Dockside Resturant & Sports Bar

We have been eating crab cake and Maryland crab soup just about everywhere around Annapolis for the past 15 years. I consider myself a crab cake and crab soup snob! I love the stuff when done right. There are a lot of crab cake pretenders, particularly at the tourist traps in Annapolis and you’ll read in the Washingtonian that you should go to Cantlers and bla, bla but trust me, Dock Side rates at the top for crab cake and Maryland crab soup.
Boatyard Grill in Eastport is actually my usual source for a great lump crab cake sandwich but I now add Dockside to the list. Dockside has a unique twist to its Maryland crab soup. It is unique because they put good size lumps of crab in the bowl before they pour the soup into it. It has near perfect tomato broth and fresh (?) vegetables on top of the succulently sweet lumps of crab — every spoonful had a lump of crab. I hate to admit it, but their Maryland crab soup beat Boatyards pasty concoction hands down.
You will not get that disappointing ‘shredded’ crab either in the sandwich nor the soup, instead you will get big lump crab and it will be as good as any crab you can get in Maryland.
Now truth be told, the iced tea did not taste brewed, the sweet potatoe fries were drenched in oil and my wife’s Pinot came in a plastic cup, but that’s how they roll down here in south county! And, for all I know the crabs were from Thailand or the Outer Banks as opposed to the Chesapeake but that could be a good thing too as I am just rating the crab cake and crab soup not the sourcing, hydrogenated fats or whatnot.
We just stopped here today on a whim to get out of town, Dockside is literally right on the water — albeit a bit of a boat parking lot— but with today’s sun and breeze it was as as pleasant a spot that you will find anywhere in the US.
It’s a bit of a drive from Annapolis but if you are down there anyway you may be a fool not to try them.

I absolutely love the outdoor area here. The menu isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s a great atmosphere with a beautiful view. We have definitely been back more than once and will continue to visit.

SMH This place has so much potential. Lovely location on the water next to a marina. Virtually no competition in the area-​except for the biker bar down the road and live music. Outside «tiki bar» though it’s definitely not a tiki bar – nary a thatched roof in sight. (More a tin roof bar.)
A little detour driving back to DC from Annapolis. We wanted something on the water and this fit the bill.
I was super excited when I saw multiple signs advertising Orange Crushes as their specialty– one of my favorites. Until they ran out of orange vodka and couldn’t make any. Maybe you should cover those signs!
We only stopped for drinks because we had eaten dinner not too long ago, but the coconut cream pie pulled me in. Until it came and I realized it was of the frozen variety.
Unfortunately the service is what really disappointed the most. Our server was talking to the people at the table next to us and without a word or even a glance, dropped our menus on our table. Um… thanks.
Then she never came back. Ten to fifteen minutes later when she didn’t return I went to the bar myself to order.
The one shining star in this fiasco was the live music: David Andrew Smith was delightful. Clearly underappreciated by the crowd, performing in the hot sun to the four of us who appreciated his music.

We held a private dinner to celebrate our daughters graduation from high school. The owners were very responsive to our needs, they helped us select a menu that offered something for everyone. The food was delicious and very reasonable. If you are looking for a place to hold your event check out Dockside.

Had a wonderful Sunday afternoon on the deck, tossing back some orange crushes and listening to live music. Tried a mango crush as well. That was good as too! Broiled crab cake was delicious! Lump crab meat, but fries were extra. $ 16.95 for just the crab cake, minus the cost of the fries was too steep! Have had lump crab cakes that came with fries in Annapolis and on Kent Island, and market price didn’t run more than $ 12 – 14. Please consider adding fries to your entrée, without the extra cost, if you’re going to charge nearly $ 17 for the cake! Atmosphere was relaxing and our waitress provided great service! Wanna come back again, but will have to order a burger unless the crab cakes have fries added for no additional cost. Love the outdoor deck and bar. Would love to see the cost be a bit less, especially for locals who would like to frequent your establishment more often!

I really want to like Dockside. We keep our boat in the marina there and our food was pretty good on our 2 previous visits, but after today, I won’t be back. To start the Maryland crab soup was very good, which I was going to tell the waiter had he ever come back. My husband got his fish sandwich but the cocktail sauce he requested never came. We waited for my meal, a salad, but it never came. All these people working and no one, including our waiter would make eye contact. Long after my husband finished his sandwich we finally got his attention. But no apology. I understand they were busy but this was beyond bad. Zero stars.

Service was slow. Atmosphere was loud in the formal dining room. Soup came out with the entrée and appetizer following. Food was OK, nothing to write home about. Really just the place to go for drinking in the summer.

Stopped in for lunch in January and the view and quiet ambiance is wonderful and gets 5 stars. Descent gin and tonics and steamed shrimp were quite good. Crab cake sandwich was pretty good too. Crab cake had lots of crab and little filler. Overall a pretty good lunch stop but the food did not wow me. It is all A-​ok. Will return.

The dining area has a very nice casual/​kinda formal atmosphere. The food was to die for! Our server, Wendy ~ was very sweet, kind, professional and brought our drinks straight away and Exactly how we ordered them. Our food runner, Allie ~ also very kind, sweet, professional and right on time with our order!
We Highly recommend this place if you’re looking for great atmosphere, great food/​prices and, with the fantastic layout, we didn’t even hear a peep from the sports bar so, we were able to converse normally without ever hearing anything from the sports bar even in the background! No TV in the dining area… those are reserved for the sports bar…

We had a delicious and fresh lunch here today by the water, and our server world her tail off. It’s unfortunate that others had a bad experience, ours couldn’t have been much better!

Love the Sunday NFL $ 5 appetizer special — I got the 3 sliders (chicken, pulled pork, & cheeseburger). I’m not a fan of caramelized onions on my burgers or cole slaw on my pork… But it was easy to take off and eat. Amount of stars would have been 3 – 4 but we waited over 20 mins just to get another beer — waitstaff needs to pay more attention to customers not seated at the bar.

Exceptional food, the menu is great and the specials are even better. We ate at the bar and enjoyed the service provided by Stephanie. She made some great adult beverages, some great food recommendations and we enjoyed some good conversation as we waited on our food. I cannot say enough good things about our experience. Simply put: outdoor bar, orange crushes, great food and country music… it doesn’t get much better than this!

Consider yourself lucky if you can get the young lady seating you to seat you in the dining room because this is our second time here and each time she refused to sest us in the dining room and we sat it the bar area. It is very loud and we are old people and this is not a good combination. It is very difficult to hear someone talking.
I had broiled scallops which were quarter size and there were 7 of them. For $ 22. I would think you would get a few more. They were cooked very well, but very salty to taste.
My wife had cream of crab soup, which was the highlight of the meal. It was excellent.
She also had the ‘fish and chips’ which has NO CHIPS! It was over done and dried out. Overall it below average for me. The average pricing is around $ 25.00. I would go to Pettie Greens –I have no stake in Pettie Greens either. The waite staff was better than average.

Just had some incredible awesome ahi tuna cooked rare rare as ordered. Service was excellent. These guys have made leaps and bounds on growing into their new space.

Disappointing. I had high hopes the new ownership would do good things here, but alas another restaurant run by service industry amateurs with no taste.
Menu has no clear theme or expertise. Is there even a head chef? It is all over the place and everything is at best mediocre. I mean the name of your restaurant is dockside, let’s feature some fresh local and seasonal seafood with creativity. Menu needs to be seriously pared down and focused. Feels like it was designed by a committee of 16yr old boys who only want steak and pasta. (Don’t even get me started on the physical menu font, layout, and general set up. I mean, come on… use a template)
Food generally is poorly cooked. Little to no attention paid to sides or plating. All the salads were way overdressed. Crab cakes were flavorless and soggy. Nothing tastes home cooked. Seems like it is all straight off the Sysco truck.
Service was terrible. I will usually continue to patron a watering hole for their good service and atmosphere alone, but the staff here is just bad. Poorly trained and ill mannered towards guests, they just need to try harder and get better management.
I’ll maybe try a few more time this summer in case they turn things around. But South County Café is just so much better.

I’ve been here three times now, and they have maintained the same quality standard each time.
Kudos.

These are the same folks that had Petie Green’s up the road. Over 7 years of dining at PG’s the food had always been consistently good. The menu isnt huge or particularly fancy but that’s fine, this area has too many places that get fancy without paying attention to consistentcy and quality. They stick to what they do well and run specials that keep things exciting.
Their crab dip is my absolute favorite crab dip with a touch of horseradish, lots of cheese and crusty french bread. After a long work week that’s my Friday comfort food.

Since our sailboat is docked 100 yards away, we are hoping to become regulars here. While some items have been tasty, I agree with another reviewer that I’d like to see some more creativity! Hoping over time the menu will grow. The turkey ruben is really good as are the onion rings. The salads are standard and fresh. The soups need a makeover — they don’t taste fresh. This place has so much potential being right on the water, they should spend time developing good crab soups.

Let me first say that a family friend reports having a pretty good dinner of rock fish at this place. That was dinner. Lunch is a different story.
While the setting overlooks the water and boats moored at Deale, the lunch menu is unimaginative and the food only fair. Fried clams. Fried shrimp. Fried fish. Burgers. Fried. Ordinary and dull.
The Dockside claims to have good crab chowder. I’d grade it an «D-​minus.» Served lukewarm, the chowder is too much starchy goo and too little crab.
It’s not the worth the trouble to stop if you are driving by.

A totally updated version of long time local favorite Peite Green’s. Same great food but with two bars plus a dockside bar and food service. Great place for any occasion, with lots of room for parties. I highly recommend The Dockside Restaurant and Sports Bar.