Great place to sit at the bar and eat oysters. Excellent sea-food selection

Crab and artichoke dip is a must. Overall a great menu selection and cozy atmosphere. I frequent here often and usually bring out of town guests because I know they'll get a good sea food experience. read more

When I was in Baltimore for business, I asked a local, "where can I find a great little place for dinner that has great sea food, a good bar and a great ambience?". The first place that he said was Mama's on the Half Shell. The place was great, staff was very friendly. They had a great menu. I got the crab cakes and they were awesome. I ended up eating there2 more times in the 3 days I was there. Great food. read more

Came here on a Saturday night. The service was amazing, the ambiance was very welcoming, but most importantly the food was amazing. This is hands down the best seafood spot that I have been to in Baltimore. Found this place while out on date night, by asking some locals. Absolutely delicious!! read more

I have only been to Mama's a few times but I would eat here every week if I could. Crab dip is amazing and there's many seafood choices.

Love you, Mama's! This is my third straight-from-landing at BWI from So Cal visit. EVERY time your food is wonderful! The crab cakes are the best (been to G & M and Faidley's)! Love the rockfish w/crab imperiale w/creamy mac & cheese. The bread pudding is great too! What can't you do well?! On my short list of favorite spots. read more

An absolute go-to spot in Baltimore. Have been for dinner, lunch, and now brunch, and it's always a great meal. Creative menu - items like grilled seafood pizza, crab and artichoke dip, and devils on horseback - and a monstrous seafood club that takes about an hour to eat (and is half the price of something similar you would find in Washington DC). Also the best Old Bay wings out there! Friendly service, cold cheap Natty Bo's, and creative mixed drinks like Orange Crush. Highly recommended! read more

In my opinion this place is slightly overrated. The seafood potato skins are totally a 5 star item! So are the Orange Crushes. As far as the rest of the food, it wasn't bad but not worth all the money we paid and waiting an hour to get a table for two. I suppose for a special occasion and with reservations (which they don't take if you call the day of) it might be ok. read more

My 82 year old mother highly recommends the oyster shooters snd oyster poor boy. I love the crab cake sandwich. Just passing thru. A great find! read more

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! We ordered the seafood skins.....DELICIOUS! Our server was very pleasant. Overall experience was very pleasant. I would recommend Mama's on the Half Shell without hesitation!!! read more

The drinks and food was delicious. I ordered fried shrimp platter and the flavor was on point. I'm from New Orleans so it's hard to find great food, that's seasoned good out here in Baltimore. Just from my experience. I would def be back. I ordered a Long Island Iced tea alcoholic drink and it was EVERYTHING. My husband ordered Blackened Snapper with crab meat and he was blown away. Didn't take a picture Bcs it didn't Don justice. I will return. read more

On the way back home from a long day at DC, the family decided to try some Maryland Crab Cakes for dinner. So, we did a little research and found Mama's on the Half Shell. It was only 5 mins off track and very easy to find. Once we got our meal, the crab cakes were more than what we expected. It had big limbs of crab meat and savored every single bite. The far the "Best" Crab Cakes in Maryland! read more

I love this place! The food is great, the staff are friendly and the drinks are nice and strong! Great for a casual date or hanging out with friends. read more

Outstanding food and service. Location and atmosphere was perfectly quaint. The food was delicious and the drinks we spot on. Loved the oyster shooters! read more

Delicious!!! Fantastic crab cakes, seafood chowder is out of this world and the Mac n cheese is among some of the best I have ever ate! This place is a must go to if you live in the Baltimore area or just passing through. Oysters are also great!! Haven't had anything bad. Try it out! read more

Mama's on the Half Shell - Turkey dinner.. Huge and delicious! - Bars Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

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Best oysters, atmosphere and mussels in Baltimore, overtime I come to visit this is my spot for late night seafood with the raw bar serving till 0100. If you're looking for good food with a laid back atmosphere this is where you want to go. read more

Met my son there for dinner, crab cake was top notch, mac and cheese was really great, I almost didn't order it because i usually think it is a kids menu item......glad i didn't make that mistake. Canton is a neat place and this restaurant is a gem. read more

Extremely crowded, tight seating, and great food, and I loved every bit of it. I've gone a few times and each time it's busy and usually during the late night crowd. The food is always made perfectly and I normally get anything with crab. read more

The food was excellent. My only concern was the wait time. We waited about 55 minutes when we were told it would be 30 minutes. That is just more of an annoyance than anything. The atmosphere is nice but loud. read more

Great drinks! A fun, relaxing spot for happy hour.

For a Wednesday night it was rather busy. Matter of fact the whole "square" was busy. Party of 6, great thing we had a reservation. Oysters were fresh and the chowder was delicious. Wasn't too hot on the blackened tuna sandwich, but in all was a good dinner overall. Service was slower than I would have preferred, but wasn't bad enough to impact the dinner one way or the other. I recommend without any reservation - a solid Maryland spot! Enjoy! read more

Very good crab cakes!! Nice dining area on the second floor. Our waitress was very nice too. I'm happy that our first time at "Mama's" was pleasant. Looking forward to many more in the future. read more

My family and I went here and we all were running to the restroom after. We had already left with a bad taste in our mouths after a negative encounter with the host and the insane prices for small portions of seafood; to end the evening with food poisoning really was the cherry on top of a crummy experience. read more

Our server was great, very friendly and attentive during our meal always checking in. The food however was just okay. The clams they have were very small, like the size of a quarter so that was disappointing. The good part was that our server was kind enough to take them back and remove them from our check. The oysters were good but not great. They had pieces of shell in them and they were kind of sandy. Overall this place is okay, I've been here once but I don't think I would again. read more

Mama's on the Half Shell - The clams were small - Bars Near Me - Baltimore, Maryland

We have been several times. Each time it gets better and better. The crab cake is 5-star quality. I have also had the scallops, and, the deep fried shrimp. The sides are fantastic - order the mac and cheese, and try to not polish off the entire thing. And, for dessert, well, the bread pudding is intense. Oh, their crushes are great. And, the vibe is great. And the lighting, etc is great. And, we drive from Virginia, just for the meal. The neighborhood is very cool, and, there are lots of other restaurants that seem very interesting. And then we think, we won't go to Mama's...so we go back to Mama's! read more

The food was good but service was extremely sub-par. I've worked in the food/restaurant industry for 7 years so it takes a lot for me to write a review like this. I went with a friend mid day when it wasn't too busy. The server barely talked to us and seemed very bothered that she was even there. My friend got a drink that she felt was too strong since she would be driving, told the server who said she understood but then charged us anyways even though my friend took one sip out of the drink. When we asked she shrugged and said that's the way it is. It would've been better if she told us before we got the bill. Also, when I looked at my bank statement that evening I noticed my card was overcharged $40 extra dollars. I called the restaurant they said they couldn't help until the manager was there and said I would receive a call back. It's been over a day and still have not got that call to resolve the issue. Very disappointed in the way everything was handled. read more

I'm glad we finally got in on a weekday night after wanting to come here for at least three years. The crab cake was one of the best. The sides were equally excellent - we had cold slaw and green beans. The Maryland crab chowder was flavorful, spicy and with good amount of crab meat. I almost didn't want to give them a five star so we can get a table again next time. It's excellent, but no place deserves over an hour wait, which is the case here on weekends. read more

After reading the reviews on here, I was expecting something amazing. It was really just okay. The server said he thought the seared tuna was the best thing on the menu, and it really was nothing special. I also had a very sugary cocktail that was pretty disgusting. I'll go back to give it another try, but my first experience left a lot to be desired. read more

I love the tuna steak salad! It comes with green beans, potatoes, onions, olives, and huge chunks of grilled tuna. YUMO

I like Mama's. It has a snooty, uppercrust southern feel to it. Besides being great for large parties, it would also make a nice date place. The sandwiches seemed a little too over-cheesed to me, but the appetizers and the pasta is outstanding. You have to try their beer mussels. I've only been there once, and I hope to return soon to determine if they are consistent. If they are -- I'll bump them up to 4 stars. read more

Went twice this month and both times were very stellar experiences. I came here with my boyfriend on a Friday night around 8 pm. It was packed and there was a wait although it was shorter than expected. We got fried oysters and steam clam appetizers. Both were great, mollusks being very fresh. The oysters were giant little suckers. We split a double crabcake platter. Very filling and the mac and cheese was delicious (and I'm not really a mac and cheese person) although the snap peas were greasy. Came here on a Tuesday around 5 with friend. A lot more open tables but a line formed by the time we left. We split steam mussels in white wine sauce. Mussels were very fresh and sauce was great although a bit lumpy (the flour from the roux). My friend had the crabcake sandwich and I had the fried oyster platter. The crabcakes and oysters were perfect like last time as were the mac and cheese. Fries were good w/ the old bay seasoning they provide at the table. The green beans almandine were much better and than the snap peas. Service was friendly and efficient. Street parking is not hard to find within a block or two of the restaurant. Nice place to take people from out of town! Overall, great seafood at reasonable prices in Baltimore. read more

I have recently moved out from California to Maryland within the last few months. Before moving out here I went to Mama's with my fiance's parent for dinner. The food was good and that atmosphere was fun.. Since that time I have been back twice.. The first time was for a night out with my girl.. The staff was nice, but the food was terrible. The mussels came out cold. Not warm, cold. Then, my steak came out completely over cooked, I asked for medium, it came out with no pink at all.. I wouldn't have cared so much if we were at denny's, but when you drop over $140 for two people on a meal and you mess up two-thirds of the meal, you would expect a visit from the manager.. We never saw a manager, but we did get a whole free desert.. :/ The dessert did stay for long as we both got food poisoning. The second time that we went was just this last Sunday for brunch. We both wanted to give it another try, thinking that it was just a fluke. Honestly, I can't say if it was, because we weren't allowed to eat. We put our name in to be seated and were given an 45-60 minute wait time at 11:30am. We stood near the bar down stairs and had quite a few mimosas. After an hour and thirty minutes of waiting I approached the hostess who assured me that it would be just a few more minutes. Another thirty minutes went by and still we had no table, or an explanation. My girl finally went up to ask what the hold up was and the hostess finally gave in. We left without eating because brunch had ended. The hostess is useless. They are better off letting people seat themselves. Please believe me when I say that I am a very patient person and I have worked in the food industry before for many years. I rarely ever cause a fuss about anything when it comes to restaurant, but this was too much.. I gave the place two stars because the bar wasn't bad. In fact, if you still plan on going there after my review, you are better off sitting at the bar and just getting drinks. Save your money, the food is over-priced and not worth your time. read more

A seafood lovers haven! I've easily been here 50 times since it's 4 blocks from my house. And I wasn't going to post a review since every other Baltimorean has, but I went in on Sunday for brunch with my sister and saw something that kinda irked me. Got there about 1130 on a sunny and mild February day. Of course they are jam backed and on a wait. Thankfully we only waited about 5 minutes for our table when the host thought it would have been more like 20 mins. While waiting for our table, I went to the bar to grab 2 of their famous orange crushes that I've had so many times before. I watched the bartender pour in orange juice and not actually use the machine to get OJ from real oranges. He made up for it in vodka, but if you are famous in town for something, don't go changing it up just because you are busy. The food portions are always large, tasty, great service, etc. Was just a bit disappointed with the OJ this time. read more

I love their Sunday brunch menu and they have some of the BEST bartenders around. I asked one to make a drink for me, and they made me an Italian Surfer, which has since become my favorite drink! read more

Outstanding food. Love the mussels in the chorizo and beer sauce and the very fresh oysters. I have been there several times and the food continues to be outstanding. read more

What a place! Should be a Baltimore landmark. Very casual place which is baby friendly. Just make sure you have an apetite before you go there. read more

Oysters were fair. The rest, including 2 appetizers and 3 entrees were all inedible. Worst meal of 3 adults entire lives.

Absolute amazing all-round food and experience. The beer mussels were inspiring, the asparagus was outstanding and the service was perfect. We had our appetizers at the bar and the barman was tremendous, then mains at the table and the waitress was great. The place was packed and nothing dropped. I eat in a lot of Michelin star restaurants and am always delighted when somewhere like this is so good. I am also originally from UK and miss great pub environments in the US. This place is as good as any old English pub back home. read more

One of my favorite places to eat. Wonderful service and great food. Usually go for lunch and absolutely love the menu selection. Favorite dishes stuffed shrimp, oyster rockefeller and crab imperial. Best macaroni and cheese in Baltimore. read more

Awesome food! Awesome crab cakes! Breaded calamari was cooked to perfection and it comes in a large portion, probably good for 4 people.