Marquee Lounge

I just came here for some drinks. Cool looking lounge, but not an extensive drink menu. Service was friendly. Located in the historic Patterson theater building, this is a kind of cool place.

Most underrated place in Baltimore,
Great scene, great night great, experience period.
Five Star food and beverage!
The chef and service are amazing and there’s an art gallery connected at no charge!
I wish Canton square still had restaurants half as good as this, luckily Marquee is just a few blocks away from the square.

Honestly, I kind of defaulted to Marquee one night when I was running late for a show at The Creative Alliance, it was snowing and Annabel Lee seemed just too far away. I’m SO glad for that foodie perfect storm!
The salad greens were fresh, varied, well-​balanced and thoroughly mixed. «So…salad?» you ask. Yes, but come on. When so many places these days give you bland romaine – if you’re lucky – doused with dressed and stale chips of bread laughingly called croutons, it was a treat!
And the burger. Oh, the burger. I ordered it without a bun, not to be a gluten-​free-​freak but because seeing one go by for another patron, I realized I didn’t want to waste a single taste bud on the roll (even though the brioche looked lovely). I wanted all cow, all the time. Rare, bloody, ground cow all up in my face. Seriously, I’m drooling a little right now.
If you’re going to a show at The Creative Alliance, I can’t imagine why you’d eat anywhere else. But it’s also absolutely worth a special trip.

I made a reservation to dine here prior to a show at Creative Alliance. Food was not spectacular– I certainly would not go back for the food but is a wonderful spot to grab a drink before the show. They offer a beer flight which was exciting and quite tasty. Not sure about the cocktails but the beer selection was good. Hostess doubled as our server– they seemed a little understaffed which appeared to make her a little frustrated… It came across that way with the service.

Amazing cocktails — get the Bohemian if you like gin! And delicious Thai curry rice soup! We didn’t have entrees but from what I saw, the plates looked amazing, and all were sent back licked clean! The service can be a little slow, but we weren’t in a rush. Just make sure to make a reservation if there is a show at Creative Alliance that evening. The lounge is small and fills quickly!

Went to Lounge for a bite last night. My friend and I arrived and took a table. There were only five other people in place. Great ambiance and décor, terrible service. We got our drinks and looked over menus and waited for bartender/​waitress to return. She was gone for awhile and upon return went behind bar and got on her phone. She took some drinks to table in front of us, but never even looked in our direction. We were really waiting to order. Or drinks were empty, so we went to bar and asked for check. Hate to see the place if it was actually busy…

Located in the Creative Alliance venue is this Baltimore bar. I can see locals stopping by here for an occasional drink. The bartender was friendly and professional. I ordered some Taco appetizer and was surprised that it was a meal size dish. I was attending a Unilocal event in Creative Alliance and this place gave me an opportunity to have a quick snack before entering the event.

Off the top, the reason this gets 2 stars is that the drink prices are very reasonable and the bartender, who I recognize from other venues, is quite good. And now on to how mad this place made me, in awkward baseball metaphors:
On deck–
This place used to be Clementine and had hilariously overpriced entrees– we’re talking minimum $ 25/​plate, so the new menu was something of relief on that front. On the other hand, the dishes presented are the same «New American» style of overly complicated versions of standard tavern fare. Highlandtown may one day be the neighborhood for square plates and pointlessly fancy ingredients, but today is not that day.
We ordered the charcuterie, which was one of the few dishes on the menu where all the ingredients made sense, as an appetizer.
Strike One–
The charcuterie, which was fairly tasty if not a little skimpy on the crostino, took about half an hour to arrive at our table. The place was about half full, definitely not completely slammed. No apologies, no check in from the server telling us that the cold meats and cheeses would take about another fifteen minutes to be plated.
Strike Two–
Someone else at my table ordered mac n cheese. It appeared to be spinach rotini and a light coating of bechamel sauce. I’ve seen more cheese on a Dairy Queen dip cone. Get out.
Batter ejected for excess pine tar–
My entrée was the Coddies, based on the classic Baltimore potato and codfish snack. The menu listed it as 3 potato and codfish sliders, with old bay mustard and «tarter» sauce. What I actually got (after another half hour of waiting) was
1) mushy, as if somehow both over and undercooked some time
2) primarily potato, with slight notes of fish obscured by massive globs of «tarter» sauce (which I guess is tartar sauce by way of «it’s just mayonnaise»)
3) two sliders with a tiny bit of mustard and one with enough to actually be included in each (mushy) bite
4) served on what were blatantly H&S «slider» rolls– way oversized for the size of the «coddies» themselves (coddies were actually usually served on crackers, which would have maybe covered for the fact that I was basically eating a cold mashed potato sandwich)
5) 1 – 2 degrees warmer than it was outside, at best
Others in my group got dishes that came with fries. I’ve had colder fries, but usually the morning after an ill advised 2 AM Royal Farms stop. Clearly our dishes died in the window, but with the place at 70% capacity max, this is inexcusable. Especially as the bill for our party of 3 was $ 100+.
Avoid this place at all costs (and the costs are high) if you’re hungry. Stop in for a beer, though. They’re supposed to be cold.

Judging from the reviews for the Creative Alliance, there seems to be some confusion when it comes to differentiating between the Marquee Lounge and the performance space and gallery. They’re both in the same building, but it’s selling the lounge short to merely describe it as the gallery’s ‘in-​house bar.’ Marquee Lounge really is an amazing space that could thrive all on its on in a neighborhood like Mount Vernon or Harbor East. Tonight was my first time at the lounge and I was very impressed. My wife and I were only there for drinks, but I can’t wait to go back to try the food. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked incredible, and it’s simply one of the coolest spots in the city when it comes to ambiance. If you were to make a list of Baltimore’s best kept secrets, the Marquee Lounge would be at the top of that list.

Okay. I was a bit skeptical at first when my boyfriend suggested we go here for date night and there were only a few reviews. My skepticism continued when there where weren’t many people in the restaurant for a Saturday night. However, I was wrong to be skeptical. This place is great!
We had a reservation for 7, but we were a little early so they let us sit where we wanted. Our waitress, Jocelyn, was super friendly and attentive. I ordered the cucumber martini and my boyfriend ordered a Natty Boh to start. The cucumber martini was definitely a 12 dollar cocktail! It was full to the brim and very strong, as in straight gin and vermouth plus the muddled cucumber. I was very pleased.
The bread was okay. I’m not one for squishy bread. I prefer warm, crunch bread so I didn’t love it. For our meal I ordered the dashi cod with jasmine rice and my boyfriend ordered the Cuban sandwich. I thought my cod was delicious. All of the ingredients were very fresh. The side salad was especially great and I really don’t like salads. My boyfriend really enjoyed his Cuban sandwich as well. After dinner we ordered the key lime pie for dessert. It was definitely homemade! I’m not a huge fan of key lime pie, but I would definitely order it again.
Our bill was very reasonable. The final bill came out to about $ 52 for 2 drinks, 2 entrees, and dessert. I was definitely happy with the price!
The only reason I’m not rating Marquee Lounge 5 stars is because the portions were on the small side for the price, as is the menu. I’m a picky eater, so it makes me nervous to think I may not be able to find something on the menu.
I really enjoyed our meal here and we will definitely be back!

Great food, great service, great drinks, great prices. AND there is probably a great art show in the gallery next door or a fun theater/​musical performance in the theater too!
The food is exceptionally flavorful, the bar staff knows how to recommend and make inventive drinks, and the ambiance is just lovely. It’s a great place– I’m a frequent patron, and will be for a long time to come. The menu changes often enough to keep it continually interesting and fresh. The whole CA scene is a fantastic addition to Baltimore.

Came for drinks. Their happy hour looks good — $ 5 bar food and good drink specials. We arrived a few minutes to 7, but they bar tender said that we were too late for happy hour. That’s BS! The drinks are cheap enough that we stuck around. We got dessert, which was fantastic! The pecan pie was really good as was their flourless chocolate cake. Neither were cloyingly sweet.
I’m taking off a star for the HH issue, but if I make it for HH another time, I may give them back the star.
I do like the amiance!

Everything about this place is just wonderful: the excellent coffee, the amazing grits, and the duroc pork chop – that has made its way off the menu at their Harford Road location, only to reappear at the Creative Alliance. That alone is a reason to visit!

So excited to have Clementine in the area! Haven’t had the chance to enjoy a full entrée yet, but the hummus platter and crab dip were super delicious. Ordered them as small plates to share along with a Raven beer (local microbrew) at the bar. The crab dip was served on a portobello mushroom cap, with crostini for dipping. It was rich and flavorful, and the portobello was an especially tasty touch, giving the crab dip sort of a patty-​melt presentation. Loved it!

Classy local food for a global palate. :) yum.