After a night of marathon shopping in Bel Air, my friend and I were looking for a spot to relax, have a couple of drinks and a bite of pub grub. I suggested DuClaw Brewing Company since I hadn’t been there in a couple of years. When we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that it was surprisingly empty for a Saturday night at 10pm. But this was good news for us – it meant an attentive waiter or waitress and a bored cook in the kitchen.
Unfortunately this was not the case and when I’m wrong, I’ll say I’m wrong! Although the bar was fairly empty, the bartender was more interested in chatting with some other patrons than taking our order. At that point I decided that I would drink water rather than be forced to tip him on beverage service (or lack thereof). Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but we stuck with what should have been tried & true food – the Fried Calamari and the Brewhouse Burger. The calamari arrived lukewarm, the batter soft rather than crispy and the squid rubbery rather than chewy. It was served with 2 sauces – the traditional marinara and a remoulade which wasn’t spicy enough for my liking.
The Brewhouse Burger should have been a slam dunk. Is it possible to mess up a cheeseburger? Apparently it is. The brioche roll was far too delicious to serve with what tasted like a frozen burger. The tomato looked like someone had dug it out of a trashcan. It was served without any condiments at all and the bartender appeared too busy to inquire as to whether we needed anything else with our meals. Finally, I tracked down a barmaid and asked her for vinegar for the fries and mustard for the burger. The vinegar arrived promptly, but she sarcastically said that the mustard was going to take awhile. By that time my food was cold, so I asked her to give me a doggie bag. That way I could warm up my dinner in the toaster oven and eat in the comfort of my own home surrounded by all of the condiments that my heart desired. I had intended to order some takeout food for my husband since I knew that he was glued to our TV watching college football. But why waste another $10?
On the way out we stopped in the restroom, but it was dirty and the paper towels and toilet paper were missing in action.
Hopefully our experience at Duclaw was uncharacteristic. Because I’d like to go back and try the Venom & Chips (beer battered rockfish) and the Misfit Wings.
Duclaw Brewing Company also has locations at Arundel Mills Mall, Bowie Town Center and BWI Airport.
DuClaw Brewing Company
16-A Bel Air South Parkway
Bel Air, MD 21015
410.515.3222
www.duclaw.com
Jennifer Williams will appear live on WAMD 970 at 7 a.m. Wednesday to discuss Harford Hotspots
Is this seriously an article on the Dagger? Save it for your Facebook rants.
Since this under the “food” category, it is a restaurant review not a news article. Why don’t you go back to your facebook-life.
The last time I was there the food was not that great, and service was subpar.
We go there once or twice a month and usually have a pretty good experience. I’ve actually never had a burger there since you can get those anywhere. We generally get one of their sandwiches (with the chips, not fries) and almost every time they’ve been good or very good. The service is hit and miss sometimes, but I can only think of one time we really had a bad experience and it was handled satisfactorily by a manager.
I have been there several times I find the service is good.
I have always been pleased with my meals there on the many occasions with my family, friends or business associates. DuClaw’s has also been very generous in supporting my fund-raising efforts both on and off-site. It’s surprising to read the negative reviews but I’m sure this will give management an opportunity to address the concerns.
If it is true that they were “fairly empty” on a Saturday night, I wouldn’t be suprised to read about another fire in the headlines.
That’s actually funny!! Lol so true so true.
Surprised by this. Their Cuban Burger is one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, service is always very good (even during busy hours), and the beer is fantastic. Don’t let this article deter you from going there.
I go there several times a month due to it’s locaton. However, I would agree service is generally poor. The food is hit or miss. Last time I had the crabcake sandwich, it was pretty good. Had the same bad experience you mentioned with the calamari. The batter basically fell off the calamari and it was rubbery. Had a special “softshell” sandwich last year, it was absolutely terrible. It was so bad I even discussed with the manager what I thought was lacking and how it could be improved (as I have had many many many in my day…and whoever dreamed up their version clearly had not). She was gracious, but the sandwich remained the same for its duration on the menu.
Okay, going there for lunch today. Results later.
Oh, Brian, thanks for your input and your ascerbic wit but as always you are clueless as to what this page is about. This is a restaurant review and this is where Dagger Press has chosen to put restaurant reviews. It’s not the first restaurant review under Food and it won’t be the last. If that doesn’t suit you maybe you need to toggle over to something more appropriate for your age group.
never been a fan of the place, never enjoyed any of their foods.
I have to disagree. I have been going to Duclaws routinely for the past year, and while the service is not always great, the food is always delicious. The buffalo chicken dip is really good, and their burgers are really good too. The rolls is fantastic and the meat is always juicy.
I agree with this article. I’ve been going their for years. As of late, the service has been subpar. The bartenders (most, not all) are not responsive or service-oriented.
I also agree with the article – the bartenders usually act like they’re doing you a favor by waiting on you. The food is usually about average. Nothing to make up for the poor service.
I find if you eat in the restaurant side, the service is better. Service on the bar side of Du Claws is horrible at best.
Prices went up (especially during happy hour) and quality went down after the fire.
I agree with the article and several of the other comments. Been twice in the last 8 months… twice too much. Poor service paired with sub-quality food for the price and expectation. No more business from me! Waiters were absolutely terrible. The establishment should be embarrassed. Too many other quality places with good service, professional, and far better food.
I agree as well. The times I’ve been there, the food sounds great on the menu, but what you actually get is consistently disapponting.
I used to go there about once a week with friends. We stopped going after poor service especially when seated in the bar. The food is sub-par at best, the steak is horrible and never cooked correctly. The cooks consistently mess up orders, sometimes having to send a salad back twice.
…but, I agree with the majority here. It really has gone downhill over the past year or so. We used to eat there all the time (loved the boursin burger) but the service is so frustrating, we’ve moved on. We had a family meal there and it was really embarrassing to have to wait forever for our food, then we had to flag down another server as ours was AWOL for about 30 minutes (my father-in-law needed a fork but ended up eating his meal with a spoon so his food wouldn’t get cold). We knew going in that it could sometimes take awhile, but this was ridiculous. 40 minutes to get our appetizers, then another 30 minutes after that for the food. What could have been a nice family meal turned into a long, dreary evening. I wanted to speak to the manager about it and told a server, but after 15 more minutes of waiting on the manager, I gave up and left. Very disappointing after we’d raved to our family about how great the restaurant was.
a wise man once said….
a wise man once said, water seeks it own level.
seem as this is true for declaw’s serve bad food and give bad service
and you get bad review!!!
Sounds like an episode of Bar Rescue is in order.
Thank you so much for all of your comments. I enjoy the feedback from each of you.
Good beer, bad food. I’ve never had a decent meal there despite 3 or 4 tries. don’t remember the service. Unfortunately Bel Air dining has me conditioned to expect poor service so I only take note of exceptionally bad service.
It makes you wonder; don’t these managers and cooks and waiters go out to dinner themselves? Don’t they know their food/service is bad? Don’t *they* resent it when they pay for sub-par goods and services? I guess all the Chili’s employees eat at Ruby Tuesdays and all the Ruby Tuesdays employees eat at Applebee’s, etc., etc.
Okay, I finally got there to see what all of the ruckus is about. I hadn’t been there for quite awhile – at elast 18 moths opr so – and really couldn’t remember whether it was good, bad or just average. I do like to kind of “skew” my evaluation based on the price I paid since no one should expect a three star experience at an every day restaurant.
Anyway, I would probably go here if I were going to sit at the bar and have a few beers and no food. But there are a number of places in the Bel Air area where the beer is just as good and the bar service is equal to DuClaw or better.
If you are going there to eat then do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Is it possible to mess up a cheeseburger? Oh my, yes.
Just had a great lunch yesterday (12/18). Service was slow, but our waiter was knowledge and friendly. Our food was great, no complaints. We will return.
I agree with this article. Haven’t been back to Declawed’s in several years b/c service and food was subpar. Message to Bar Tenders in the Bel Air area, pay attention to anyone who wants to order a drink instead of having a lengthy conversation with some overweight, mullet-haired friend of yours.