Callahan’s Seafood Bar & Grill

Great place. Went there because the local hotel suggested it. Will be back my next stop in town.

I don’t know where to start. We had reservations at 5 because we had a party of 8 and our table was in front of the main walk way. We ordered our drinks which served promptly except for forgetting my fathers shot before dinner (he’s Irish). Oysters where good but from there on it went down hill. My father order a 10z New York strip which tasted like it was freezer burnt. Fries where suppose to be hand cut fries which where soggy from grease. Crabby Mac was good. The mahi mahi was cut very thin which special of the day and no taste. They did make the vegetables to our liking instead of butter they made with olive oil. Mind you this was our second time going in the past 2 years. My parents where with us both times visiting from Michigan so they requested on going. Any way we will not be spending our hard earned money there again.

Cute little place with a nautical theme. Outstanding service, the staff couldn’t be nicer or more attentive (not so attentive as to be annoying though). My husband had a burger and I had the seafood flat-​bread, we enjoyed them both. We will be going back again!

Great food, friendly service. I was there last night with my cousin. With no reservation, we were seated within 5 min. I had the grilled salmon. He had the seafood platter. Both were properly cooked, and very tasty.
There is also a well stocked bar, with an interesting variety of beers, and nice cocktail specials.

This place has been about a half mile from my home for 25 years and i try them out every 5 yrs or so. Im still waiting for a meal that makes me want to come back. Its divided into two distinct halves. The front half is fine dining and the back half is a typical noisy bar. I went for carryout and entered thru the front door and was directed to bar area. This was fine except for the fact that the fine dining seating was relatively tight and we had to squeeze thru seated customers and a waitress to get to the bar. After i was at the bar i noticed a separate bar entrance in the back. It would have been easier to enter directly into the bar.
I checked the menu online at
This is apparantly a bad menu. The bartender told me the only trustworthy address for the menu is
but this site didnt offer me a menu and it come up on the first page of a google search.
The bartender that helped us was really nice and prompt. She gave us a menu and i immediately noticed a dramatic difference in some prices. There was $ 5 difference in my wife’s meal. The others were $ 1 – 2. I wasnt so much irritated at the price difference as much as i was irritated that they didnt seem to care where i got the bad info. Ideally id like them to care enough to want to clean their erroneous stuff off the net. Instead i was told the business changed hands 2 yrs ago and was told the correct location for the web-​based menu— noted above.
The wait for the food was typical bar atmosphere… noisy. the food was typical. I dont think any of it was fresh cooked. I got broiled scallops, fried shrimp, calamari, fish and chips and onion rings. All except the fries and onion rings felt like they were all from frozen. The scallops also came with the veggy of the day brussel sprouts which is my wifes fav but the serving was about a tablespoon of overcooked mushy sprouts. Meh!
The consensus after dinner was that we should have spent half the cash and just gotten good quality burgers or saved even more and just cooked it myself.

Great spot near Ft. Detrick. This place wasn’t too crowded when I came in. The food arrived fresh and hot. The crab cakes were delicious!

Night out with the wife and no reservations anywhere so we went to Callahans. My wife is familiar with this place but I was not. Atmosphere and the waitresses were great but sadly the food was not. For a place that specialize in seafood I was unimpressed. The shrimp were overlooked and tough. The lobster tail was, to put it nicely, unappealing. The lobster looked deflated and old. The manager did replace the lobster with more crab legs so that was cool. The crab soup and crab legs were ok. Will go back to have a beer and visit friends but will not be ordering off the dinner menu. Heard lunch is the time to go. Will give them another chance and maybe upgrade the ranking then. Friday night, April 2.

As someone who doesn’t enjoy seafood, the menu is large enough to keep me satisfied no matter how many times I visit.
Even if it is crowded, the staff is always courteous and attentive.

Smelled good, looked like a fun seafood shack. We couldn’t eat there because of msg sensitivities but it seemed nice and our server Billy was super awesome. I can’t eat there, but I’d certainly recommend it to others who can tolerate msg.

Great atmosphere, the food was delicious and the service was top notch. A great representation of what a Maryland Crab Cake taste like.

Had an excellent lunch of crab cake sliders and sweet potato fries. Really good creamy crab cakes and the fries were a great alternative to potato fries. I put the cakes together and brought the buns home to make croutons and used the lettuce and tomato to make a side salad! Definitely recommend.

We go to Callahan’s at least once a week. We always sit in the bar area and all the bartenders are wonderful. I am a big fan of their wings, soups, spicy crab flatbread, and cheeseburger. It’s a fun place to hangout and have a few drinks.
Hi Larry! We moved to Maryland November 2014 and Callahan’s was one of the first places we ever went. Kacey, Tracie, Steph, Jeri and Craig always take good care of us so that is why we keep going back.

Well I’m gonna start with the thing that I dislike the most and that was our waiter, he had a very arrogant attitude and definitely not a fit for that job, other thing was the prices for what you get on your plate is not worth it. I pad $ 14 for 3 BABY Bella mushrooms with crabmeat and btw the overpriced blend sandwiches with commercial potato chips so not worth the money or the time you spend there waiting. So I give 1 star for having events like paint nite and other one for having a great location and a bar in the back

So disappointed I don’t know where to start. The only good thing about this place was the friendly staff, unfortunately (which is why I’m throwing them a bone with two stars).
We tried the crab dip appetizer which was 95% pure cream cheese. My husband got the oysters on the half shell which were huge, but not as fresh as you want oysters to be, and not the best tasting.
For my main course I got the slider combo. Please see the picture to understand how ridiculous this dish was. My Caesar salad was inedible (dressing tasted funky) and was not cheap ($ 6!).
Husband got fried oysters which were better than the raw ones and the highlight of his meal, but all elements on his plate were so deep fried they were almost unrecognizable (see other picture).
I really wanted to like this place and prefer to patronize independently owned small restaurants, but this was just a mistake. We definitely won’t be back.
Hi Larry– I wrote the review just after leaving the restaurant, so we were there 27 days ago. It was during a paint night event. I’m sorry I’m just responding to you now. Thanks for the follow up.

Great crab cake! And don’t forget to try their soups! Their fresh-​baked soft bread dipped in Maryland crab soup is worth trying!

Dinner was excellent! was slightly more expensive than we thought it would be, but it was great food.
One comment I would like to point out is that there was a noticeable difference in where «some» people were seated. Im not sure if it was a coincidence or not but everyone at my table noticed that «some» people were sat in the dining area and «some» people were sat in the bar area. IDK, maybe it wasnt intentional at all but it seemed very weird to myself and my entire table.

My absolute favorite karaōke joint! Friendly staff, friendly patrons, amazing talented DJ on Friday and Saturday! Love love LOVE! One of my favorite dive bars!
Only crabcakes in town I will eat as well :)

Like others have mentioned, this place is a classed-​up dive. And the combination really works! I hadn’t thought to go in until a friend suggested a quick lunch. I was surprised to see white tablecloths when we walked inside.
The crab cakes and crab imperial are remarkably meaty, and very fresh. I really enjoyed the mushroom caps stuffed with crab imperial. Great little snack when washed down with an Arnold Palmer!
Service was friendly and prompt. And according to my dining companion, they have been known to host watercolor painting sessions inside the restaurant. Not sure if that rumor is true, but if so, it adds another unexpected and interesting dimension that make Callahan’s worth your time to visit.

Great for Dive!!! The funny part is though, while it has the dive look and feel, the prices are more equivalent to Downtown Frederick. Very mischievous of them. We had fried pickles at the suggestion of some of the other reviewers here, and while I prefer pickles slices as opposed to the spears, these were fantastic. Watch out though, the spears hold the oil/​heat in and will burn the $*%& out of your mouth.
I had the Crab Cake sandwich which wasn’t earth shattering as sandwich, but the crabcake itself was very good. Mostly crab and not a lot of filler. The perfect combination My two little ones had shrimp and onion rings and the Crab nachos, and both inhaled them and still wanted more.
Back to my original statement though, it was a little on the pricey side. A crab cake sandwich, a kids meal, and two appetizer plates for a grand total over $ 50 before the tip for a fantastic gentleman that I watched shake every persons hand before he greeted them a good evening. Great customer service all the way around. People were going out of their way to make sure the customers were number one and that was obvious. I guess the price doesn’t bother me like it could, simply because of the customer service; but it will definitely have me thinking twice before I go in for a «family meal». Maybe go in with other couples on a higher end night, but…
Nice place overall though!

A charming little fine. We were in the area & I was in the mood for cream of crab soup. We each got a bowl & it was tasty, it had a hint of jalapeño without the heat. It was weird to me, but my husband liked it.
I got the crab cake, it was all meat with no filler. It was fresh, but not a lot of flavor, but they did serve it with homemade tarter sauce, which I enjoyed. My side was the veggies, which was simply boiled with no added butter or seasoning. I added salt & pepper because if you haven’t guessed it I like a lot of flavor.
My husband ordered the fried shrimp. He said it was delicious & enjoyed his fries & coleslaw sides.
Since we checked in at Unilocal the restaurant offered a free dessert. They had several cakes & cheesecakes to choose from. We decided to get the chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. It was good, I may have enjoyed it more if the cookie was hot, but I can’t complain since it was free.
There was only one waitress, but they did have a man refilling drinks & clearing dishes. The prices were standard for a seafood restaurant.
We will definitely return, since there were several sandwiches I would like to try.