Ze Mean Bean Café

I haven’t been to Ze Mean Bean in some time and I was really looking forward to a favorite of mine– their sweet farmer’s cheese pierogis. I have to say the pierogi is not what it used to be and is very bland. Inside the pierogi was what seemed to be a tiny clump of flavorless queso fresco instead of the sweet farmer’s cheese. What a let down! Oh well. I will say the asparagus was perfectly done, but for $ 15– they should use better ingredients. I don’t think I’ll be returning.

A quiet and hidden gem in east Baltimore, just around the corner from Fells Point. Wonderful perogis and stuffed cabbage try the sampler, listed as an appetizer and enough for a meal.

I truly enjoy this restaurant. I am huge fan of pirogies and started frequenting for that reason. The last several visits they were ran out of pirogies or restricted the amount you could order because they were almost out. Furthermore, they consistently run of beers. Management needs to plan ahead to keep up with demand.

I am having a hard time writing this review. We came for pierogi happy hour. Place was empty at 6 PM on a Friday night. Staff were friendly enough however there are lots of rules to happy hour. You can only order once and that’s it so you can’t order more pierogis if you are still hungry despite that meaning more business and money for them. You have to order a drink for food specials and you can’t take any leftovers home with you. And they definitely stick to that I tried to get a second order of pierogis since o didn’t seem to here that you can only order once. No exceptions despite empty place.
That being said pierogis were awesome. Potato ones were great. Sauerkraut better than expected and cheese were great too. I have been once before for standard dinner fare and really enjoyed everything. O think it’s overall great food.
For drinks they were out of all beer and their special liquor as well which was confusing to me. However nice wine selection and hard alcohol as well. I would definitely come back ESP for 50 ¢ pierogis ! Just order at least 10 !

Came for brunch w/​a friend, the inside was really cute and there aren’t many tables but when we were there it was pretty busy. There was only one server working and he seemed to have trouble keeping track of food orders and service was really slow in terms of getting us seated, taking our orders, getting the check etc. It seemed like he was overwhelmed bc he was acting as the host, bar tender, server, food runner, busser and it was a busy brunch so it wasn’t a big deal. Our entrees came out fairly quickly but we had ordered pierogies, which we never received. Since we already had our entrees in front of us, we decided we didn’t want the pierogies anymore anyway and decided not to mention anything to the server (he never checked back on us to fill our water or see how we were doing).
I got the Red Scare which was a big, sloppy (good sloppy), egg, Swiss cheese, polish sausage pile in between two potato pancakes and I really enjoyed it. The texture of the polish sausage was as nice change from the regular breakfast sausage texture. It was supposed to have hollandaise sauce but the sauce had broken so it was more like liquid butter all over the top of it, which turned out to be good tasting in the end but not really the way hollandaise is supposed to be.
My partner ordered a Bloody Mary and that never came either and we decided not to mention it, because by now we finished our food and wanted to leave. The pierogies came up on the check and the server took them off w/​no issue.
My real problem with the service wss that it felt like we were specifically unwanted and I’m not sure why. I could see that the table behind us got their pierogies and one Bloody Mary, and then another one after the first one was finished, and then a coffee… I was jealous. He never said anything negative but when he dropped the check off he seemed to run away, even though we were ready with our payment, and how he never came to refill our waters, how ²⁄₄ of the items that we ordered never came. It might be my own personal issue with my perception of the situation, and since we didn’t mention the items that were forgotten, it never gave him the chance to fix the mistake.
I would give this place another shot since the food was good and the server had been initially friendly, but maybe on a slower day.

The food was awesome. The experience was very realistic, as they were out of everything, just like in Eastern European countries under quasi-​Communist rule. My in-​laws lived in Belgrade (I think? Somewhere like that.) in the late 70s, so we took them there to flash back to their time in that part of the world. My MIL couldn’t stop laughing because they were out of half the things we wanted to order and she said that was a very realistic touch, haha. However, it doesn’t bode well for a restaurant in Baltimore in 2016 to be out of half of their wine offerings and one of their specialties (peirogies) for Saturday night dinner service. They got a liquor delivery half-​way through our meal (admitedly, we were dining sort of on the early side? 6pm?) and the waiter said the peiroges were going to be ready towards the end of our dinner but we obviously weren’t going to wait or have a dessert of peirogies… They also didn’t have one of the types of beet salad that my husband wanted. This lack of supplies would have garnered a 2 or 1 star rating, but the food we did get was delicious, and the ambiance in the restaurant was delightful. It’s a cozy little spot and it wasn’t busy, so we had good service. Also, they had a jazz band come in toward the end of our meal. They were slightly too loud, but the music was good and we were on our way out anyway. Overall, a decent experience, and a place we would probably go again if we were in the mood.

We had dinner somewhere else and were looking for a quiet and romantic place to have an intimate talk and a few drinks. This place was perfect! Next time we will try the foods.

My daughter and wife have been wanting to come here because of the ethnic cuisine. When we entered the restaurant last night there were only two other tables occupied. They brought us our menus and we sat there for 15 minutes no water, no service. Finally, an older gentleman, came right past us with a pitcher of water and filled up the water glasses on the two occupied tables next to us. We asked him to fill our glasses with water. He walked away from our table and stood at the end of the bar. It was at that point that we walked out disgusted. The service was horrible. Apparently he didn’t need our business. My wife called him on the phone and explained why we had left. He apologized said that he assumed that our table was assigned to the girl behind the bar. There is no excuse for such horrible service in a restaurant so small and so empty.

I ventured over to the Ukranian festival in Patterson Park this past weekend, so that I could experience the culture. Of course, a huge part of any culture is the unique cuisine. Ze Mean Bean Café had a little stand advertising Ukranian food in the middle of the festival, so I ventured to go give it a taste test. I ordered the Halupki stuffed cabbage, and a variety of Pierogies (including Cheese, Potato, and Sauerkraut).
I suppose I expected the food at a festival to be expensive, so that did not bother me too much. I was just kind of disappointed to see that the food was cold, though I know it is difficult to keep things steaming hot at an outdoors festival. The pierogies were also not as stuffed as I would like it; I had to really strain my receptors on my tongue to feel the texture and taste the filling. The Halupki stuffed cabbage was good and flavorful, but also cold.
I think that it did give a good intro to the staples of Ukranian cuisine, but I wish it were presented better. Perhaps, the actual restaurant serves food in a different way. Will have to try it to see.

Like previous reviewers, I used to enjoy this place for their awesome happy hour specials and 25 cent pierogies.
Now, however, they require you to order at least an $ 8 drink in order to get the happy hour specials, which doubled the price of the pierogies! The first time I came in with this new policy, my friends and I were confused and asked when this had changed. The staff responded very rudely and at that point we decided to leave.
The service was never that great before, but it was excusable because of the fun atmosphere, good specials, and tasty drinks. Now we have no reason to ever return. These owners need to learn what good customer service is.

Love this place; jazz music and beet juice mimosa! Fantastic. Something different to try on a Sunday and so pleasantly surprized

First of all, if you come here looking for authentic Polish/​Slavic food, this is not the place for it. Of all the employees I encountered while eating here, not one seemed as if they had any Slavic background, and hearing the waiter’s pronunciation of ‘Zywiec’ made me cringe.
We ordered the Slavic sampler to start and my thoughts on the food are as follows: the pierogi leave something to be desired as the fillings were sparse and bland. The potato pancake was more like a round french fry than authentic ground and seasoned placki, the kielbasa actually tasted very spot on, with just enough garlic and bold texture. I think it may have been overcooked or something, because it was a little tougher than id expect.
It took the wait staff twice as long as any othrr restaurant to do any task that comes with a good dining experience. This includes taking our order, getting our food to the table, bringing some ketchup, and finally the check. There was only one other party in the dining area, so they could’ve paid a little more attention. Only after the meal did our waitress inform us that their credit card machine was broken and they would have to hand write my receipt, which is pretty sketchy nowadays considering they wrote my full credit card number down on carbon copy paper (I almost refused to let them do it)
The one thing that really was disappointing was the holupki (or golobki for you poles out there). The sauce tastes like a sweet Italian pasta sauce and whatever pork they used for the meat filling was either old, or someone clearly can’t use spices correctly. It almost had a skunked beer flavor to it, so much that my parents had to try to drown it in ketchup to try and mask the flavor.
I’m not the type of guy to not try a restaurant because if bad review, but I would definitely take this review into consideration, as this place was a serious disappointment.

I’ve seen some positive reviews from other folks and let me just point out that I’ve only ever been here for the Happy Hour. To give you some background, about a year ago we used to go to Ze Mean Bean once every couple of weeks with friends for their 25 cent pierogi happy hour deal, which by all accounts was an absolute great experience. The food was excellent, the ambience was charming, and the prices were stellar. You could get as many pierogis as you wanted, choosing either potato, farmer’s cheese, or sauerkraut, with the only catch being that you had to sit at the bar and you had to put your whole order in at once (e.g. You couldn’t order ten and then decide you wanted another ten half an hour later). In addition, they had some decent drink specials for $ 5 each, including my personal favorite, the honey cinnamon vodka. I would typically order eight cheese pierogis, six potato pierogis, and six sauerkraut pierogis plus the honey cinnamon vodka and the cost for this delicious and filling meal would come out to just ten bucks! Happy Hour was so popular you sometimes couldn’t find a seat at the bar if you didnt arrive before six.
Fast forward to now. Pierogis are now 50 cents each, and you are required to order a drink from the bar, which now costs $ 8. So instead of getting a drink and twenty pierogis for ten bucks, you now get a drink and four pierogis. Or you pay $ 18 for what used to cost $ 10. On top of that, the past FOUR times we’ve been there, service has been spotty and something has gotten messed up. One time or server came back FORTY minutes after we put our orders in to ask what types of pierogis we had asked for again. Another time, our server came back with our food… except for the cheese pierogis, which they were apparently out of. She said she would put in another order for us, but instead of comping anything she *graciously* offered to give us happy hour pricing even though it was already past seven because we had been sitting there for an hour waiting for our food. No thanks.
Tonight was the last time we’ll be going back there. We saw on the website that it was 25 cent pierogis during Happy Hour so we figured we would give them another try. Upon arriving, the place was eerily empty and I found out on their Happy Hour menu that pierogis were not 25 cents but 50… They just haven’t updated their website in the past year. On top of that, they were out of cheese pierogis.
So we left. With all the amazing places to eat for Happy Hour – especially in the Fell’s Point area – it’s no wonder no one is going to Ze Mean Bean anymore.

I had passed Ze Mean Bean many times since moving to Fells and always thought it looked cute and cozy. With the cold weather, my sister and I decided to give it a try and it was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time.
We had the pierogies to start along with cocktails. I had the homemade cinnamon vodka spritzer that was tasty and not too sweet. They have a well-​rounded and very reasonably priced wine list.
I had the stuffed cabbage which was filling (I have leftovers) and came with some yummy sides including green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes. My sister had the shrimp and scallop risotto, which was a little too cheesy for her but she enjoyed the seafood, especially the shrimp.
We had the most attentive server, who visited frequently and helped with our decisions. There was a piano player who played some hits and made it for a fun dining experience.
This would be a great date spot (candles, live music, cozy aesthetic). The desserts are all homemade and sounded amazing if I hadn’t been so full. I will definitely visit the bar another night for a slice of pie, some live music, and a drink.

I came here for dinner on a Thursday night with a friend. We had made a 6:30 reservation, which was one of the only times available via open table. However, upon arriving around 6, the restaurant was completely empty.
We started with the pierogi appetizer. They arrived quickly and were very good. We then ordered a bottle of wine, which the waitress forgot to bring out to us. After waiting for about 15 minutes, we got the waitresses attention and she finally brought over the bottle. Our main entrees arrive shortly thereafter, and the food was good. My friend ordered crabcakes and I had a salad. After finishing dinner, the waitress never came back to the table to see if we were interested in dessert. Again, we got her attention and asked if they offered dessert. She did not offer a menu, but rattled off their offerings. We ordered a chocolate caramel mousse pie which was very good.
After we finished dessert, she came back over with the bill and walked away. After waiting at least 15 minutes for her to come back for the check, I had to walk up to the bar to ask her to cash us out. It is a small restaurant, but somehow was nearly impossible to get her attention, particularly when she would disappear into the kitchen for 5 – 10 minute stretches. I should also mention, while the restaurant was not very busy, there was still only one person working to cover the bar and tables, and she was not very attentive or friendly. This really impacted my experience. The food was good, however I felt it was overpriced, as were the beverages. I would not return.

I came here with my husband and another couple who have eaten at this restaurant before, in which they said the food was pretty good. I was so excited since I have not had perogies in such a long time after moving away from home.
While my husband and I were waiting for the other couple to get there, I asked the waitress if they had like a piece of bread I could snack one until our friends arrived to order appetizers. She gave a snotty remark back saying. «Sorry this isn’t a chip and dip place.» After that she had continued being rude for the rest of the night.
I guess I’m a little frustrated because I felt like someone had upset the waitress prior to our coming to the restaurant and she was taking it out on me and my party.
The perogies were ok — could have had a little more to them but overall pretty decent.

Let me start off by saying that I did not consume any food or imbibe any beverage here. I could not get to that point because of the service and ridiculousness. Let me go on:
My girlfriends and I wanted to get together for an early dinner/​happy hour to celebrate some recent job moves. We’re all in our mid twenties, very polite and reasonable. At the suggestion of one of my friends, we decided on Ze Mean Bean Café because the menu was intriguing, they had a nice happy hour menu (50 cent periogies and other discounted apps, etc) and it was in the heart of Fells. After perusing Unilocal reviews and seeing mixed reviews, we figured we’d try it ourselves.
We made a reservation for 6, which we did not need as the entire restaurant was empt from the time we arrived until we left around 6:40. (Some people were running late, and we dealt with the following) We were seated at a lovely table in the cozy restaurant. It really is cute and still decorated from the holidays. Nice. We were given menus and a wine list. We asked our server if happy hour was still available and if so, what were the options? She said, it’s actually only at the bar… that was 15 feet away from us, and also empty. So, upon her suggestion, we moved. Okay, I’ve heard of this. I’ll take it.
Then we were given the happy hour menu. Apparently to get the happy hour specials (slightly discounted apps $ 1 – 2 less) and 50 cent perogies, you had to order a drink of at least $ 4. Huh. Okay. I haven’t seen this in Baltimore, outside of comedy clubs where you are required to buy a drink… usually a $ 2 – 4 water for me, as I don’t drink. But okay. I’ll indulge and order a $ 4 tea… a Bigelow tea. Okay. I was even ready to do that. Two of our six were drinking wine, so that was fine.
As we placed our drink orders and perused the menu (of which you had to order ALL your food at once, in one fell swoop in order to get the prices. not because it was almost over. just because) I looked the end of the bar and saw the three staff (server, bartender and someone from the kitchen) talking about our orders, talking prices and sodas, etc. They were scowling at us and not being discrete at all. My friend and I were pretty appalled but even then we just said. okay. weird.
Here’s the kicker. The server then told the bartender that the drink order was wrong and that we had to each order a drink of at least $ 6, so an alcoholic drink or a «mocktail.» I looked at her and said, «I’m sorry but I don’t drink» and thought it my head. and for damn sure am not going to slurp down a sugar-​y mocktail just to eat. She shrugged and didn’t respond.
We all sort of looked around and couldn’t believe this. It was officially too difficult to eat here. They were making it a miserable experience, and honestly forcing me into nothing I wanted a part of. We made the decision to leave and had a great experience down the street at a place that gave amazing service.
Honestly, I wanted to write a great review to disprove all these negative reviews. I love trying new places, and local joints in Baltimore. But this was a disgrace. I think the part that bothered me the most was the unprofessional «customer chat» from the staff. Take a lesson from any teenage girl — if you’re going to talk about someone, make sure it’s not right in front of them, always behind their backs, not behind the bar.

I came here 3 times. Once, I got pierogies, borscht and stuff and remember it being good. That was many years ago. About a year or two ago we came for brunch – we got eggs and French toast and everything was tasty. Tonight I came and here is my report:
We came for dinner and it was just the two of us in the whole restaurant on a Monday night. Fine with us. Christmas deco was still up and it felt cozy.
The owner/​bartender mentioned happy hour: 50 cent pierogies. We wanted to have those and transition over to full dinner. But he said one rule was we have to order a drink of at least $ 4 – 6 if we were getting pierogies.
Soda, juice or tea was at least $ 4, happy hour wines were $ 8 and cocktail drinks were $ 10 – 14. I asked that if we’re going to transition to dinner anyway if he could waive the drink rule but apparently not. I was already kinda miffed that we had to order a drink just to get pierogies, when I already intended to order dinner foods which would’ve met their financial goals. But I was trapped in this predicament and then presented with a tiny glass of my $ 8 drink. It was slightly larger than a shot glass!
Maybe I’m spoiled having had Veselka in NYC, but their pierogies felt thin. I could barely taste any filling in each of these. Disappointed, although my friend liked it.
We ordered Halupki (stuffed cabbage) and it was $ 6 for ONE, surrounded by tomato chunks. The Holuski (mushroom and flour chunks spaeztle?) for $ 5 was tasty but there could’ve been more mushroom?
We got the apple pie; it had crushed walnuts and oats on top and thinned sliced apples and a dry thin crust so every bite had to come with the ice cream or whipped cream served on the side. It was $ 6, I think.
Overall, great food, but if they lowered the price or bumped the portion size I think it might attract more people. As of now, I don’t feel too inclined to return when I can get bigger pierogies from Costco…

As a former Pittsburgher, I obviously needed to find a place to get some good Polish food and this certainly hit the spot. I came during «Jazz Brunch» one weekend with a few fellow former Pittsburghers and everyone was pleased with their choices. The waitstaff was friendly and I got to try a rhubarb mimosa (it was good! And I got some veggies in with my alcohol!).
The only concern we had was that the jazz music was a bit loud for a venue so small. I’d recommend they turn the volume down in the future for jazz brunch. Overall, all of the potato items were great, people that got benedicts were thrilled with their eggs, and I loved the fun takes on classic Polish dishes as brunch items! I’ll definitely need to go back for some pierogis and lunch at some point!

Our group of three came in on a 1PM brunch reservation on a Saturday.
I made reservations by phone, and was asked if there was any occasion we were celebrating. I did say that the meal was for a birthday, but didn’t have any special requests. Still, I was assured that the restaurant would do something for us for the day to celebrate.
We were greeted and seated by both the server and the manager, who had taken my reservation. Complimentary «Slavic Mimosas» (sparkling wine, raspberry purée, and a spash of beet juice for color) were sent to the table, and the staff made some recommendations regarding the brunch menu.
The brunch items each had some eastern European slant to them. I ordered some Hungarian goulash since it was going to be my main meal of the day. The others in the party ordered Polish Benedict — eggs Benedict with grilled kielbasa sausage instead of bacon. The goulash was solidly spiced with paprika to compliment the red wine sauce the tender beef, onions, and carrots were stewed in — but the real star was the spaetzle it was served with.
We quaffed some serviceable Bloody Marys (insert bloody mary prayer here) and such along with our meals, and were well attended to throughout.
To complete the experience, we ordered up some Polish-​style cheesecake made with farmer’s cheese, nuts, and dried fruits (it’s drier and more crumbly than creamy New York styles), and chocolate rum baba. These also ended up being comp’d as a gift from the manager (don’t worry — we tipped for the drinks and dessert, too). The house brewed coffee we got with was really good, too. You can tell they use quality beans and they’re probably pretty fresh as well.
Solid food, great service, a dining room full of old warm wood, and a great attitude. I really liked the place. Not a mis-​step in the entire meal, and we were treated very well on our first visit. They’ve got themselves a repeat customer, ’cause I’ve got to get back for dinner.

Came here for brunch and did not expect the live music. Music was nice, but I was looking for a place where I could catch up with my friend. It seemed like we got the best of both — heard jazz for a bit, then the band took a break and my friend were able to chat for the rest of our meal.
Food-​wise, this place was sort of mediocre (or maybe it was what I ordered?). I ordered the eggs and potato pancakes and requested that the eggs be cooked over easy instead of scrambled. Maybe that was the problem because overall, the dish seemed lacking in flavor. Perhaps they added something else to the eggs when scrambled… The potato pancakes were really thin and crispy, but again, not the most flavorful.
The place is really cute and quaint! It has an «old time-​y» feel, which sort of matches with the entire vibe of the place. Our server was an older man, who was diligent about topping up our water and was helpful and friendly.

Even though it says the Restaurant has Russian and Ukrainian food, it appeared to be kind of americanized or just Polish. Anyway, the food was good, especially salads!!!

Ze Mean Bean is the kind of restaurant I’m happy to have in Baltimore. I’ve been here several times for different services (lunch buffet, dinner, wine bar).
The lunch buffet was a bit lopsided. It sounds ideal; how could unlimited pierogies, mushroom goluski and salad be anything but amazing? Unfortunately, the burners keeping the food hot weren’t doing a very good job so on the first go round my pierogies and holushki were a bit lukewarm. The bartender seemed to notice I wasn’t ecstatic about my picks and told me when they brought out fresh, hot items. The fresh items were absolutely amazing! I especially recommend the golushki — the fresh herbs and mushrooms made this such a comforting, rich dish I could have filled up on them alone. I immediately googled for a recipe. The pierogies were really decent — served with carmelized onions, my favorite were the cheese and potato ones. A little sour cream made it even better. Score: 3.5.
I came back with a friend for dinner not too much later. She didn’t know too much about Slavic fare so we shared the sampler. It was good, except we didn’t like the cabbage roll. Service that night was really rough — they need an extra server, the bartender was again doing everything. We didn’t mind waiting and enjoyed our meal and her friendly service, but other diners were less understanding. I really hope they’ll hire another server for summer. Score: 3.5
The wine is really, really good. The Balbec especially pairs well with the food. I’m still a novice where wine is concerned, but thankfully on my third trip I had a bit of an expert with me who picked out a heavenly (or sinfully wonderful) Cabernet. Score: 3.8.
Well worth a visit and a definite find in Fells.

We arrived, not knowing what to expect, and were greeted by a hospitable waitress. The black and white wedding photos above a fireplace, along with the warm lighting and rustic furniture provide a welcoming homey atmosphere.
Overwhelmed by the menu, we ended up choosing the pierogi buffet based on the waitress’ suggestion. The options include three types of pierogis (potato, cheese, and cabbage), kielbasa, potato salad, and a mushroom medley. A dollop of sour cream complemented the pierogis perfectly. I ordered the chai tea which came with nutmeg, cinnamon and was topped with whipped cream. The tea wasn’t overly sweet, with a slight nutmeg flavor that left a pleasant aftertaste– that’s how I would describe the overall experience. A quiet quaint escape from the bustle of fells point.
I’d give Ze Mean Bean Café a 3.5 star rating and would definitely come back!