Review for: Meridian 54 - CLOSED
I was the very first person that this place hired when they opened. The food is fantastic, but the owners are not. They tend to overseat the dining room, regardless of people who may have reservations or how many servers are there, which causes the kitchen to get backed up. Food can take over an hour or more, so be prepared.
For the most part, the servers I worked with are pretty great and attempt to learn the menu, which is nice considering they aren't even given an hourly wage. Most of the bartenders rock as well, and will go out of their way to fix you up something unique, especially Colleen, who has a delicious Birthday Cake martini.
Unfortunately, M54 is ALWAYS out of something. Last week, there wasn't a single draft beer on tap, and they had to go to the liquor store to buy cases of domestics to stock the coolers. If it's not beer, then it's wine (from a wine list that is never the same two weeks in a row), or liquor that they're out of. Instead of reciting customers the specials, they are given a list of items that aren't available, which is what happens when you don't pay your purveyors.
The "waterfalls" that separate the dining areas are always clogged, but turned on anyway, and spray all over the tables and benches. The upholstery in the front dining room has been soaked so many times, you can smell it. The place is much sunnier and brighter than the old Red Fish, but still has a lot of work to be done, considering the ceiling just caved in on the dining tables a few weeks ago, and the mayfly infestation that showed up one morning.
The food is really quite fantastic, and I hope the Chef gets the chance to move on to a place that has it together, because I think he could go far with his creations. This place has a lot of potential and could be something that Baltimore raved about, if it weren't run by the same people who drove Red Fish into the disgusting, newsworthy mess it became. The food would get 5 stars, if it weren't for the dozens and dozens of other problems that make this place avoidable.
What do you think of this place? Write your own review.

















600 Block, Inc. © 2010
