McAvoy’s

Not sure why this place is averaging 2 stars. Yes, it’s in a strip mall. Yes, the tables and chairs are there to use, and not for ambiance. Yes, the crowd tends to be east Baltimore rednecky. BUT…
I can only review my experience. Here’s what happened. I paid a $ 10 cover on a Friday night, as they had live music. The doorman was friendly and polite. We sauntered in to see a growing crowd that was eager for the band to start its set. The bar was already two deep, begging for drinks. I waited my turn, and then requested 10 beers/​drinks. The bartender got them all correct. That’s great!
I took all the social lubrication to our standing table, caught the attention of a roaming server (they were scrambling everywhere like bees in a hive that night), asked for food, and she delivered a menu. The menu had the normal fare, featuring crab cakes (for my B-​More peeps). We ordered fish and chips, it arrived in time, it was good!
The beers kept flowing and the band started playing. The band was EXCELLENT! I can’t remember their name, but the video I posted featured them. Everyone there was cool. The crowd was mostly ages 30 – 45, with a few guys and gals in their mid/late-20’s (like me). But everyone was cool. No fighting, no over-​serving, it was a cool little joint.
Was it a 5-​Star experience? No, and it’ll never be. But it was fun! Check it out if you’re in town.

First of all, I went here with friends to get a little something to eat on a Friday night around 7:30, and there was a $ 5 cover because of the band. That’s a little early to start a cover, especially for those who are just coming for food. The food was just okay — what you would expect from bar food. The service was slow, and our waitress was nowhere to be found most of the time. We had to go track her down to get our check. The part that really left a bad taste in my mouth is the fact that they automatically added a 20% gratuity (not sure why, and we were only a party of 6), and then had a tip line on the receipt as well. I think that is deceiving. If you do go here — make sure you carefully review your bill. My friends and I were looking for local places to grab some food and a drink after work on Fridays. Unfortunately, we won’t be back here.

She said it well, but as one of the other parties, I just want to add a few comments to Yvonne H’s review. The evening was a disappointment from the beginning and got much worse. McAvoy’s advertises $ 2 crabs on Monday nights starting at 5:00 p.m. We got there at 6:15 and were told that there had been $ 3 crabs but they were gone. We were told by other diners that they were gone by 5:30 (and the place was anything but crowded)! All a ploy to get you in and sell you $ 65 & $ 75 crabs (evidently no other price range available). Of the two dozen crabs, only a small percentage were worth the money and a number of them would have been acceptable only at $ 3/​crab.
When I opened my first crab it was a small, papershell which I mentioned to our waitress. Her comment was «I’m only the waitress». I assured her we knew it wasn’t her fault but requested that she pass it on to her manager. We got no response or visit from the manager, even when I asked her a second time. When we were almost done, for the third time we insisted on speaking to the manager. That is when we were verbally assaulted.
This man was supposedly an owner and behaved so unprofessionally, offensively and immaturely I was speechless. Even after calmly requesting that he temper his language and insulting comments, he continued, even when we were walking out the door! Obviously, he is used to a much different clientele and feels that that kind of treatment of his customers is acceptable. And to make matters worse, our waitress — who was a good 30 years our junior — apparently thinks it is rude for a customer to request to speak to a manager when they are not happy with their meal… and wasn’t shy about telling us so. She spoke to us like we were children! I would NOT recommend that anyone go to McAvoys… there are too many other nice places to go!

Three of us had crabs tonight and they were smaller than they should have been for the price. We asked to speak to the manager. Adam, the co-​owner came to the table. We showed him the size of the crabs and just that we thought they should have been bigger for the price.
Adam started a loud rant, calling the male in our party an MF’er. MF this, MF that. He said if we did not pay, he would call the cops. We never said anything about not paying. And the male in our group was a retired Baltimore police officer.
Adam had no problem jumping to conclusions and spewing profanities in front of all the patrons.
I will never eat there again and would never recommend this restaurant.

I stopped in to grab some food and a beer. it was trivia night but I felt like I was at bingo. I was waiting for the busses to pull up to take the players back to their «homes». Seriously. What a strange crowd. I sat at the bar and the crowd was completely different than trivia. I was waiting for a fight to break out a few stools down from me.
I ordered the special which was a steak and sides at a reasonable price. My food came quick but when I took my first bite I knew I couldn’t eat it. It was the worst meat I have ever been served. The bartender quickly addressed my concern and replaced my order with a Reuben sandwich. It was ok. Nothing great. I ate half and left the other half for trash.
I will not be back and will forever miss the early 2000’s when his place had a good vibe and great live music.

I’ve only been here once… And once was enough. It was wing night — so I can’t say how their regular menu is. I got barbecue wings. I had to purchase a drink, so I did but I generally like to drink water (which I couldn’t here) and I anticipated my wings and they were horrible. The sauce was nasty and I LIVE for BBQ sauce. They were runny/​watery/​nasty. I literally ate two wings and couldn’t stand to eat the rest. They wouldn’t let me take them home either (I wanted to feed them to my dog or a starving person because no one would want to eat those nasty wings) so I wasted my money and my time and never will I do that again. It makes me not want to go back to try their regular menu items.

Make sure you know all the rules on burger night and .39 cent wing night. The waitress never mentioned any of them and not posted on website. They also charge for the celery and blue cheese separate. If you have a special they should tell you exactly what it is. They have it posted on a board in the back what a great place for it. Very sleazy way to do business. Your offered fries with the burger but not told that the few fries you get are another $ 2.00 and with out the special it cost $ 10.00 for the burger. A little bait and switch going on here. Stay away

Okay so what’s good and what’s bad about this Parkville bar and eatery. We walked over after attending the Maryland Cat show held in the Putty Hill Shopping Center. Our purpose was to grab a quick lunch, hit the road, go food shopping and get home by 3pm. However after quickly ordering our food we got stuck due to slow, slow service. Our waitress was friendly and worked hard serving at the bar and the dining area but the kitchen got stuck due to a Christmas party for 30 in the back room. What should have been a simple one hour grub stop turned out to be a 90 minute stay.
We started with a cup of Maryland crab soup — decent and spicy but not memorable. Then we drank our iced tea and drank our iced tea and drank some more. After a 40 minute wait — out came my shrimp salad sandwich on wheat toast and my partner’s crab cake sandwich. The shrimp salad was tasty and not filled with mayo but there were not enough pieces to fill the bread for its $ 10 price tag. The bread was upgraded white wheat probably from a plastic pullman loaf. With it came a decent pickle slice, and some standard potato chips. The crab cake was large and broiled nicely but was served on a white flying saucer-​like hamburger bun. With it came a pickle and chips and a small side of cocktail sauce. The verdict on the crab cake was that it was nice, not filled with lots of bread or mayonnaise and the winner at the table.
This lunch started at 1:05 and ended around 2:30. Almost ninety minutes for one cold sandwich and a broiled crab cake with cold sides. I was told that the people at the luncheon were ordering platters and there were only two cooks in the kitchen. So what we had was a short lunch extended by a kitchen overload. My friend said he would come back for the crab cake if he was on that side of town but would ask if the kitchen was backed up before ordering. I felt sorry for our server as she was working as hard as she could but the food was coming out very slowly.

Even though I grew up in the area and went to High School right down the street, this place still scares me a bit every time I walk in. Whenever I come back to Baltimore though my friends seem to want to go here. The other people who frequent it are a little scary. If I wasn’t with a big group of people I feel like they’d be the type to harass, but surprisingly looks can be deceiving I guess. Despite my reservations, I have a blast every time I come. The food is actually really, really good. Not just good for a dive hole in the wall, but good by any standards. And while they don’t serve the craft beer crowd, they have some decent mass marketed beer (Blue Moon, Sam Adams etc) for pretty cheap.
All in all, don’t judge a book by its cover. It may look like the type of place where they’ll lynch you, but give it a try.

$ 1.50 crabs on Monday night? I think not. Everywhere is posted $ 1.50 crabs on Monday nights… It’s on the bathroom walls, and the website said MONDAY ⁵⁄₂₀ $ 1.50 CRABS! We get there at 5 pm to find out the crabs were $ 2.50… At $ 2.50 each, we only ordered a dozen. At 5:30 we decided maybe we should get 6 more, but then they were out. C’mon now. We also ordered a ½ pound of shrimp, which worked out to about ¼ pound of cooked onions & about 5 large shrimp. Even our waitress did a double take & checked with the kitchen to make sure it was really ½ pound. Guess it’s not that big of a deal, & the crabs were tasty, so we stuck around and had more drinks. We get the bill and our mediocre at best waitress had added a 20% tip to our bill all on her own… We were a party of 3. Probably won’t be back for the bait and switch crab night plus mediocre service at a premium tip.

the place is always good, can’ t beat the steak ‘n cheese sub while the girlfriend is eating $ 1.50 crabs on Mondays. never had bad service and always have daily specials on the board. We had a surprise birthday party here in the back room, everything was great

Don’t even think about trying one of your dining partners wings even if you have ordered an entrée for yourself, they will treat you like you snuck six kids in under your trench coat for a free buffet. There is a 2 drink minimum on wing night and if you so much as breathe too close to your friends wings that are leftover and bound for the garbage they will come over and make you order more drinks even if you’re drinking water.
No matter if you’re a die-​hard every Tuesday night regular.
You will most likely wait for 20+ minutes to get a drink refill, or eventually give up on the waitress and go to the bar like I have done on multiple occasions.
Customer service at its worst.

My husband and I are big fans ! We have been going to Mc Avoys for a while now. We enjoy the food specials and happy hour! Their wings are 29 cents (on Tuesdays) and are GREAT their burgers are also amazing ! The crowd is a good mix of older and younger, even bike night is a great time with a good crowd! It is in a strip mall which needs a face lift but don’t let that fool you ! This bar is not only a place to have a drink but you can bring your family in for dinner ! There are many families that come in for early dinner.

Honestly, I don’t have too much to say about this place, good or bad. It is what it is. A small local bar in a strip mall. I made the mistake of coming here on a night when an 80s cover band was playing, so that really brought out an interesting crowd or cougars lol. Even in the parking lot, I was greeted by a middle-​aged woman who was already kicked out of the bar. Interesting way to start the night. Once inside, the place was packed which made it difficult to get drinks at the bar. And people were still trying to play pool, which was just not happening with that many people in there. I guess I will have to come back again on a «normal» night and see what this place is like.

Qualifiers:
1. Went on a Wednesday evening (6:00p.m.) during restuarant week.
2. It is a Raven’s Roost (Not a value judgement just a statement of fact)
3. It is not «my crowd” — in many ways, some obvious and some not
4. There are pool tables (also not a value judgement)
5. The waitress was HOT!!! (Hence the second star)
The location may be the first thing that puts you off a bit. The strip mall that its in has seen better times. The place itself is clean if a little «used». The websites pictures are (like good real estate photos) just a little misleading.
This is a simple neighborhood bar with decent food and local «flavor». The food was correctly prepared if not particulalrly inspired. The waitress was really fetching and pleasant and effective (you don’t always get that combination so its a plus that earned her a hefty tip).
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone as an example of Baltimore’s finest but I would hold it out as an example of solid working class Baltimore in its finest purple glory.