The Red Horse

The most Unsatisfying tasteless dinner I’ve ever had. The veggies were undercooked so badly. The mash potatoes were lumpy dry and needed ungodly amounts of salt. The server was friendly and there drinks were decent. That’s the only reason I’m giving 2 stars

If it was possible to give zero stars… I would. I would never recommend to anyone to go there. For Mother’s Day we set reservations for the buffet. Walking in, we were directed to the basement by a rude hostess. The entire place was outdated and dirty. The buffet consisted of one table with dry bland food. Choices were overdone stuffed chicken breast that was crying out for gravy, white fish that was almost edible, shrimp that was okay for proteins. They also had prime rib but the waiter who was to be cutting it was rarely at his station because he was running out of the room or gabbing with wait staff. And the wait staff was non existent – you could not get refills on drinks etc. No one was friendly and many guests commented on this. Desserts were all chocolate, no fresh fruit or anything else that would be good. To top off an already bad meal, it took twenty minutes to get our check – after we asked two different waitresses. Then I had to go up to the bar to pay and waited another ten to get that done — and they even put a 20 percent tip on an already not worth it bill. If you want to take someone you love out for a good meal — you are better off anywhere else but here. Not worth the hype!

I have never had such a delicious and perfectly cooked steak in my life! Our server Don was very pleasant and told us about the wine specials. They have ½ bottles on Mondays so we got a bottle of red wine for only $ 15. For appetizers my boyfriend and I started with scallops wrapped in bacon and escargot, both very tasty. Then, I got a filet mignon petite cut with a lobster tail and he got the regular cut. I don’t think they could’ve made those steaks taste any better, we were blown away. Our hostess was also very personable as well. Yes, it’s a bit of an «old-​fashioned» place but that just added to it’s charm.

I will never ever come back here. This place is run down and outdated. The service was bad and the food was even worse! My steak was way overdone and my rice was not cooked all the way. The vegetables even had a bad texture to them. I would highly recommend choosing any other restaurant.

We love eating at the Red Horse! Their crab cakes are the most amazing I have ever had. Just the right amount of seasoning and hardly any filler. The owners are friendly and we love our waiter Don. We had our mother’s surprise birthday there and were treated so well. They made the whole evening absolutely awesome.

I ate here on Saturday, October 25^th 2015 to celebrate two birthdays in our family. It has a reputation as a Maryland family restaurant dining tradition for over 50 years and it’s a local Haunt of Frederick, MD. My wife gives it a 2 out of five and I give it a 1; here’s why: When I entered the restaurant, it smelled. I thought it smelled like urine. My wife thought it smelled like bug spray. The menu promised a lot that it didn’t deliver. There was an escargot appetizer for $ 10 that had no flavor, not even garlic. Our waitress who looked like she’s been working there as a waitress since it started was pushing «only 3 of our 18 ounce T-​Bones left… let me know if you want one, so I can reserve it for you». Me and two brother in-​laws got those. I didn’t notice how theirs were, but mine was one of the worst meals of my life. It was served cold and about 16 ounces of it was fat and bone (see attached photo). My wife and mother-​in-​law got the fried shrimp platter and reported that it too was served cold and the shrimp were tough and the coleslaw had no flavor. I held back on making them remove the charge for my meal from the bill because my mother-​in-​law was paying for the meal and I didn’t want to insult her because she may have picked the restaurant. The waitress or manager never came by to ask anyone how their meal was. They must have learned their lesson. Is it a local Haunt with a 3.8 rating or is it haunted with a 1.5 rating? My recommendation: Eat somewhere else! Out of the top 100 restaurants in Frederick, MD. this rates #98.

I have officially been coming for a week now based on delicious food, great selection of drinks and the best group of people, both working and customers. Now to clarify, I am from out of town. I am from the concrete jungle so this is complete opposite of what I’m used to, however this gem of a location is exactly what I would dream of in regards to restaurants close to where I am staying. I have had the pleasure of knowing the servers and bartenders who have been very warm and welcoming as well as meeting regulars that have been very entertaining to say the least. Some people may say that it is pricy, however I disagree, the quality of the appetizers and food has been phenomenal and spot on to what has been described. If you want cheaper food, go to McDonalds or Taco Bell.

Phenomenal filet mignon. The crab soup is fantastic lots of lump in there. Always five star service and always very clean. It’s got an old time saloon type of feel to it, love love love this place! Also– nice selection of single malt scotch at great prices, Macallan 18 and 21 by the glass is a hard thing to find!

Overall not bad (don’t think it’s worth the price) best part of my meal was the Bloody Mary get it you won’t be disappointed the apps were good (oysters on the half shell not bad just small and the tater tots were yummy) the garden salad was not good very small salad for $ 6 some greens onion and a slice of cucumber which when my waiter asked after taking our dinner order would we like a garden salad we assumed the came with dinner (had never been there before so lesson learned) and when we got the bill it says on the website apps half off during happy hours… apparently only when you sit at the bar! That made me mad aswell. But like I said lesson learned then we got out dinner crab cakes that were really good and the prime rib which sadly had no flavor not the meat or the broth it was sitting in overall not bad food but certainly not worth the price and all the stipulations during happy hour

Lovely atmosphere, congenial yet not overbearing staff, fantastic steak — everything you want in a steakhouse!

My friend and I decided to try this place instead of the outback. Mistake. Actually I should spell that «miss steak». My steak was overdone and flavorless, the sides I ordered were not the sides I received. We decided we will not be back.

I had a surprise birthday party for my husband here. We had a nice private room downstairs and our own wait staff. The food was very good. I will be back for private parties. The crab dip is fantastic, a lot of our guests ordered the fried shrimp they were large and very good. The people who had prime rib said it was yummy. The filet Chesapeake was delish. All in all it was a great choice of venue.

Lovely atmosphere for a more
Upscale evening. Sitting by the fire, watching our steaks cook on the grill, enjoying fresh warm tasty bread and creamy mushroom soup. The service is impeccable. Good very tasty and a very pleasant top-​notch dining experience.

I have not eaten here. This review is for service and atmosphere. If you are looking for a romantic and cozy place to eat or have a drink at the bar, this is the perfect place. The staff is so friendly and kind. There is a fireplace in the dining area, dim lighting, and rustic hardwood ceilings and walls. So nice!

I dined here Valentine’s Day evening with my best friend and my younger sister. I made our reservation through Open Table and we were actually seated early. Our server, Don, was fantastic! He was very friendly and efficient. Appetizers were onion rings and crab dip, both were delicious. 2 of us had the filet mignon, while the other had the sirloin topped with spinach, bacon and bleu cheese. The steaks were phenomenal. Cooked exactly to order, tender and juicy. The filets were topped with the chef’s butter which gave amazing flavor without overpowering the steaks themselves. I also had a crab cake with my filet which was full of large lumps of crab meat and very little filler. Side dishes of baked potato and green beans were tasty as well. All 3 of us finished our dinner with chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream. Dessert was just a good as everything else. I’d recommend Red Horse over any of the chain steakhouses in the area with no hesitations.

Stopped by without reservations and was accommodated immediately. The loaded tater tots with the spicy ketchup are a must have. Our server Ruth was great! She had a wonderful personality and was extremely informative about the entire menu to include drinks. She was very attentive to our needs without being over bearing. We will definitely request her during our next visit.

Two words… Old and Tired.
Only a few tables sat on a Tues night and it took 40 min to cook 3 med rare steaks the size of a tennis ball. Hate to see what it’d be like when/​if they are busy. Then they weren’t really MR… tasteless and a little dry (with too much crap on them).
I don’t understand… if your business is all about steaks THEN LEARN TO COOK A PROPER STEAK!
Veggies had hard bits of rosemary that you had to spit out. Dinner definitely not worth $ 24/​each. The bread w/​garlic butter and Baker was best part of meal. Ambiance is dated (60s western and dark). Sorry, unless they do a major reno. not going back, too many good restaurants in Fred.

I can’t believe this place only has 2 ½ stars. I’d probably rate this a 4 star review, but I’m tossing in the extra star to offset the others stupidity. My companion and I, Mr. X, had a wonderful dinner experience there last Saturday night when we visited en-​route to Pittsburgh from Baltimore. Our server, Tim, was so polite and sweet, and very attentive. The food runner/​busboy (we didn’t get his name) was really helpful, and told us a lot about the foods we had ordered. The service by these fellows was just great, 100%. For appetizers we got the Stuffed Tater Tots. They were yummy, and our busboy told us they are hand-​made on the premises by one of the chefs in the kitchen. They are really great (red pepper flakes make them a touch spicy which I loved– and they come with a side of ketchup!) and I highly recommend them. We also ordered the bacon-​wrapped scallops and they were delightful. For an entrée, I ordered crab cakes and they were full of chunks of crab meat, not mealy and sparse like some others you might get. Very tasty! The french fries were well made and hand-​cut. Mr. X got salmon, and he said it likewise was awesome.
Our experience was very nice, I’m not sure what others are expecting here, but this is a very OLD SCHOOL establishment, started decades ago when things were done RIGHT. If you don’t understand that– then DON’T GO! Today, in the fast paced world of highly commercialized casual dining, and a general lack of breeding, in combination of the very real devolution among the general population (yes, devolution is real folks– look it up on Wikipedia), it’s no wonder that a lot of people don’t understand what real dining experiences are supposed to be like. Yes, the place has that old building smell. That’s because it IS AN OLD BUILDING. For you people that don’t get it, take your dollars to Outback or TGIF for God’s sake and enjoy your slop force fed to you from freezer bags. But for those of us who appreciate things done the real, old classy way, I highly suggest a visit to the Red Horse.
My only complaint might be that the bartender wasn’t very professional, although I want to add that she was very likeable to the customers and did her job well from what I could tell. We were seated in the small dining room associated with the bar nearby, and we heard her entire illustrious life story rife with speeding tickets, previous dating disasters, questionable «semi-​prescription» drug use, and just overall general non-​professional talkativeness. She seemed like a nice gal and it certainly was not near offensive at all, but I just didn’t feel that that type of conversation was appropriate for a classier restaurant dining room.
The décor is quaint, very much what you’d expect from a restaurant that has existed for a very long time. It’s very clean, with original knotty pine paneling throughout. I’d remove the rope light LED’s behind the bar in the three bottle cartouches, but that’s just me, I think they made it look tacky, but then LED lighting done the wrong way is inherently tasteless.
Dress is casual, no reservation was required, but also we were very early, around 6:00 p.m. for dinner. Go and enjoy yourself. Ask for Tim to help you.

My wife and I met some of her friends here for dinner while we were in Maryland. Unfortunately this place did not meet our expectations. The steaks (I had prime rib and my wife had the filet) were generally tough. Both of our baked potatoes were not cooked all of the way through. I did have to send my first prime rib back because it was significantly overdone. And the best part of the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing was the peanut butter icing — the chocolate cake was quite dry.
Not everything was a complete bust. The service here was not terrible, and the Red Horse cocktail that I had was tasty. Overall, however, we were disappointed and won’t be returning.

Trying to avoid traffic in route to Gettysburg on a Friday evening I pulled into the only Non-​Chain restaurant I could find, which in this case had a lower star rating than I choose, being 3 verse 4. However I felt it deserved the try.
As I walked in I found the atmosphere is rustic and comfortable. The hostess immediately greeted me and escorted me to a table, «just as I requested,» in back and out of the way. Of course it may have helped the restaurant was sparsely occupied, at least initially, but that soon changed as the dinner crowd rolled in.
Staff: The welcoming attitude made a world of difference for me coming from the stop and go traffic on I-​15. Needing a break and not wanting to be rushed I asked my server to hold off on each entrée until I was ready for the next and he was more than accommodating… as was the rest of the staff that would come by and check on how I was doing when he was busy with a large table to my right. When it came time to order his honesty meant a world of difference to me. Although, they are primarily a steak house the steaks are not aged. He also knew the full menu and how to smile.
Meal: I started off with my typical dirty martini made with Tito’s vodka, which came as ordered it but was only «good» as it needed a bit more dirty. I transitioned into the Italian Wedding Soup that came with toasted French roll, served with roasted garlic in oil and another plate of butter.
The bread was wonderful and the toasted garlic was tasted well but would have been better had it been in smaller pieces for easier placement on the loaf.
The Wedding Soup was also good but needed seasoning, harkening to the possibility that it came from a can.
My main meal was the one of the specials, Beef Stroganoff. It was done extremely well. Seasoned appropriately, steak cooked to perfection and the noodles and sauce something I would have suspected came from a fine restaurant in Manhattan. Excellent choice.
Desert: The homemade desert by a local bakery was also very good. I decided on the Blackberry and Peach a la mode and despite the whipped cream tasting as if it was Cool-​whip, I guess I’m spoiled from my wife’s homemade whipped cream I was pleased. The coffee came with international delight creamer and was a nice quality.
Overall: The bathrooms were very clean and efficiently situated. The dinning room was separate /​across from the bar separated by swinging doors keeping the right atmosphere for both. I especially enjoyed the large fireplace that was central to the dinning area. In the end I have very little to grumble over, and whatever I could complain about was overtaken by the very efficient service with a smile. I don’t know how the seafood or steaks are but for the meal and service I had I give it four (4) stars. I look forward to returning to Red Horse on my next trip to Gettysburg,…hopefully with my wonderful wife and family.