Restaurant: Pusser's located in Annapolis, MD
Our restaurant club
decided to take an adventure to Annapolis a couple Sunday's ago. We thought
summer weather, good food, and good company would make for an awesome end of the
weekend.
My boyfriend and I
were the first to arrive in Annapolis and it just happened to be at the end of a
boat show. This is a good lesson to learn ... find out what is going on in a
touristy town before going there. Then you can plan ahead for parking, time,
crazy people, etc and not be caught off guard. We drove up and down the streets
for a bit looking for parking. We eventually gave up and parked in the 'yacht
parking lot' for an inflated $20. The cost of parking was a small price to pay
for sanity. TIP: The Marriott Annapolis Waterfront has valet
parking that is only $14 which is cheaper, or there are metered spots along the
road. Try to avoid parking in the parking lot to the right of the hotel.
When we first
arrived I had to use the rest rooms. They were so disheveled I was shocked by
their appearance. The floors were wet and dirty, the sinks had wet paper towels
all over them, and there was toilet paper thrown all over the stalls. As we
leave from the bathrooms disgusted, we then stand at the hostess stand for about
five minutes waiting for someone to greet us. A few servers walked by, someone
who looked like a shift leader made eye contact with us but did not stop to
talk, and both hostesses passed us by. HELLO?! I finally stopped the first
person who came by the counter and said pardon me are you on a wait? She then
grabbed five menus and walked us out into the balcony seating where we stood for
a minute watching her search for empty tables, then back into the dining room
where she spun in a circle looking at tables, before she finally said 'I guess
you guys can sit here'.
After being seated
it took a full 10 minutes before a server even came over to the two of us to get
our drinks. I kept telling myself it was because they could tell our full party
had not been seated yet, and they were waiting for everyone to arrive. Granted
this is the opposite of what you want to do, but I was hoping this was the case.
Our server eventually came to our table, and she was very pleasant and helpful.
However, into the course of our dinner I realized she had someone following her
around. It might have been good for her to let us know she had a trainee. This
would have probably made me tip more as to leave some extra for the trainee (I
worked in restaurants for many years, and know that when you are training you
don't get tips!). Both her and her trainee were more then attentive with
refilling our drinks, clearing our plates, and not being too obtrusive. Her
friendly attitude definitely turned the meal from drab to fab.
The atmosphere of
the restaurant was fun/casual. They had nautical theme decor, and TVs on so we
could watch the Oriole's game. It was quite loud, so I wouldn't recommend going
here for a romantic or intimate dinner. If you are looking for a quick place
to eat or somewhere to bring your out of town friends/family on the water in
Annapolis then this is your spot. This probably is even an awesome place to go
at night for drinks. Their bar area looked very spacious, and I could see people
walking in and out of the bar seating. If you are wandering around downtown and
looking for happy hour or late night drinks, this could be a fun hang out spot.
The drinks were also
a little to be desired. I ordered a strawberry rum crush. The drink
tasted like watered down rum. There were muddled strawberries at the bottom of
the glass that you could easily suck up with your straw, but the drink was way
too strong. Again if you went for happy hour or drinks late at night this would
be awesome. But a pre-meal drink, not a good idea. My friends around the table
all ordered drinks as well and I could not help but notice that no one got a
refill.
The food definitely
is not a highlight of this restaurant. My boyfriend and I ordered the Maryland
crab dip to start. I was really in the mood for seafood and hoped this would be
yummy. It was cream cheese with peppers, with a few chunks of crab. Luckily the
baguette it was served with was quite good. We ate up the crab dip as we did not
want to waste it, but I will not be ordering this from the menu again. For my
main course I was torn between the coconut fried shrimp or the
barbecued salmon tower. In the end as the server asked me what to eat I
panic ordered and got the salmon tower. By the time it came I had filled up on
our dip and bread that I was not hungry. I ate my soggy vegetables, and decided
to take the salmon home for lunch the next day. I ate two bites of it though to
try, and I must say it was better then I expected. It was not too dry, and the
BBQ sauce was quite tasty. It did not blow me away, nor would I probably order
it again, but compared to the dip it was great. Downside... I asked for a to go
box since we filled up on the appetizer. Rookie mistake, I forgot to put the box
immediately by my purse so I would remember it. I left it on the table! No fault
of the staff for throwing it away, just a lessen to be learned when taking boxes
home.
Overall I would say
the restaurant is not terrible. I can not say I would return unless we were
already in Annapolis, and/or someone else suggests it. As I previously said if
you are bringing out of town-ers or going for drinks I'm sure it is a fun
restaurant. For a local Marylander going with friends for a nice dinner, I was
not impressed.
In speaking with
some friends who have gone to this restaurant, they did not share favorable
reviews as well. I think a change of attitude and an upgrade in the kitchen
would probably do this place wonders.
Rating: EMPTY tea cup
