Maria’s Garden & Inn

Ugh, where do I start? My fiancé booked this Inn for our Valentine’s getaway. We are getting married in Berkeley Springs in the fall so we thought it would be cool to stay in the area and explore. First of all, as others mentioned, the décor is SUPER weird and religious, but whatever, we could get past that. When the innkeeper showed us to our room, the first thing we noticed was a gross perfume-​y smell, and that the room was EXTREMELY hot. Also, there were white stains the red carpet and much of the red velvet chairs. The bathroom had a huge tub, but no shower (which was ok since there was one in the hall, but I found it strange), and they offered NO toiletries except for a small bar of soap. I didn’t bring shampoo assuming there would be some offered, so that was a bummer. Two of the light bulbs above the sink were out, and the rest were covered in cob webs. Oh, and there was a panel on the side of the tub right next to the toilet that had popped out of the tile and had a pretty sharp corner, so I am glad I noticed it or we could have been hurt getting in and out of the tub or using the bathroom.
We went out to dinner and when we came back, even though it was –3 degrees outside, we had to turn the heat off and open a window just to comfortably sleep. But sleep we did not. The large window above our door let extremely bright light from the hallway in. I stepped into the hall to try and find the switch but could not. I was able to turn off one lamp. Aside from that, there was a really loud squeaking noise going on right outside our window (or maybe from the vent below, hard to tell) that went on for HOURS. It was awful.
Morning finally came and we went down to breakfast where the innkeepers asked us how are night was, and we replied, «Ummm, it was ok» with a very obvious look of unhappiness, and they didn’t say one word or ask us why or what happened. Nothing. The server came to ask us what we wanted and we had no idea since there was no menu, nor were we informed beforehand what our included breakfast choices were, so she told us then brought the food. The food was average. She wished us a happy Valentine’s Day, and went on to tell us how she had just lost her husband to a terrible disease and told us all about how he suffered and she had to bathe and care for and feed him. We obviously felt terrible for her, but thought she should not have been sharing this information with two people (strangers) eating their Valentine’s Day breakfast.
When we went to check out, the innkeeper again made no effort to ask us about our night, so I decided to tell her everything that was wrong. She apologized, but we were not offered any sort of compensation or reconciliation. No discount, no coupon, no nothing. And that room was $ 165!!! Way too much for that disgusting, awful, smelly, loud, bright, weird room for sure.
If I could give this place zero stars, I would. Terrible!!!

I’ve stayed here several times. The rooms are, clean, homey, and roomy. The food is always great. The décor is a unintentionally comical. Kind of like sissy Spacack’s home in the movie Carrie. I love staying at Maria’s, the staff makes you feel right at home. Mindy is always a pleasure (if she’s still there)!

The only food and atmosphere I’ve ever experienced that was worse than Maria’s Garden was eating C-​rations in Vietnam. No, on second thought, this restaurant was worse than my dining experiences in Vietnam. Food, service, and atmosphere was horrible. Stay away from this place.

We ate here about a year ago, and I concur with the other posts. Food is not great, service not good, and if you are not Catholic, the décor might put you over the edge!

Beyond terrible. We looked past the «funeral parlor» vibe as a previous poster noted. But it only got worse from there. This place is dirty. The service was terrible. And the food was worst of all. I ordered a basic BLT for lunch. It was dry, the bacon burnt and no mayo. Our daughter had chicken tenders and fries. Server brought no ketchup. My husband ordered the chicken parm — bland, not breaded. Couldn’t tell server. He never returned to table. Not with a drink we ordered or to take our payment. Place was not busy at all but he chose to bus a table after we told him we were ready to order then returned later. Actually we kind of felt sorry for him having to work in that atmosphere and listen to the terrible muzak. Our first visit to Berkeley Springs and many other places were closed. Avoid this place at all costs.

My wife and I had a late dinner here on a Saturday night because we were looking for an alternative to our usual spot, Tari’s. The restaurant is in dire need of an update. The booth we sat in had ripped seating and the walls and ceiling of the place just look dirty. As others have stated, the décor is heavy on the Catholic but that did not bother me. What did bother me was my wife’s food. She ordered a sirloin steak dinner with a salad and baked potato. The salad was iceberg lettuce with a slice of tomato on top. She ordered her steak cooked medium and it came out broiled and well done. The outsides of the steak were hard and had absolutely no seasoning. The baked potato was wrapped in foil and it was dry, overcooked, and lacking any seasoning too.
The service was average. When I complained about my wife’s food our server asked if we were from around here. Her insinuation was that the locals find this kind of food acceptable. That is not true because I grew up about 30 minutes east of here. I say the service was average because she did have my wife’s meal removed from the bill and gave us the suggestion that Tari’s probably has more of what we were looking for. We know that now but thought we would try something different.
I ordered fettucine alfredo and must say the alfredo sauce was very good. The pasta was overcooked but the sauce tasted fresh and homemade. I received the same salad that consisted of iceberg lettuce and a tomato slice or two.
We will never return to this restaurant. Berkeley Springs has several other restaurants and at the prompting of an employee of this one, we will go to them from now on.

Stay away. You can do much better than this place.
Décor — ultra gaudy. Rose wallpaper & carpet. Fake flowers & lots of religion. Funeral parlor vibe. Cramped dining tables.
Service — awful. We went here on our anniversary. After an hour our meals (a salad & turkey sandwich) still had not arrived. We told our server we were leaving and they didn’t even comp our ice teas. We will never go back. The plates we did see served looked like cafeteria or institution style meals. Iceberg lettuce.
Go to Tari’s, Earthdog Café, or Angus & Ale instead.

Had dinner at Maria’s tonight. The décor is… super Catholic. Like, so much. Icons, pictures, photos, altars, on pretty much every surface in the 3 rooms of the restaurant. The food was overall — just, eh. Fine, nothing particularly good or bad. The service was good– the waitresses and the cashier were friendly. Pricing was appropriate. It was pretty quiet when we were there, for a rather early dinner – we arrived around 6 and were out by 7.
Eggplant parm was a substantial serving of food, and a bit oily but not inedibly so. My friend had a flounder sandwich, which was clearly frozen flounder but was fine.
There are a few tables in a patio (below street level).

Great homecooked food and affordable prices.
Maria’s Garden & Inn is certainly a unique dining experience, Being a Catholic, I appreciated all of the Catholic art, statues and saint relics. It could be a bit overwhelming if you do not share the Catholic faith or appreciate an eclectic collection of art. There is even a chapel on the upper level!
The menu provides a wide variety of options — everything from basic sandwiches to pasta dishes and everyting inbetween. Service was fantastic. Very friendly and prompt despite our large party and the food was all fantastic.
If you get a salad, try their house dressing, it is very tasty! The crab soup was also fantastic.

This was one of the most epic brunch experiences I have ever had. The food is delicious, and the service is wonderful… if you can get past the overwhelmingly holy décor.
Nearly every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered with paintings, statues and busts of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. It was a little much, especially as four out of towners just in Berkley Springs for a weekend getaway. While we were nervous at first, as soon as the bubbly waitress (who is also the daughter of the owner) brought us coffee and offered us doughnut poppers, we knew we were in for a treat. The food was phenomenal. In addition to the doughnut poppers with a warm frosting dip for the table, two of us ordered breakfast subs — bacon, egg and cheese, and sausage and egg on toasted and buttered Italian sub rolls — with freshly made home fries, one corned beef hash, and homemade blueberry Belgian waffles. All four of us cleaned our plates.
Maria’s is tasty, very reasonably priced, and quite a memorable breakfast experience, to say the least. Not many places in Berkley Spring serve brunch, but this one is doing it right.

Really great variety of food, friendly staff, excellent décor

The food is excellent. Décor… Well it’s very holy.
My friend and I already knew where we wanted to eat for other meals during our weekend, so we walked around looking for another café for lunch. We walked into Maria’s not really sure what to expect. The menu up at the front looked pretty decent, and the cashier recommended we at least take a look around since there is paraphernalia from all over the world. Well… we walked in and somehow got sucked in! There is just so much to look at. There are signs and statues of Maria all over the place. Anywhere you look it’s something holy. I’m not religious and my friend is an atheist, so being here was a little strange, but we figured, we’re here, we’re not going to burn being in the presence of all these displays and well it makes for an interesting lunch excursion!
We decided to dine in the pink room. Pink threw up all over this place — the walls are pink, the carpets are pink, the table décor is pink.
The food was actually really great. I got the crab cake sandwich — SO good. I’m pretty sure it was handmade and it was the perfect crab to bread ration. My friend had the potato soup with yummy buttery french bread and ordered a size of mozzarella bread (she didn’t realize how much bread she’d be getting but it was too good to pass up). Service was great too. Our server Elyse (sp?) was very attentive and friendly.
I’d actually recommend this place for the food and as strange as we felt dining in a place so holy, it actually made for a fun experience.

Had a quick brunch at Maria’s on the way out of town this past weekend. The food was awesome — very filling and not expensive at all.
The décor — can be a bit intense if you are not ready for it. Very religious (Catholic) with lots of paintings, statues and holy water by the door. While I can appreciate that, having eggs while Jesus is being carried from the tomb over your head can be a bit much.
However, the food is the reason we were there, and the food was wonderful!