Old South Mountain Inn

I had gone with a group several years ago, and was immediately turned off by the hostess (also one of the owners) seating our group wearing a track suit and carrying a baby on her hip. Inexcusable! For a high end restaurant, I expect all staff to be dressed appropriately to the environment and prices! So embarrassing, as it was my choice of restaurant.
Recently I went back with friends who wanted to try it, and this is my review:
This place is in a serious time warp. I don’t think the menu has changed since the 80’s. Definitely NOT for foodies. The menu contains most of the old standards, such as Wellington, Saltimboca, Imperial, Marsala, stuffed this and that… I could see keeping some items steady, such as the perfect prime rib and french onion soup, but the menu needs to be updated to keep up with current tastes.
The «bones» of the restaurant are great! Its historic and really lovely. However, the brass fixtures need to go, and that includes the ugly/​uncomfortable chairs in the garden room. I can see keeping the inside dining rooms to a historic standard, but the modern garden room needs help!
The service really is wonderful, but as mentioned below, good luck if you have an issue, because one owner is the chef, and the other, his wife, is a waitress. There is no manager.
The food is prepared well, for what it is. So, if you are looking for a romantic atmosphere with classic food, this is your place.
If you are a foodie, looking for more modern ingredients and recipes, run.

Food good. Service bad. The management here has a very bad customer service perspective. The waiter’s service, however, was excellent. The food, though good, was not outstanding. Generally if a customer asks for something, probably not a good idea to be dismissive and not offer alternatives. And even if you disagree with a customer — you should listen and let them explain and try to come to an understanding, not argue with the customer. My friend asked to speak to a manager regarding a concern and I don’t feel she was treated respectfully. Not good customer service.

Atmosphere is great in both garden room & inside rooms! Food & service are outstanding. Will be back.

This place is wonderful. Lot’s of old world charm. Excellent food and service. They really care and a nice wine list. The deserts and after dinner drinks are worth the calories!

Went for dinner with a party of five. 5 pm reservation. Finally seated at 540. Took 1 hour and 10 minutes to get entrees. Two came out cold. Two overcooked steaks. A petrified baked potato. Leg of lamb was also way overcooked. Server shrugged and said «sorry. I don’t cook the food». No sign of a manger. Mediocre service. Food was below average. $ 330 check plus tip and bar tab. $ 400 disappointment.

We decided to try this place for Easter dinner. Our reservation was at 3:00 so we showed up at 2:40. Upon arriving, the hostess said we would not be seated until 3:00. We settled in the bar area which is actually pretty nice but by 3:30 we became pretty antsy (did I mention we have a 4 and 2 year old). After the 45 min wait, we were seated. The waiter was nice but the service was S-​L-​O-​W. Took about 20 mins for my drink to arrive. Our meal was served by 4:30. The food was good but definitely not worth the cost. The only item on the kid’s menu was pizza and applesauce. We ordered two (at $ 8 a pop). We received the dollar pizzas from Walmart without any apple sauce. Wish I could say we’d try again but I think we’ll pass. There are much better restaurants in Frederick county. Don’t waste your money here.

We’ve been going to Old South Mountain Inn for decades and recently had the privilege of hosting our daughter’s wedding there. Lisa, Chad and Co. did a FABULOUS job and were very flexible in allowing us the run of the Inn on a Saturday night, even while tucking dinner guests in the beautiful back room for the last hour of the wedding. Food, beverage and especially service were just wonderful.
My only hesitation in giving 5 stars doesn’t really have to do with the Inn. Lisa takes all aspects of her life equally seriously and is not flexible with the time she takes away from the Inn. This was fine with me, but do not expect immediate responses on off-​days/​hours.

This place sucks, stopped in several times to eat. Everytime it was empty maybe 10% full, and the snotty little seating girl asked for a reservation and then said she would have to check to see if she could seat us, likewise the same on another occassionally and asked us to wait in the bar, this place use to be awesome, they are not operators here. It went down hill after the addition, go to McDonald’s instead. On my last visit that I actually stayed to eat. There again was no one there and they tried to jamb 5 of us at a 4 place table. And it was empty. I had to threaten to leave to get a 6 top. Understandable if they were crazy busy. They were not. Stay away

We used to come here every Valentines day and Christmas and a couple in between. This is the first time I have been here is about a year. When here last it was new ownership and the food was horrible. So much salt could not eat and they did nothing to correct it or say sorry. However, some friends wanted to come here Friday so we thought we would try again. Boy, glad we did. Food was great, service excellent! Always live the Christmas bulbs hanging from the ceiling. So glad we tried again. We missed eating here and we will be back again soon!

Great food and ambieance. Enjoyed my anniversary dinner and will continue to come back for special occassions. Keep up the great meals.

What a great place. Right when you pull
Up and park you can’t help but stand and enjoy the beauty of this historic jewel. We walked in and they have the Christmas decorations up and it was just breath taking. Hundreds of Christmas balls hanging from the ceiling. We walked to our seat and had the best wine, appetizer, meal and desert your money can buy. What a great time!!! Our waitress was extremely accommodating and efficient with a sweet wit and great table etiquette Overall a wonderful experience and will come back.

Went there for a nice meal with Mom and left totally disappointed. The price is much higher than the quality. The waitress (also works at Dan’s Tavern) was terrible.
Added shrimp to my pasta for $ 10 and got 4 tasteless shrimp. They didn’t even taste like seasoning, just tasted like water. I told the waitress and she didn’t apologize or offer to get me a manager. Her excuse was that the owner was the cook… not sure why that’s a reason for the shrimp to have no flavor.
I asked to speak with an owner or manager and she told me they wouldn’t be able to speak with me. There should always be someone to speak with the guests, and it was not a busy time for the restaurant. I wouldn’t have asked her to take the shrimp off, but she could have at least offered to ask the cook to exchange them.
The building was beautiful inside, the food left a lot to be desired, the cost was too high, and the service wasn’t good. I could have gotten a better meal at Denny’s — and that’s saying a lot.

Very beautiful restaurant from the outside, can feel the history so to speak.
If you are a foodie, you will be disappointed. If you just want a nice meal held at a leisurely pace with not overly intrusive wait staff, then this is the right place. The entrees are each 22 – 27 $, they come with garlic mash or baked potato and veg melody. The protein is just ok, the potato (either one) is awesome, the veg melody is both undercooked hard carrots and over cooked peas, corn and zucchini. Stick to the bread and desserts! The desserts are $ 5 – 8, extremely reasonable for such good quality.
First the bad
1. Entry to the restaurant is not obvious, nor where to park your car. The entry is the front of the house and be careful there are several steps of varying heights, an easy trip hazard. Also the parking lot is shared with an entry to the hiking trail and battlefield monuments.
2. The bathroom is a little dingy and dark, could use a good scrub. But it is clean it doesn’t smell, but it is not handicap accessible, that bathroom is off the glass atrium.
3. The entry to the bathroom and the glass atrium is low, very low! I am 6ft tall and I had to duck!
4. There is a general sense that the whole place could use a facelift. Now don’t get me wrong it is pleasant but there are little things that just bring it down a notch. For insistence in the glass atrium there are double light brass hanging lights — the same ones from the early nineties over your kitchen island. They need to be replaced with some discreet pot lights. The tables in the atrium are metal and showing white chipped paint rust thru, they need a sanding and new paint. The chairs are copper colored and metal, they don’t match the décor nor are they comfortable.
Ok now for the good points…
1. The Denmark Coupe, a 2 – 3 vanilla ice cream scoops (homemade by the taste of it), chocolate syrup, whipped cream and chopped nuts — it is awesome tasting! Definitely a winner.
2. The sourdough rolls and butter are to die for.
3. The white lights in the atrium are adorable and romantic in the evening light.
4. The unsweetened ice tea, coffee and water are all tasty and regularly refilled without having to solicit the waiter.
A few tips
1. The interior dining room, is very dark and intimate perfect for a romantic or want of a quiet dinner for two.
2. There is a cozy bar in front, and I do mean cozy.
3. The atrium portion of the restaurant is perfect for a family dinner or celebration.
4. Reservations are expected, my party of 4 were able to get a table without them but we showed at 430pm. The host (a young man) seemed mighty flummoxed when we said we did not have a reservation and had to get a manager (?) to assist him with where to seat us.
5. The menu is heavy on the crab, lobster and snails! There were 4 dishes that were beef, 1 lamb, 1 pork chop, 2 vegetarian but NO Chicken dishes. Which I thought was odd. There was some pasta dishes but they had either no protein or some type of seafood protein.
6. Another odd thing, ALL of the Appetizers are seafood except two. One was the escargot (snails) and the other was a tomato basil salad. The salad was odd as an app as a salad comes with every entrée. I wish there was a potato or corn chowder soup for a starter app. Or some type of cheese, stone fruit, or sliced meat appetizer. Or maybe a variety bread basket with different spreads. For those of the world who dislike or are allergic to seafood it leaves you with nothing while the others are slurping their clam chowder, crab soup, creamed crab soup or escargot.
Finally they mention on a flyer at the table that they have a every Sunday brunch buffet, for about $ 20 a person till 2pm.

This is a local favorite of ours for fine dining. I love the beef Wellington and I anyways finish with their crem Brule.
Love this atmosphere especially in the winter months we love to sit near one of the many fire places

The waiter was great, the price was great, everything was good or great apart from one major thing thing…
Why the heck do you fry Morrells until they are crispy? Why???
Such anticipation when I heard that Morrells were on the menu. They are a treat beyond imagination, so yes I wanted them. Slowly sweated in butter they are the best food you can imagine. So why did the chef decide to turn them into a crispy mess that removed all flavor?
Would have been a four star review. But for the screwing up of one of marylands treasures. Might have been a two star, but everything else was top notch.

They seemed overwhelmed on mother’s day, but the food was still excellent. Maybe more wait staff needed. I would go again in a heartbeat.

Absolutely one of the best restaurants we have ever eaten at! The escargot, pâté, beef wellington, prime rib, and vegetables were phenomenal!!!

Oops, Unilocal just threw my first review away — trying again:
We just tried the Old South Mountain Inn for Sunday brunch, and it is excellent for the price. As noted by others, it’s $ 18.00 per adult, but every bite was top shelf, and it was impressive for that price.
A little background: the Inn is a lovely spot for a special-​occasion dinner. It’s in a picturesque and historically-​interesting building, and the kitchen serves a solid but not ordinary menu of steaks and seafood (over many visits, we’ve especially enjoyed rockfish, flounder stuffed with crab imperial, and prime rib). It’s delicious and classy. Ask to be seated in the cozy older main building, if you can; the large glass-​enclosed expansion dining room is a bit cavernous.
So, to brunch: last Sunday we scurried up the mountain to try our luck at the Inn. I’m so glad we did.
The buffet offered scrambled eggs, redskin potatoes with peppers, carved roast beef, link sausages, pasta with salmon, crepes, pancakes, biscuits with sausage gravy, cream of broccoli soup, Caesar salad, garden salad, fresh fruit salad, and assorted pies and pudding for dessert.
The eggs were extraordinary — I’m used to steam-​table eggs not keeping well, but these were fluffy, moist, and full of flavor. The beef and the potatoes with peppers were above average. The salmon pasta was outstanding — in a light but creamy sauce over bowties, with peas. The salads were great, just like those served with dinner. The fruit salad was just how I like it, with lots of fresh melon and pineapple chunks.
There are a few other great Sunday brunch buffets in the general area, but most are about twice this price.
Tammy, our server, was friendly and knowledgeable. Don’t arrive too close to 2:00, as I think I overheard that they won’t seat you for brunch right before it ends.
If you’re anywhere near Boonsboro and you like Sunday brunch, give South Mountain a try.

When I lived in Maryland, this was a favorite Sunday Brunch spot. We’d take a drive into the «Country», have brunch and then go exploring in the area. When I go back… a trip up for bunch is still a must stop on Sundays!
A reservation is a must… be sure to call a week or two in advance and book it! While dinner is good, brunch is even better! The brunch as a wonderful selection of meats, eggs, crepes, sides and such. Everything is cooked fresh and turning over quickly, so it’s never sitting long. The desserts are mmmm mmm good as well. For the price you can’t go wrong… and if you’re looking for a little history and ghost hunting… google them before you go.
I won’t say it’s dressy, but I would wear a NICE pair of jeans and dress them up, at a minimum. Don’t be surprised if many are in sports coats and dressier attire.

I was just told that we’re going out to brunch. I wasn’t told where… so I wore jeans and a sweater. I felt a little underdressed, even for a sunday brunch. This place is more white table cloth and napkins type place. But I know we’re coming back here next month and I’m ALREADY EXCITED!
So for $ 18 you get all you can stuff your face food. Eggs (they’re good!) Sausage, these AMAZING potatoes, crepes, french toast, and other breakfast items galore. They have two kinds of salads, more kinds of salad dressing than I can choose from, fresh fruit, roast beef… and I’m sure I’m forgetting something but in short, LOTS to choose from!
Oh and one other small detail… they have a dessert table. Actually it’s my least favorite of the tables haha but I did sample some desserts from around the table. The cookies and cream pie = delicious…
Can’t wait to go back. :)