Michael’s Steak & Lobster House

OMG! This place is Baltimore’s best kept secret! The service was great and the food was fantastic! I’ve never tasted better crab in my life! I had the Imperial crab stuff filet mignon and my gf had the imperial crab stuff broiled chicken. OMG, best food EVER! And the prices are awesome! This place is Baltimore’s best kept secret.

I cannot express enough how horrible this place was. We had a birthday party reservation for 15 and every single person had a bad experience. Half of the group works in the service industry so we’re definitely not a picky group.
1) not one person was offered a water refill.
2) food had hair in it & they only reduced it by $ 3, $ 32 reduced to $ 29. The manager stuck to that reduction until I told her that I worked for the health department. After that, then they removed the total cost for food.
3) it’s a steak house w/​hand written receipts that are not legible. All calculations are manual.
4) the main dishes were good portions HOWEVER all of the side dishes were boxed– RiceARoni, frozen vegetables, boxed mashed potatoes, soggy French fries, etc
5) they required a 20% tip for crappy service. Totally understand a minimum 15% or maybe 18% bc of the party size… But 20%, really?!?

Exactly what I was expecting out of a classic old fashioned steak house. Nothing to fancy, I ordered the 40 oz steak, & stuffed shrimp. Amazingly good and very well portioned. Unless your dying of hunger you’ll definitely have plenty to take home. My only small complaint was the Sangria wasn’t sweet enough, & the house salad was MEH — wasn’t anything but lettuce, tomato, & cucumber

The steak is out of this world delicious… however do not get mushrooms and onions. The upcharge is $ 6.50! That’s a lot! Also you only get one drink refill. Sodas are 3 bucks. For that you should be allowed more than 1 refill! After that you get charged 3 dollars again. I’ve never been anywhere that does that. Potatoes are instant and dry. Salad was iceberg lettuce and definitely Not fresh. I probably will just get steak next time and take it home and make my own mushrooms and onions.

Michaels is a strange, but interesting experience. The décor is straight out of the 1970’s and there is no attempt to apologize for it. I agree with others that ‘Archie Bunker’ would be the theme for this place. It is small, only 8 tables and 3 booths in the main seating area behind the bar and a few more tables in the side room near the entrance. They do take reservations.
As for the food, I’ve never been to a restaurant that doesn’t even try with some of the menu items. The cream of crab soup arrived luke warm, was bland and had almost no crab in it. We couldn’t eat more than few bites. The greek salad was bagged lettuce and was not good overall. I received instant mashed potatoes with industrial gravy and stewed green beans, my wife had a baked potato — all terrible. The kids split a veal parmesan which was mediocre at best. The highlight was the steaks. I had a 40oz porterhouse which was fantastic and my wife ordered a huge prime rib which was on special for $ 24, it was also excellent.
It is fine for kids, they have a kids menu and there are plenty of options off the main menu. The service was fine. I wanted to give it 3 stars for the steak and overall value, but the rest of my family insisted it go no higher than 2 stars due to some of the inedible food. I might return if I was craving steak, but I wouldn’t mess around with anything else.

Been to Michael’s many times over the years. Don’t expect anything fancy, the place has the same décor it had when it opened back in the ’60’s or ’70’s, now ageing somewhat ungracefully (and honestly, it doesn’t appear that cleanliness is a great priority, either), waiters/​waitresses are mostly old, mostly local Greektown residents, and wear old-​fashioned black and white uniforms.
The only reason to come here is the center of the plate: enormous steaks and prime rib, big lobsters, and huge crabcakes, all at a ridiculously low price. Don’t expect anything of the sides, all of the vegetables are canned or frozen, not fresh, and are cooked to mush, to boot (with the exception of the baked potato, which is just old). The «Grecian-​style» house bread is usually at least warm, and perfectly passable. If one inquires about the «fresh fish» menu, one will learn the fish is actually «fresh frozen».
However, the steaks are truly gigantic, and are a choice quality piece of meat, tender, flavorful, always broiled perfectly as ordered (broiling has somehow become a nearly forgotten art in meat cookery theses days), and minimally seasoned with only salt and a little pepper. A good cut of beef does not need heavy seasoning, nor bottled steak sauces. I have little sympathy with those expecting a well done 40oz Porterhouse to come out in 20 minutes, slathering it with A-​1, Tiger Sauce, marinara, whatever, and then complaining about under-​seasoning or dryness.
Obviously, said people don’t appreciate what a steak is about.
The split plate/​sharing charge is a joke. All you get is an extra plate. I don’t expect to get an extra entrée, or portion, but no extra sides, nada?
All in all, come here for the beef, and the fresh lobster and crab dishes. Skip the veggies, and eat your meat. Still a terrific value, just for the entrée.

Steak was cooked really well. Not really a lot of seasoning. I used A-​1 and I hate to use any condiment after my steak is cooked. Steak should be cooked to eat with nothing else.
The server was nice. Lady who waited on me after the server was nice also.
Fries were so so. Soup was so so. Place is very old and outdated. Definitely needs an upgrade.
I’m on the fence with this one. Not great but not horrible.

So I’m debating how many stars to give because I’m a tad bit torn. I came her for lunch during restaurant week and got the 8oz filet for $ 15 along with a starter salad. I didn’t necessary care for the iceburg lettuce they used in it I much prefer romaine or mixed greens. The filet was great! Seasoned perfectly so certainly no complaints there. I got it with the Greek style green beans which I didn’t realize was served with a red sauce so that wasn’t at all appealing to me so I sent those back and opted for fries. They had house wine for $ 5 and on the way out I saw a board of quite a few great spacial throughout the week that might be worth a try considering how good my filet was. Besides the food the décor could use an update. The place itself was definitely outdated to say the least.

No words can explain this place it’s worth the drive from DC up to here the prices are reasonable and you get more than you can eat

One of the more random stops in my life was to this steak house. I read the Unilocal reviews and was intrigued by large cuts of meat at solid prices in a late 1970s old school steak house. I’m glad I gave it a shot.
I came in on a hot afternoon in Baltimore. There was the bartender acting as host and waiter who sat me at a booth in the bar. They had a lunch special menu, but I opted for the regular menu. Prime Rib steak with sides of Cole slaw and green beans and crab stuffed mushrooms. Took about 20 minutes for food to be served and it was a pleasure to eat. The prime rib was freshly seared and sizzling. Cooked exactly to order (medium rare). The sides were nothing special, but the mushrooms stuffed with crab was an appetizer I used to supplement my steak. That was tasty and I’m glad I went with it. The price was around 30 bucks or so. Worth it, for what I ate.

5 star at least on thursday. 40 oz. Steak !!! $ 25. Git the prime rib med well and my wife got the t bine well. Both were still tender and flavourful. Got a customer for life

Went for 40oz steak night and I was pleased the steak was awesome. Also had the cream of crab soup it was just ok but the steak was great. Cooked exactly how I asked very tender. The only thing bad about the restaurant is the dated décor nothing in it has changed since the 70’s

The prices on Unilocal are completely outdated. This is not a $ 20 steak dinner. Although the steak was fine, not seasoned, but cooked. Sides were reheated frozen brussel sprouts and a puny baked potato. It looked like a dinner for a retirement home. Which wasn’t too far from the patrons that surrounded us and their chairs.
Recommendation: go somewhere else. This place is for a certain clientele. If you don’t appreciate the kitch, and bland food then you’re not their clientele.
My disappointment was in their $ 5 up charge for «sharing» a platter. In a decent place where they charge to split a plate they actually split the plate, serving 2 portions or doing something to add value. Here they just served the same dinner and an extra plate!
Baltimore has some great places to eat, drink, and be merry. Michael’s is NOT one of them.

For some unknown reason, I found myself driving down I-​95 on a cold Sunday afternoon on the search of what a friend called «the finest piece of beef I have ever had…» Which, I took as a high recommendation from someone that spends his free time consuming mass quantities of beef. So off I took on a joyride for a steak and crab imperial combo.
The ambience of the place can be best described as old school. It reminds me of being six years old and going to my first steakhouse with my parents but this time I“m not getting a burger. But really, I could care less what the place looked like, I was there for the beef and crab. Although Sunday was the first day of Baltimore’s Restaurant Week, I really wasn’t in the mood for a three course meal, I knew why I was there and it was for the New York Strip topped with Crab Imperial.
I got there a bit on the late side, around 7pm and the place wasn’t packed since it was two hours before closing so I expected to get my food rather quickly… I was so wrong on that thought. I’m not going to blame a slow kitchen for my food since they apparently had a large number of to-​go orders to cook but after a 25 minute wait, I was finally served my Medium-​Rare steak topped with a nicely browned and flavored crab imperial.
For the most part, my steak was good except for the first quarter of it which was on the medium side but that’s to be expected every now and again. The steak itself was seriously under-​seasoned so I asked for a cup of the au jus (which is $ 1 btw) and that added the flavor that was missing in the steak. The crab imperial that topped the steak was loaded with crab meat and was very flavorful. If the crab cake has a similar flavor, I am sure to get it on my next visit. The sides… well… I had brussels sprouts and apple sauce (don’t judge me). The sprouts were bland, boiled and boring (just like my grandmother use to make) and the apple sauce… well… it’s apple sauce, can’t really mess that up.
For dessert… yes… I had dessert. I ordered the baklava, which I was told was made in-​house. What can I say about this baklava… it was rich, crunchy and gooey. Everything a baklava is suppose to be and I will take that filling on top of a bowl of ice cream any day.
I’ll be back again to try that 40oz steak special.

Went there while in town on a buisness trip simply amazing. Read all the reviews Good and Bad the bad are so far from the truth. Met the Founders Daughters and Son Amazingly wonderful people food was Phenomenal. HUGE Steak excellent quality cut with a fork tender and simply divine.
More than just a meal great service friendly staff and if they have their Mothers Homemade Baklava you must try this it is heaven on a plate. Best ever. Look forward to the next trip.

It our first-​time there for my husband’s birthday who loves steak. Everyone was very excited until we arrived at the restaurant. They say ”don’t judge a book by its cover”, well in this case it was fasle. Just like the outside of the restaurant, interior was outdated as well. But hey maybe the food will change our mind.
We ordered fried mushroom as our appetizer, it was fried well but lacking seasoning. Thank god for ranch drassing. For dinner it was their Thursday night special $ 20.95 porter house steak and spaghetti with meat sauce for the little one. Once again no seasoning on the steak what so ever. We asked for au jus, ketchup, old bay and anything else they had available. Each entrée came with two sides so we got Brussel sprouts (simply boiled) and mashed potatoes (came with this disgusting diner style beef gravy).
For dessert it was nothing special, they brought a dessert tray which had your normal diner style choices. Nothing appealing so the little one decided to get pumpkin pie (normal store bought bakery goods).
Last but not least they still have the ancient style hand written check. Our waitress over charged us and we couldn’t even read her handwriting. Kinda thought it was funny and cute at the same time and that is why they deserved 2 stars.
Definitely not going back anytime soon unless it is done by mistake. You have to be a regular to like this place and think most people have been going there for years. I rather take G&M’s 24oz steak over them in any given day.

I got the 32oz steak and I asked for it to be well done or a little pink but my steak had a lot A LOT OF RED! I didn’t want to send it
Back that’s just me. I did love the steak but perfer that it was not red. Loved the comfy
Feeling of this place. My fiancé got the crab cake he really liked it. Also this isn’t a cheap
Place to eat be prepared to spend a little $. But only complacent is when u say u want Little pink don’t give a steak that’s red. I had to come home the next day and cook my steak longer just so it wouldn’t be red. Nice waitress.

After reading the other Unilocal reviews… I was admittedly VERY nervous about coming here, especially with the Mr. in tow, as he is NOT amenable to subpar service — AND we drove an hour to get there.
THANKFULLY we were very pleasantly surprised. Yes, the décor is a little dated. But oddly enough, it gave the place a certain charm. We didn’t have the issue with a «smell» that another Unilocaler mentioned, plus our silverware and glassware were clean. We were seated promptly (there was only one other seated group in the section we were in when we arrived and then a few other parties came. We thought it might affect our service, but again NOPE! Everything was on point.
We ordered crab dip for the appetizer and I couldn’t believe how much of it there was, especially for the price. The bread was warm, the butter was ice cold. Our waiter stayed on top of filling our water glasses. We ordered large steaks (I had the 40 oz porterhouse, he the 32oz NY Strip). Of course, cuts of beef that size are going to take a while. Mr. had a house salad that looked pretty good and the dressing was tasty (I sampled it) — I saved room for the main course and STILL needed his help finishing it off.
He asked for marinara (um, what?) to dip the steak into as he was getting towards the end. I stuck my fork in the sauce to taste it, and it was DELICIOUS. His tiger sauce that he asked for with his steak was good as well.,
We didn’t order dessert.
I’m happy to say that we have decided to go back for our post-​wedding dinner in the next couple of weeks, we liked it that much. I only wanted to take off half a point and give 4.5 stars ONLY because there wasn’t much seasoning on the steaks. For these menu prices and the service we received it was MORE than worth the drive to Baltimore and I’m looking forward to capping off a magical day with dinner at this place.
(we’re going to try some other stuff tho).
Go hungry and be prepared to take food home. But GO and enjoy — you’ll be glad you did.

It was my second visit the first time I would have at least giving it 4 stars that visit I received good customer service. The last visit there was 3 in attendance and we order 4 dishes to the table no problem. It was everything to the point I over tipped the waitress.
This last visit was horrible… I decided to bring the family for a birthday celebration with 7 guest. It was their first time, so the had questions about the menu item and specials. The waitress mostly said she did not know or I have to check. We tried to order adults drinks jolly ranchers, but she needed to check with the bar. By the time she return to table she never checked. No adult drinks for us. On Friday nights they are known for the 2lb crab cake, one of the main reason for the visit also. We learn the special only come broiled for its size. So most changed their orders to different entrees. It was a long wait to the point the waitress asked us if we were still awake. Seen many tables come and go. I’m trying to make the best of it. remember we are celebrating a birthday. Finally the food comes, we are told since we wanted our steaks well done it takes a lot of time. Now you tell me while you are placing the plates down. We decide to order the broiled 2lb crab cake anyway since this is what the place is known for. While one of my daughter went the the restroom she could over hear the staff talking about my/​our table. «why are they ordering all that food» «what kind of place they think this is»… Now my mood has changed I’m ready to go. I have never been to a place like this… People order what ever they want and how much they want when they are spending their money. I talked to the waitress to inform her it was very unprofessional for staff to talk about any customers. She says «how do you know it was about your table» to my response that it should never be about any customer but the words that was used (I will not disclose here) I know and she knows it was my table. The manager was trying to say I had a problem with the bill I corrected her I already knew how much I was spending. money was not an issue but the poor customer service. Yes they have decent steaks 40 oz and the broiled 2 lb crab cake was 31.95 a steal. But I don’t force people to take the money I work hard for to in turn provide poor customer service… beyond pissed.

I came here with a group for Baltimore’s Restaurant Week. I had actually been here about a year earlier, and had a decent but unmemorable experience. This one was a mix of good and bad, with the bad sort of winning out.
The décor inside is like a bad 1970’s chain seafood restaurant. LOTS of bland brown wood. There were cobwebs on the lamp above our table. The whole place seemed to be just worn out. Even the utensils had seen better days.
The menu was actually quite good. Lots of seafood, steaks, chicken, appetizers, and a focus on Greek food. In my group, we had either a steak (very large steaks) or crab cakes. My steak was cooked a perfect medium, was about 2 ½ inches thick, and tasted excellent. There was a large chunk of fat, but this just made it flavorful. I would say that the steak started life at about 35 ounces, but cooked to just over half of that. My side of french fries was a little soggy, but they were edible. Everyone’s crab cakes were huge, with ENORMOUS lumps of crab. Overall, the food was quite good and makes enduring the worn and outdated surroundings worth it. HOWEVER…
The service and policies of this establishment are very poor and somewhat outdated. Our waiter was downright lazy and we all felt that we were a burden on him. He was rarely around, and we almost were always out of beverages. He took forever when asking for an item, and our food was not exactly warm when we finally got it. Finally, when we got our check, there was two extra beverages on the bill. We were trying to get his attention, but instead went to the bar to pay for our bill and question the charges after waiting 20 MINUTES.
Turns out the charges were because two of us had more than one refill. Nowhere on the menus did it say that only one refill was free. Nobody does this anymore. Again, this place is living in the 1970’s.
I would recommend it if you are incredibly hungry for a big steak and can’t get into Fogo de Chao or Ruth’s Chris. Otherwise, go there if you want to deal with crappy service, worn out digs, and typical Baltimore urban blight.