Phillips Restaurant Harborplace

The restaurant was cute but food not what expected. Shrimp was undercooked and steak over cooked. The waiter messed up our order twice.

Great view of inner harbor. Service was not great. We didn’t have any crab dishes but the other dishes were nothing special. Fried flounder was all fried no fish. Yuck. We have eaten here a few rimes and have had the same reaction. This will be our last time to Phillips.

I stopped at the Maryland Stop on I-​95. I could not wait to get a good crab cake. It was one of the worst, if not the worst crab cake I have ever had. What was suppose to be crab meat was in little white shapes in the cake. (It was sort of like McDonalds Chicken Nuggets.) Crab meat does not come in identical little shapes.
The service was fine and the roll, lettuce, tomato and roll were fine, but the CRAB CAKE TERRIBLE.

Well, this is certainly sad! I’d eaten here yrs ago & now it’s closed.
GREAT seafood, great crabcakes! Pricey place, but was worth a day trip to Balto when I lived near DC.

Not understanding the draw of this place at all. It was horrible. On all levels. Incompetent service and the food… it felt like the chef was pissed and letting his feelings known by sending out incomplete dishes with products that were not prepared with any kind of attention to detail. I seriously have had better food at Popeye’s. Just saying that is frustrating cuz at Popeye’s you get a meal for $ 6-​$ 10. At this place, you’re paying for alleged upscale food and location of being at the Harbor.
Advice: Run and spend your money wisely elsewhere

This was my first stop during a long weekend visiting a good friend in Baltimore. We came on a Thursday evening for the excellent happy hour (half off wine bottles and appetizers), stay a good two hours plus and left satisfied.
We ordered four appetizers to share. The delicious crab dip and slightly-​greasy, stuffed mushrooms were my favorite. We also had the mussels which were tasty and the calamari which I didn’t care for.
The service was good and we sat outside, in view of the boardwalk. Fun times.

This place is ok… Nothing spectacular. Service is decent… Prices ok… Food quality ok…
Cream of Crab… Good! Tasty.
Crab cakes… Good… Big pieces of crab, not too much filler…
Crab imperial… Really good. soft and tasty…
Fettuccine with cheese… Bland… Skip this…
Fried shrimp… Ok… Nothing spectacular…

As a tourist, I’m so glad to find this seafood restaurant for us to have quick and good lunch.
The lobster bisque was creamy and crab cake was fabulous!

I would never go back, my fish was overcooked, my salad should have been called soup with the amount of dressing that was on it, and I am a person that can stand a lot of dressing.
It was overpriced and did not offer gluten free, very surprising for a chain.
The jumbo lump crab meat appetizer was not worth the amount of money at all.
I would pass on this place, even if it is well known.

Yikes…
OK Being a native Baltimorean I have had great seafood from the bay and this… doesn’t do it justice whatsoever.
There is great service and a fair price for what it is but the food is beyond sub par.
I was guilted in to coming here to eat dinner after a long day shopping and searching around the Inner Harbor with my beautiful bride. My gut was telling me there is NO WAY that a seafood buffet from Phillips is going to live up to any decent standard as its the McDonalds of Seafood more so than the Gortons Fisherman?! My expectation was NOT let down as it lived down to them 100%

It is surprisingly difficult to find a nice non-​touristy restaurant at the Inner Harbor (plenty of chains, some more upscale than others). The rent probably kills the independent restaurants. After struggling with our options, we settled on Phillips (which although a chain, seemed a little less so than the others).
Décor is weird, like a white pergola that just happened to roost on top of a restaurant. Lots of windows, but views were only so-​so. Service was good and we enjoyed learning more about the local brew. Particularly enjoyed the clementine vodka from Svedka.
I had a spicy shrimp salad, reasonably priced at $ 13, maybe 6 or 7 shrimp, a little too much dressing. He had the fried flounder platter, which was pricey for salad, flounder and fries at $ 28.
It’s a shame that there aren’t better choices, but it was still better than eating at the food court or the Chilpotle by the aquarium.

I came here a few years ago and really enjoyed their crab cakes and clam chowder soup. Baltimore is a crab cake city, and Phillips certainly does not disappoint.
The view is also really nice. It’s a good place to go for a family meal.

My family ate at Phillips on the first Friday in March.
I have been going to Phillips for almost 20 years and this trip I noticed major slippage in food quality and service.
My crab cakes were very small and actually had more filler than I remember. My wife’s steak was surprising in that is was very good. The children’s meal options are the same junk that you could get anywhere and are of course more expensive than just about anywhere else for what you get.
Apparently we showed up during shift change because right after our food order was taken our server said that she was done and that a new person would be taking over her section.
After that the new server vanished for about 20 minutes and then after taking our food order disappeared for another 40 – 50 minutes apparently to smoke since she stank of smoke upon returning to present the check but not take any finished plates or ever offering drink refills or anything else.
I love the location and view from Phillips but I will really re-​evaluate if going back is worth it or if Phillips has now fully jumped the shark into tourist trap garbage.

Jumbo Crab Cake (6oz) Sandwich was delicious. Loads of real crab meat, not much «flour».
FYI They also have a «Phillip’s Crab Cake Sandwich» (4oz). The waitress recommended the Jumbo Crab Cake Sandwich (6oz) b/​c for 2 dollars more, you get more for your money and the crab cakes are exactly the same except for the size.
We also enjoyed the Blue Crab Ravioli dish. The cream sauce, not too heavy and creamy had the perfect amount of flavors.
Salads (with shrimp) was plentiful. Romaine lettuce, vinaigrette dressing. Also a hit!
Service was excellent.

This was different from the bar stool seating Phillips that seems to be the other Phillips listed at Inner Harbor. It’s their all-​you-​can-​eat seafood buffet with a selection of fresh seafood, regional specialties and non-​seafood options (also kid’s menu of mainly fried items).
Buffet Prices:
Weekday Lunch $ 16.99
Weekend & Dinner $ 24.99
Service is normally good here. Nothing beats and all-​you-​can-​eat seafood buffet. I would advise to go early since there may be a more robust selection. Perhaps by the end of the day, the selection dwindles.
The best part of this is the king crabs especially since the turn over is quick and they are always fresh. There is a huge pot of warm butter on the side who those who fancy dipping their crab meats. The other seafood selections are a bit overcooked perhaps because the turn over isn’t so high so they get stuck «staying warm» for a long period of time.
The cooked food is good and there is a selection of different fishes, veggies, dirty rice, some cold pasta salads, fried items, and a sad looking bunch of salads. The soups are normally good but the kids selection isn’t the best as they mainly have fried mac-​n-​cheese, pigs in a bun and fries.
They give you a bucket for all your shells but it always attracts the fruit flies and little pests that you have to shoo away in between cracking the shells to your crab. I give you props if you can do both at once but I tend to find it annoying not that there is much they can do. They also have a selection of drinks and desserts. I heard the other table gasping about how good the cheesecake was but, to be honest, I was too full to have any.

I know people harp because this is a chain, and I’ve heard locals turn their noses up at it… but 1) I’m from Detroit = no crabs, 2) I had a
gift certificate good for anything on the menu, and 3) we thought it was pretty darn tasty!
Soup starter. Cream of Crab soup rates ⁴⁄₅. Creamy (obviously) and rich, but pretty one-​dimensional (even though that one dimension was tasty). Lobster Bisque rates ⁵⁄₅. Very rich, but so dang good!
Raw Oyster app = ⁵⁄₅. $ 12 for 6 oysters is pretty pricey, but they were so plump and briney and fresh. Very pleased with the quality.
Crab Cake dinner = ⁵⁄₅. Our first taste of a true crab cake, and we loved it. Tons of lump and shredded crab meat with very little filler. Came with a side of tartar sauce which we promptly tossed away. Much better to enjoy without any sauce, IMHO. Pay extra for the jumbo cakes because it is like getting a 3^rd cake for ‘free’ (not sure how ‘free’ it is though, since this plate costs $ 33 and only comes with a single side).
Mahi Mahi with green thai curry = ²⁄₅. Meh. Our waitress recommended it as her favorite dish, and I heard another hawking it to their table too. Maybe they had a ton of mahi in? Not great. Stick with the crab, folks.
We had an excellent view of the wharf, promenade and water from our table. Fresh breeze blowing in through the open doors.
Get the
gift certificate and give it a try.

Deciding where to take my lovely mother was a tough task. However, one of the places that she hasn’t been to in a very long time was Phillips Restaurant Harborplace in downtown Baltimore. Being that it was going to be my first time going to Phillips, and after reading some of the reviews on here, I was a little skeptical. I still decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did.
I definitely made sure to make reservations considering the occasion. Even though we arrived nearly 25 minutes before our scheduled reservation, the hostess still was able to sit us down as we arrived. Props to the hostess for giving all mothers a flower as a token of their appreciation!
We had two different waiters, as it seemed the first one got overwhelmed with the amount of people needing to be served. Nonetheless, the service was good. No huge complaints on my behalf. I couldn’t complain much anyway, it was my mom’s day.
Now onto the food, shall we? My mother went and got the Fried Seafood Platter (crab cake, shrimp, flounder, fries, and slaw). My brother ordered the Golden Fried Shrimp with fries. Finally, I ordered the Stuffed Flounder with Green Beans w/​Walnuts. The delivery of the food was QUICK, as it took a short time for everything to arrive, nice and hot.
The Stuffed Flounder was pretty good. I did find a couple of small bones in the fish, which was OK since I caught it before it maneuvered down my throat. My mom loved the Seafood Platter, while my brother was stuffed before he could finish the french fries.
Since my mom ordered two Mango Daiquiris ($ 7.99 each), she was able to take both glasses as souvenirs, which I found pretty cool. I went safe and got an Iced Tea, which was unsweetened BTW. My brother, being a copy cat, and did the same. He must have used 8 packs of sugar trying to sweeten it up.
The deserts that were brought out for display were not the appeasing, so nothing was ordered here. It didn’t really matter much because we all were satisfied from the main appetizers.
Overall, my mom and the rest of us had an enjoyable dinner. Bonus points for the quick seating, good service, and exceptional food. Good thing I made reservations here; the Phillips Buffet had a line that stretched from the entrance to Lombard Street! Well, it wasn’t that long, but it was still long.

Tourist death trap!
Saturday night, 6:30 pm, about a 45 minute wait. The hostesses are friendly and the 45 minute estimate is was pretty darn accurate. Make reservations on a Friday/​Sat. night.
The server was very friendly and gave some great recommendations. The crab cake appetizer portion is a little bit smaller than the entrée portion. The tartar sauce was nice and freshly made. The crab cakes could be a bit hotter (temperature wise). There were lots of large pieces of real crab, but it was underseasoned.
The cream of crab was interesting, although there were quite a few pieces of crab shell that were not properly removed. The lobster bisque was pretty smooth, but did not wow me. For the price, go for the bowl of soup. It’s a lot more soup for just $ 1.
The shrimp scampi w/​linguine was pretty yummy and the size of the shrimp was large.
The one thing I suggest is to avoid the mac and cheese. The server warned us that some people haven’t liked, it, but it was suppose to contain 3 different types of cheese, so I thought, what the heck. Worst mistake EVER. The mac and cheese looked ok, but it tasted like boiled pasta with bread crumbs. Disgusting, because it wasn’t even drained properly.
After a taste of this pasta, the rest of my appetite was ruined. The only bright light was that the server was very cool about the whole situation and the manager took it off the bill. I was a tad disappointed that the manager didn’t stop by our table regarding the matter, but it could be that they get enough complaints about the mac and cheese that they no longer bother.
I would not recommend coming here for dinner and will likely not be back.

A solid seafood offering. Crab cakes are the specialty of the house. The are prepared a bit differently, but rather yummy.
I remember the view being nice as well. I honestly wasn’t extremely impressed, but it was the local «talk about» so we went to check it out.
I did like the Crab Cakes.
Also, they have a take out that we used to get a bunch of sea food for a boat trip we took later that week… everything was super fresh. Crab Legs, Shrimp, Lobster, etc. very very fresh!

I found myself in Baltimore this past summer (
) and I naively wanted to see what all the fuss was about the crabcakes. I say naively, because CRABCAKES HAVE MAYO!!! :(
A nice Baltimore lady recommended Phillips as the best place to try crabcakes (before I found out they had mayo). Fortunately for me, they nice waitress at Phillips was nice enough to warn me that I was walking right into a mayo trap, and steered me towards the tasty crab caesar salad, which was yummy, indeed. The restaurants atmosphere was great, very relaxed and they had TVs on, plus the staff will not only warn you of potential mayo hazzards, they will also refill your drink often! :)
If you find yourself in Baltimore, you should check them out!