The Mallet

Oh don’t I repeat please don’t eat here. The place is dirty and the food tastes like reheated frozen cuisine. Not any originality in their cooking. I’m sorry to leave such a harsh review but I even tried this place twice on the chance they were having a bad day. I was sadly wrong. No more for me.

Came in on a Sunday for some lunch at 1:30 p.m. (they advertised on the door that they open at 11 a.m.). No staff was around anywhere. We waited for 10 minutes in the bar area and never saw any employees, but we could hear some voices coming from the kitchen area. I finally walked back into the kitchen but still couldn’t find anybody who worked there. Fortunately we are honest people and didn’t steal all of their liquor, tables, and chairs; but elected to go across the street and have an excellent meal at the Texas Roadhouse. What kind of way is this to run a business???

Waited 15 minutes to be seated during a slow Wednesday evening and then ate over priced, mediocre food. Will never go back.

I was so disgusted tonight that I must review again. I have been to The Mallet several times as I enjoy the music in the Tiki Bar. The food is not so good, but I keep trying different things hoping to find something good. I did finally find something I liked and it has disappeared from the ever shrinking menu.
Tonight was the worst I have been treated in a restaurant. I was meeting a friend for dinner and dancing. I arrived before my friend and entered though the front door. There was no one in the upstairs dining room or bar. I made my way downstairs and through another empty dining room, except for a gentleman sitting at the bar just outside the Tiki Bar. I spoke to him and went inside. There were very few people inside at about 5:15. As I found my way to a table, the gentleman who had been sitting at the door approached me and informed me there was a $ 5 cover charge. I handed him $ 10 to cover the fee and he disappeared to get my change. He came back to the table and threw the $ 5 at the table and walked on. The $ 5 bill nearly feel on the floor. He turned around as he noticed it falling. I told him that he was very rude and he informed me that I was rude to him for not walking to the back door myself.
My friend arrived a about 15 minutes later and we both ordered from the shrinking, yet escalating priced menu. The food arrived and both dinners were not edible. My chicken sandwich was tough, had no flavor, and was very small on a huge roll. The roll was good as were the fries. My friends dinner was not eaten at all. The bill for 2 sandwiches was $ 25 before tip, and we both drank water. The server did a good job, but the manager, Ian, who threw the money at me was rude and certainly not helping a failing restaurant. All in all, we spent close to $ 45 for two bad dinners, a rude manager, two cover charges, and nothing to drink. The music was ok, but I think this will be the last time I ever go inside this establishment.
Like I said, I have been here many times, and have accepted marginal food and at times marginal service. However, I do not do rude, especially from management! Save yourself the frustration, and find somewhere else to spend your money, have dinner and dance.

This place is AWFUL! Very dirty. Bathrooms are atrocious. Took over an hour… FOR OUR SODAS. Took another hour for our undercooked, very cokd food. Obviously had been sitting for over 20 minutes. Peiole there to see the band cancelled their food and had pizza delivered. That is sad when you are a restaurant and people have pizza delivered to your establishment. Management was horrible. Bartenders ignoring everyone. One waitress for the whole place.

I have never given a poor review of a restaurant, until I came here. I’m not sure how this place stays in business.
We waited 5 minutes at the door before anyone even walked by to see if we wanted a table. No servers, no bartender… Nobody at the door, and this was a Saturday night.
Once seated another 5 minutes before a server came, 5 minutes before we got our waters, and 20 plus minutes before we got our appetizers. 40 minutes before dinner, didn’t have silver wear, had a hair in my steak, half of which was raw.
Restaurant nightmare. Don’t ever come here.

This place sucks. No review needed. From service to food the rating is a zero. Don’t go here

Went there on Saturday night (6÷21÷14) and it was horrible. The staff was rude. One of the appeals use to be they didn’t charge a cover. Now they do. Ok. no big deal but I usually only carry a debit card. The door person was extremely rude about me heading to the ATM to get cash. The Mallet advertised the band was to go on at 930. They went on almost an hour late due to the Mallet making a scheduling conflict and then they still had the nerve to charge a cover. A few people we knew went there for dinner and the doorman went around to demand the cover charge. I’ve never heard that in my life. Once in… the bartender did not know basic bottle drink items. So, mix drinks were ordered. Horrible. If I wanted straight fruit juice I would get it at the grocery store. The bartender was rude… extremely rude. She would ignore people standing waiting for drinks. I saw several people take their drinks back. Our waitress was nice but would disappear for long periods of time. This place use to be better as little as 6 months ago. I won’t be back and neither will anyone that was in our group.

There is a lot going on here and I see how it is difficult to manage with 5 bars inside and out, multiple table areas, and a large live music venue. Still, I loved the experience. There is a great time to be had and good food; great if you are lucky. My family of four (two under four y/​o) sat outside and were delighted to find a nice enclosed playground beneath the tiki bar and a man playing some island music nearby. The crab nachos were excellent and the fish tacos were fine. Next time I will try the crabs. My waitress didn’t come by much but the owner did and He bought me a beer when I let him know my chips were supposed to be fries. A great outdoor dining experience and my 4y/​o has asked twice if we can go back.

Let me start by saying that every time I find or hear about a new restaurant the first thing I do, after checking out the menu online is to go straight to Unilocal so when I was told that a dear friend’s 40^th birthday party would be held at The Mallet I wanted to check out the reviews. I was very discouraged to read all the bad reviews, especially after hearing how much a dozen crabs was going to cost us and of course worried that the evening would be a let down for her but my sister assured me that this was a restaurant that our friend goes to quite frequently and enjoys so I hoped for the best. Well, that hope was pretty much extinguished not long after arriving. Most of the group was already seated and looked very unhappy as we said our hellos, turns out they had been sitting there for quite some time and had yet to be greeted or had drink orders taken. We were seated in the lower level so my husband thought it would be easier for him to just go to the bar to get a beer, nope, even that involved the bartender having to go upstairs to retrieve a bottle of beer, leaving my husband standing there for a bit. About 10 minutes after sitting, ignored, someone complained and next thing I know we’re getting moved to a new table, out in the area where the bands perform, less than a foot from the dance floor, where, once again, we were ignored. I’ve worked as a manager in the restaurant business, in an extremely busy crabcake restaurant in Linthicum, so I’m not one to just sit patiently while an important evening is ruined. I went to the bar and asked to speak to the manager and a few moments later a gentleman, I believe his name was Ian (pardon any confusion with who was who and what there names were because we dealt with so many people I lost track) who listened patiently while I explained the predicament. He apologized and said he would take care of the matter so we went back to our table… and sat some more. Again, I went to speak to the manager, and this time my husband asked another friend to accompany because he knew that I was at my breaking point. Ian apologized again said he would walk a server over personally to have us taken care of and for our troubles would send over a round of shots for everyone in our party. He did follow thru and a server finally came and took our orders (and I would like to say that the server that took care of us did do a good job). Now one would think that if you have a reservation and have pre-​ordered the crabs it wouldn’t take too long to actually be served your meal, but nope, not at The Mallet, still took a bit to get any food at all, even appetizers or the crabs that were already ordered in advance. We had a 7:30 reservation and by the time we were actually served our meals the band was coming on, the room was darkened and now we find ourselves with a whole new issue, trying to celebrate our friend’s milestone birthday while dodging assorted dancers and shouting to be heard over the band.
Now, about that food– my buffalo shrimp appetizer wasn’t worth the money. The shrimp were served on a puddle of runny bleu cheese, not the bleu cheese crumbles described in the menu and the crabs, while large and full, were rather bland, void of that great Old Bay flavor, even the butter was tasteless. I really hoped that the previous reviews were wrong, that perhaps improvements had been made but alas, it was not to be. The only good things people said about this place had to do with the live music and while we did enjoy the band, I would have hoped that a restaurant would be more focused on drawing in customers because of their food not because they don’t charge a cover.

Sadly a ZERO is not available! I’ve been to this place for happy hour, as well as d
inner and the latest was CARRY OUT. they have sadly gotten worse each time, no matter what name they pick! Great location, nice layout but horrible food. Last week got stuffed shrimp, it was actually inedible! Plus cost over $ 30, I’ve now given up, what a shame! I so want to like this place, but they obviously cannot get it right! Disappointed is putting it mildly!

The first thing that should be made known is that The Mallet is and has been under new management for at least a year, which means that the existing reviews offer little insight to the current quality of the restaurant and its employees.
I went there with a group of 8 — 10 family members and met some friends there as well. They set aside a few tables for us on the Sunset Deck so seating was no issue. We went to see a band called Totem and to enjoy copious amounts of food and drinks. The young waiter was as friendly and helpful as can be and not once did he grow frustrated with serving us constantly for over two hours straight. I can’t see how he did this, especially knowing my family, but Aaron worked his a$$ off and did it with a smile the whole night.
There was a variety of food ordered — appetizers, salads and burgers, as well as a few dozen jumbo crabs. It was also suggested that we try something that the chef had recently concocted — spicy citrus shrimp wrap (or something like that). I’m not a big seafood fan but that sounded too good to pass up and it was delicious — a flavor that I had not experienced before. I heard (and saw) that the crabs were better than good as I watched my friends stuff their Old Bay-​laden faces, only breaking to order another pitcher of beer. Not only does the Sunset Deck offer a full menu, it also has its own bar and a small playground for the kids. You read that right — a built-​in babysitter for the kids!
After the food was consumed and the last few notes of Totem faded away into the night’s sky, the last few remaining people headed inside to the massive Tiki Sports Bar to continue the festivities, A 80s rock band band called Cinema had the dance floor full into the wee hours and a good time was had by all. Again, the bartenders and waitresses had great attitudes and definitely added to the evening’s entertainment.
I didn’t even mention that The Mallet has a classy and quiet Martini bar as well as a formal dining area for those who are looking for a quiet evening.
This place seemed to have a little something for everyone — great food, great and friendly staff, great entertainment and several areas that will suit your mood. I hear that the place is crazy during NFL games and hopefully playoff O’s games. Hopefully.
I think Fallston has a winner on its hands. It just goes to show what a change of management and vision can do.

Wow. If it weren’t for the band we would have left an hour ago. There was no record of our reservation but luckily only three other tables had people so we got a good arrangement for the six of us. Our waiter seemed to have no idea what was going on or how to do his job and left us after we ordered our drinks to go stand in the corner of the room talking to one of the other employees. Finally, we got the appetizers ordered and received them an hour after we had been seated. With no silverware and not being able to get our waiter’s attention to get drink refills. This is when we were finally able to order our entrees. We received them a half hour later and not only were they nearly cold but my stuffed shrimp were not jumbo and were super dry without any of the imperial sauce as was indicated in the menu. By that point we were pretty hungry so we ate anyway. Most of us. They forgot about one of our friends and had to go make hers new. Hers was hot!
Rarely did we ever see our actual waiter but kudos to the bus boy for busting his ass for our table! Drinks refilled right away when we asked him!
Long story short, don’t go here unless you have a couple of hours to kill and like cold, dry, semi-​tasteless food.

My GF and I went to the Mallet for the first time this past weekend to see an old friend’s band perform and we were looking to enjoy a crab feast for the first time this summer.
The evening started out poorly as we waited a solid 10 minutes to be noticed by a waitress and the tiki bar area where we sat was NOT busy. From what I could see, our waitress had one other party of six that she was waiting on. After she intially came to great us, she introduced herself but mumbled her name almost as if on purpose so we wouldn’t know her name! None of the waitstaff were wearing name tags either. We eventually ordered two bar drinks and asked about crab availability. Understandably, the waitress needed to see what was available as we arrived late, close to 8:00pm. A good 10 – 15 minutes passed without seeing the waitress. Finally, after staring at our drinks getting watered down at the bar, I finally went and retrieved our drinks from the service station myself. The waitress eventually came back and didn’t even notice we got our own drinks, nor did she offer any apology. Things improved from here as our appetizer came out on time and the crabs arrived shortly after. From this point on, our waitress was much more attentive. In terms of the food, we ordered a dozen Mediums for $ 41, not a bad price and the crabs were very good. Well-​seasoned and very meaty!
We paid our tab and stayed to watch an awesome band perform and eventually started a tab at the bar for the rest of the evening. It also took a long time to get bar service but the place was probably busier than usual due to the band bringing in a large crowd.
Overall, the Mallet is very cool as they have a formal dining room that is separate from the Tiki Bar where the bands perform and the TV’s are located so you can enjoy a nice dinner out as well as a more casual atmosphere all in once place. I would give the food a solid B+ but the service left much to be desired.

Been to the Mallet twice now. It’s kind of like a «choose your own adventure» book, but in a restaurant. When you arrive, you can opt for the main dining room, the martini bar, the raw bar, the tiki sports bar, or the outdoor patio area. Our first visit, we ate in the main dining room, which was nice. Our server was very attentive and we even walked around and checked out the rest of the place before we left. Our most recent visit was on a Wednesday and we sat in the tiki sports bar. Everything we ordered was really good (no complaints about the food), the service was good. The only thing that worried me is that the place was nearly empty, which is probably because it was a weeknight and there was no band playing in the tiki bar. The outdoor patio area had a band and that was busy, however.
We’ll probably come back to see a band or two. I like that we could come here and see live music with no cover. (I hate paying cover to stay in a place when I’m not sure who the band is or if I like them).

First crabs of the season! I had been calling around for the past month trying to find crabs– slow start to the season! The Mallet let me know that they would have some in on Saturday, so I called back then. The guy in the crab house was awesome– very friendly and informative. I was able to lock down a reservation of a dozen jumbos (highly recommend a reservation on crabs!). The guy at the crab house made sure we got a reservation for 630 in the pub (very convenient so I didn’t have to make two reservations!). We arrived a bit early, but were promptly seated and our server Aaron came right over to get the ball rolling! We were contemplating adding more crabs to our order, but they only had one dozen jumbos left, and we figured we’d leave those for other people who were feigning crabs! The crabs were amazing– perfectly seasoned and packed! I was also very impressed that there wasn’t a single bad crab in the bunch! (Any crab eater expects at least one mushy/​ammonia crab in the bunch). All of the crabs were perfectly cooked and so fresh! Even though the place filled up very quickly, our server Aaron was incredibly attentive! We never had to wait for another pitcher of beer! He took great care of us! Can’t wait for the crabs to be coming in more steadily so I can spend my summer there! I see many days of the crab deck in my future!

Meh. When we walked in the hostess just dumped us off and told us to find a table. The waiter took forever to take our order. The steamed shrimp was ok but cold. The crab soup was ok. The Mallet salad was all lettuce, the crab melt was cold. The beer was cold and delicious. The menu was very small and a very limited. The place looked like it had been over run by small children with black marks all over the walls and just a general messiness, nothing very inviting.

Very slow weekday lunch service. Food was ok but they were out of tarter sauce.

Tried it for the first time on ²⁄₂₆. We wanted some raw oysters and were directed to the downstairs eatery, however after waiting a few minutes there, an employee wandered by and said it was closed. We went upstairs to the bar/​restaurant and waited too long for a server. The place was cold and smelled like a bad restroom deodorizer. Finally got a server who couldn’t get his act together — no pencil, nothing to write on, couldn’t remember what we just ordered. We ordered some drinks from the bar and waited 10 minutes for them — the bar was right there, but the order was filled elsewhere. Finally placed our order, waited too long for it (there were only a few patrons upstairs); we were pleased with the food which could have been hotter. I may have understood the problems if it was a busy Sunday afternoon, but there were only a few patrons.
Overall the experience was disappointing — it felt like the restaurant had just opened and they still had a lot of kinks to work out.

This place has excellent food! Some of the best crabs around as well, you can eat in, or they also offer orders for your own gatherings. The place has been completely gutted and re-​done. Martini bar, dining lounge, raw bar and a Tiki bar as well. The different areas are separated from each other so that the tiki bar noise doesn’t interfere with your dining experience.