Living in Maryland means there are seafood restaurants everywhere, all claiming to specialize in Maryland-style crabs. Sorting out the best places from the busts can prove to be a real challenge. Jimmy’s Famous Seafood turned out not to live up to the hype of its name.

When I walked into the restaurant with 14 other people, I was pretty impressed. The hostess and bar area was very organized. The area was also very modern with the style of the furniture and the decor of the space. It was a good thing that the waiting area was so nice-looking because we had to wait in there for about 15-20  minutes, despite having a reservation.

Once the hostess took us to our seat, we didn’t have to wait long before our waiter came and took our drink order. When the waiter came back, he brought delicious, onion rolls and promptly took our order. Our appetizers, soups, and salads came out after about 10 minutes of being ordered and entrees were served within 30 minutes of being ordered, which was quick for a party of 15.

My cousins and I split the crab dip as an appetizer, which had a nice Old Bay flavor, but was a little too heavy on the mayonnaise. However, I stole a couple spoonfuls of my grandpa’s cream of crab soup, and it was extra thick and filled with crab meat. When the entrees arrived, they smelled heavenly.

Unfortunately, the food appeared better than it tasted. My chicken Chesapeake was charred on the edges, taking away from the normal creamy, rich taste of the crab imperial on top. My grandpa said that, similarly, his rockfish was overdone making it dry. My friend’s crab cakes were average at best, definitely not worth being called famous. While there was not too much mayonnaise or filler, the bottoms were burnt. They were good, but not even close to the best I’d ever had.

Overall, the restaurant didn’t live up to my expectation. The staff at Jimmy’s was pleasant and on top of their game but the below par food would stop me from returning.

Emily Clarke is the Print Chief for the Patriot and jcpatriot.com.