Level a Small Plates Lounge

We ate here on Valentines Day (they were booked solid!). We arrived 20 minutes early and were still seated right away! Our waitress was attentive the entire night as well as other staff members. Although they were fully packed our food and drinks arrived very quickly! We had the spinach and pear salad, steak, pulled pork tacos, scallops, Brussels sprouts, banana bread pudding, and cookies and milk. They were all cooked to perfection! The drinks are absolutely delicious as well! I can’t say enough good things about our entire experience at Levels, it is a fun and delicious restuarant and we look forward to returning! Definitely the best place in Annapolis for dinner hands down!

This is a great venue to get together with a small group of friends. Their small plates concept allows you to try a bunch of different foods and share with friends. They typically recommend 2 – 3 small plates per person. We went there with a group of 6 and probably got 12 – 15 plates. Everything from the cheese platter to the fried Brussels sprouts, short rib flat bread, sea bass, and bread pudding desert was delicious. Everything we tried was a hit. To top it all off the price was very reasonable (around $ 100/​couple) and we were stuffed!

I’ve been to Level a few times now and really enjoy this cute little spot in Downtown Annapolis. The drinks are really really good, especially the Level Gimlet– the foam and lime shavings on top are yummy! The food is tapas style, so I definitely recommend selecting a few for yourself or sharing several with a friend! The exposed brick and dimmed lighting adds charm to this restaurant. Reservations seem to be preferred, if you don’t have one the hostess kind of gets an attitude.

Tell you what: Level hits the spot. The seared seabass was cooled just right– try that. Also, if you just want to nibble, the hand cut fries are very good. Sprinkled with roasted rosemary and thyme, they are tasty. The shrimp and grits were spicy, but not too spicy. All in all, nice vibe, good service by Ashley, good food from the kitchen, and reasonably priced. Ohhhh and try the bourbon apple cake and pumpkin I cream on your next visit! Good stuff!

Love this place. The menu changes depending on whats available from the local farms which is great. Been here many times and its very close to my abode so its convenient as well. The small plate concept is nice, you tend to spend a bit more on a dinner but get more variety in a meal so there are good and bad aspects. They tend to always have the buffalo cauliflower which I always order and adore. Also the cocktails are really good. Most people we go with swear by the Level Gimlet but its a little on the sweet side for my taste. I usually end up with the Bulleit Mule and am always happy with. If you plan on a Friday or Saturday night dinner, i recommend reservations. The only minus is the noise level. It gets really loud when its packed and it can be hard to hear your dining partners. Otherwise I highly recommend this place.

This restaurant is great to take a date, or meet up with a group of friends at their upstairs bar. I definitely recommend their Gimlet and try to go during happy hour, so you don’t second guess having another! My favorite small plate on the menu are the Scallops. They aren’t abnormally large, but the sauce they cook them in makes the dish divine. It’s a must go spot whether you are visiting, or an Annapolitan!

Went there this past Saturday to celebrate a birthday. We were a nice size group of 7 so I ended up trying many of the items on the menu. To get this out of the way, service was pretty good and the server’s recommendations spot on. I’ve tried to do an itemized breakdown below. Summary: some of the dishes were excellent, as was dessert, but one or two items disappointed, as did the drinks.
Drinks: The house soda was well-​received. The bourbonopolis was apparently good. The smoky manhattan tasted like a manhattan; the smoke was at best very subtle. The Jalisco old-​fashioned was terribly disappointing. I did not taste smoke or tequila. They keep using that word — smoke — but I do not think it means what they think it means.
Food: Overall very good. I’ll list off the plates I remember trying personally.
Pork tacos: Nice big tacos with lots of taco meat.
Flatbread: Generous size makes it good for sharing (by small plates standard) but could be cheesier. I don’t remember which flatbread we got.
Fried chicken leg special: Generous portion. I’m not into fried chicken but I didn’t hear any complaints.
Grouper rillette special: The rillette is very small and it comes with a LOT of bread. I wouldn’t order it unless you really love rillette.
Buffalo cauliflower: My favorite thing on the menu. It was so good! And the celery root purée was like creamy mashed potatoes. Loved.
Fried brussel sprouts: Tasted like fried brussel sprouts. Solid but nothing to write home about.
Sliders: Probably my second favorite entrée. Nice size and very well made.
Seared butcher steak: Save your money. While the steak comes atop a very tasty sweet potato purée with cranberries (odd, but it works), and has a very nice char, the steak itself was criminally bland. Underseasoned steak is even worse when you pair it with sweet garnish. Probably the most disappointing thing I ate.
Scallops: Tied for second favorite item. Buttery soft and exquisitely delicate flavor.
Tuna tartare: A very good take on it. Goes very well with the house chips.
DESSERT: Milk and cookies were excellent. The cookies were all warm and gooey. The banana bread pudding was very sweet but also very enjoyable. It seemed like that’s what people loved most at my table but I’ll go with the cookies. You get some creamy milk to dunk them.
Coffee: French press. Always a good way to end a meal.
Tl;dr: I’d almost give this place three stars for the lousy drinks and what they did to that steak, but some of the items (cauliflower, sliders, scallops, dessert) were so good that I stand behind a 4-​star rating.

Our favorite local watering hole! Great cocktails, great small plates and welcoming atmosphere. Our friends and family love it gather here!

Excellent menu with a stellar variety of dishes, cocktails, and deserts.
The atmosphere is trendy yet cozy. Combined with numerous small plates that encourage sharing, this makes for an intimate meal. Definitely a good date spot.
Despite a setting that would suggest this is best for adults only, we found Level very accommodating for dinner with a toddler. There are many places more suited for children, and while Level is marked not good for children, do not take this to mean Level is *bad* for children. They did a great job seating us in a quieter location, they have high chairs, and the staff were very friendly with my 22-​month-​old. All three of us had a good time and enjoyed every plate we ordered.

I had the Sangria which was pretty good… if you could fight your way past all the ice they put in the glass with it (it also kept melting and dripping into my lap which was annoying). I also had the bacon scallop flat bread (very good but they skimped on the bacon which was disappointing.) and the gnocchi which was amazing! Probably the most basic thing on the menu, the fries were the highlight though… had we known, we would have gotten two orders because they were that perfectly made. The interior was very nice… until you go into one of the bathrooms (hats off to them for making all of them unisex though)…it would seem that it is nobody’s job to care for them throughout the night so they were a bit gross. On the whole though, it was a good time and I would recommend it to anyone looking for tapas in Annapolis.

We came here for dinner on a girls trip and loved it! The vibe was very trendy, dimly lit, lots of wood, and very cozy. I think we tried almost everything on the menu– rosemary fries, braised pork tacos, cheese plate, bacon and scallop flatbread, pulled pork flatbread, buffalo cauliflower, bison sliders, and tuna tartare. We got the milk and cookies and the bread pudding for dessert. We devoured everything. It was all delicious, but I think the particular standouts were the buffalo cauliflower, the tuna tartare, the flatbreads, and the milk and cookies. You really can’t go wrong with anything you order here. Would love to come back!

Hmm … I just don’t know where to start or maybe my expectations for food have soared through the roof since I eat out so much and I work within the hospitality industry.
I visited Level tonight (Sunday night). The place was very easy to find with some street parking and I was able to book a reservation for 6:30PM with no problems.
My first impression when I walked in was this is — cute, quaint, and nice spot where you might want to go for a first date or maybe a nice spot to visit with a couple of girlfriends.
Moving on to the service it wasn’t nothing to rant about everyone just did what they were suppose to do which was wait on the customer and be attentive. It appeared that every hostess recommended the same thing when it came to the customer asking what is best to indulge in …
Now onto the food. the presentation is awesome but I have to say the food lacks a lot of flavor. Nice menu and the way it appears it’s almost like you can’t wait for the food to arrive and then it’s just a little of a let down :-(. The food needed some salt. And I ordered a great selection of food.

I love Level, it is absolutely one of my favorite restaurants in Annapolis, I live downtown, we go there for date night at least twice a month. Great location, walking distance for most in downtown Annapolis. Great food, amazing drinks, great staff– however, the past four or five times we have been there the manager, a lanky guy wearing a blazer, has come over to our table to talk to us and has been belligerently drunk! Now this isn’t just a couple of times either, it’s been every time we’ve been recently. We have also run into the same guy in downtown Annapolis, stumbling around, more than a few times. It just seems a little unprofessional– for the workplace at least.
Food– 5 stars
Management– 1 star

Awesome food even for the vegetarian! The apps are to die for and their drinks were delicious! I’m so excited that we went — the small plates are good to share between 2 – 3 people but we ordered plenty of stuff to try! Our host was amazing and courteous! can’t wait to go again

Level is so hit or miss, foodwise. I’ve had two great times here and two times I felt a little embarrassed for hyping it up to my friends so much. The cocktails here are amazing though! I’ve never been disappointed with them and neither have my guests.
The tuna tartare dish is 100% awesome. Get that. Everything else is a risk. Last time I was here (maybe two months ago ish?) we got the artichoke dip and not only did it taste like a packaged grocery store version, but there were blatant chunks of cold cream cheese in it. We blamed it on our foolishness for ordering something boring like artichoke dip in the first place. We had a variety of other dishes and they were good but not great. The menu changes seasonally however, so consider that an advantage.
The service has always been impeccable and I will give them that. The servers are more than happy to explain the dishes.
I would recommend coming for happy hour. Cheap drinks and food, and you can sample the best of both without hurting your wallet. It adds up quickly here!

Small plates = winner. Everything on their menu is delicious and seasonal.
Cocktail = have yet to find a more amazing place for cocktails. This place has ruined every other place we have been to that claims they have «awesome drinks». We love sitting at the bar and getting off the menu drinks. The bartenders are real mixologists and they know their shit. It is amazing.
Go to = angels and demons and the butcher steak.

Exploring our new town we kept passing by Level. Finally went on a Friday night, we didn’t have a reservation or have to wait even though there was a private party upstairs and it was moderately busy.
Décor is cute, cozy, unassuming. Not trying to be too fancy or too anything. A fun quirk is your check comes in a book of sorts, it was amusing.
Started with the pork mini tacos… you get 3 by the way. The pork was tasty, the jalapeños too intense for my palate. Also shares the fried Brussels sprouts. They were definitely fried to perfection, not sure how I feel about the flavor profile, I’ve had better flavors, but it was well prepared.
We split a pizza… was advertised as 16 inch by the waiter… yeah no. But is was delicious! The flavors of the farms they partner with to get the ingredients at Level really shined… thick cut pepperoni, fresh mozzarella and basil.
Now, time to make the best decision you can at Level: order their house made cream soda. It’s the best I’ve ever consumed! It tastes like Crème brûlée in soda form. mmmm mmm. They have some interesting cocktails and the bartender was generous with the alcohol amounts.
Good date night place. Be careful with the drinks though… it can rack up your bill almost 50%!

One word: Amazing!
Cocktails that stood out —
Level gimlet: that foam blew my mind!
Bourbonapolis: sophisticated and creative take on an old fashion
Angel & demon: amazing herbal infused cocktail
Dishes that stood out–
Bacon scallop flatbread: probably one of the best pizza’s i had. It was cheesy and flavorful
Shrimp and grits: first time trying this dish. Molly our waiter recommended it, and it was really good!!!
Tuna tartar: portion was great, the asian flavors were on point!
Butcher steak: the sweet potato purée!!! Meat was cooked med rare, closer to the rare side, just how i like it!
Dessert–
Milk and cookies: we got ice cream instead of milk. The cookies are huge, warm and soft! Perfect way to finish our meal.
Ill be back soon… Like tomorrow soon … !!!
Edit:
I wasn’t kidding when i said i would come back tomorrow!!! I’m here again, this time I decided to try their bison sliders and pork tenderloins. That pork tenderloin really wow’ed me! The mango chutney pairs extremely well with the pork!!! Its not a dish you’d want to order when there are lots of other amazing items on the menu, but i say you have to give it a try!!!
As for the cocktails we got our favorites level gimlet and angel & demon. Decided to try amexicillin cocktail. This one tastes like lemon & sage :) i like it, not as good as the gimlet but a solid cocktail. I also tried berry mangaloe, this one was a bit thick in texture for my taste.
Overall another stand out meal here in Annapolis. Cant wait to come back soon … Ill miss your amazing cocktails and delicious small plates!

The food wasn’t bad, the only reason for low star is the service. Maybe it was our particular waitress, Molly, maybe that’s normal for this place. We had two half pizzas left, and as we are discussing what to do with it, it was hot and we weren’t going home yet, Molly offered to hold our food at the restaurant, providing we’re back before closing. Again, she OFFERED to keep it. When we came back, long before closing, I was told that the food was tossed. Why? They thought we’ll be back in an hour. Don’t know why, never said that. And even if, could have held it till closing. I have paid for those, and there was a lot of food left. You don’t throw away something that isn’t yours. I didn’t forget it there, you offered to hold it.
Crappy move on their part.

Wife and I had a great experience here our first time, so have kept coming back every time we visit Annapolis. Always an exciting, rotating menu with novel flavor combinations. Portions are not really as small as you’d expect. Cocktails here are a strong suit and get back absolutely outstanding. Service has been anywhere from terrible to remarkable. So I guess it depends on the specific person.
We’ve had a great time here in groups as well as on a fancy date. The ambiance is always top notch– trendy, lively, open-​kitchen. Beer and wine list usually has something special of interest. Server recommendations are usually well-​informed and detailed. Recommended.