Adam’s Taphouse and Grille

Went there for lunch today. Great crab cakes and the corn on the cob was shucked fresh. Sweet tea not overly tannic and clearly made fresh. Very clean.

Do not get carry out here. Twice now I have been burned. Literally. First time was a burt to a black crisp rack of ribs, now it’s two burnt burgers complete with burnt bacon and no lettuce, tomato or onion. They also forgot the sauce for the appetizer and the fries were ice cold. I have had better experiences eating in the restaurant, but I will NEVER do carry out again. $ 30 for a burnt, cold mess with no toppings? No thank you.

So, so. Found the menu a little misleading. Also odd that they offer dinner tolls upon request with dinner. We were a party of four and everybody thought the food was above average if a bit pricey. A little plastic cup of applesauce wound up costing $ 2 and a sprinkle of cheddar on the chili was $ 1. Drinks also high. Overall, not great value.

We only get take-​out here, but if I’m craving some ribs and don’t want to go through the trouble of doing them myself, this is an acceptable substitute. The meat is usually tender and flavorful, but has on occasion been a bit dry. An extra dunk into their decent BBQ sauce solves that dilemma. The sides we’ve tasted, have been surprisingly good — specifically the coleslaw and the onion rings. They have a large menu, but we don’t stray far from our order so I’m not sure if the kitchen excels in other dishes.

Not much of a trip from Bowie, why not try something new.
APR décor is dated although well maintained. Everything reads of 70’s/80’s while the menu and growlers and wine list are very much today. The atmosphere is so confusing. The dated furniture, wood paneling and drop tile ceiling are unacceptable for a restaurant with such great food.
The food! My ribs were perfectly cooked, tender with a nice crisp bark or bite. Sloane enjoyed her medium steak that was cooked properly and Bryce had honey bbq wings that were just fine. The sides of green beans, baked potato and wild rice were correctly seasoned and tasty as well. If I had to take a dig at the food i’d say things could have been a little hotter.
Lastly I’m a stickler for service and it seems that the wait staff is an afterthought to APR. They service the tables just fine but added no value to the great food being served.
So 5 stars for the food and 2 stars for décor and service and I offer a 3.5(4 on Unilocal) rating over all. I see my return visits being through the carry out.

My husband and I went here for dinner tonight.
Honestly, our experience was just so-​so. We started off with the crab pretzel, which was actually pretty good. Wasn’t completely covered in cheese, so you could actually taste the crab. Took awhile for the waitress to come back and take our order (by then, the crab pretzel had already come out). I got a crab cake, which really wasn’t that memorable. My husband said the same about his brisket. And then we sat…
And someone other than our server brought us boxes. And another person took away our plates. We continued to sit…
Our server reappeared finally to give us the check after a pretty sizable wait.
My feelings? Been here, done that, don’t need to come back.

A great casual place with fresh, tasty food. You’re not going here for high end cuisine. You’re going for good ribs… a good crabcake without much filler and some good pieces of lump… satisfying appetizers… burgers…and what looks like a great selection of specials. Sounds predictable… but there are surprises. Like delicious garlic green beans. And outrageously good cornbread. Kid friendly, budget friendly. Good staff. Lots of beer on draft. Just an all-​around solid place!

Went here on 29 July 2015. It’s a nice place. Server was great, and the food was decent. I got the NewYorker sandwich. I’d go back again.

Adam’s seems to be the place we go to most often. Their ribs just fall of the bone, their cream of crab and Maryland crab soup is great, the barbeque shrimp are wonderful and they always have plenty of seating. And their Gator Wings and Onion Loaf! OMG! So good. The only reason why I didn’t give them 5 stars is because of their Bloody Mary’s. I keep ordering one here and then I remember «Oh yeah, I forgot their Bloody Mary’s suck». This is my favorite drink to order out and theirs is terrible. Watered down tomato juice, all you taste is the liquor because of it. A half yellow lime stuck on the side, no Old Bay or Worcestershire Sauce added. I make a better one at home. Aside from the lack of a good drink the food is excellent.

The food was pretty good, but Charlie the server was awesome. Great crab cake — I usually hate them because they are too bread filled, but this one was mostly big lump crab! Fries were meh. Was too stuff for desert, but the menu looked promising. Would go back again if I was in the area.

Went for dinner. No wait for seating. Establishment was 75% full on first floor. Our server was prompt and my wife and I started with a diet soda and a draught beer. We had the Chili Con Queso appetizer which arrived within 10 mins. It was a plentiful dish with lots of warm, crispy tortilla chips. The dip tasted scrumptious and was filling. For our entrée, we had the Ribs and Chicken. It came with 2 sides. The ribs were hot, smoky and oh so tender and moist. The chicken, a full half, was hot, moist and tender as well. My wife had the baked beans and a sweet potato for her sides and both were so good. I had the baked potato and cole slaw. The potato I got was barely lukewarm. Our prompt server was quick to bring it back to the kitchen and back to me within a few minutes hot and tender. Our server was attentive but not bothersome. When finished she offered dessert, but we couldn’t finish the entrees and she brought us carry-​out containers straight away. A most wonderful experience that left us feeling full and satisfied. We will definitely be returning.

Decent food, super slow service.
I felt bad for our waitress, who was responsible for a table of ten, and had to carry all the plates and everything quite a distance through the restaurant on her own. That might be why lunch here took approximately two hours on a Friday starting at 1:00PM.
However, I was pleased with the restaurant being able to accommodate substitutions of fries and coleslaw for a healthier option of salad and beans to go alongside an already heavy lunch of pulled brisket sandwich.
We were given cornbread to start as well, so this was a really intense lunch. The sandwich was pretty tasty, and the beans were a good side dish. The salad was totally boring, but most side salads are.
Definitely be prepared to take a nap after eating here!

We had heard great things about this place, so we went tonight. Less than impressive.
Hot crab dip appetizer was OK, but there are other places in town that serve better.
We both had ribs with side of coleslaw and baked beans (me) and corn on the cob (my wife).
Ribs were fine but the BBQ on them was rather tasteless. Corn on the cob was inedible. Soaked in a pot so it was water logged.
Blueberry pie desert was straight out of the can and the crust had too much salt in it.
Service was good.
We probably won’t be back because there are better places nearby.

Heaven. No better ribs anywhere.

Sigh. The time has come. After 35+ years of frequenting Adam’s Ribs Edgewater (dine in and take out) it’s time to call them out.
Great: The ribs — 90% of the time. They run into some rough patches where they are chewy and lacking in any flavor — sans the sauce.
Good and consistent: BBQ chicken; Pulled Pork BBQ; Dinner rolls: tasty, with slight sweet note; Steamed shrimp; Onion loaf: Good ²⁄₃ of the time. Too often over cooked and/​or absolutely dripping in oil.
So-​so: Crab cakes. Very Meh.; Cole slaw: Remember what you ate at South River High School?; French fries: Very sad. Dry, reconstituted, frozen things? Mashed potatoes: except recently very, very dry. My kid said they were like eating play-​doh.
Terrible: Most of the veggies (broccoli is pretty good). «Kitchen cut» green beans that seem right out of a Sam’s Club can; Overdone baked potatoes’ And the worst ever sweet potatoes. WORST! Take a look at the pic I uploaded here. Cooked to smithereens every single time, dry as all get out, and not much bigger than a toddler’s fist.
Have not eaten anything that is not listed above — so can’t comment on those. Somebody needs to clean house here. It ain’t what it used to be. Woefully inconsistent in the kitchen and too much sub-​par quality of certain ingredients and core food items.
Pretty darn good: The wait staff and bartenders. On the ball for the most part. Attentive. Quick. Friendly.

Great local restaurant, good food, good service in my experience (timely but not fussy or intrusive), casual atmosphere, reasonable prices. I love their cream of crab soup, loaded potato skins and Caesar salad. There is so much more here to like beyond ribs — usually a great «special» choice like meatloaf or pork chops. Seems like a lot of people have crazy-​specific opinions about how ribs should be prepared and how the only way to evaluate them is by a particular attachment to the bone and flavor of the sauce and smoking procedure, so I’ll leave all that debate to them. IMO the ribs are GREAT and I always get them if I’m ordering takeout — I just never seem to think to order them when I’m in the restaurant.

I visited today for a late lunch and immediately ordered the loaded potato skins for an app. They were loaded all right with more bacon and cheese than I’ve ever seen. They were alright but I didn’t go overboard since I came for the Ribs.
The service was great with a very friendly waitress that answered all my questions and kept my ice tea refilled. I ordered the full rack of a Baby Back Ribs!
The ribs arrived looking so good I had to take a pic for you ! They definitely satisfied as expected. The cole slaw was amazing and the fries cooked perfectly.
Another great lunch… Doubt I’ll need dinner this evening. I’ve tried their Eastport location as well… Also awesome.

Not quite what to make of this place. I went when they were having a Wednesday special where they have 1986 prices or something like that. Due to that the food was super cheap. Cheap mediocre food is so much better than expensive mediocre food.
I had the ribs and a side of fries and slaw. I don’t eat slaw so I couldn’t tell you much about it. It seemed on the ‘wet’ side of slaw if that means anything to you slaw eaters.
The ribs were ‘fine’. Not chewy as some reviewers mentioned. Mine were cooked pretty decent. You want them to stick to the bone as you pick it up but for the meat to come off easy when pulled/​bitten into. The bone should be dry and clean as the meat comes off. They accomplished that.
Now, was it smoked for hours and cared with attentiveness like each rack deserves? no. There was little smokiness to the taste.
You can also get your ribs, ‘well done’ I think they called it. This essentially means, extra grilled until most of the surface is burnt. I would imagine it toughens the meat up and I can’t imagine doing that to the flavor but 2 people in our party said they do it all the time. I am guessing they also order their rib-​eye well done which makes them lucky I still talk to them.
The sauces had a lot to be imagined. This was the most disappointing part for me. If you are going to be a BBQ place, you have to take pride in your sauce. I don’t need more than 1, maybe 2 kinds, but they should taste like they didn’t come out of a gallon bucket. Even if they do, add some spices and flavor for goodness sakes.
All-​in-​all, since I paid less than $ 10 for my ribs it was ‘okay’. Otherwise I might have been a bit pissed.

It makes me sad to write this review because I remember a day when I loved Adams…
I can’t imagine what people that think Adam’s Ribs «ribs» these days are fantastic or even good normally eat!
There was a time in the last century when Adams had good food. That time has long since gone. As an example, their ribs aren’t smoked at all — they are boiled and finished off on the grill with regular old Open Pit BBQ Sauce. The ribs are touch and chewy — hardly quality BBQ.
The last time we ate Adams, not a single food item tasted good. The ribs in the cryopacks at the grocery store are better than Adams.

Adams has some really good points and some really bad ones.
Pros:
Food is usually well above average, the brisket sandwich, ¼ chicken, ribs, and fish sandwich (when on special) are all very good. The service can be a little slow when they are busy but usually it is good. The atmosphere is very dated but still it has character. Carry out is a nice touch.
Cons:
The worst happy hour ever! Every restaurant from edgewater to annapolis does a better happy hour, they really need to step it up. The place smells about 25% of the time I go in, a mixture of old mop and bleach smell, if I smell it when I walk in I turn around and go elsewhere. The crowd seated at the bar is frequently the regulars and they are sometimes a bit dickish about you trying to slide in to get your drink from the bartender. They keep adding small kind of crappy TVs, they really need to put some money into a remodel of the bar and upgrade the A/​V package.