Cornerstone Grill & Loft

Where else does one march post-​finals at 12:30 PM for some judgement-​free day drinking? Friends were happy with their sandwiches while I got to have my baby carrots while sipping on some draft cider! #winning
It doesn’t matter if it’s 12:30 AM/​PM, the bartenders are nice and will get you and your friends trashed for MUCH less than you ever will in the real world. We did have some suspect rail tequila (hrmm) that resulted in:
— half-​hour long hiccups,
— 14 drunken calls and 4 voicemails to an ex,
— crazy hangovers, and
— birthday boy still spewing 12+ hours later.
Oh Cornerstone.

If you like the smell of stale angry socks then by all means come here. I gave them two stars because their tvs are really huge. However I didn’t stick around because the stench won, I left the place immediately.

Great sports bar!
First, I think that their prices (at least for beers) knock out all the other bars in the area ($ 3 during happy hour — which means until 8pm! and less than $ 5 at the rest of the time)
They also have quite a nice selection of beers (~15 on tap, and I guess around 2 – 3 dozens in bottle).
The food is pretty OK (for a bar) and prices are decent here as well!
On the second floor the are pool tables and a big space with more tables.

Love coming here on the weekends for cheap drinks, and cheap yummy food. Really gets crowded after around midnight which is pretty cool. They play the latest cool music, and people dance around the bar and play pool. Great service too

This place counts as a classic college bar. Lots of good happy hour specials, Sunday has the «Big Ass Beer» special (buy an actual glass mug/​stein, a rarity these days of cheap plastic cups), and lots of people on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. There is a good mix of age ranges but on the aforementioned nights expect the crowd to run college age. Not a bad thing but just be aware.
Staff is friendly and fun. The interior is basic wood, lots of TVs, neon beer signs, etc. They do have some outside seating. On game days the place gets packed. It goes without saying that this is a Maryland bar. I had the wings every time I’ve come here so I would recommend them. Friends have gotten burgers and liked them.

So this place is divey, and not in the cool way. It’s not the cleanest. And the clientele is this weird mix of people who should probably be at work, kids who must have JUST turned 21, and folks who are looking for a cheaper option than anywhere in the city. I don’t know…
Even still, Cornerstone puts it’s best foot forward. While the servers may appear to not want to be there, they are prompt and remember your order accurately. Also, drinks are cheap. Super cheap. And happy hour goes until 8. Tons of bar and table seating.
You’re on your own for parking. There’s a garage behind the bar off Knox or you can park in the lot across the street by the CVS. Both are metered.

By far the worst service I’ve had in a long time. I sat at the bar for almost 30 minutes with no drink. What kind of service is that? First and last time at this cruddy place for sure. Too bad, they had good potential.
On a side note, when did it become legal for bar tenders to do shots at the bar? I know that doesn’t fly in Maryland. Is it OK in DC?

Great service. Bartender is very on point with the orders. Must try the Oldbay wings. Had to order seconds. I tried a new beer that taste awesome Shiner White Wing.

If you’re down for cheap drinks, solid food and a fun and young atmosphere then check out Cornerstone! There are three bars that are closest to South Campus where a lot of students tend to live — Cornerstone, Bentley’s and Terrapin’s Turf. Cornerstone is the «classier» bar out of the three. I went to UMD so I had plenty a drunken nights here and always had a good time. My favorite nights to come were definitely Sundays where they had Drafts night. You can purchase one of their «Big Ass Drafts» mug and then get cheap drink deals. It was always entertaining to me to see students walking down Route 1 with their mugs in hand on Sunday nights. It was definitely a great spot to watch Sunday night football. They also hand out raffle tickets on football nights and if they call your number you win a jersey of one of the teams playing!
As for food, its pretty standard bar fare. I’m obsessed with their sweet potato fries. They dust them with cinnamon sugar and they are BOMB! The last time I came I ordered the link sandwich and it was surprisingly really good! It was pesto chicken with red peppers, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions on a brioche bun.
Parking: walk if you can. If not, there’s a paid parking lot (the one with CVS and Starbucks) across the street and a garage kind of behind Cornerstone on Knox and Yale. Both are free after 10 pm and all day on Sundays, otherwise .75 cents an hour I believe.

Cornerstone = Dying Breed
This place has everything you’d ever need in a college bar and it doesn’t try to be anything it’s not. The drinks are strong and cheap; You will have a fun night out here I promise :)

Bar of my youth. Even though it’s a dive, the place cleans up during the day and is a good restaurant. Delicious bar standards, Especially the burgers

Before I start this review, I want to clarify that Cornerstone is a college bar right off of campus. This is not a nightclub or a fancy restaurant in DC. This is where one goes to get obliterated or to grab a quick bite and reminisce on the low price. That being said:
Service: I have never had a problem with service on the interpersonal level. Waiters/​waitresses/​bartenders have all been great. Dan and Keith were quick and efficient upstairs and Natalie was awesome downstairs. Those are the three bartenders I remember very vividly as I don’t think they have ever drawn any complaints from myself or my circle of friends. It doesn’t take much common sense to realize that if you want good service, don’t be a dick to the staff. Plain and simple. The only thing I don;t like here is the time it takes to flag down a waitress, which is still understandable given that there is about a 30:1 ratio of patrons to staff.
Food/​Drink: All of the food is great in my opinion, and the best part is, if you come during happy hour, its only $ 5 for a serving that you may even decide to share with a friend. I usually don’t have any left over, but then again, I inhale my food. Highly recommend the honey mustard wings, which aren’t offered anywhere else in college park to the best of my knowledge. The burger is great too and the beer battered fries are super crispy. Drinks during happy hour are about $ 2 and bump up to about $ 4 – 5 at night. Kills any plans made in DC for ease on wallet alone. Also, Sundays offer «Big Ass Drafts», or giant mugs of beer for $ 250 – 3.50. The mug itself is about $ 10 but is yours to keep and can be brought back to use every Sunday!
Environment: Really really loud. Happy hour specials get the place packed by around 6 so make sure you come prepared for a rush. When nighttime rolls around, especially between Thursday and Sunday, you may not even have room to maneuver the floor. The bar reaches capacity very often and trust me, being at capacity doesn’t exactly cater to peoples’ personal space. Very fun and lively place to go for the typical college student and young adult. Even okay for a family meal during happy hour I’d say.
Overall, the bar may not be the classiest upscale venue in the area, but it definitely delivers a good time and being open at night as a dance floor helps a great deal. Keep up the good work Cornerstone Staff!

Cornerstone is your typical college bar. Great drink specials, college kids, and greasy food. It’s actually perfect for game days. Get ready for crowds as this is a maryland staple. It’s right off campus so no need to drive if you’re living on campus. And for those old timers, this is a great place to relive memories and to get some college strange.
Don’t expect anything fancy — just wood paneling, plastic cups, good time and shots!
Make sure to grab a basket of fries as these are seasoned to perfection. Happy game day!

A longer happy hour than most places which is convenient. Really nice bartender. Food was really good especially the wings and beer battered fries. Bathroom was kind of gross though.

Upon arrival at UMD, I heard about this this place down the street from Fraternity Row. It has a convenient location, but that’s pretty much where the appeal begins and ends.
I ordered a whiskey sour and some chips and salsa. The whiskey sour tasted like water (and did not look much different in color either) and I’m pretty sure the $ 4.50 nachos would have been better spent just buying the Pace salsa at Target (because I’m pretty sure it was pored right out of a jar into the serving bowl).
Nothing special, but I suppose that’s what you get for college town convenience.

Cornerstone brings me back to my college days. Now that those days are behind me, my review is for the happy hour. I came here with my boyfriend and some friends for a post work HH.
You really can’t beat the prices for happy hour. $ 2 rail drinks, $ 2 beers. Quite the deal! That being said, you definitely get what you pay for with $ 2 rail drinks. My gin and tonic certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t strong and the gin was pretty cheap. Beer is probably a better bet for happy hour, since you know what you are getting.
Appetizers are also pretty cheap during happy hour. I ordered the buffalo wings, which were okay. I ordered the hot wings, but they really weren’t hot at all. I also tried the nachos, which were decent, but could have used a lot more cheese. You can never have too much cheese on nachos! I haven’t tried much else, but my boyfriend has had the chicken tenders and didn’t like them at all. Overall, as bar food goes, it’s a bit below par.
Sitting outside on a nice day is a plus though! Service is decent, and as I said, it’s definitely cheap!

Happy Hour
Wings
I was browsing the reviews and didn’t see too many mentions about the wings here. The wings are the best in the area (fight me if you disagree). They fry them bare (nekkid, no flour, just skin and hot grease). I normally get the buffalo wings… sometimes when I’m feeling fancy, I ask for the sauce on the side.
HH lasts until 8pm.
HH Crowd: Current college students to ppl who graduated like fifty-​eleven years ago and everyone in between.
Bartenders are cool. Great drink specials.

Cornerstone is a College Park institution, perhaps as much a part of the college experience as going to classes. That being said, it’s still just a college bar. There really aren’t any bells or whistles, and it’s not really anything to write home about. It does its job as an accessible place for students to drink and party. It’s aging, kinda dingy, and the floor is always sticky. To be honest, this place is best left to the college-​aged crowd.
To their credit, there are a lot of drink specials that can make the overall environment more bearable. But if you’re out of school, don’t come here unless it’s for an alumni event.

You don’t come here for the food. It’s there if you are drunk enough, sure, but this is cornerstone.
Cornerstone is a fixture of the University of Maryland. If you went to umd, you definitely have fond memories of this place.
That said, it’s a mad house. I worked here part time in school and I saw things that still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight when I think about them. It’s a good time but mostly if you are in college.
If you are out drinking avoid the later hours friday and saturday nights. They get ugly. Especially Saturday nights when a serious portion of the students go home for the weekend and the bar has more sketchy locals. The extra hour of drinking on those nights makes for people that get way too drunk and sometimes a little fight-​y.

This is the quintessential college bar that has gone a step further by adding a ton of TVs, an upstairs that is great for Sunday football viewing, and an expanded menu. I stopped in to see a friend from high school after 13 long years, but as soon as I walked in I was flooded with memories of my time in college. It just has that feel. However, my fears were unfounded because it was a really great place to watch the first Sunday of NFL football. I scoffed at the notion that the «Scorcher Wings» would really be hot, and I regretted my skepticism because they were really fucking hot. We just had the wings and spinach-​artichoke dip, but there were a lot of items on the menu.
This may not be the kind of place where I’d want to hang out on a Friday or Saturday night — too old for that stuff now — but they have my vote for a great game day experience.