Adolfo’s on the Ocean

First time at Adolfo’s this season and it is as wonderful as ever. There is no better place to dine on the Boardwalk — great food and a terrific view of the Boardwalk and beach. The garlic bread is insane — order it before your meal comes. The house salad dressing is truly special — they should bottle it. The owner and waitstaff make you feel like they appreciate your business. Desserts are always worth saving room for and the house Chianti pairs well with most dishes.

Had a lovely dinner here. The antipasta was very good and more than enough for two. My wife had shrimp and scallop tarragon and I had chicken with pepper onion and tomato. The service was excellent and for a change we werent rush through the meal. Would definitely go back.

Probably the best Italian place in ocean city, me and my fiancé come into town a couple times a year and it’s great they’re open in the winter. I found it a little dumb they give you a plate charge if you want to share food but, it’s a nice restaurants with higher prices so I guess it makes sense.

Good Italian fare found right on the boardwalk. The inside of the place looks pretty fancy, but the vibe is very casual. The service was impeccable, but the food was just okay. We started with the appetizer sampler which came with 2 oysters, 2 bacon and cheese wrapped scallops, 2 clams casino & 1 large portobello mushroom cap topped with cheese and crab. Some of the seafood was a bit chewy and could have been seasoned a bit better. For dinner I had the veal parm and my boyfriend had the chicken parm, both came with a a salad and a side of spaghetti. My veal tasted more like breading than veal. Dessert was cannolis and tiramisu. Both were good, it’s hard to mess up dessert.

Someone needs to get the manager and/​or chef a dictionary/​Wikipedia. On the menu had «Pancake Sliders — (3) eggs with bacon and gouda cheese». What came out was two huge pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon in the middle. When I asked the waitress who was extremely nice and patient informed me, after checking in with the kitchen, that the 3 represented how many eggs were in the dish.
I figured that sliders are small sandwiches and that I would see 3 sliders (total of 6 mini pancakes) stuff with eggs and bacon and cheese. No. I asked to talk to the manager and she informed me that this was «Our twist on what sliders are». How in the world is that a twist on sliders. Number 1 — you put pancake sliders — with an «s» — plural. Number 2 — you put the number 3 right after the word sliders. Most people would think this means I get 3 sliders. Maybe I’m just an idiot. I did go to ESL at a young age so maybe this is just my fault. If I wanted 2 pancakes and eggs with bacon, I would have ordered pancakes, eggs, and a side of bacon! Telling me that’s your twist on sliders is like me bringing you a whole baked potato when you ask for home fries. I’m all for creativity and personality when it comes to cooking but your «sliders» is having an identity crisis. I suggest your sandwich contact a professional culinary psychologist to get those issues worked out.

Currently waiting for my check now. It’s been a half hour so far. They ask to notify them of separate checks at the beginning of the meal, which we did, yet it is still an issue. Do not come here for breakfast. They are not understaffed, they are not busy, they are incompetent.

Beautiful restaurant and has a great view. Only complaint I have is about the portion of our entrée. Surprisingly small. As of that the service was fabulous, professional, and the food was delicious!

The location is great on the beach (but beware help has it wrong — its recently moved. It’s on 12^th St now). The food was ok. Some dishes were decent and some were downright bland. I had the specialty of the house «Trio». The scrimp scampi was just ok. Garlic sauce looked processed and had no garlic flavor. The pasta was decent. But the chicken florentine was inedible. The chicken breast was dry and served over the most over cooked spinach I’ve ever seen. The appetizer sampler was ok but the crab stuffed mushroom on the platter was very good. Also the seafood pasta came with a generous portion of yummy seafood. I saw good reviews of the place before I went but I guess it’s what dish you choose. We made some bad choices.

service was great but the food was uninspired, overly rich (even for Italian!), and just not worth it… the house salad served was mostly carrots, soggy and clearly dressed way before we arrived. Lots of opportunity here, but I’d avoid it until they do a revamp.
the weirdest thing — and something vegetarians need to keep in mind — is the bread basket… they serve bread after you order but it’s essentially a loaf of white bread with 3 – 5 cold pepperoni slices on top. Talk about a red flag for the opposite of classiness… who does that?

I am a long time customer of this place even though I’m 4 hours away. This is my first review in the new location and it didn’t disappoint in the least. Oysters with bacon n crab… yum. mm and crab soup thick n delicious. Nice selection of beer, wine& alcohol. Salad didnt change either the homemade vinaigrette just enough so u can still taste your greens along with complimentary bread (few slices of pepperoni on top of the loaf) the finally was Seafood Adolfo beautiful seasoned with lots of fresh garlic n plenty of seafood. .no skimpy meal here… Thank you as always for the delicious meal and not changing a single thing!

As we walked in from the boardwalk the hostess greeted me and offered a choice to us, the bar, or be seated for dinner. The waitress and staff all were pleasant. The food was served promptly, we were told that everything would be made to order…
There did not seem to be any delay. We shared the calamari appetizer, we asked for and received a spicy hot dish that was cooked perfectly. The sauce was excellent.
The entrée was Salmon with bacon and Crab, a hint of horseradish in a cream sauce.
I could eat this meal everyday. It was excellent. I find that comparing food to another restaurant is more work than just enjoying a great meal, the ambiance, and the view.
We had all three, and, good service. Would I go back? Yes, absolutely !

This may have been my best Italian meal ever. I had the grouper Pomodoro which was delicious. That was a nice portion of grouper with fresh diced tomatoes and lump crab meat. delicious. my wife had the seafood Adolfo which was hunks of salmon, shrimps, and scallops in a white wine sauce over pasta. She loved it.
We also had this awesome app that the chef just invented the night before which was calimari & crab meat in a red pepper sauce. It was spicy and delicious. served with garlic croutons it was great.

I went to Adolfo’s several times when it was located in the inlet… and it was great. I’ve been 3 times now since it’s been located in its new spot in the hotel and I have to say… it is NOT impressive AT ALL. For some reason my family likes to go there for family dinners so I oblidge. The service is great… The marinara sauce is great but the rest of the food is just average at best. Everything is oversized and smothered in cheese and all kind of bland. The inside of the place, save for the view, is tacky as hell… very 80s. Overall… I wouldn’t return… except that my family makes me.

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY LOCATION AND DECOR!!! keep in mind this review is from summer 2014 so they probably have made some changes for the better since then! The «chef» was at the host stand during dinner service in a white t and white apron. Bread service was half loaf of white bread with, I’m not kidding 4 cold pepperonis on top, like some grocery store ziplock bag pepperoni. My girl had some Pollo Spinach entrée and it was just a huge hunk of fried chicken swimming in sautéed spinach juice. The dessert cart came straight outta 1979, everything on it looked dehydrated and dusty, we skipped that. Service was prompt but kind of short, it was an older lady, she no doubt assumed that my party being so young meant 10% tip, but I hooked her up its not her fault the food sucked. Over all the HOTEL looks nice, location is great, most of the FOH staff were very nice actually, but it just felt like the kitchen didn’t know what they were doing at all. If you’re reading this I’m sure you’ve stepped your game up since then. #PepperoniBread

We chose this place for dinner tonight for a break from seafood places. It is a bit tricky to find just know that it is inside the beach plaza hotel so you want to follow signs for that. One of my only complaints was that upon walking in there is an odd smell. I’m not sure what it is but once we were seated to the left I didnt really notice it anymore.
We started with the breaded calamari. This was ok. The breading was good but didn’t really stay on the calamari. Some of it was cooked perfectly and some was rubbery. The non tomato sauce that came with it was great! I had the chicken alfredo which was good. Their sauce while there was a lot of it was fairly light for a white sauce. It was a lot of food and next time I’d probably order it asking for less sauce. My fiancé had the chicken parmesan and ate every bite. He said it was great. His only complaint was that the tomato sauce was a bit sweet for his taste.
Overall a beautiful restaurant with great deck and view and good food.

The experience at Adolfo’s was great. The views are wonderful and our waitress was attentive and efficient for our table of 7. The interior décor was nice, kind of Victorian. Definitely different from the other boardwalk restaurants. The food was tasty and fresh. Maybe not the best Italian ever but it was very good, though not inexpensive.
Everyone enjoyed their entrees. The portions are quite large. Avoid the bread, especially if you will have an appetizer like their special or mussels.
Desserts looked delicious but we were too full. They do have a good kids menu.
For a nicer sit-​down restaurant on the boardwalk with views, this is a great option.

Better than other restaurants on the boardwalk area, Adolfo’s is in Beach Plaza hotel that is run by Philips restaurant. There are several outdoor seating with the full view of the Atlantic Ocean. The inside is a more upscale Americana old world type with adjacent piano bar. It will be nice or wedding or special occasion.
The patrons can dress in beach casual shorts to full suit. It has no dress code. Make sense for the beach crowd. It is a bit pricey for the boardwalk dining but the décor and service are better.
The marinara sauce is pretty good, not the usual tomatoey gooey like canned crushed tomatoe. I gave the special menu a try. The pan fried grouper in white sauce is very moist and the batter is crunchy. The portion is pretty big. They have a charge for splitting dishes. That’s why they get only 3 stars from me. $ 3 for an extra plate to share. They don’t even split the plate for you. Beside that con, the dinner is wonderful. Nice ocean view.

Terrible — terrible — terrible — maybe horrendous in virtually every way.
They don’t know how to run a restaurant or a business — hoping to take advantage of a beach front location but that just won’t work.
Chicken Cacciatore is a really bad Chicken Fajita dish without the tortilla.
Medium rare strip steak came out medium well
Asparagus ice cold
Linguine tremendously overlooked
Italian bread is better at WAWA or 7 Eleven
Restaurant smells like mold and marijuana — hostess joked — oh yeah that comes from the second floor rooms during college week.
A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY — could be the worst meal anywhere we have eaten in the world over the last ten years.

For $ 82 (including tax and tip) we got two entrees which included (!) salad (on the small side and just plain lettuce and one cherry tomato and one olive) and bread (half a small fresh baked loaf French bread style), two drinks (a beer and a martini made with too much vermouth, and a dessert (one plate of rather small and dried up cannolis that we shared) that we had with coffee (good expresso! and a surprisingly well-​made decaf latte!). While the service was fast (we were there early at 6 pm on a Thursday) the waiter was a bit chatty and made some odd comments. E.g., when we asked for iced water he said something about «ice being expensive.» But he did bring us glasses of water with ice in them. This restaurant wants to be a smart Italian place but it simply is not and needs one of those make-​overs you see on TV, inmho. We were fed adequately but it was nothing special or extraordinary and you get the feeling they’ve been doing the same thing for years so if you want to go back in restaurant time this is where to go. Not wheelchair accessible as best I could tell even though the restaurant is on the first floor of the Beach Hotel (old). Bathrooms for the restaurant are in the back of the hotel lobby/​bar adjoining.

Well, the view and the kids meal are the best part of this place… If you looking for real Italian meal (especially if you are from NYC) you are going to be disappointed.
On a bright side: NY Strip was okay, Mark the waiter helpful and friendly and view was great…
But guys get some help for your kitchen– it is slow and not really Italian.