12 Baltimore Bar & Cafe

Worst experience ever! Me and my husband used to like the food there. This time we ordered vodka shrimp pasta and Italian American burger. The burger came with fries and the fries were not fresh at all. They were all stale and the burger tasted way worse than those in Mcdonald! !! The patty was all smashed and mushy .The pasta was full of vodka. I love vodka but this one was full of the pure alcohol taste. I could hardly took another bite.
By the way we got hung up on the phone while we were trying to order and whe we called back the server on the phone was rude and didn’t want to take our order.
We would never go there again!!!

We got seated. No server showed up for ten minutes. In fact we never saw a server any where. Good luck staying open. We left.

A BS hotel bar where they can’t even do the basics behind the bar. Poorly managed and served. Dollars are best spent elsewhere. My third try to give them a chance to get it right. Sad…

Came here for restaurant week for the lunch menu. The grilled cheese tomato soup was very good. The pesto chicken sandwich was very good. The short rib nachos were good but a little sweet. The picatta was not well balanced in flavor, way too much lemon.
Service was awful. Took a long time to be seated, when there were several open table. Then table service was slow and sparse. No refills on drinks. Drink orders were wrong and couldn’t get serve to come around. When he did there was a lot of attitude.
For the options available try somewhere else for restaurant week.

Great Food and Service. Be prepared for a great experience from a menu perspective. My partner wanted something not on the menu, and since they had the ingredients, they were happy to make the dish!

I was very excited to check out a new restaurant during Restaurant Week, especially when it’s within a 2 min walk from my work. I walk in, the place has a few patrons, but no servers that I could see. There was a bartender in sight and that was it. A guy came out and started cleaning tables and about 10 minutes later, someone directed him to me. The vibe is beautiful old wood and antique like. Definitely a cool space. However, it smelled like it has been there for 50 years… very musty. They sit me down and I am handed a regular menu and a Restaurant Week menu. If I wouldn’t have known about it, I would’ve had no idea what they were doing. I ordered the Tomato Grilled Cheese soup and the KC Reuben. Food came out quick! So quick actually that my Reuben came out before I was even done with my soup. The soup itself was amazing… probably the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, especially with the cheese in it. However, I didn’t like the hard crust part in the middle. Leave that off, that soup is award winning in my book. The Reuben… egh. It was okay, but I’ve definitely had better. The fries were great too (coming from a girl that doesn’t normally like fries, this is big). However, after I finished eating, I waited… and waited… and waited some more. My waitress had officially disappeared. My water set empty, no box and no check. I even put on my coat hoping that would signal someone to grab her. Finally, the other waitress asked if I was waiting on my waitress. She ended up getting me the check and a box (I was very grateful). By the time I paid, got my box, had my card returned, and picked up my stuff, my original waitress had still not came back.
This place has a lot of potential. The soup alone would have me come back… but service needs some direction. Was the guy wiping down the table the manager? If so, he needs to spend more time helping the wait staff.

Came here to eat with a group of friends. It was my first time here and decided to get the caesar salad. I work at a restaurant so naturally I am a hard critic. I make salads where I work and would never serve a salad that looked like this. When the waiter first brought the lettuce out it was a head of lettuce with a puddle of lettuce on the side and cheese scattered around the plate with croutons thrown on. Presentation was not good. On the ends the lettuce was dead and a dark color and limp, and on the other ends it was a reddish brown color. The lettuce over all tastes disgusting. Not fresh at all. Croutons were fine, but overall I was very upset. Will not be eating here again.

My daughter is on a school trip eating with a group of friends and sent me a pic of a salad made of dead lettuce served to her just now. So nasty.

We just came by for a cocktail and had a nice time. It was not anything over the top — the atmosphere is mellow and the servers’ attitudes match. I got the Brut 66 — I LOVE champagne, so this was perfect, just a hint of Chambord and lime and a great pink color.
Overall, it was average price for a cocktail — $ 10 or so. Didn’t try the food, but people near us had everything from hummus to burgers. Seems to have something for everyone — including a brunch menu that looked awesome.

Nothing special
Lame salad, tasteless soup
Very attentive server but that really could not compensate subpar food
Won’t be back

This is a decent small bar. Lots of dark wood makes for a classy atmosphere. On Thursday, 3−7p happy hour features half price apps. The scallops were large, nicely browned and not overcooked, as so many are. The sweetened bacon did not add anything. Spinach artichoke spread was good. Beefcargo was a cute adaptation of escargot. It was nicely garlicked and served in a traditional escargot dish. Wine list was so-​so, but I’m a wine snob. Thursday’s also have live music 4p — 8p. A folksy singer guitar player, Jason Kane, provided pleasant background music though he was rather rude in not acknowledging tips. Overall, just an okay bar.

the seared honey crystal scallops. absolutely perfect. one of the few places anywhere that has a juicy breast of grilled chicken on the caesar salad instead of an overdone one. the crab corn chowder is absolutely the best culinary decision we made while staying at Hotel Phillips. the staff is courteous and engaging. the live music on thursday night was great. give jayson a recording contract. ask him to play anything by Sting. you will not be disappointed.
salmon asian salad. with perfectly prepared salmon. i really despise overcooked salmon, and thank goodness they did it right. what a great place. wish i could have tried more, but the portions were more generous than anticipated, and i had to cancel the lobster ravioli.
and the ice cream. the vanilla ice cream was incredibly good, it didn’t taste like anything from a box or freezer. it might have even been made in house.
another good sign: the chefs eat the food from the restaurant on their breaks. we saw a few of the chefs walking into work with food containers. we asked, so where do the chefs eat? it’s the food they make right there in the kitchen. if the staff like the food, chances are it’s good. just kind of a general rule. i would never eat at a place where they don’t like their own food.

Although the service was great, the food was quite the bust. I saw the advert for the crab cake in the elevator and when it was brought to me, it was hot and toasty on the outside and COLD in the inside. The food was quickly taken away and I was offered an alternative, but at that point my stomach was already doing cart wheels. :/​I don’t think I’ll be coming back during my stay.

I would only recommend this place to those in business hosting a very quick lunch for out-​of-​town associates who are staying in the hotel.
My now-​husband and I went here for our first «real» date. He passed by it every day on his way to work and thought it might be nice.
The ambience was clearly «business meal». There wasn’t really music playing. The only other people there were at the bar. We both ordered and the food was perfectly fine. I could not finish my portion. That’s when the server (the same «Iva» mentioned in another review), who had been rather gruff and abrupt throughout our experience, announced, «You can eat that!» I was quite taken aback, and assured her I really could not. To assuage her, I agreed to take it home.
It was a very awkward environment and neither the food nor the service made it worth a return visit.

12 Baltimore is run by the most inconsiderate and incompetent group I have ever encountered. We showed up and asked for a table long before the dinner rush, and upon sitting down, two separate servers alternated coming to our table asking us when we would be ready to leave. «It’s about to get packed and we need you to finish up as quickly as possible.» We were polite, paying customers. No establishment should treat its guests this way– regardless of whether it’s serving incredible food and drinks or low-​grade airport quality food like 12 Baltimore pawns off on its customers.
When I checked this morning, I found that the amount I had paid (and documented) for our grossly overpriced meal was changed. Not only did the staff treat us like crap, they tried to scam us after the fact.
I am confident that if this restaurant weren’t attached to the beautiful hotel, it would never survive. Do not waste your time and money on this joke of a restaurant.

This is a nice little hotel restaurant.
I note that it’s a hotel restaurant because it’s laid out for those who are dining alone. The layout features mostly scattered tables for two and ample space to belly up at the bar. There are a couple of four tops, but they’re mostly for decoration.
The food, I’ve only sampled the appetizers, and the drinks are pretty good. Our group sampled the buffalo wings, spinach dip and hummus and all received positive remarks. The drink menu, while not overly remarkable features a couple of seasonal martinis if you’re into that. If not then there are ample other options to enjoy an adult beverage while you relax.
I will note, the restaurant isn’t equipped for groups so if you’re bringing more than four you might want to call ahead and let them know. Also, you’re smack in the middle of downtown so depending on the night you might need to park and walk a bit.

The spinach dip was just what I hoped for a spinach dip, however a few veggies in the mix of tortilla chips would have been nice. The bartender didn’t fill in glass up entirely on my drafts, pretty annoying after spending $ 8 on a glass.

My girlfriend and I were given credit to eat here after having a less than appeasing stay at Hotel Phillips next door. We decided to wait until the Sunday morning we were heading back home to stop in for breakfast.
The restaurant itself is nicely decorated and the staff seemed friendly. It is also in a good location and quickly accessible from the hotel.
The breakfast buffet seemed ridiculously overpriced at $ 15+ per person. You could get a cheaper option that really only included muffins and cereal for $ 9ish, but if you wanted eggs and sausage, you had to pay for the full buffet.
We sampled a little bit of everything and found that the best things to eat was the fruit. The only thing that was especially bad was the biscuits. I have never eaten a biscuit as heavy, dense and solid as these biscuits. I am fairly certain that with a little cement, you could build a biscuit brick wall.
The other items ranged from passable to decent, but nothing was good enough to mention or save 12 Baltimore from a low rating.
The hotel had provided us with $ 30 to use for breakfast, but there was still money left to be paid on the check. When I tried to pay with my credit card, I was told there would be a $ 1 fee to pay the remaining couple of dollars… Seriously??? If I had been paying full price, I would not have been a happy camper.
Do yourself (and your wallet) a favor, grab breakfast somewhere else.

Don’t. Just don’t.
We stayed at the attached hotel ((which I also don’t recommend)) and decided to grab breakfast here before we rolled out of town.
Manfriend ordered the corn beef hash, took one bite, and sent it back and got oatmeal instead. He said it tasted like canned dog food. You know it’s bad when he wont eat it, because he is considerably less particular than I am. He’s good at «powering through» shitty food and rarely complains. When he calls it dog food, it’s gotta be gross.
I ordered the biscuits and gravy. The gravy was brown, full of chunks of undissolved fat, chunks of flour, and what seemed like an entire container of salt. Literally the worst restaurant gravy I’ve ever had. I’d rather eat at Denny’s. ((Which is also disgusting… Lol.)) I tasted the gravy, said «nope!» and ended up skipping breakfast.
Our daughter ordered scrambled eggs. They were just okay.
Overall, this place has terrible food and obnoxiously high prices. Their breakfast buffet with only a few options was $ 15 a person! Crazy!
Save your money and your time and eat elsewhere.
The only good part? The server was friendly, and the jelly comes in those adorable tiny little jars, which are great to mix my calligraphy inks in. I shamelessly stole all 4 jellies off our table. ;-)

This is my kind of place! Very posh and stylish, with a modern flare! My co-​worker and I had to grab a quick lunch and after stumbling upon it, we decided to try it out. They boast lunch specials, happy hour specials and reasonable prices. I love the hardwood floor and stylish furniture that’s throughout the restaurant. TV’s are at the bar and everyone here was very helpful.
I ordered the chicken Caesar salad wrap with the cucumber salad and it was delicious. I also ordered the lemonade but wasn’t impressed with the taste. It did take a little longer than I like for our food to be prepared, but perhaps it was because my co-​worker ordered a burger, plus we were short on time. BTW, she loved her burger.
The only thing I would change would be the timing. Instead of wandering aimlessly around to find a lunch spot, we should have gone here the first time we passed it. Then, we could have taken our time eating… we had to literally inhale our food.
If I’m ever in town again, I will surely stop by for a unrushed meal.