The Barn

This was second time being there for food. First time I had some horrible crabs, so gave it a second chance. One word: sucked. The service was fine I must say but past that I was not impressed. I had shrimp salad which was mediocre at best, best part was the coleslaw. My son had flatbread pizza with shrimp, which he said was good but the lack of actual shrimp was ridiculous. Fiancée had the ribs which she said was good, but I didn’t think so at all, and my daughter had caesar salad with chicken and said it was good, but how could you screw something that simple up. The worst thing was the MD crab soup, for this area you better be on your soup game and it was not. Not giving them a third try.

This place is a joke. I think the name/​age is the only thing keeping this place in business. Bartenders (upstairs) so sorry for ordering, really don’t mean to bother you. (Can’t roll my eyes hard enough) get over yourselves…

I would have given this place five stars up until the moment we left. Five of us went to dinner upstairs at the bar/​restaurant area after a business event. It was a Friday night, not too busy and they were very accommodating. Our waitress was very sweet. All of our food came out on time and it was very good! We decided to wrap our dinner up and call it a night. When we were leaving we noticed there was a downstairs area with live music. We decided to go check it out and we were told there was a cover. While we were standing in the stairway trying to figure out where the closest ATM was, (who carries cash on them anymore these days) one of the men in our group said he would pay for all of us to go in. As we were about to go in, the bartender came out and started screaming at us for blocking the door way. Keep in mind, we were paying customers, trying to PAY to come into their business after already spending $ 200 at dinner at THEIR restaurant. We tried to explain to her we were trying to figure out who was paying for us to come in, she became extremely rude mimicking one of the ladies in our group and began to argue with the man who was paying for all of us to come in. There was literally no one in the stairway or in the bar upstairs. Where else would we have done this? Have a discussion outside in the cold? Due to her behavior they lost five customers because of her moment of lapse in professionalism.
Long story short, their food was very good and our server was excellent. However beware of the b*tch downstairs. It’s horrible they would treat customers this way. I’ll never be coming back. First and last here.

The service was extremely slow and the food was mediocre, but pricey. The bill came to $ 48. for 2 sandwiches and 4 draft beers. Not a great value. We sat at the bar and I asked about specials. The bartender was very rude and told us that they didn’t have any specials. There are much better options in the area. The bar at The Bowman down the street has great specials and much better food.

On our way to a crab house in Essex one rainy night in October my wife and I decided to go to the Barn instead. We wanted crabs. We were told they had small and XLarge. We ordered 1 dozen XLarge ($ 95), 2 cups of cream of crab and 4 bottles of beer. The crabs were small with small or non existing claws and under spiced. the soup was good and the beer was served in the bottle. The waitress hand wrote her own tip on the check and added it to the bill (17%). We were a party of 2 (not a large group). We thought the tip high as she only dumped the crabs on the table. We paid it, but next time rain or not, we are going to Essex.

I went here for lunch Thursday afternoon and while the food was decent the service needs improvement.
We went after a family funeral to be together and enjoy time together over food. When we arrived the area for our group was not ready, in fact the manager had informed us that the area they did reserve for us they gave to a walk in party since they were not expecting us until a bit later. Since that space was taken they showed us to their basement area, which certainly looked and smelled like a basement. The manager even told us to use the upstairs because they were nicer than the basement ones. The two waitressed taking care of our group ran around trying to set up tables for us as the rest of our group came in. Since it was the middle of the day on a weekday I had expected that they would be a bit understaffed for a group of our size. But the pace at which our food was brought to us was unacceptable. There were 7 small tables of our group, the first table received their food, then 10 minutes later the second table got theirs. This pace continued and my table was the last to receive our food, almost and HOUR AND A HALF after we placed our order. At that point I wasn’t even hungry anymore and only ate a few pieces of the flatbread pizza I ordered. Someone else at my table order the shrimp salad, which was obviously repaired before hand and should not have taken over and hour to make it to our table. By the time he got the salad he could tell it was sitting out for a bit because it was room temperature and not chilled.
While the food may have been decent I would NOT recommend coming here with a large group and I personally will not be returning.

Ribs! Can’t say it enough. I really like their ribs. They’re not too fatty and the dry rub (with kentucky sauce on the side for dipping) is delish. I hate oysters, their oysters rockefeller is amazing!!! along with some bacon wrapped shrimp. They have a huge variety of cocktails and beer. They have trivia night and live music. Really fun place to go with your family or even on a date. Haven’t had the crabs yet, I will be back with that review soon.

I’m surprised this place has gotten such bad reviews! I went here on a dinner date. It was a Friday night and there weren’t many people sitting at dining tables, but quite a few at the bar.
I got a crab cake sandwich. I usually don’t order crab cakes at restaurants because I feel like my mother makes the best ones in the world. But I was very surprised! Not only was it a very large cake with little filler, it was seasoned very nicely. Came with fries, too. I would definitely have it again!
The service was great. Maybe they hired some new people? My waitress was very attentive with refilling drinks.

Craft beer, good food, and most importantly CRABS. Being from Baltimore means loving crabs. The new owners have really stepped it up. They’ve started to capitalize on the large space downstairs and brought in some great live music and if you want to go out to watch a Raven’s game take a gander at the giant projector in the crab den. Early in the NFL season is the best time for crabs. I couldn’t ask for much more than delicious steamed crabs, a fantastic beer selection, and a place to enjoy all of it while watching the game on an enormous screen. Oh, but it gets better. The deck opens in the Spring and the renovations are AMAZING. If you haven’t visited in a while I highly recommend you give «The Charred Rib at the Barn» a try.

I waited to go back after their grand reopening. Unfortunately, there was no change. We waited 34 minutes at a table (in the bar area on a night when there was very few people there) before we were served 3 beers. We asked our waitress for our check upon receiving our drinks because we were not about to wait that long all night. The waitress sneered at us when we asked for the check. «Why? Because it took too long?» I will never return.

I tried it a second time and definitely won’t be back for a third. I really understand why this place is always dead. Service sucks! If you like very poor service this is your spot. What a joke.

My husband and I were invited to go here to see his friends band The Drunken Uncles on 8÷8÷14. We read the reviews and because we were bringing 5 other people we were not going to eat there. Unfortunately reviews of other local restaurants were not much better. So we decided to take a chance. We went there not expecting it to be very good but to our surprise it was!
We did not have a reservation (party of 7) they eagerly and quickly accommodated us. The service through the whole evening was very good and the food came out fast, hot and much better than we expected. Everyone was happy with their meals, and the band was great! We will return.

A friend thought she’d like to check these guys out for her birthday. Seemed similar to a «Corner Stable» kind of menu, in that it was primarily your «man meat» kind of food. Ribs, burgers, crab meat and more meat.
To start, I’d made a reservation since we were going to have 10 people. When I got there, they had no idea. It wasn’t busy (thank goodness) so we were seated quickly. But at 7:00 on a Saturday I learned why it was so empty.
Our server took FOREVER to get us drinks, and seemed overwhelmed keeping up with refills, it would have been nice for her to have a partner with so many of us. The food was TERRIBLE. I had a burger and for «fresh ground» it tasted like maybe they ground it fresh and then froze it for later. My husband had crab imperial and ribs, over $ 20 and salty, wet crab and dry flavorless ribs.
The rest of the table fared no better. I don’t believe anyone was happy with their meal. Fortunately she didn’t charge us gratuity, but other than that, honestly, I will never ever ever go back. Also, they have crabs but they were $ 45/​dozen for smalls. What??? Seriously?

We ate at the Barn last night. It was our fourth time there and we have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the food. Our waitress looked miserable, which didn’t make the place any more inviting.
My husband and I ordered burgers which were dry and tasteless. Neither of us can cook very well but we can make a fabulous burger, it’s really very simple. We ordered chicken strips, a flatbread and the green beans for our children. The chicken was ok, again tasteless but not offensive. The green beans were mushy and seemed to be either tinned or perhaps cooked in a microwave. The flatbread was the worst. I once spilled a glass of water on a plate with my husbands panini on it. I had quickly grabbed it up and put it on a dry plate but it was still very soggy on the bottom. That’s exactly what the flatbread was like. Wet and soggy, it was like trying to pick up jello. When I told the waitress she kept trying to convince me that it was due to the sauce. Firstly, we had had the flatbread on three previous occasions and it was not soggy, and secondly I don’t think it’s her responsibility to start defending the terrible kitchen. Try and hang on to your tips honey, just say «I’m so sorry about that, I’ll let them know in the kitchen». If you start arguing wih a customer they are not likely to leave you a decent tip (though I did because she looked so miserable). In fairness she also asked the manager to take the flatbread off the bill and he did. Thanks for that.
All in all it seems that the kitchen staff have changed since the re-​opening. The quality of the food has dropped dramatically. I remember leaving after my first visit saying that the fries were the best I had ever tasted. The next time we went back they had changed the fries completely.
I would imagine it’s difficult to keep a business open too long serving terrible food, so I would guess the Barn’s days are numbered. It’s sad as we would love to support a local business and see them do well.

The new owner seems to have brought back the basics. Good menu. Fair prices. Most importantly, there is an adult staff with experience, not children pretending to run a bar.
My wife and I stopped in for drinks and appetizers after hearing that there was a new owner. We were surprisingly pleased to find that the drink prices were once again what you would expect to see in Carney not Manhattan.
The manager had just brought the new menu as we sat down. Nice choices. From the basic munchies while you are having a beer, all the way up to a sit down dinner. The owner’s other restaurant experience shines through on this menu with the smoked ribs and other options.
If you tried The Barn when it re-​opened and was disappointed, give it another try. I think that you will be pleased.

Less than 1 star really. We are a family that frequented The Barn before the remodel and were looking forward to exciting things and big changes when they reopened. Unfortunately they fall far short.
First — this is a craft beer bar. Might I remind you that you are in Parkville, The demographics show that this is a family area, not necessarily the 20 – 30 something age group that a craft beer bar usually draws, so first mistake is that. Second, no «regular» beers. Really? No Budweiser? Enough said there, especially in the crab house. Who drinks craft beers with steamed crabs. Doesn’t take rocket scientist to figure that one out.
Third, second time (and last by the way) we have gone for crabs and they were mushy. For those of you who don’t know, a mushy steamed crab is a sign of an old crab or a dead one. We were there when the owner was «sorting» crabs for the next night! Ick! I remember going to the The Barn and seeing the fresh, really fresh just caught, crabs being delivered. Now they are ordered a day or two in advance, then sorted and left out on shelving, which basically kills them. DO NOT GO HERE IF YIU WANT FRESH CRABS! It’s only a matter of time before someone gets sick. My mother had the same experience and walked out because of the same mushy crab thing so this is not an isolated incident, rather a poor practice.
The guy running the joint is a kid who obviously doesn’t know a thing about running a crab house. So to follow up, the crabs suck, no traditional crab eating beers are available, staff who doesn’t know what they are doing = disaster. I give them less than 6 months before the doors close. There is just not enough business for them to stay open and their kitchen practices are out of line. If they are serving old crabs, I would the food is old too, although we haven’t eaten off of the menu.

Disappointing
Let me preface this by saying my wife and I met here 24 years ago, so since we were back in the area meeting friends for dinner (fortunately somewhere else) we decided to check out the new Barn «Taphouse». We are big craft beer fans.
First the remodel is awesome, it really presents a nice classy warm atmosphere where I could picture hanging out all afternoon. The two decks, one for smoking — one non-​smoking, looked nice even though the view is only the passing traffic on Harford Road.
So the first thing we did upon entry was checked out the chalkboard with their craft beer selections. Unfortunately our selections were no longer available. This went on for several choices … I understand things run out, but ERASE them when they do! How hard is that! It’s not like all 7 kegs just blew.
So as we moved to try something else the bartender had no clue what he was serving. His answer to every question about a beer was to say «Want to sample it.» I don’t expect the bartender to know every detail but they should at minimum know the basic style & characteristics. Or have a reference list available to consult with more than just the ABV. We finally settled on a couple of choices.
I’d like to comment on the food as we planned to do appetizers but the bartender never came back to take our order and the place was dead at 6 pm on a Saturday so he wasn’t busy. We asked for menus and when he dropped them off he made a couple of jokes about if we ordered the turtle soup he’d make it snappy or the duck soup came with extra quackers. But after dropping off the menus he went and hung with friends on the other side of bar and never came back to take our actual order!
Also witnessed the bartender make a critical bar tending mistake … He dipped a glass into the ice bin breaking the glass. Fortunately he did cover the ice with grenadine and put it out of service. But you should never put a glass directly into ice.
While we may go back for nostalgia it won’t be anytime soon.

Been here twice. Not sure if I would return again after the 2^nd time. I do like the drink selection and the food is pretty good bar type food.
2^nd time there turned out to be pretty miserable as there apparently was a «speed dating» group using up half the seating area which is okay by me, except for the fact they were screaming their heads off the whole time and just generally making a scene. You could tell everyone else was pretty annoyed at them and kept giving them looks. My group of 4 couldn’t even talk to each other with them being so loud.
Since no desserts were being served that night (odd but okay…), we had planned on going somewhere else afterwards… until it took literally over an hour just to receive our check. We even tried approaching the bar to see if they could help us — we only wanted to pay and leave! To this, the bartender was incredibly rude and said we had to get our waitress ourselves.
All in all… what a terrible end to the night. This place now leaves a bad memory.

This is a whole new experience from the previous Barn. I used to get dragged there with friends for a seedy drunken outing, but would never dare go there in the light of day (or soberness). The new Barn is pretty fantastic. The beer list is killer (even though the server didn’t know a lot about beer). The food was all high quality and reasonably priced. The only suggestions I have are to make sure your servers know what they’re talking about and can recommend beer choices. When you carry a lot of craft beer people need to know a bit about it to know if they want it. I asked if she had anything like Hoegaarden, which I think is a pretty standard mass marketed quality beer, and she had no idea what I was talking about.
Still, even with the untrained server this place was great. A welcome oasis in the land of redneck sports bars. I wonder if there are enough people living in the area to appreciate this sort of place though.

We were visiting friends in Parkville on a weeknight and needed a place for dinner. We noticed this place near the corner of a busy intersection and made our way into the tricky parking lot. We went in the upstairs entrance located on the street side and was instantly impressed by the amount of outdoor seating they had on a private deck sheltered from the street. We could have sat at the large bar with the ample amount of TV screens tuned to sports channels, but we opted for one of the private tables in the dining room. They do have quite a nice selection of craft beers on tap and by the bottle, as well as many wines and cocktails. My wife opted for a Guinness and I chose a strawberry wheat from Lancaster. A nice and smooth beer, but the strawberry was more evocative of breakfast cereal than actual fruit. We ordered the calamari, which came out slightly overcooked with a chunky tomato sauce that was hard to eat with it. We ordered two flatbreads, one with sausage and one with onions & spinach. Both were cooked fine, and while not anything special they were exactly what you would want if you were just coming to a pub to watch a game or chat. This place has a fantastic atmosphere, and I don’t think it will take long for the food to catch up.