious skillet type of meal with eggs, ham, potatoes and peppers. Price was great too. Oh almost forgot to mention that it’s bottomless mimosas if you need a little vitamin c with you alcohol. The atmosphere is much more laid back on a Sunday morning. It wasn’t crowded at all and there were a few families there. I highly recommend coming for brunch.

For dinner, my roommate and I played one of our favorite games, pick a random City Dining Card and that’s where we will go for dinner. (We can be a little indecisive, can you tell?) The first card we pulled out of the deck was for Heavy Seas Alehouse which is downtown at a corner where Little Italy, Harbor East and Fells Point meet. The fact that neither of us have ever been to Heavy Seas Alehouse was a little surprising because we love their beers (they’re sold all over the city and we toured the brewery) and plenty of my friends have raved about their food.
When we were looking over the menu, we saw a few appetizers that looked good and decided to take that route. First we started with the Soft Pretzel. It was served with a Gold Ale and ancho pepper mustard sauce. This mustard sauce was a little on the spicy side, but absolutely wonderful to dip the pretzel in.
Still thinking about how much we enjoyed the popcorn at Pen & Quill, my roommate and I decided to try the Old Bay Caramel Popcorn. As someone who grew up in New York, Old Bay has definitely become an acquired taste for me. I don’t douse it on everything I eat, but I’ve been missing out on so much by not throwing it on caramel popcorn. This popcorn had everything, it was sweet, it was salty, and it was slightly spicy.
My roommate has a slight addiction to Onion Rings. If they’re on a menu she will probably order them, (examples: MaGerks, Lost City Diner, and Tavern on the Square.) Unfortunately, these were not some of the better onion rings we’ve had, the current favorite is at Guy’s Kitchen + Bar. These onion rings had way too much breading making them incredibly oily and dense. But the saffron mayo dipping sauce was phenomenal.
Lastly, we decided to go with the Old Bay Chicken Wings which was served with house-​made buttermilk ranch. The wings were very good and had a really great crust on the exterior. I would have preferred them to be a little saucier but they were still a nice addition to our meal.
When our waiter came to see if we were hungry for dessert, neither of us were but once he mentioned an Ice Cream Sundae, my roommate was all ears. The ice cream sundae came with their ‘peg leg’ ice cream which is made with one of their beers, a sprinkle waffle, chopped nuts, and fudge. I didn’t try this but my roommate loved it and finished the whole thing.
If you’re looking for great food, alongside some local Baltimore beers, Heavy Seas Alehouse is worth a visit.

Significant improvements since my last visit. Prices have aligned to the local market, menu is a bit limited, but food has improved significantly.
Heavy Seas has a delicious beer selection and has infused their beers into a number of great cocktails. We tried the Apple Barrel and Shaub the Deck on our most recent visit, along with some of their great beers. As a tequilla lover, I will be making the Apple Barrel for parties and will be returning to savor it again. This was definitely what I would describe as a stand out cocktail.

Small follow up to my review:
Someone at HS asked me to email them to hear more about my poor experience here. I emailed them the same day with my contact info and asking what specific stuff they wanted to know… and never heard a word. Clearly they don’t care about improving as it seems more people are having similar experiences. Really disappointed in you Heavy Seas.

This is a cool place. I can tell they are still working out some kinks but I enjoyed my experience. Its a big, cool space with a great vibe. Our waitress was really nice.
My biggest issue was the wait time for things. We got a beer sampler and it took a very long time to get to us. We ordered the BBQ Chicken Nachos, they felt more like a salad with the sweet white corn and flavor dusted chips. I really liked this dish! We also got the Fried Chicken Sandwich with Fries. This was really yummy and had a lot of flavor going on.
The beer was good, the atmosphere nice and the food great just took a while to get things.

I rarely feel compelled to write a review of a place I’m still at, unless I’m really happy or super pissed. Unfortunately I’m leaning more towards the latter.
I’m sitting here post appetizer and pre-​entrée, so here are the issues so far. 1) our waitress/​bartender cannot be bothered with us. She’s blonde and medium build and has the most unfriendly demeanor for a bartender in a popular area like this. As someone in a managerial position in the service industry, I guarantee you’re loosing money because of her attitude. It is not that busy (Thursday evening), but every time we try to talk to her she walks away. After my boyfriend ordered a flight of beers she did not come back for 10 minutes to take my drink order. I’ve been trying to flag her down for a glass of water since I’ve been here (for an hour…) but I’ve given up. Our appetizer was great; we had the crab poutine (basically crabby tots), but it took forever to come out.
We ordered our entrees during a rare moment while our less than stellar bartender was standing right in front of us, but failed to inform us of the burger specials going on. We only heard them as she yelled back over her shoulder at a guy who walked up to the bar to ask. By the way, he left.
UPDATE #1: a friend of the bartender walked in. She has been talking to him exclusively for 10 minutes. Just offered him a beer, and I can’t get her to pour me a glass of water. What does one have to do to become that special around here???
UPDATE #2: we’ve been here an hour and a half and have yet to receive our entrees. It’s half due to not being able to flag down a waitress and the other half is just, bottom line, slow service. I’m very hungry.
UPDATE #3: I have seen several plates/​trays come out and no one knows where the hell it goes. Perhaps that’s why so many reviewers here claim cold food, because their servers don’t seem to know what they’re doing either.
UPDATE #4: Man next to me who ordered 10 minutes after us gets his food. I could understand if we ordered something elaborate, but we got a fried chicken sandwich and a burger. Lame. It says on their menu that the food may take «a few extra minutes» since it’s prepared from scratch, but after waiting over an hour for entrees I’m starting to wonder if they are killing, plucking, and butchering individual chickens for each sandwich back there…
UPDATE #5: …waitress has noticed I am disgruntled. Tells us our food is almost ready and makes a joke that living social people are clogging the system. We have a living social. Not amused. It’s somewhat their fault for only making it usable before the end of November… Heard her talking to other staff and it sounds like they lost our order (one of the ones they didn’t know where it was supposed to go) and possibly had to remake it.
UPDATE #6: Can’t get a hold of our waitress to complain that it’s taken over almost two hours for our entrees to come out and that the entire restaurant has turned over since then. I could have gone to Woodberry Kitchen and had a 4 course meal by now.
UPDATE #7: Manager brought us our food. Told us there was a «miscommunication» in the kitchen, sooooo I was right. He was very nice and we recognize him from when he managed the Tap Room. He told us he comped our check, and that the only things we would pay for would be more beer or food we ordered. The food was pretty good. I had a fried chicken sandwich; 3 thin and crunchy cutlets stacked with carmelized onions, Brie cheese and bacon. The house chips and fries are delicious too.
UPDATE #8: The credit card system is down so we will officially be here for over 3 hours. Holy crap I am tired of being here.
All in all, just the beers, atmosphere and the food would easily be a solid 4 stars. The complete LACK of service was what knocks this down to somewhere I probably won’t return. It’s a shame because their manager is a really nice, really friendly, polite dude. I’m actually bummed he’s no longer at the tap room. I know this review was super long but a quick and convenient dinner out turned out to be (mostly) a pain in the ass.
Shout out to the awesome manager for making tonight bearable. You rock and we’ll miss you at the tap room, where we will continue to go, even if they don’t have delicious sandwiches.
ONE MORE UPDATE: OUR CHECK WAS WRONG AND THE WAITRESS/​BARTENDER IS BEING SO RUDE AND JUST ROLLED HER EYES AT US AND WALKED AWAY.
Our awesome manager buddy ended up comping our entire check. We are NOT that kind of people. I rarely write bad reviews and I rarely complain to management. However if Gretchen the terrible bartender (yea, I’m calling you out) would have checked up on us and kept us informed, we would have ordered another beer and forgot about it. Unfortunately, she was rude from the second we walked in and it seemed to blow up the problem to where our entire dining experience was unbearable.

Halloween review part one.
The Cravin’
Once upon a weekend dreary, I wandered Baltimore starved and weary,
past many a quaint street of shuttered stores.
On a corner kids were rapping, my soles on cobblestones were slapping, my trusty Unilocal app helpfully mapping, mapping every restaurant door.
«Tis a Burger King,» I mutter, «As I reach a restaurant door —
Only this and nothing more»
Sadly I was still quite sober, on this last day of October.
I’d had a drink but wanted more.
Eagerly I sought an Alehouse, passing many a painted or pale house.
In my dejected cold sobriety I searched for a place with beer variety,
called «Heavy Seas» forevermore
It was on this block, I was quite certain.
Seeing it filled me, thrilled me with a hopeful longing never felt before,
So that now I stood repeating, «a table for three and nothing more.»
To this the hostess casually replied, «In the bar you will be sitting for ever-​evermore.
Presently my need grew stronger, I could wait for beer no longer.
«Sir’» said I, «or madame, bring me a sampler, I implore.
In the kitchen please go raiding, for so long have I waiting,
waiting for crabcake sliders to wash up on my shore.»
Two came with chips but nothing more.
Not a bargain, that’s for sure.
Deep into my slider peering, Jalapeño bacon fearing,
Dreaming dreams of flavors I had tasted not before.
But the menu was a joker, the food was only mediocre.
This I thought as I was gazing at the door,
«I shall eat this nevermore»
Back unto the table turning, the head on my beers gently churning,
I sipped, then sipped some more.
«This beer,» I said, «deserves high status, and with my Groupon nearly gratis,
I went and ordered more.
Then paid my bill and headed for the door.
An untried restaurant to explore.
Into the cold with reluctant shudder, my search for proverbial «bread and butter»
Led me to another establishment’s door.
To Sticky rice my Unilocal app bade me.
To see how that experience played me, you must read some more.
You must go to that review if you want to know for sure.

So I had been wanting to come here for a while, so when I saw a LivingSocial deal I jumped at the chance. I came in today (October 25^th). The deal included two flights, an appetizer, and a growler (empty). I have no complaints about the beer or the food. I tried the Gold, Cutlass, Powder Monkey, and Small Craft as well as the crab cake sliders. All were good, but I particularly enjoyed the smooth taste of the Cutless, which is Heavy Seas Amber. The jalapeño bacon with the crab cake was perfectly spicy and not overpowering. I did, however have a problem with the service.
We sat at the bar. The bartender seemed immediately annoyed that we had the LivingSocial deal. My friend over heard her complaining about how many people came in with them. She did not introduce herself and was not attentive. She did everything she could to avoid us including opening boxes of glasses/​growlers. She walked away as we tried to order things.
My friend and I had every intention of staying and having more drinks and food but her attitude was so poor we didn’t think we’d enjoy our time. We left a tip because it was the right thing to do not because she deserved it. I guess she eyed it because she gave us a hearty farewell.
I did speak to the manager who was very nice and apologetic. The experience won’t deter me from coming again but it was not a good first impression. The service deserved 2 stars, but the food could have easily gotten a 4. I’ll try again!

Tonight was my first time to Heavy Seas and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m not really a beer drinker but I went with friends who thought I should give it a shot.
I was very impressed.
The décor is exactly what I love, very rustic and industrial. The specials were on point and our waiter was great. We asked a few questions and based on what we liked and didn’t like he recommended a few beers. I liked everything I tasted! I may be converting to a beer drinker after my visit to Heavy Seas!
The restaurant was a lot bigger than I anticipated! I got a great view of everything while trying to find the restroom. They have a private room for parties and a patio with cornhole! I will definitely be back with some friends in tow!