Reel Inn Restaurant & Dock Bar

This is a pleasant oasis in the south end of OC; you get a nice view of the boats at anchor in the marina. But, don’t sit in the bar if the recorded music is playing; it was turned up REALLY LOUD, which meant that the happy hour drinkers had to yell to each other at the top of their voices. The dining room is best, as the outside deck gets all of the evening sun. Drinks were good; orange crush & a glass of wine were tasty & reasonably priced. Shrimp tacos were very good. The crab cake would have been excellent, had it not been cold inside. Please tell the cook that there’s a good reason most folks make their crab cakes flat, not round like a baseball: they will get hot inside without burning on the outside.

A wonderful experience. Ocean City can be so loud and tacky but this place is neither – tucked away in a gated community between the pool and dock, the view of the boats and bay was peaceful and gorgeous. Service very friendly and attentive. Owner wanders around talking to people in such a friendly way. Mojitos awesome. Kid-​friendly Orange Crush a huge hit with our 12 and 14-​year-​olds. Dinner was amazing. Rock fish special was light, perfectly cooked. Twin lobster tails sweet, fresh, and delicious. Ribeye huge and perfectly cooked. This is a hidden gem for those who would like a nice evening out away from the more crazy boardwalk world! We highly recommend the Reel Inn!

We just found our new favorite place, my wife and I both ordered the crab cake sandwich with LTM and one order of fries. Crab cake was very good will get this the next time. We both had 2 drinks each with tip $ 40. And great live music

This place may be a little difficult to find as it is in a gated community (but still open to the public), but WOW the food is amazing. The staff is very friendly, although a little overbearing if they aren’t busy like when my group went, but that’s not too bad. They were very over staffed for the night, and sometimes felt like you were being watched while eating, but a busy night will solve that.
I give this place a 4 star based on their not so easy to access location and over bearing staff. Easily 5 star food though, highly recommend.

I was the lead person for the group of gentlemen mentioned in the previous review. I’ll not comment on what she stated about us as she wasn’t sitting with us or have the experience we had. I’m giving this review 2 stars only because of how pleasant and apologetic the two young waitresses were throughout the evening. They can’t be blamed for their superiors lack of planning. A month prior to our visit I emailed the owner asking if they could accommodate a group of 16 golfers and if they were walking distance from the hotel we stayed at. My exchange with Angie via email was very good and gave me the feeling they would be prepared for a large group. They even confirmed with me earlier in the week. Upon our arrival, we ordered drinks of which they were out of several of the requested beers. We then began to order our appetizers. The crab dip was good, the calamari was good, as were the tuna bites. The edamame came out still frozen and was sent back to be cooked. When it was time to order our meals we were told that they didn’t have the steaks that were on the menu. Keep in mind they knew that 16 guys were coming for dinner a month prior. Angie even went so far as to tell us multiple times that she told the owner numerous times to order steaks and he didn’t. At this point, no one would have ever thought that the owner was in fact her husband. We then asked for their suggestion on what they would recommend. They recommended the Captain’s Platter. Most of us proceeded to order that platter which comes with scallops, shrimp, and a crab cake. After the orders were put in, Angie came back and told us that they only had enough scallops for 4 orders. Again, they knew a month in advance they had a party of 16 coming that night. When our meals arrived all of the rice and green beans on the entrees were cold, not room temperature, but cold. Some of us at that point (it was around 9:45PM) were so hungry that we just ate it like that. Some of us sent the meals back to be cooked and unfortunately they came back AGAIN cold. As you can imagine we were blown away that they couldn’t provide us with their menu items nor could they send the food out hot or even warm. We were repeatedly told that it was early in the season for them so they didn’t have many things. I could understand that if it we had walked in off the street. We asked to speak to the owner and were initially told «He’s too busy to talk to you!» That is what set us over the edge. How could an owner be too busy to speak with a customer, let alone 16? At this point a young lady came to our table extremely aggressive and said «What’s wrong with your meals?! I’ve eaten here a 100 times and it’s my favorite restaurant and the food is wonderful!» I told her that she wasn’t eating with us tonight and couldn’t speak to our meals and our experience. At this point we had no idea who this person even was as we hadn’t see her prior to this point. She then stated in an extremely sarcastic and arrogant manner «I’m a Physician Assistant and I’ll pay for all of these meals!» Now the owner is standing next to me asking what he can do to make it better. I told him to get this girl away from us as she is making the situation worse. Turns out the girl was the owner and Angie’s daughter. Had we been quicker on our feet we would have let her pay for the meal. When asked by the owner what he could do to make it better I told him to comp the meals. He comped us $ 110 on an over $ 800 bill. Here’s the thing that drove us nuts… it wasn’t our fault they didn’t have the food, it wasn’t our fault they couldn’t send the food out cooked properly, but we certainly were made to feel like the villain. I’m sure this is and has been a great restaurant, otherwise I wouldn’t have picked it out of all the other options in the area to bring 16 guys on the first night of our trip. Restaurants have bad nights, it happens. For future reference, the owners could have made everything right by just buying a round of drinks but they would hear nothing of that. My other recommendation would be to tell the Physician Assistant to not assume she is smarter and richer than people she comes into contact with especially when she is representing the family business. As for the previous review from Vivian, karma didn’t get us, in fact we had a great rest of our trip and were able to laugh every time someone said in a snotty voice «I’m a Physician Assistant!» Angie was concerned that we would «kill» them on Unilocal and social media, we’re better than that, we just tell it how it is. Best of luck with your next large group and I hope you guys learn to stock food prior to their arrival.

ate here upon arriving late in Ocean City after two weeks of rain and they were one of the few places open! thank heavens! their crab cake is FABULOUS! One of the best we have eaten! we had the misfortune of sitting next to probably the most obnoxious group of about 15 men who mistreated the staff terribly all the while cursing and threatening to «go on social media» if they did not jump upon command. it was unbelievable. …the restaurant owner apologized for the groups behaviour and gave us a discount… even though it was not the fault of the restaurant. i hope these men reap the karma they sowed last night. the staff was very friendly and we enjoyed it despite the drama going on!

As a year-​round visitor to Ocean City, with family who are local, the summer months are often spent BBQ’ing at the house or traveling to Berlin to avoid crowds for meals. We always welcome finding a new, quality place where there are minimal, summer crowds. Reel Inn certainly fits that description.
Off the beaten path, tucked away in the townhouse community of Harbor Island, is the Reel Inn Restaurant & Dock Bar. I’ve always rode my bike past the area several times but never bothered to venture in because of the security gate — you can completely ignore that security gate, by the way. Just ride on by – you’ll even notice a small sign in front of the security gate that says «Home of the Reel Inn Restaurant & Dock Bar». There is a private lot specifically for non-​residents, who are coming just for a bite to eat. Now to the food…
For apps, we ordered crab dip and a seafood sampler (Assawoman Trio, I think?) which consisted of tuna bites, blackened scallops, and shrimp. It all was insanely delicious.
I ordered the grilled jerk chicken tenders. Again, delicious. Family and friends also ordered the chicken Caesar wrap, fish tacos, and the jerk chicken wrap with crab meat. No complaints from anyone.
Beer menu is nothing special. Fair prices but your standard run-​of-​the-​mill Budweiser, Coors Light, Corono, Natty Light-​nonsense. They did have 60 minute, though. Orange Crush was cheap but I’ve had better. Still satisfying.
Atmosphere was relaxing. Solid background reggae and country music. View was 30-​foot-​something boats and what not.
Only complaint was how sllllllllloooooooooooowwwwwwww the service and kitchen were. Granted, we were starving, so if we weren’t so hungry we wouldn’t of taken notice as much — weather, view, company, conversation and everything was clicking on high cylinders — but like I said, we were very hungry. To be fair, I only witnessed one guy serving the six other tables that were also seated. Our party of seven was the largest table. Whatever. Like I said earlier, this isn’t a place that appears to be flooded with people on a nightly basis. They are open year-​round and probably have the Harbor Island community and repeat customers as a majority of their business. I fully intend to be one of those repeat customers and be hanging out at the bar, trying other food and drinks this coming winter.

As other reviews pointed out it is very difficult to get too. We came in by boat there is very limited dock space, even though we were told when we called there was a lot room.
After we finally got there the wait was not very long, when the waitress took our drink order I ordered a martini. She didn’t know what a martini was and had to bring a manager over to clarify the order.
When our food arrived they forgot our sons grilled cheese, the waitress said she would be right back with his food. The rest of the family finished our entire meal and they still had not brought out his grilled cheese. 25 minutes later the grilled cheese finally arrived… unbelievable!
The other meals we ordered were average at best, you can find much better food in Ocean City with better service and better prices. This is one place we will never return too.

After spending an arduous day of housing round after round of drinks at Seacrets, the figurative bar for dinner was set extraordinarily low. In fact, that bar was actually set by the Bachelor in the party at «food.»
So I used my quick fingers and Unilocal due diligence to find a place by the name of Blu Crabhouse And Raw Bar and booked a reservation for 12 @ 7:30pm. It was close to 7:10 when I made my way over to the Bacheor’s hotel room to find half of our 12 person party unshowered, unkept, and partially undressed.
But that wasn’t the issue that deserved the most attention. The most critical issue was that the future-​groom himself lie next-​to lifeless on the bed, virtually unwakeable and fully unprepared; a dilemma that was promptly solved by the quick application of ice to his bare and uncovered feet. By the time I was able to organize and prep the motley crew of gentleman– I had to cancel the reservation at Blu Crabhouse & Raw Bar… which I can only say now was a blessing in disguise. It was not until I found myself in the lobby of the hotel with 90 percent of the party, that I did a search by current location on the hotel and found Reel Inn Restaurant And Dock Bar. 42 reviews with 4 stars you say?
I called up the restaurant and was greeted by a man with a kind voice,
«Hey there! How long would the wait be for a table of 12?» I asked.
«OH, I could seat you!» he replied.
«Ok, great! We’ll be over in 10 minutes»
That was too easy… I said to myself. There are few reasons why a restaurant wouldn’t be packed in Ocean City on a Saturday night during the summer.
1. The customer service and food are both equally atrocious and the entire community knows it.
2. A very large reservation just cancelled, and they have a lot of open tables.
2. The restaurant is so hidden that no one knows about it.
Thankfully, the reason the restaurant was so empty on this Saturday night was because it is located in the back depths of a gated condo community that sits directly on the bay at 14^th street. Not only is it hidden in Ocean City itself, it’s hidden IN THE CONDO COMMUNITY. It doubly hidden.
It pretty much exists in the spacial fractures of time and space in a planet outside of this galaxy. Sorry… I’ve been watching Star Trek Voyager recently.
When you’re walking up to the restaurant, you’re not even sure it is a restaurant, cause it has the appearance of a nice clubhouse sitting next to the central condo community’s pool. There’s not really an entrance with a hostess stand. so just come in through the bar and someone will come up to you and help ya out.
Which is one of the many reasons that Reel Inn is so special. The other reasons…
1. The food is freakin’ delicious
2. The service is friendly and down to earth
3. Most of the restaurant exists outside with a backdrop of 300K+ Yachts
4. The whole operation seems family run
5. Did I mention the food is freakin’ delicious
For appetizers, we started with the Tuna Bites, Old Bay Chicken Wings, Crab Dip, and shrimp.
The Crab Dip was well seasoned, warm, served in bread bowl with an adequate amount of crab. The old bay chicken wings rival some of the best wings I’ve had. The meat was super tender fall of the bone perfection, housed inside of a wonderfully crispy outer shell. The Tuna Bites (served medium-​rare. something I’m not used to) were my favorite app. The size of the bites justified the extra cooking time, and the sauce, wasabi, ginger, and seaweed salad were clean and light enough to perfectly compliment the fish.
For my entrée, I ordered the Reel Crab Cakes.
The crab cakes were baseball sized rounds of lump crab meat. The dish was 28 dollars. But I kid you not; I almost felt uncomfortable eating them as I felt like I was partially robbing the restaurant.
I’ll be honest, it takes ALOT of crab to fill me up. Usually when I do all-​you-​can-​eat pick & eat style crabs, I just get tired and give up. I’m usually bleeding from some several parts of my hands that are inevitably salt-​filled with Old Bay packed into the wounds, and the novelty of picking has completely worn off and I give up.
These crab cakes had so much crab that I was uncomfortably full from eating both of them. I wasn’t gonna waste any piece of a crab cake though… it’s against my religion. But seriously, I could have gone without apps and just had the crab cakes and been set. I love how a little teriyaki sauce mix was thrown on the rice– though the rice did taste a little «one-​minute-​ish». The green beans were also lacking a little something. Maybe a char or some garlic/​butter. But the crab cakes were perfection. Pure unadulterated numerous ounces of lump crab meat.
The owner came over and thanked me for calling them up and bringing everyone over to Reel Inn. Just the cherry on top of the whole awesome meal.
I can’t wait to go back. If I lived in Ocean City, I would surely be a regular.

The Reel Inn is truly a hidden gem! Great service and atmosphere with AMAZING food! The tuna was the best I have ever had, not to mention the spring rolls and the coconut key lime pie. Definitely will be back!

If you can find the Reel Inn in its cryptic location, you can feel free to stop «inn» for pretty good food. You’ll quickly discover that there is little or no parking available, and that you’ll have to park in spots marked as no-​park zones. So, it gives the feeling that eating at the Reel Inn makes getting your car towed a «reel» possibility. I ordered (and consumed) the Reel Tuna Sandwich, which was not bad. It was nicely cooked and not over-​seasoned. The price was just ok, considering that the sandwich came with only chips as a side. A vinegary cole slaw would have been nice.
Also of note: the outdoor seating is near a swimming pool, and the dudes jumping into the pool seemed to be having a swell time. I swear they were actively filming a John Hughes coming-​of-​age movie over there, using hidden cameras or some such thing. I realize that this is unlikely, though. Try the shrimp; the seasoning’s good.

Took us a while to find this place. Walked in and were not greeted by anyone. As soon as someone acknowledged me and my family, they told us where the hostess was. Went up to where he was only to be turned away because «there is a big party coming». We were really looking forward to eating here but we’re extremely disappointed. Food might be great but we didn’t even get to try it out.

Their Fish Taco’s are very very good! The have a wide selection of things to eat and their Orange Crush drinks are fresh and not pre-​made.
The only issue I have is he parking. Not very many spots because it’s in a community called Harbor Island on 14^th St bayside.

Omg. So I wanted to find a place walkable. This place was just a short 10 – 15 walk from the boardwalk. I’ll put my complaint up front. There is very little signage to find this place. That said. It’s totally worth it. I had the rib eye blackened and a crab cake. The rib eye was cooked perfect, the blackening was just right. It had the kick and the build which is difficult to do. The crab cake though. Omg. No only was it amazing, so was there sauce. The weight staff was great, the mgr shared the recipe for the sauce. What can I say they checked all the boxes. Five stars guys!

An excellent dining experience! The food was delicious and, while it was definitely a more obscure location, the quaint ambiance was a refreshing change from the touristy, in your face scene of the majority of OCMD restaurants. I enjoyed the lemon roasted mahi and my husband ordered the grilled tuna — both were sublime. Even the chicken tenders from the kids menu were cooked fresh to order. We were seated directly adjacent to the dock and the relaxing charm can’t be overstated. I can’t wait to go back — food, service, atmosphere — all 5 stars. Fabulous.

The food and service are great. The manager/​owner (female brown hair) is awful. I came here twice and witnessed her scream at a waitress in front of guests. She also asked our table to leave because she had a reservation on a Sunday evening. We were not told this prior to being sat. There were other empty tables in the restaurant. She is abrasive and very unprofessional. It’s quite the deterrent to eating at such a fine local establishment.

I will admit this restaurant was a little awkward to get to. It is off the beaten path and and in order to get to it you have to drive through and park in a condo community. However, very worth it! Designated parking spots and passes for those dining there; the servers were polite, the service was great and the food was excellent! I wanted good seafood on our last night of vacation. My boyfriend and I got the crab dip to split, he got a chicken wrap with crab dip in it and I got the tuna sandwich. It was absolutely delicious! Their website wasn’t kidding about having the best tuna!
Not to mention the orange crush drink was perfect, not too sweet. The view of the boat dock was a great place to dine and as we were leaving a live band was setting up to play, I wish we could have been there for that. Overall a great experience!

Unilocal’d this place while on the bay and could not have been happier with the choice. The wings were perfect for my taste and the fish tacos were amazing. Nice little find if you are out on a boat rental and are looking for a dock bar.

In Ocean City for our regional
conference. I went for lunch today with my team. Wow! Their first day open, and the food was great!
It was 58 degrees but their back deck was protected and sunny.
Crab cakes: YUM!
Black and blue burger: delicious!
Blackened grilled chicken strips: very good.
The service by Megan was great. She made wonderful suggestions on the menu, and was attentive and lovely.
We will put this on our list for next year.

Reel Inn was very weird to get to. You have to walk through a housing complex that had a big sign reading, «NO TRESPASSING.» Uh?
Once we found it, I guess we entered the wrong way. No hostess in sight and the bartender looked at us like we had three heads.
After finally sitting down, we were eager to check out the menu. A seafood place in MD… Let’s get some crabs! Wait… They don’t have any.
My sister and I decided to share calamari and steamed shrimp. Both were very flavorful and came out quickly.
I had the Watermelon Crush, which was absolutely amazing!
There was a guy playing music and that was cool.
All in all, not a terrible experience, but nothing very astonishing either.