Michael's Cafe

Last year I got a rose and this year I didn't . And it seemed like the price of the food was very expensive

Like many others my wife and I have enjoyed Michael's Café on many special and non-special dinners. We've made it our favorite over many other older restaurants in the North Baltimore (Towson) area!
However, on Valentine's day, we were told that the place was over booked. We arrived for early seating only to see half of the tables empty, which remained so at 7:15pm. Further the special menu selections were the weakest ever. The pork chop (shoe leather) was covered with a seasoning that didn't help the dry taste of the meat. The inflexibility with changing the potatoes & vegetables was unreasonably enforced. My wife enjoyed the Steak&Cake. But the prices, up, the prices up 25% compared to last year. WOW! Sorry if this is the new menu standard, it will be awhile before we enjoy the cuisine again.
On the brighter side, James our server, was excellent..very attentive, helpful to the extent allowed, prompt and pleasant.

We had a very nice lunch. Love the chicken noodle soup and wedge salad!!!

Service was good
Some menu items were not available
Waitress should have told us before ordering.

Best crab cakes in town!!

Good food and service

Michaels has always been consistently good. We had planned to go downtown for a farm to table restaurant but didn’t feel like dealing with the drive. Our meal tonight was exceptional! Fresh , creative & delicious.

the menu had undergone a revision since I was last there. Many of my favorites were gone. The food served was mediocre. On the sign outside when we left, it indicated florida stone crabs were available but our waitress never mentioned it. I would go back for a crabcake but not much else

Very good food and friends. Ambience was comfortable. Bar are is always upbeat and fun. Service was accommodating.

Michael's is my go to place for my out of town associates for the Crab Cake and U4 Shrimp.
It is very consistent for all aspects of dining.

Our server was excellent, attentive to our needs and responsive to a billing error.

Had a lunch meeting with some friends last Sunday at Michael's Cafe. I was surprised by how popular this restaurant is for Sunday brunch. Although there was a wait for many patrons, the Open Table reservation worked flawlessly. Despite being very busy, the service was very good. I ordered the BLT off the lunch menu and it was the best I have had in a long time. I have not tried other menu selections so I cannot comment otherwise.

My family and I have been to Michael's many times. When I moved here from Miami it was one of the first places they took me to. I have had ok meals with them in the past (nothing out of this world) but this time is was not even close to what was on the menu. I'm not one to complain so I ate it, but what I ordered was supposed to be "SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI grilled broccoli rabe, sage brown butter, parmigiano-reggiano". As someone who cooks a lot and has a brother who is a chef, let me just say that that in NO WAY resembled what I got. What I GOT was regular potato gnocchi with chopped up sweet potatoes, spinach, all in an alfredo-like sauce. I'm not supposed to eat dairy so you can see why this was a problem. I'm ok if a restaurant says "hey, we have to substitute X tonight, is that still ok"- I am NOT ok with a restaurant that just makes an entirely new dish. If I have to go back I will stick with something safe like fish and two sides. My husband and his mother had the scallops and grits and they both thought they were excellent.

Michael's is a neighborhood gem and a go to restaurant for us. The food, service and atmosphere is always great. Never disappointed.

This is always a great dinner destination, and the restaurant week menu made it more special!

Twice I have gone there and ordered a Manhattan as a pre-dinner cocktail and twice your bar cannot produce one. It is a simple drink. Once it came in a coke size glass with seltzer in it. This last time, there was incorrect garnish and a cinnamon taste to it. I judge a restaurant on several things and one of them is the cocktail. It should be delicious, set the tone, relax the patron and reflect the restaurant's sophistication. Booo.

We have been going to Michaels numerous times during the year, for the past several years, but never had as bad overall service as we did this last time. Our server Georgina was unbelievable slow in waiting on us, and it took forever for us to get our food. Hopefully this was just an isolated bad day, as I would hate to have to stop going to Michaels because their service had become so poor!

We must have gone on a “off” night. It took 45 min to just get our drinks, they brought out our food before the appetizer then put our food back under the heat lamps, which dried it out. And they burnt the rolls so we had to wait for them to be baked again. Our server was apologetic but over all I was disappointed with the experience...especially considering the price and that it was restaurant week.

We were seated immediately when we arrived. The restaurant & bar were very busy so that is always a good indication of what is to come. The calamari appetizer was good. My friend had the cream of crab soup and really enjoyed it. The cioppino was fantastic! My friend had the stuffed shrimp with crab and said it was also very good. We split the brownie sundae and we’re not disappointed! Our server was friendly & knowledgeable and made good recommendations. Would recommend to others.

Fancy names and high prices for OK food. Forgetful server.

Lunch with a friend. Good food. Good service but a man came around to fill our ice tea from a carafe ( great idea on paper) but he spilled it over our table every single time.

My family goes to Michael’s quite often. Always pleasant experience, good food, and kind staff.

Michael's Cafe's food was delicious and I enjoyed the bottomless mimosas. It has a great atmosphere. Although I only ate in the dinning area I did check out the rest of the place and noticed that they have 2 bars. I would return.

We love Michaels! Always consistent , moderate priced . Our neighborhood go - to!.

It was not as good as it usually is. Just a little disappointed.

We miss the old menu. Crab cakes are always spot on (SO meaty!!!) - aioli is not. Got my crab cake fried after asking for broiled and I preferred the choice of tartar or cocktail sauce to the new, already smeared-on-the-plate sauce, where the cilantro overpowers the taste of the crab. Also miss the old salad with kale and croutons.
We've noticed service here has become hit or miss as well. But you still have killer crab cakes!

Best crabcakes in the state and exceptional service

Great meal great service!

Roasted beet salad with salmon was fantastic. The crab cakes are usually good as is the shrimp salad.
After that, I am iffy on the menu.

It was my Aunt’s birthday and Michaels Cafe is one of her favorite restaurants.. our table was nice, server was excellent , cream of crab soup was outstanding!! Same with the Bloody Mary’s! However our only disappointment was in the Reubens. The corned beef was not up to the quality we normally get at Michaels. Next time we will stick to the crab cakes!

Excellent meal, good and attentive service, conveniently located

I've enjoyed each time we've done here whether it's just 2 of us, a dinner with friends or hanging out with a large group.

Food was delicious and they make a great crab cake. Service was a little off the night we went - food was served too fast, soup before appetizer was finished then meal before soup and appetizer was finished.

Normally we get much faster service. Tonight was different and the initial service was really slow [ 20 minutes before asked about drinks ], Once food arrived it was excellent. Not sure why but they didn't seem to have enough servers.

It was my birthday and my first time here. The atmosphere was very quiet and quaint. I enjoyed the food and the service. The hostess even accommodates us when we asked to move from the center table to a booth for more room. This restaurant gets 5 stars.

Michaels is like the old Cheers on TV, a great local neighborhood bar/restaurant, where most everybody knows your name if you go there frequently enough!

New Year’s Eve was a Monday this year so we wanted stay stay closer to home. Dinner and dancing to a DJ at Michael’s was very fun! Thanks for the hats, noise makers and champagne toast.

In the past, Michael's Cafe always had very good food at a reasonable price. Now, there are more "French" words on the menu and the prices have jumped and are out of line. The food should be excellent to justify their pricing, but it's still just good. Dinner for 2 with NO alcohol was $140.00 including tip.

We had Oysters on the half shell with cocktail and mignionette sauce. Papparadelle pasta with lobster in a spicy, spicy, spicy,spicy sauce. Obviously way too spicy. A whole lot of lobster, but couldn't really taste it because of the sauce. Lastly a parfait for dessert.
Charbroiled oysters with too much cheese (couldn't taste the oysters), Braised beef short rib with mashed potatoes and shaved brussel sprouts was very good. Lastly vanilla ice cream.

The menu is fancier, lots of fancy words (haricots vert instead of green beans and mignionette sauce instead of wine vinegar with shallots & pepper) and the prices are a good bit higher than they used to be.
They just opened another Michael's Cafe off of Rte 43 near White Marsh. I guess they raised their prices to cover that expenditure.

The manager, Bill, was excellent - very friendly as was our waitress, Kiki.

It was just ok. Like i said it was just ok. New years eve and no lobster tail?

Delicious. Great server