Mountain Branch Grille & Pub

Arrived on Mother’s day at 11 am. The lobby was extremely packed and the hostesses looked busy. We did not have a reservation but they were able to seat us on the patio right away. It was a beautiful morning so we were OK with this. We waited about 15 minutes for a server and when she did show up she was pleasant and got our drinks in a timely manner. The buffet line was long but moved quickly. The surprise came when we saw our bill. $ 204 for 4 of us. They even added in a tip of 20%! I always tip and tip well for good service but I was flabbergasted that with a 4 top, 1 check, and the server getting us a drink and taking away our plates she was granted 20%.
Side note: I had to help a table whose umbrella was about to fly out onto the golf course. It took 3 of us to get it back in the table hole and move the cement stand to the right place. It also drives me crazy that the entire building is outlined in pretty white lights but only ½ of them are ever working.

This place is absolutely the best in Harford county. Gorgeous view makes for a beautiful spot for brunch, lunch or dinner (they offer brunch on Sunday’s). I had the edamame to start, cooked perfectly with an amazing seasoning. Then a grilled tuna sandwich. Absolutely fresh and cooked to the exact temperature I asked for. Paired with a lovely glass of Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio. Just wonderful! I was greeted and shown to my table by Maria, who I believe is the restaurant manager. Very professional and warm. My server, BJ, was also bartending but managed to give great attention to detail. I will definitely be back!

Went with a large party late. Server very nice, but seemed new and should have been more than one for the group. Service very slow. Some food returned for being cold by couple of people. Scallops & asparagus were yummy. Mushroom risotto had hard pieces of possibly uncooked or overcooked pasta. Others in group really liked their food, overall good but could have been better for the price. I’ll give it another try in the future as this could have just been a fluke.

Can’t comment on the quality of the food. Been waiting for an hour. Three tables seated after us have finished eating. We did get a kids meal served. With moldy grapes…
Food came after an hour and a half. Cold. Tasted ok. Scallops with risotto. Risotto is certainly easy to eat in solid, puck-​like form. Stays on the fork for gnawing.

To whom it may concern–
I planned to do my engagement photo shoot at Mountain Branch’s golf course and facility, on September 26, 2015. As a golfer, I called the Pro Shop to clear it with management. I spoke with Pat on August 10, 2015 at 11:30am and was told that we would be worked in around the golfers and that everything was fine. At that point, I alert my photographer that we’re all set and schedule all the necessary appointments to look my best for the pictures, as did my fiancé.
I called to verify everything on Monday, September 21^st, and Pat answered again. He told me the Head Pro was out of town but to leave a message and he’d get back to me. On Friday, September 25^th, I received a voicemail from the Head Pro saying that they are not able to accommodate my request to take pictures at their facility, as I was not having my wedding there. That policy is all well and good, had I been told that when I called over a month prior and had not been told of the policy, or asked if I was having my wedding there.
I chose to do my pictures at Mountain Branch because it held many memories for my fiancé and I. I can promise you that we will not have any more memories made there. Over the past year we have stopped playing the course because of the condition it was always in– awful. The grass was no longer green and the greens were in horrible shape. If you’re a golfer, that’s definitely something you don’t want to play on. We did however, continue to use the practice facility and the restaurant/​bar. We loved Sunday brunches there– however the quality of everything has continually declined since the last batch (and there has been a bunch) of owners took over.
In the end, we were accommodated by a much more established course, Hillendale Country Club. The management and staff could not have been nicer. They apologized for Mountain Branch’s awful customer service, even though it had nothing to do with them. Our pictures turned out wonderful and I couldn’t be happier.
I’m sharing this story because I want you to know of the sub-​par service I was given by your staff. I also want you to know that I will be posting this on all of the wedding sites, blogs, as well as the Better Business Bureau, Unilocal!,and any other venue I can to get the word out about what happened to me, so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
You have already lost my friends and family as customers, golfers, as well as otherwise, I will make sure that other people are aware as well.
Sincerely,
Megan Harrell

Came here for brunch. A pretty solid Sunday brunch offering, but I wish the carving station had more options for the price point.
Getting our drinks refilled shouldn’t be an ordeal however. Not terribly happy with the place, but still probably the best brunch in the area…

This place was great. My wife and I were here for my friend’s wedding. It was beautiful. They had everything set up, a coordinator who worked for the company. Very friendly staff, and the food was great. I look forward to coming here again.

Took a girl here for lunch on a fine spring day. The outside seating is very nice and overlooks the golf course. I ordered the swiss mushroom burger and she got a chicken sandwich. No complaints from either of us.
The waiter was in a very pleasant mood and was a cool guy. I’ll likely be back to try more of their menu. Prices are in line with what i’d expect them to be considering the nice atmosphere.

My family has chosen Mountain Branch as a celebratory spot for many years and we enjoy going back each time. We normally sit by the fire with a view of the golf course and always are treated to what I call the triple threat. Great food, service and atmosphere.
Food is always top notch and there is a great drink selection. Staff is always polite and courteous and attentive to our needs. Pricing is very fair and the food portion are large.
I recently sat at the bar for the first time and had a light appetizer and drink and was again treated to the triple threat.
We are now coming into spring and I will miss the warm cozy fire but will enjoy watching the golf come to life. I look forward to my next visit.

We live near mountain branch, so we frequent the restaurant for a nice dinner. This place is so inconsistent. It is either spectacular or horrible. I have had some of my best and worst meals here. The last visit we had horrible service. We were in the side room all by ourselves and we were basically forgotten about. I asked for a box for my meal and the waitress brought a container and scooped up the other half of my meal with her bare hands and put it in the container right in front of me. When I said something to the supervisor on for that shift she promised that someone would call me and they never did any follow up or service recovery. Will not be coming back.

I stopped in for a drink with a friend of mine.
The fireplace was keeping the lobby area warm.
Drink specials were in place.
Service was fine.
I can’t comment on the food or table service since we were at the bar.

Over priced, not very good, not hot or cooked well. Will not go back again, give them Several chances because of the location. Not again!

After a great round of golf last Sunday afternoon, I ordered a Steak sandwich at the bar. the steak was RAW. So they undercook the steak, and as a result I put raw meat in my mouth, i lose my appetite, lose any desire to want another, and then get offered replacement for it which I assumed was clearly complimentary, and then they try to charge me for it. The server asks «what do you think is fair?» They go meet around the corner and come back handing me the check with no apologies saying“took it off”, making me feel like a cheapskate, like I was looking for a free meal. I didn’t ask to have raw meat in my mouth. Its not like it was bit over or under cooked. It was cold raw. I didn’t want anything after that. I only accepted what the server offered to make up for it. All I could think was all the nasty things you can get from consuming raw meat. I went home with a knot in my stomach and threw it all up.
Will not be eating there again. Very disappointed the way it was handled from a place like Mt. Branch.

It was a beautiful day to sit outside on the deck and enjoy a relaxed lunch. Mountain Branch just redid their lunch menu and I was pleasantly surprised with their new offerings as well as glad to see my favorites (Greek salad with salmon and blackened tuna sandwich). I tried the new beet salad and ordered it with a piece of salmon and found it to be delicious. My friend tried the grilled romaine salad and also really liked it. All in all a good visit and will return again.

So this place is gorgeous, but a tad expensive. Last time i was there i had a very weird experience with a waitress that did not know how to count up a bill and the idea of splitting a check seemed foreign to her. The good was very good and i may go back as long as i dont have the same waitress. She also was a snob.

I had lunch here today with my friends and their three children (ages 2 – 4), and I have to say it was some of the worst service I have ever had! As a person who has chosen not to have children, I understand some places are not kid-​friendly. But, if you have a children’s menu, especially at lunch time, you had better be kid friendly. To begin with, the hostess took forever to wrangle up two high chairs, and I had to ask her for crayons, since there were pictures to color on the back of the kids’ menu. Then, my appetizer was brought out before the kids’ food. So we’re supposed to eat an appetizer when there are hungry kids at the table. We began to wonder how long it could possibly take to make a grilled cheese. I had to ask them to expedite the kids’ food, and I had to flag the waitress over desperately every time she got within eyesight, because she was not about to stop at the table on her own. I will concede that the food was delicious. I have eaten here before and it always is. In fact, if you are reading this, Mountain Branch, my husband and I love to eat dinner out (sans kids — we don’t have them). We usually order appetizers, drinks, and sometimes dessert with our meal, and we tip extremely well. You used to be one of our favorites in Harford County, but you have surely lost our business!

I would definitely hit this brunch again, though for large parties make sure to get a reservation. We had 12 for 11 am and we were seated promptly, the on-​time folks were brought beverages while we waited, and the late folks were directed to is kindly.
So here’s the awesome sauce about this place: 19.95 for the brunch buffet with ice tea and or coffee/​$ 24.95 for the buffet AND an unlimited champagne, mimosa, or Bloody Mary — which includes a make-​your-​own Bloody Mary bar!
The buffet had the usual bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, as well as some really well made eggs Benedict. Some of the savory included Cod in Cajun gravy (which I was told was amazing), a bagel, lox and cream cheese station (with Nova yay! But only raisin bagels boo!) which led to my invention of the crosschmear — a croissant stuffed with cream cheese and lox!
There was fresh cut turkey, an omelette station, amazing Belgian waffles, French toast, chicken nuggets and tater tots, beef tips, Caesar salad, and cream chipped beef.
The dessert buffet was off to the side with a tremendous bread pudding and a ton of petit fours.
All in all a great place to while away a Sunday morning with amazing views, ample parking, and a homey ski lodge feel.

Came here with my husband for restaurant week during lunch. We were both under dressed since we were going to the animal shelter to volunteer afterwards. Even so, the servers were pleasant enough, though it probably helped that we were the only people there. The food was pretty good. I had the maryland crab which was tasty. My husband has the Cesar salad which was a bit on the sauce heavy side. I then had the black and blue steak sandwich which was delicious. Very flavorful and it came with chips. My husband had the blackened chicken penne which he enjoyed though he said that it was overly salty. Before we got our food we also were given a nice bread roll which we fresh and delicious. Overall a very decent experience.

Ate with a group of six friends during restaurant week. Ordered from the specific restaurant week menu and opted for the wine pairing add-​in for another $ 10. Very please overall with the meal and the choice to do the wine package. I will review all the items offered for restaurant week as at least one person in my group ordered each item (except the mussels which looked awesome on an adjacent table).
We had reservations for 7:00 and probably did not need them. The restaurant was busy but not slammed and I did not see any other parties waiting. We were promptly seated and the special menu explained to us. Dress was relaxed business casual with most patrons sporting jeans or slacks with dress shirts. The three guys in my party all went with jeans and did not feel out of place.
The choices for the first course were a cream of crab soup, goat cheese salad or mussels. The crab soup was loaded with lump crab meat, but was over seasoned and a little heavy. I ordered the goat cheese salad and was very impressed. It had a huge slab of goat cheese that was breaded and baked (still warm) adorning the top of a pile of spinach. Accenting the spinach were very thin slices of green apples, almond slices and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors work perfectly against each other to achieve an amazing balance. I highly recommend. The last choice for the first course was the mussels which looked great but was not ordered by our party.
The second course was either twin crab cakes, 8oz fillet, veal porterhouse or SSC (scallop, shrimp and crab) pasta. The crab cakes were good. Plenty of lump crab meat but a little too much filler for me. They were topped with lemon butter sauce which was lost due to the high power flavor of crab and old bay and served with fresh green beans. I would order them again as they were great, but not the best in Baltimore (see my review on G&M Restaurant for that). The fillet was nicely prepared and topped with a dollop of tarragon butter (one of my favorite preparations) but the mashed potatoes and onions left a lot to be desired. The potatoes had no seasoning, were very thick and were very cold by the time the plate was served. The onions were basic shoe string onions friend crispy and didn’t add anything to the meal. They could have been left out in my opinion. The SSC pasta was very well prepared and had an impressive amount of sea food. I was very impressed by the size of the scallops in the dish because I was expecting the little bay scallops which are just nasty in my opinion. The sauce was nicely seasoned and had a great seafood base to it.
For dessert, the only real option was the bread pudding as the other was vanilla ice cream (who wants ice cream in the winter?). It was typical bread pudding, nothing special but it was well made and served with a nice caramel sauce.
If I were a resident in the Baltimore area I would definitely give this restaurant a shot, especially after a round of golf (its located on a golf course). Would I eat here if I were visiting from out of town and it wasn’t restaurant week, probably not.

Came here for a large party of about 50 people. We had a room to ourselves and had a stocked bar and wonderful service. Most memorable were the caesar salad and chicken piccata. Everything was cooked perfectly and the chicken was very tender.
Very nice place with golf course views and a non-​stuffy atmosphere. Perfect for groups!