J. Paul’s Dining Saloon

Was in town a month ago and had a chance to stop in and try some of the offerings. Typical bar food served Slowly. So slow your trying to think of a way to escape. I wouldn’t recommend this establishment which is terrible. Lot of time and effort to not care about the customer experience. Seemed to be understaff, probably one of the reasons for slow service.

Closed! Your employees thank you once again for screwing them!

I was in Baltimore for a short weekend to see my guy run the marathon.
On a Friday night, I had the pleasure of eating at this establishment.
Upon being seated to a gorgeous water front view, pretzels were brought out instead of bread. Loved it!
I had the establishment’s own beer, J. Paul’s amber ale. It was delicious and flavorful!
My meal was huge and delicious. It was a combo that came with half a rack of ribs, a crab cake, cream of crab soup, French fries, and cole slaw. Everything was absolutely incredible.
What really topped off a great meal was my server, Crystal. She was a sweet woman who made me laugh hysterically all the while taking great care of me.
Definitely try J. Paul’s if you’re in the area!

Good because it’s in the harbor and stadium. Ordered the salmon and turned out to be bigger and tastier than expected. I ordered the oyster too, be careful there are sharp oyster parts in it.

My husband and I enjoyed a little tourist-​watching while ordering our drinks. I opted for the Paul Red-​Handed, made with muddled strawberries, Absolut Citron, fresh lemon, elderflower, and champagne (but I substituted white wine). I was so good and refreshing on a warm spring day.
One of my favorite things about J. Paul’s is the basket of soft pretzels in lieu of bread. My husband ordered the flash-​fried calamari with cherry peppers, chipotle tomato sauce, and tartar sauce, and I opted for the mussels, a favorite of mine. Both were large portions and while they weren’t our favorite calamari/​mussels, we did like them.
For an entrée, I went with the grilled Mahi-​Mahi tacos on flour tortillas with avocado, pineapple pico de gallo, feta cheese, and black beans. (I omitted the spicy cabbage slaw.) I loved the combo except for the feta. It wasn’t bad at all, but I thought it was an odd cheese choice. My husband decided to do as Marylanders do and have the crab cakes. They were a little small for the cost, but there was a side spinach salad and rice to make a platter.
He skipped dessert, but I had to indulge in the chocolate cake with a side of berries in their own sauce. The cake was so rich and incredibly delicious, especially with the sweetness of the berry sauce. It was a great end as I finished my summery cocktail, too.

Typical bar food, love the free soft pretzel apps. Their location is most of their ambiance, great people watching when you are sitting outside on a nice day.
The interior seems a bit more upscale than most of the other places nearby.
Overall the inner harbor, especially this building, needs some new/​fresh ideas to bring it back.

Great food — had the oysters on the half shell (so FRESH!), shrimp po’boy, and ahi salad. Service was perfect — quick & friendly, but not hovering. Beautiful day to sit by the harbor, the big windows and open door. Even my teenager enjoyed it!!!

I loved having lunch outside at this restaurant! Ashley was an amazing server. Super friendly and helpful, was always checking on me. I loved this place because
— outside seating is plentiful and has a great view
— the oysters are fresh and they are served with two fresh pretzels. so tasty!
— the crab cake is one of the best I’ve ever had. Lots of crab and so innovative — served on top of perfectly battered and fried tomatoes with cheese inside. I literally died eating this and are the whole thing to my regret (I didn’t eat the rest of the day). It’s really good and a large portion (appetizer portion)
eat here– I highly recommend it!

It is walkable from the hotels/​conf center and not a single local was there, in fact no one was. We arrived for a conf and took a walk down to the waterfront. Everywhere you look is a chain restaurant so we picked one that we didn’t recognize. This is where you end up before you talk to anyone in town. It was the next day that we learned you need to stay away from the waterfront in the convention area.
Do yourself a favor and either walk or take a cab down to Fell’s Point. It has a great restaurant scene.

Let me clarify my star rating.
2.00 stars for the service and the bloody mary that we ordered
3.00 stars for the location and the restaurant itself
Walking along the inner harbor in Baltimore, we spotted this location and thought that it would be a good choice for a drink out on the harbor. We’re on vacation and wanted to just «sip n stroll» pretty much.
There is an outdoor bar area that reminds you of a swim up pool bar. Very cool. The bartender was out there so we thought that it was open. We asked her if we could sit at the bar and she failed to respond. We then noticed that she had on earphones. we got her attention and we asked again. She slowly pulled out one ear bud and had the most sour facial expression. She begrudgingly told us that they weren’t open for another 15 minutes and put the ear bud back in. It was hot, and we were just looking for a place to sit and have a bloody mary so we figured we’d give them a shot anyway even though grumpy mcgrumperson was going to be our bartender.
Location wise, it’s ideal. It’s right on the harbor, great view of all the boats and great for people watching. The outdoor seating is ample and the inside was clean and also great in size. We asked the hostess INSIDE if they were open yet and she said that they were. After fumbling to get outside to the bar, we sat down and tried joking with the bartender by saying «anddd we’re back!» She didn’t crack a smile. Insert awkward moment.
We ordered two bloody mary’s and they were SPICY. We were so scared to tell her that they were too spicy so we just choked them down. Literally choked them down. It was such an awkward moment. Sitting there dying and burning on the inside with tears running out of Hubs nose and eyes and her staring at us not talking. Every time she walked away, I had to poor water into my drink so my tongue wouldn’t ignite. Hubs just let the ice melt and then he could drink his. We asked for the check and all of a sudden she was friendly asking if we were sure we didn’t want another round. Hell no. Check please.
I wanted to like J Paul’s. It’s in the perfect location with the perfect view. Just didn’t have the perfect bartender working the outside.

Nice location, reasonable prices, delicious food and great service. We got the Philly Egg Roll appetizer and it was delicious (imagine an egg roll stuffed with philly cheesesteak served with house made cheese sauce). I ordered the Crab Cake appetizer as my meal and it was also delicious. The combination of the crab cake, the fried tomato and the corn relish and arugula was perfect. Our waitress checked in on us often, kept our waters full (hot day) and had good input on the menu choices. Our party of four was very happy we chose J. Paul’s as our stop-​in-​bmore-​for-​lunch spot. If only they had more locations.

I had an early dinner here on 7÷7÷13. I ordered the tilapia shrimp and grits entrée. (They give you two soft pretzels with mustard instead of bread.) My meal was delicious (loved the lobster sauce). The tilapia was blackened and the grits were fried into this golden patty!
I also ordered 2 Paul Red Handed cocktails that had muddled strawberries, elderflower, champagne, etc. recommended by Joseph, our server (who was very attentive).
Overall, I had a delicious experience!

J. Paul is right on the Inner Harbor and offers inside and patio dining. Since it was such a gorgeous day, we ended up outside. The menu is pretty large and features something for everyone, no surprise there, since it’s located in such a tourist area.
We decided to share a couple of items, and ended up with a crab cake, Cobb salad with shrimp and a trio of sliders. The food was just OK. I liked the crab cake, but the fried tomato stuffed with boursin cheese that accompanied it was just plain weird. The shrimp on the Cobb Salad were flaccid and overcooked, and the salad had some spice that we could not identify, but really turned us off. Still trying to figure out what it was. The best item was the sliders. Cooked perfectly, and topped with a tasty sauce. Just delicious.
The service was another story. Our server managed to present two of the behaviors I hate most from restaurant employees: kneeling down to take our order and calling us «guys» repeatedly. By the time we got the check, we were giggling hysterically every time he came over and called us guys.
I can’t remember the amount of the bill, but it was reasonable for the food and the prime waterfront location.

J Paul’s Dining Saloon was a good experience, but not spectacular. I was in Baltimore visiting a friend and on the day I was headed back to NYC we walked around the harbor a bit and ate at J Paul’s. The restaurant was well lit and clean. The staff was friendly and attentive.
Once our hostess seated us, our server greeted us with a basket of warm soft pretzels! That was great! We ordered mussels as an appetizer, they were good. I had the coconut shrimp and my husband had the wild salmon. We also each ordered margaritas which were tasty! No complaints on the food, staff or service. I would rate at 3.5 stars if it was allowed. The place didn’t blow me away but I had a good server and some good food.

After listening to the Unicycle Lady on the Harbor (hilarious, btw), we decided to go to J. Paul’s for dinner. With a classic seafood menu, what could be better than seafood on the harbor? We were quickly seated – the place was empty except for the patio – and were served some pretzels as an appetizer. I didn’t like them – they were too heavy for an appetizer. We found a dirty sneaker mark on our table, and asked to move, which we did.
I ordered salmon, and my dad ordered crab cakes. My salmon portion was huge and very good. It came with a small salad below and some taco shell sort of things, which were good with the salad. The salon was pretty good, although the spice/​sauce was a bit uninspired. My dad’s crab cakes were good as well.
What really bothered me, and I take a full star off for this, was what happened as we left. The hostess had the complete nerve to sit a couple at the table with the sneaker mark. They asked to move as well, and the table cloth was STILL there. Totally disgusting and inappropriate for a place trying to make a good impression. That really ticked me off and left a bad taste in my mouth after dinner… figuratively of course. I’d skip this place and head somewhere else.

Anyone who has been to the Inner Harbor has certainly passed by J. Pauls before. It’s a tourist staple with a nice view of the water, lots of seating, and a varied American fare menu. However, it’s really not very good and there are so many other places you could go outside of the Harbor that taste so much better.
I stopped by this place on a weekday night and was told that there would be a 15 minute wait for our party of 8. An hour later we were finally seated! I wish they had been more honest about the wait time because it put a damper on the whole evening, and we were starving by the time we sat down. The host wasn’t friendly and seemed to be stringing us along, and he had this really annoying look to him that made me want to slap him every time he shined his fake smile. Okay, that might have been the hunger talking, but the food was only okay and so not worth the wait. Save your money, get off the beaten path, and be a little adventurous outside of the Harbor.

A Saloon… feeling a little lucky!
Decided to take a walk down to the Harbor on a nice clear blue sky day. The location is awesome, right on the Harbor and they have a good amount of tables with a nice view (as most inner harbor places do).
The food selection is ok, they offer pretty standard stuff, a plus is that they offer pretzels on the table. Its a nice change, but the only other places I know that give you free food are Mexican places, so a def plus.
So after looking over the menu, I ordered a «Captains Catch» this is basically a combo of fish, shrimp and crab cakes. The food came out pretty quickly, which was great and the service wasn’t bad, but the food was ok at best. All food came fried, knew that but, the only part of the seafood trio that was worth it was the jumbo shrimp. It was ok, nothing special, but better than the other two. The crab cakes had a lot of filler and the crab didn’t taste all the fresh or great. Along with the fish which takes stale and almost chewy, not flaky, the meal was sub par.
The plus of the saloon is def the view, but the food left alot to be desired of. If you are from out of town and you want a quick place to walk to then go ahead and try it out, but if you want good solid seafood or food in general, then there are a bunch of other places near by that I would prefer over the saloon.
Gosh Darnit! Who stole my Cowboy hat again!

They claim to be a seafood restaurant yet they were out of all shell fish and anything that had beef in it. Really limited my choices. We had appetizers (potato skins, sliders etc) but tgi Fridays would have tasted better. Very dissapointing.

Since I’ve tried the oft-​hyped Phillips multiple times before, I wanted to do something less obvious and less painful on the wallet. I was looking for the underappreciated pub or the gold mine secret of the inner harbor, if there is one. Well this JPaul’s was a huge disappointment. Their restaurant uses dollar store bagged rolls, paper tablecloths, and they get you sitting down in a rickety metal chair on a brick patio overlooking the waterfront. There’s nothing fresh or original here, and I don’t think it’s got a local appeal considering where it is. Most of the menu items were unoriginal, and I only saw crabcake come up as an afterthought.
The server was unable to provide us with any specials to save us from the bland menu. I can’t even say my meal was memorable, but I know it was probably topped off with a weak side salad. For $ 24 a head I would have thought anyone could do better if they tried, even the tourist traps that are Hard Rock and hooters. next time, there won’t be a next time!

In Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, there’s no limit to the restaurants looking out on the water amidst the historic boats and museums. Phillips, the restaurant next door, was recommended but with a twenty minute wait and only half a day to explore Baltimore, we went into J. Paul’s.
Of course we entered J. Paul’s knowing exactly what to order– crab cakes. I mean, crab cakes and football is what Maryland does apparently, at least according to the movie Wedding Crashers. The service was very slow. I had to flag down the waiter numerous times for water, appetizers, our order, a drink menu and to get our bill. Half the time we were told, «I’m not your waiter…» but this seemed to be a normal occurrence because a few different waiters took care of us during lunch. The pretzels and mustard were a nice touch and held us over until our orders were taken.
The crab cake platter with two crab cakes and two sides costs $ 25. My friend and I decided to split the order when the waiter told us there would be enough food for the two of us. Though I’d like to try, I’m not some competitive eater, though and one crab cake and one side did not fill me up. I left J. Paul’s hungry. In fact, two hours later, I had to stop at some Chinese/​Pizza/​Soul Food hole-​in-​the-​wall take out place for chicken and mixed vegetables.
Despite the slow service, the atmosphere of J. Paul’s, being right on the water, was a great way to experience Baltimore. The crab cakes tasted pretty darn good to me and if it wasn’t such a pricey establishment, I probably would have ordered a house beer. Our waiter did apologize for the service and explained the best time to visit Baltimore is when the Orioles don’t have a game or on any non-​Holiday weekend. He also gave us a list of places to visit in the city before we had to leave which was pretty nice of him.