Sir Walter Raleigh Inn

Great food, family atmosphere. Great services and the patrons as well as the staff are a pleasure. The food is very good. The prime rib is legendary as well as the burgers, crab cakes, steaks, and deserts. You will enjoy.

Some of the reviews I’ve read here are amazingly harsh. Our visit today is in very sharp contrast!
Jerry, the owner, brightened up the entire place by shaking every single customer’s hand, warmly greeting them and treating them like family.
Lamin Jobe proudly professed he made the turkey. He’s been serving up the food for a few years now. Now that’s loyalty! And he is the best!
To the Unilocaler (s) who complain that this place looks dated: it’s supposed to be!!! It’s called SIR WALTER RALEIGH for a reaoson. You’re talking about a figure who was born circa 1554! What are y’all expecting? A big slick dance floor and thumping party music with a glitzy mirror ball? How do you update colonial décor? Sometimes «dated» is underrated.
Personally, I love the rustic atmosphere, the inviting fire, and the charm of the wooden beams across the ceiling.
Regarding some reviews that complain about too many older people being their clientele, I find that kind of ageist. Yes, there were quite a few older folks dining there but so what?
I’ll take ‘em anyday over screaming bratty kids! These customrers were so kind and courteous. As soon as some of them heard it was my friend’s birthday quite a few personally came over to give her a hug! It was really heartwarming to see this kind of community at a restaurant. There was a wide range of ages.
Now on to the food. We both had the Thanksgiving Buffet. The stuffing was herbal and yummmmm. The gravy was tasty. The redskin mashed potatoes were delightful. The veggie lasagna was very thoughtful for people like us who don’t eat meat (well, I eat fish!!!) Speaking of fish, the Crab Imperial was succulent. The salmon was cooked to perfection, The cranberry sauce was non-​jellied with bursts of the individual chunks of cranberries… the green beans & corn were refreshing. And the salad bar, as always, was really wonderful. Including smooth apple butter!
Our friendly waiter, Tim, surprised my friend with a slab of apple pie and a candle and Lamin darted over to sing «Happy Birthday» to my friend. My friend said that apple pie was among the best she’s ever had with crumbly gooey goodness.
The only critique we have is of the manager (I think) named Mark (bald head). He didn’t make us feel particularly welcome, but Jerry, the owner well made up for him!
We will definitely return next Thanksgiving… and in between too. It’s quite a distance, but worth the trip!

I don’t mind stepping back in time to a classic type steakhouse but…
The salad bar was pretty sad and the mashed potatoes were quite bland so I held out that the meat would pay off. NOT!!! My prime rib came out still moo ing. Not medium rare or rare but raw. on top of that the slab o beef was a poor quality cut riddled with fat and not in the good way. I sent it back hoping I would get a better cut the second time around. Nope, the same piece a bit broiled on top. The only decent part of my meal was the friendly service.

Old Timey
I can get with the old time look. It gives me a down home, small town feel and I believe this country needs to get back to the basics. The service was nice and friendly.
I opted to start with the french onion soup, but then I realized that the salad bar is complementary with the entrée’, so I scrapped the soup. I should have went ahead and just got the french onion soup. The salad bar was disappointing and not flavorful. The beef stew was OK and the fruit was good, but the pasta was bland.
For the entrée’, I got the sirloin and french fries and I was satisfied with both. I got the carrot cake for desert and that was good. My friend got the baby back ribs and they were pretty good.
Give it a shot and go for the ribs.

Thi$ review ha$ one $tar for one rea$on. The price. The food here wa$n’t even a$ you’d expect for the expen$e. The portion $ize wa$ not even enough for a $mall child. I ordered two crap cake platter$, and each were $ 24. The crab cake wa$ the $ize of a $mall potato. The potato nor cole$law were anything worth getting. I’m writing thi$ to $ave you from wa$ting your money here. I will never be back.

Overpriced for the quality and quantity of the food. I ordered the crab cake platter for $ 24 without the salad bar! Nothing about the crab cake, coleslaw nor baked potato was worth mentioning. I won’t be returning.

I had a martini and fillet and Crabcake. They were all done perfectly. The service was very good and the people were very friendly.

Had a great meal made by really nice people. The best salad bar I’ve seen in a long time.

Service was good but everything else needs work. The food was fresh but very under seasoned. It was the first time I’ve ever had to use steak sauce. The atmosphere was pretty old timey so I think this may be on purpose for the clientele that’s there…

Here’s an interesting find… if you remember those wonderful prime rib places from the 70s you will surely love this place! It’s not necessarily easy to find because the only sign they have for the restaurant is small, and it’s located behind another building.
It’s worth finding if you’re jonesing for a massive slab of perfectly cooked prime rib, served with a huge baked potato, preceded by a 30′ long salad bar! The place is a time capsule— I hope they never update it. (Although the bathrooms could use a minor freshening).
We also went with the desserts; apple pie with caramel and a tall (but somewhat slender) piece of chocolate cake.
We had a waitress named Sandra, I think; she couldn’t be better. Attentive, knowledgeable, and got the order right.
Are you tired of chain steakhouses? Cookie cutter plasticky personality? Try this local restaurant!
Good for groups? Heck yes; they have at least two private rooms. No outdoor seating, so leave your puppy at home– but bring him some prime rib!

Service was great. Met one of the owners. Nice atmosphere. Salad bar was nice. However our appetizer and entrée was not seasoned at all. Steak looked inedible.

The grilled chicken was great. The service was super. Love the fireplace on a chilly night. Took a date here and had a great experience. She loved the salad bar. Location was near University of Maryland which was perfect for going to the basketball game. Look forward to coming back again soon.

I like restaurants off the beaten path and the one and only places. Everyday I can go to a chain but I wanted something different. I think this place needs the likes of «Kitchen Nightmare» intervention ASAP. I noticed several senior citizens at this restaurant and the décor was fitting something from the 1960s. The staff was nice and the salad bar was a nice touch. I ordered the crab pretzel which was more of a crab spread, a burnt pretzel, and a glutinous amount of cheese. I ordered the vegetable lasagna which was salty and tasteless. The potato was hard and needed a little more cooking. I did not enjoy anything and even threw away my left overs. I think this restaurant needs a make over and the menu desperately needs some revamping.

Talk about old! Back in the day, this was the place. Today? A tad old and dark. Can’t even read the menu!

I would give it a higher rating if it didn’t look so damn depressing. The furniture and walls are from the Flintstones. The salad bar is wonderful. Its just so depressing

I have only eaten the mussels but they were NOT fresh. They’ve been sitting and hoping that someone would order them for months. I’m waiting on the rest of the food as ppl are coming in and ate forced to track down the hostess to be seated. (There are only two tables occupied). Looks like it used to be decent but the owner doesn’t want to put any money into making it a real establishment.
Edit. Just got my 35 $ 16oz prime rib ordered rare. Got it med and dry although it’s soaking in a plate of au jus sauce. Reminds me of a Vegas style buffet as far as quality.

To begin we had the mussels. I liked them okay, I thought the fact that they were served in a kind of vegetable soup was creative, but it was marketed as a pinot grigio sauce, which it wasn’t.
I had the blackened chicken breast. It was juicy and tasty, however I felt that it was over spiced. I had to cough after a few bites but it will make a fine chicken sandwich when I add a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise to it! Ordered the rice pilaf to accompany the chicken. it was bland and without flair, and each grain was covered a ton if butter. Luckily I had my lemons from my iced tea which added a little something to it but I still didn’t eat much of it and opted not to take it home.
We decided against dessert because between the two of us we had already spent nearly $ 100 on a meal that wasn’t quite worth it. The service however was fantastic and our waitress, who seemed to be the only one working, was cool under pressure and did everything to make us happy. She belongs somewhere like Mortons. Not this place.

I had a craving for veggies after my day’s errands, and was in the neighborhood, so I headed for the salad bar at Sir Walter’s, and joined the other geezers for the early bird (4 – 6 PM) specials. The clam chowder was a bit thick from sitting on the S&S bar, but the clams were still tender. Not Luke’s but better than most. The salad satisfied, nice fresh greens and other goodies, and crisp tangy coleslaw. I ordered the crab cake just because I had been talking about them with a fellow Unilocaler on Saturday. I should have taken my own advice about having low expectations when out of earshot of gulls. Nice lump meat, but too much breading — which to me means that you could tell that there was ANY breading. My recipe uses 4 crushed saltines per pound of crab. Standard baked potato, full strength brewed iced tea. I would also like to point out the slice-​it-​yourself bread on the S&S bar. I was fortunate enough to catch some nice crusty rye fresh from the oven. If you see baguette shaped white bread, ignore it as it is fit only for feeding pigeons.
For those who have not been there, the décor is country house — what my sister would call «charming». Stucco walls, rustic pictures, pretty good date site. They’ve been there for decades for good reason. Foodgasm no, but a step upscale without busting the budget ($ 25 prime rib is the top of the menu) and a solid four stars.

Where to start? I have heard mixed reviews of this place for years, but never actually ate there. When some friends were tasked with taking an out-​of-​town guest to get dinner (and she wanted steak), they suggested this place, claiming they had friends who absolutely raved about the salad bar. I thought… steak place with a salad bar, why not a Brazilian steak house, but that’s neither here nor there.
So we get there, and this place is touted as fine dining. Carpets? Ick. I doubt they are steam cleaned even weekly. The décor is sad and hasn’t been updated in decades.
The menu came and I looked over it. There wasn’t a lot of option, but I figured it’s probably best to offer a smaller selection and do it well than offer a large menu of mediocre food. Right? (Guys, this is foreshadowing). I ordered a small sirloin steak, rare, with steamed veggies. It came with the salad bar.
The salad bar. You guys. No. Anyone who says this is AMAZING has never really eaten good food. There was one bowl of undressed baby greens, some actual cucumber slices, some fresh onion and mushroom slices, but I’d say at least half of the contents of said salad bar were canned fruits or veggies. One bowl was pre-​dressed Caesar salad with shredded mozzarella cheese on it. What? The rest of it were a few dubious-​looking soups and sad pasta salads. This is not fine dining. This is a picnic with the relatives with no taste buds.
About 45 minutes pass and we get our entrees. Now remember, I ordered rare? It was done medium/​medium-​well. It was barely pink in the center, which is pretty far away from rare. My friend suggested I send it back, but at that point, I’d rather choke it down than wait another half an hour for a mediocrely-​cooked steak. The steamed veggies were decent, but served with a disposable (!) plastic (!) cup of something that looked like microwaved (!) velvetta (!) cheese. Utter disappointment.
Finally, I decided to just throw caution to the wind and order a dessert-​the hot fudge brownie sundae, hold the brownie. The hot fudge was just industrial microwaved hot fudge sauce, and the ice cream was pretty average. And ah yes, served in a plastic soup bowl.
This? This is not fine dining. Cloth napkins don’t cover the fact that the food is not very good, the place is run down, and the prices nowhere near justify the quality of food presented. Plastic doesn’t belong in a fancy restaurant, either, but that might be just me.
The sad thing this is that I went to an Outback restaurant a few days prior. I got the same exact cut of meat, done perfectly, for about half the price. And I generally hate chain restaurants. Let that sink in for a few minutes. And then avoid this place.
At least my waitress was super nice.

Nice place to meet and eat great food recommended. buffet style restaurant with plenty of parking for RVs.