Wow, this place went totally downhill. Â Despite being one of only 3 tables, our drinks never even got refilled once. Â Drinks from the bar took a very long time as did the food. Â When my entree finally came, it was the wrong thing. Server was not very apologetic. Â Everything we ordered was underwhelming.
Review Source:In the past we found The Diamondback Tavern to have a very interesting menu with reasonable prices and everything we tried was prepared well and was delicious. Because of that we went back June 27, 2013. What a disappointment! Still a good menu, but the prices are outrageous. Rockfish bites were very tasty but only had 5. At $11.50 for an appetizer, it should have been enough to feed two. The hamburger was cooked properly, but was very dry and bland. The Ceasar salad was fair. Also wanted soup but priced from $7.50 to $9. Won't be going back there again.
Review Source:Went here on Sunday for brunch with a group of 6. There were probably 3 other tables full in the whole place. We ordered wings to start and asked for drinks while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive. Apparently the $2 mimosas are made with fresh squeezed OJ but that doesn't justify the nearly 20 minute wait for each one. We resorted to ordering 2 at a time just so our drinks would not run dry. However, the same trick did not work for the water glasses or the coffees which were only refilled twice in the entire 2 hours that we spent here. In addition, our empty glasses sat on the table without being cleared and completely crowded the dining space. A little consideration to remove empty glasses as you are bringing back full ones? The waitress claimed to be good enough to not write down our orders regardless of the party size and substitutions. Needless to say every single order came out wrong, and when they did she blamed the kitchen for "being slammed" even though we could clearly see that the place was not even full. The wings we ordered never arrived and when we asked about the status of the food she said, "sorry i meant to tell you I forgot to put those in." We waited over an hour for our food, which again was not justified based on the number of tables in the place. Finally, we resorted to walking up to the bar to get our tab because after asking 3 times we were never brought the check. Needless to say we wont be back.
Review Source:Food is quite mediocre and the waitress was a complete bitch with a huge attitude problem! We went before and sat at the bar the bartender was very friendly. 5/24 around 2pm we walked in and sat at a table. Miss Attitude hardly spoke never asked how anything was or came back to refill drinks. When she shook her head 'no" when we asked for Rockfish bites and kept shaking "no" instead of just saying "we don't have any" it was like playing Charades!! Then my husband jokingly said "oh well we are out of here then, hehehe" She said "there's the door show yourself out" NOT in a jokingly way!!
WE won't bother stopping there again! The food was not anywhere near good enough to deal with a bitchy server!!
Went back a few weeks ago and ordered the same thing, the powerhouse wrap and it wasn't very good. It didn't have any flavor in it and was lacking the avocado. Left feeling just meh. Spouse said the fries weren't as good this time either. It's a shame, we need more decent casual eats down in Old EC to offer some choice.
Review Source:I have given the Diamondback Tavern more than a few chances now. I love that they support local music, and that's why I'll continue to see bands here, but it is mind boggling how they can mess up even the simplest of dishes: grilled cheese, French toast, home fries. I'm repeatedly disappointed by my meals here. Whatever I get is either bathed in grease or totally dry. Â The side vegetables are always watery and totally overcooked.
On a recent Sunday I was enticed by the $2 mimosas. I started out drinking downstairs with my brunch and later moved upstairs. The bartender offered to switch my check to the upstairs bar, and I made sure to tip her before I headed up. But when I continued to order my mimosas upstairs, they told me "We don't have the champagne up here," but that I could go downstairs to get the drink. So, I literally walked downstairs every time I wanted a drink-- wouldn't it have made more sense to just carry a bottle of champagne upstairs once? Made no sense to me.
Nothing special to eat here...but you might get to see a great band.
Went here when my parents were in town to visit my brother and I, it was okay. Nothing special. My food was just okay, I got something vegetarian and don't honestly remember it, my mother got some fish that she really didn't like, and the appetizers were eh. The waitstaff was very nice though, which is why they get 2 stars. Doubt we'd go back, wasn't really worth it.
Review Source:Went here to see a friends band play. Got there early to check out the bar. Didn't eat but menu looked good. Prices were very reasonable. I think the beer prices were a touch on the higher side, $3 and change for a Natty Bo... Our bartender seemed bothered by us for some reason but the other staff was polite. I'd like to go back during normal house and try the menu out.
Review Source:This is a cozy place with big windows overlooking Old Columbia Pike. The bartender/waittress was very customer service oriented and pleasant. The menu appears to be very appealing however the food itself doesn't quite make the mark. The fries were limp and not crispy. The crab on the fries was a bit fishy. The Thai chili wing sauce had good flavor however, the wings seemed to have been pre-prepped (boiled or baked) then hit on the grill for a sear. The resulting wing was not crispy and browned but, pale and soggy. The highlight was the blackened Rockfish bites which were spiced and cooked to perfection.
Review Source:Went here based on a friend's recommendation. Let me preface this place by saying it is uber casual...a total sports bar. Tavern looks like it's been on the block for awhile and could use some major updates. With that said, I liked the University of MD theme which is evident on the menu and in the name itself. Â Our server was less than impressive but I guess he got the job done. All said and done, I had the Testudo sandwich ($10.50) and enjoyed the combo of flavors. The menu definitely has some good items and the $2 domestics/rails/house wines for happy hour was a perk. I think next time I will try this place solely for the bar scene. Cheers!
Review Source:We've always had a good time here, whether on the first floor or the top floor/dance floor. Â Bartenders have always been attentive and personable. Â Randy is the best!
First floor has a bar and a bunch of booths so you can sit, chill, and drink. Â halfway up the stairs is a side room that I think they use for private functions or special events. Â I've never been in but I've seen tables set up nicely in there. Â I've also seen it open once for beer pong and other activities. Â At the top of the stairs is another bar, some pub tables, a punching bag game, and plenty of floor space. Â Next to this area is the dance floor with a beer pong table, couple of more pub tables, a large booth, and the DJ. Â Dancing is fun here. Â Never seen much trouble here, even though most of the clientele appear to be early-mid 20's. Â No thugs here starting trouble. Â DJ plays typical hip-hop/top 40's club music.
I've only eaten here once when my wife and I had dinner with another couple one Saturday night at the bar. Â The NY strip steak was delish. Â Bacon cheese fries were also good.
We went here this morning to use a groupon for brunch. Â Our waiter was very friendly and the service was very prompt. Â
At first it may seem like there's no where to park, but if you drive just past the tavern, there is a small parking lot on the right or you can use the larger parking lot on the left and down the hill. there are stairs that will take you from the larger parking lot to basically right across the street from the tavern.
The place looked clean and the staff was friendly. Â Our food was very hot and very tasty and the drinks were great. Â What appealed to me was the laid back nature of the bar area and the great music they had playing. Â It made for a really nice atmosphere. Â We looked at their regular menu and found a lot of pub comfort food listed. Â This was a our first visit, but we were intrigued by their happy hour specials during the week, so I think we'll be back to check them out.
Purchased a discounted coupon on the web ($24 for 40) knowing I would be in the area for the Wine in the Woods festival and wanting a place to re-connect with my old Ellicott City / Baltimore buddies. Â It has been a few years since I lived in EC but the town is pretty much the same - sadly some of the old restaurants have morphed into new establishments.
The Diamondback Tavern is one of these. The interior hasn't changed much since those prior days - still looks like the same old pubby atmosphere with a side area for dining. Â Yes, the other reviewer is right, it is a little on the shabby side, but it's got a comfortable down home EC approach - if you want new, glitz and glam - go to Columbia or some trendy new hot spot in East Inner Harbor.
There were 5 of us for brunch and we couldn't have had a better experience. Â The $2 bloody marys were kicking and the solid food selection was tasty and generous. Â I had the #10 which consisted of french toast, homefries, 2 eggs (poached) and bacon. Â The french toast were thick and had good flavor, the homefries were perfectly cubed and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Â My friends had omelets and a egg burrito, all of which they said were good.
Our waitress was very attentive and friendly. Â Our water glasses were filled before they were empty, same with the coffee and the bloody marys were delivered promptly after ordering.
The only downside is that the brunch menu is heavy on the eggs and one of us really wanted a sandwich, which is why I only gave 4 stars instead of 5. Â Also, parking can be a bear, but since I knew what to expect we were prepared.
If I still lived in town, you can bet I would be going back to the DB Tavern!
I came here with 5 of my co-workers because we bought a Groupon. Â We saw the not so good ratings but we came with an open mind to judge for oursleves. Â We went there on our lunch break and we were the only people in the place so we sat at a table by the window and was greeted by a nice waitress who was the only person working there besides the chef of course. Â She chatted it up with us and helped us make our selections. Â She also refilled our drinks on the fly and catered to us. Â Obviousley because we were her only customers. Â But never the less, I was very thirsty that day so she refilled my small glass about 4 times.
I ordered the chicken chesapeake sandwich with fries. Â Let me tell you it was sooo good! Â They put a lot of flavorful crab on top of a juicy chicken breast. Â The fries are just like Thrashers fries from Ocean city and they are my favorite. Â You can even douse them up with vinegar and Old Bay which I did. Â
The others ordered fish and chips, a hamburger and the chicken salad wrap. Â Everybody really enjoyed their food. Â We all ate every last bite. Â I rarely ever eat all my food but it was just that good. Â We will def be back. Â Especially for the awesome happy hours and open mic nights they have.
Service - 2 stars
Food - 1 star
Price - too much
Overall - 2 stars
Husband and I came on a Friday night to use a prixe fixe dinner Groupon. We had a 15 minute wait in the bar, which was fine. The bar area leaves much to be desired, feels cheap, few tables, college ambiance. Husband got a beer, thought the bartender was great.
Dinner area ambiance was fair, but felt a bit tacky with icicle Christmas lights in the window. Service was slow, only brought me water when I asked for it. Long wait to get our appetizers, then our entrees arrived much too soon. This left us with the annoying task of finding a place on the tiny table for our plates.
Back to the food. Almost none of it was good. We ordered the crab soup, house salad, chicken wings, Cuban burger, rockfish wrap and a creme brulee. The only things that were remotely ok tonight were the soup (even though the meat represented chicken more than crab), salad, onion rings and creme brulee. The rest of it made me worry I'd get food poisoning.
The chicken wings looked old and were lukewarm, also came with no dipping sauce. There was nothing Cuban about the Cuban burger, it was virtually tasteless. The fries had no seasoning and thus were completely bland and stale, not even salted. The Rockfish wrap also had no seasoning and left a strong fishy aftertaste. The creme brulee was ok, but hadn't set right so it had an odd texture. It all *looked* good, except the chicken wings. But they just don't season their food. Glad we had a Groupon as this is really overpriced, sub-par food that will only be good after a few drinks. Every other restaurant I have been to on Main St. (about 80% of them, several times each) are far superior in every way.
The alcohol selection was fine, for the record. Not outstanding in the beer and wine section, but fine and well priced. I'd say this is only an ok place for a couple drinks before dinner elsewhere (I would steer clear anyway though).
Parking in Old EC is a rarity on fri and sat especially since it's the only place for a good ice cold beer and a good conversation. We went directly to the bar section ... forgoing the 30 minute wait since we didn't make a reservation (didn't think we needed it). Taking the waiters recommendation, I tried the crab dollop for starters (10.50) crab meat with cheese and homemade pita chips. The crab dip was a little too soupy (too much sour cream/ cream cheese perhaps) and not enough crab meat. It was good enough for sharing with 2-3 people. The homemade pita chips were phenomenal... nice and crunchy on the edges and soft in the center. The Inferno Burger (10.75) with habanero and jalepeno topped with fried green chilis and sourdough bun was meh. Nothing outstanding... nothing amazing. Also tried the Mountain Dude kinda like a mix of mountain dew and sprite ($6).
The food was not great.. drink options were nice though.
Came here while in town visiting the bf's family. While the food wasn't bad by any means, it also wasn't terribly exciting either. Basically it's good for bar food. I have to give them props for having some vegetarian options (and a kid's menu). It's a bit difficult to find things I can eat out here. I had a portabello wrap. Kind of random, but they had sangria so of course I had to get it. It was pretty watered down though so not worth the $6 a glass.
The nearby main street is adorable!
Went there with a very large birthday party of 15 people. Â The service was pretty good considering the size of our party and that there was another 15 person party in the same room with us. Â We had a pretty long wait, but you can't be picky about that with as many people as we had.
The french onion soup was kind of meh. Â Not quite hot enough and with the wrong kind of cheese. Â Another appetizer tried was the buffalo shrimp appetizer. Â It seemed like a concept that just went wrong about halfway through and nobody stopped to say "wait a sec. Â Does this actually taste good?" Â It tasted weird.
The entrees were a hodgepodge. Â Some were exquisite (chicken chesapeake sandwich and bangers and mash, for example) and some were not (my wife's inferno burger was charred and overcooked, although the fries were really good). Â
I ordered corned beef with cabbage. Â First, I want to say that the corned beef was really really good. Â Tender, flavorful, delicious. Â The mustard sauce on it was also perfect and complemented it well. Â The only downfall of the dish was the "cabbage." Â It came with baby boc choy instead of traditional cabbage and it just didn't work. Â I like boc choy as much as the next guy, but it didn't taste like or have the texture of cabbage and it did not complement anything as a result. Â It was just weird juicy boiled lettuce. Â As with the appetizer described above, this seemed like an idea that just went wrong somewhere along the way. Â Nobody stood up and said "wait, this just doesn't taste as good as cabbage." Â It was so wrong I got to thinking that the cook meant to include Napa cabbage in the dish, made a mistake and ordered boc choy and never fixed it. Â The boc choy didn't ruin the dish, but it kept a good entree from becoming transcendental.
All told I think I would go back. Â I would just be careful not to order anything even remotely "experimental." Â Their head chef does not think his ideas through all the way and/or isn't honest with himself (or herself) when something doesn't taste good.
It's Just not very good
I went to dinner here on Saturday. The wait staff was nice the atmosphere fine but the food was pretty terrible, and by pretty terrible I mean really terrible.
Appetizer
We went with the
ir 'crab dollop'(Crab Dip). Â This being Maryland I have pretty high standards for crab dip and this didn't meet any of them. Â It was incredibly soupy, and had little to no crab. Basicly I feel like it paid $11 for cream cheese soup with deep fried pita bread.
Entrées
I went with Maryland Fried chicken.  The Chicken itself was ok it was not very meaty and I don't feel like a got very much cut chicken bones but it tasted ok. The sides were another store all together.  I pretty sure I figured out the recipe to their gravy its water + Cornstarch  +Insane amounts of black pepper.  The mash potato were garlic enough  to kill a vampire three towns over.
Desert
No way not chancing it
Conclusion
I'd go back to get a beer and sit at the bar, but wouldn't want to chance dinner there again,.
I read the reviews before entering. Sat at bar.  The bar tender walked away, a  member of the staff, with hair net, jokingly said, "not that mess when I inquired about the fried chicken." I  ordered the fried chicken. Knowing the feedback should have been a warning. The bar tender came back and informed me I was not going to get chicken but instead Cornish game hen. I was intrigued.  I'm Vietnamese and we eat a ton of chim cut cut up in bite size pieces and stir fried. The serving consisted of a leg and breast.  Using my hands I tore the leg off and was greeted with raw pink flesh! I wanted to try this dish and told the bar tender I'm not upset. I want to try it cooked right. I was offered mashed potatoes and a helping of cole slaw.  The gravy tasted like flour and nothing else.  The fried game hen came out and it was worse then the first attempt.  More raw and pink. I left horrified and disgusted.  Madness and no meat thermometer was all I could think of.
Review Source:Updated to say the brunch is fantastic. Â The risotto with poached eggs was one of the best brunch foods I've ever eaten. Â As always, everything seemed to be properly cooked- even the poached egg on top was sublime. Â I keep thinking I must be getting lucky. Â The kitchen looks like it's about as big as my bathroom, but somehow all the food that comes out of it is properly prepared. Â I don't get it, but whatever, I'm a big fan now.
Oh yeah, and the $2 bloody Mary's were very tasty. Â Simple and delicious.
Grabbed a groupon to this place and decided to use it this past holiday weekend. All in all I'm very glad I didn't end up paying full price because this was definitely not worth it.
My husband and I ended up in Ellicott City for labor day just to do some sight seeing. Since I had the groupon we decided to stop by there for a late lunch/early dinner. We ended up arriving around 2:30 and sitting in the bar area since it was half full.
As far as I could tell there were two people covering the bar area which included bar, tables, and booths. We were prepared for a leisurely lunch so we didn't mind waiting for the waitress to give us menus and get our drinks. However it took about 15 minutes to get our appetizer, a simple soup, and probably another 45 minutes before we got our food. Kind of ridiculous considering it was just fish and chips and a sandwich. While sitting there for a good hour we never got a drink refill and our server only asked if she could get us anything else as we paid the bill. Definitely understaffed and this was during an 'off' time, I can only imagine how bad it gets during peak hours.
The food itself was mediocre. Husband said the fish and chips were decent and that he liked the fries. My chicken chesapeake was fine, nothing that I went "wow" over. Maybe if the food was cheaper I might go back, but not calculating the groupon and including the tip that was nearly a $50 lunch where service sucked and the food was 'meh'.
On a hot Maryland afternoon, I decided to stop in for a beer.
Diamondback is the former TIber River Tavern, which closed a while back. I'd never been to D-Back, but I loved Tiber River dearly, for its food, drink selection, atmosphere, and decor.
Unfortunately, much of what I loved is gone. The bar area is largely repainted an unattractive ... olive color (?) with some odd pastel-looking highlights. The drink selection has shrunk to a few paltry lagers and selection of bottles, and none of the dishes people around me had looked appetizing.
The afternoon I stopped in, there was one waitress for a surprisingly full bar. At 2pm on a Wednesday? Oh well. The waitress was nice enough, but obviously stressed and flustered by working alone. A restaurant run on skeleton crew is never a good sign - an indicator of how things are done behind closed doors, I think.
There are enough other bars in Historic Ellicott City that I don't ever really need to go back.
We (My boyfriend and I) went there because we had a groupon, but it turned out to be pretty good. It was a good choice because the waiter was pretty friendly. The food came out very late but he apologized more than once and gave us two desserts for free. I would try it again in the future.
I ordered: Veggie Risotto B+
It was laid out on some tomato slices, and slightly undercooked (it seems like it needs more stirring.)
He ordered: Chicken Chesapeake A-
There was a lot of crabmeat in the sandwich! It tasted delicious. I was a bit jealous that I didn't order that instead.
The first clue that something wasn't right is walking in the front door, finding the hostess stand un-hostessed, and a sign suggesting you seat yourself in the bar area... at 6:30pm on a Wednesday night. Â Apparently the dining room is closed, abandoned, or who knows.
We were seated quickly... but thats only because we found an unoccupied booth in the back of the bar. Â Quickly greeted by a server, drinks were ordered and received in quick time.
We ordered the hot pretzel with the side of crab dip (extra charge). Â It came served with what was described as "homemade" mustard and cheese sauce. Translate that into fresh from a can grained Dijon mustard and... horribly congealed cheese sauce. Both... unfortunately, were better than the crab dip that came out. Â The consistency of oatmeal, but floating in grease. No discernible crab at all. Pretty terrible really.
I ordered a "Diamondback Original" the Testudo. Imagine cat food slapped between two pieces of bread, with banana. That is pretty much what you get with this sandwich. No flavor at all (grateful for that actually), aside from banana, which is so out of place it actually makes a dull, ugly sandwich worse.
My friend ordered a salad. Pitiful. Wilted, browned, direct from a bag that was probably improperly stored in a refrigerator two days ago.
I have been to the Diamondback in the past, when it re-opened from its days at Tiber River. I don't know what has happened. The menu used to be inspired, used to be innovative. This is plain terrible. Â Save your money, go elsewhere.
Yeah... no.
Weird service, average food, high prices. Just not worth it.
I had a burger. It was a perfectly fine burger. It was a very serviceable $8.00 hamburger. It was, however, about eleven bucks. For a burger. Which is ground beef on a bun. Not special beef. Just ground beef, grilled, on bread. Like other places sell for $7-8, depending on if you want bacon. This had bacon. It was still $11. It came with a salad. That I had to ask for dressing for, because our server forgot that part.
But what about the ambiance? Sure, that's worth the extra cash if you like your appetizer delivered by a hairy stoner who hangs out at the end of the table for an inappropriate amount of time after he's dropped off your crock-o-crabdip. Go away. Your beard scares us. Our primary server was a study in awkwardness.
Beers are poured short, too. A good finger-and-a-half from the rim of the glass to the liquid. Want a beer on Main St.? Go to the Judge's Bench at the top of the hill, or Ellicott Mills Brewery. You'll get an honest pour, if nothing else.
The only reason Diamondback gets the second star is because the food itself is actually pretty good. Just about 25% overpriced. This location just breeds bad restaurants. Go to the Trolley Stop for bar food, they're friendly there at least.
This is a review for Diamondback's Sunday brunch. I haven't actually been there for their happy hours or anything, but I've heard that it gets crazy for the Terps games.
I was extremely pleased with my brunch experience here. I ordered the Number Ten, which consisted of eggs, sausage, potatoes, and French toast. Sounds pretty basic, but for some reason, it was one of the best brunches I've ever had in the Baltimore area. The potatoes were done just right, and the amount of eggs were perfect. The best part is that they have $2 (!!!) bloody Mary's and mimosas, and they are sooo good.
The service at Diamondback was great. For some reason, we kept dropping our utensils, and they were really great about bringing us new ones everytime. The waiters were just really attentive in general.
Diamondback is probably your best and most affordable brunch bet if you are in Old Ellicott City.
Used a groupon/livingsocial deal I bought for this restaurant. It was pretty nice. Back up in the cut had to figure out where to park. The bathrooms were pretty clean the dining room area was nice. The service was pretty good and the food was average. All in all definitely worth a try. The bar area seemed to be the happening spot. If you are going with kids recommend going before 7pm if possible it gets a little rowdy after that.
Review Source:I bought a Groupon about a year ago and finally got the opportunity to try Diamondback Tavern last night. Â I was hesitant to try it after reading the reviews on Yelp, but I'm really glad we went. Â We are definite fans and will return.
The service was prompt and the food was good. Â I ordered the pan seared salmon on the server's recommendation and it was really, really good. Â The salmon was cooked perfectly with a light crust on top. Â I thought the spinach mushroom risotto was just okay, but the boyfriend really liked it. Â I also ordered a side of onion rings and they were really, really tasty. Â
The only thing that was a bit confusing was the whole seat yourself thing? Â I saw a dining room, but no one seemed to be in it, so we just sat at a booth near the bar.
We just parked in the lot across the street, same lot people usually park at for most EC places.
One final note - they have really good specials every night, especially during games and it seems like a great place to watch games! Â They like the Terps, Caps, and Ravens!
Pretty average, trending on the crappier side. Nothing that I tasted drove me to be excited to power the rest of it down. It was more like your random dopey roommate just started cooking a few weeks ago and was getting to the point of making food that you could eat in a pinch, but you'd really rather make it yourself or go around the corner to a place that knows what they're doing. There's a bit of character left over from prior establishments, but the upstairs is totally dumpy and, once again, may be more of the kind of setup your tasteless, dopey, roommate had going when you moved in... industrial carpeting, dumb sports memorabilia shellacked to wood planks, and nasty vinyl cushioned chairs. I almost punched my friend for dragging me here.
Review Source:They really need to clean up the entrance. It has gotten positively nasty and it is truly a turn-off. We have been going here since it was Tiber River Tavern and it was never this dirty. (Carpet stains / general funkiness - and not Parliament Funkadelic funk, the kind of funky funk that looks like... funk.)
You're generally seated pretty quickly, and trust me - you want to be seated near the bar. If they stick you in that first floor back room they will forget about you and never come back. The "fancy" back room is where patrons go to die. I don't know if that is where they stick their staff-in-training or what, but prepare for a long ass wait if you go back there.
The second floor is questionable. Don't go up there unless you're really drunk or planning on being really drunk in the very near future. Don't bother heading up there at all if you're over 35... and even then you would be considered positively ancient. Like Bob Hope what-holiday-am-I-here-for-again ancient. Â Unless you're doing that weird clandestine fantasy football thing they have going on in the back-back 2nd floor room, but it looked pretty intense.
The staff is friendly enough and the food is very inconsistent and at times bizarre. There is a hard-boiled, sausage covered, deep-fried egg on the menu. The rockfish eggs benedict on the brunch menu sounds good in theory, but fails in execution. There is also some kind of hotdog with crab and corn fritters that is gross. The fries are often overdone and dry and forget about a large order to go or a large party. I don't know what is going on in that kitchen, but they seem to get easily overwhelmed and it either takes forever, falls to pieces, or both. Â
I've noticed that people are divided on the chicken wings. For me, the wings are the only thing that saved this place from a worse rating. They do some kind of slow roasting or baking that takes that slimy-skin aspect of some chicken wings out of the equation before they fry it I guess. The honey garlic wings are sooo good. They are a fall-off-the-bone combination of tender meat with a crispy fried exterior.
If they were smart, they would expand their wing offerings to all kinds of "unique but good" flavors like salt and vinegar etc, etc and drop some of the weirder offerings from the menu... but then again it's really hard to tell who they are trying to cater to with their pseudo-fancy dining room, frat house 2nd floor and casual eatery style bar. You can't be all things to all people, Diamondback. No really, you can't.
Waitress was indifferent, at times unfriendly. She came by our table around 12:15 and handed us a limited brunch menu. We asked if we could order off the lunch menu and she said dismissively, "Lunch doesn't start until 1 o'clock." I replied, "So we can't order off the lunch menu for another 45 minutes?" and she repeated the same stock answer verbatim, like she was told to memorize it and offer no sympathy at all.
Just read Tasha W's review as well, and her confusion about the seating situation was spot-on. Made no sense when we arrived.
Dining room was dead silent, except when you'd shift in your seat, and the creaking sound would echo through the room. Made for a very spartan feel. Wish we hadn't gone here for Father's Day. We won't be coming back.
My cousins took us here for lunch because they heard about their specialty wings. The place itself was confusing.. A few booths near the bar area. I believe there was another section to this place but we did not see it. Â
We ordered the thai chili grilled bbq wings for the table $9.50 two people got burgers.. which they enjoyed, my cousin got the bbq chicken breast sandwhich which she liked (although I think the chicken may have been a little dry), and I got the Maryland Corn and Crab dog $10.50 which I would never order again. Â I forced myself to eat it, I was not a big fan. Â I figured Im in Maryland I had to get something with crab but this was just too many weird tastes thrown together. Â Not enough crab to mayo/corn/mustard sauce... The bun was tiny and it was not very filling. Â
We had great service, I was surprised to see we got free iced tea refills before being asked. Â The tavern is off the main strip which was nice but I wonder what my experience would have been like in Ellicott City if we chose a place on the main street.
The Diamondback Tavern has the potential to be a tremendously popular neighborhood restaurant and bar. It just opened a couple of months ago in the previous location of the Tiber River Tavern, which closed last summer. The owners are some guys who went to the University of Maryland (hence "Diamondback") who are associated with the owners of Greystone Grill and Sugarbaker's bakery, which bodes well for the food. Up front I'll say I really want this place to succeed--we live within walking distance and would love to have a relaxing, unpretentious place to hang out, watch the Terrapins, and enjoy some good local food and drink. I've already been here five times--once for drinks, once for dinner (the "grand opening") and the rest for lunch, with various other people.
I really like this place--can you tell? The staff has been friendly to a fault, and the manager has been anxious to please. Parking is plentiful in the lot down the hill. The interior has been re-furbished and looks clean and modern but comfy and inviting. The restaurant still has a separate dining area and bar area with choice of tables or barstools, with plans for a sports bar on the upper level. The food is generally good and sometimes wonderful--more on that in a minute.
I really wish they would do more to get the word out--none of the friends I've invited to go with me, even die-hard Historic Ellicott City fans, knew the restaurant was there. On the first night, we were told their lack of advertising was a calculated decision so they could ease into the business and fix any glitches before things got too busy. But just last week when I was there with two friends for lunch from 12:30 to 2:30, there were no other guests in the restaurant area and only a few people in the bar. It felt a little creepy, especially when our hostess/server mentioned she had overheard our conversation from two rooms away. (We were NOT that loud; the restaurant was just that quiet.) Maybe they should close the restaurant area when business is slow and serve meals in the bar area only, as the Tiber River Tavern has done in the past.
The service has generally been very attentive, particularly at the bar. That's why I was a bit surprised last week when I ordered lunch for a friend who was running late, and our server seemed reluctant to return her meal (including French fries) to the warming lamp or to cover it with foil until she arrived, stating the fries "are just as good cold as when they're hot." (They are really good, but not THAT good.)
I ordered the rockfish baked in parchment, which our server recommended, and it was almost perfect--just a tiny bit overcooked, but still delicious. My other friend ordered the fish and chips, which she loved and said she would order again (but cocktail sauce was not available). On past visits, we've had the rockfish wrap (great!), salads (so-so), and a cinnamon-scented Monte Cristo (fabulous!). Sadly, they told us they no longer carry the excellent desserts from Sugarbaker's, which had been available on all my earlier visits, but offered key lime pie and bread pudding made in-house.
I will go back again, probably again and again--just hope they continue to pay attention to the details and that more people will find out about it and give it a try.
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