Atlantic Food & Spirits

My Momma and I were shopping in Ellicott cCity when we came across this gem of a restaurant. Hands down the best crab dip ever and it comes with pretzel bread, which is amazing!! My main entrée was shrimp salad sandwich, and french fries which did not disappoint. Their dessert menu looked awesome so I had to get a taste. I ordered Strawberry Smith Island; layered strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. It was amazing. Our waitress was amazing. She had great recommendations, she was super nice, and she kept our drinks coming. I will 100% eat here again.

We've been back several times, and still enjoy the food & service.On our most recent visit, I had a few quibbles with the French onion soup, which had a handful of too-large croutons, not enough cheese, and a bit too much salt. I did like the mixture of breads used for the croutons though, and it had a very beefy flavor.The $20 crab cake special on Tuesdays is a great deal, and they were actually pretty good. Quite a bit of crab, and slightly too much filler, but for $20 I'm not complaining. I replaced the green beans with Brussels sprouts, which were actually some of the best I've had - roasted, and tossed with bacon, Parmesan cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette glaze. The mashed potatoes were oddly unseasoned, but fixable with some salt & pepper.My wife had the mini crab cake stuffed shrimp, and she really enjoyed those.Our server was very friendly, attenative, and quick with our food & drinks.

Catonsville has a lot of hidden gems and this is 1 of them. I love the modern open area. There's bar seating and tables in front of the restaurant and a rather nice size dining area in the rear. You can also enter their liquor store through the bar area as well as the deck seating. There is additional seating in the rear that would be a great space for a large group. We lucked out with a great waiter Ashton who was able to give great recommendations for food and drink. We started with some apps, crab dip & crab nachos. The crab dip was tasty served with a small loaf of bread. I would have preferred pita or toasted French bread slices, but it was still good. I wasn't a fan of the crab nachos. The best part if this were the perfectly crispy wonton which were warm and delectable. The cream cheese sauce was less sauce and more just warm cream cheese. The crab, roasted tomatoes and corn were quite sparse as was the Everything bagel seasoning leaving this with a 1 star for me because it was rather bland. For my entree I had the Rock Fish. Baby this was the star of the show #Rockstar ;) The fish was seared giving the skin a wonderful crisp and the crunchy edges on those fingerling potatoes had my mouth doing a happy dance. The roasted corn and blistered tomatoes along with the spinach were the perfect complement to the Old Bay infused sauce that was spread over the dish. Capers were used as garnish and the brininess of the capers definitely elevated the flavors in this dish. The serving size was also ample and in fact I bought part of it home. I definitely want to go back just for the Rock fish:)

Beautifully prepared, tasty, delicious food. Excellent, friendly service. Clean, relaxed, pleasant atmosphere. Chef creations are spot on, not your usual ho-hum routine menu offerings. Lots of thought and attention to detail goes into each dish. We had the Salmon BLTA, Lobster Roll and house made desert. Salmon and Lobster roll were juicy and perfectly cooked and all the ingredients perfectly supported and enhanced the sandwiches. This restaurant is a gem, run and operated by people who care about the food they serve and the customer. It is one of our [new] favorites!

This is a hidden gem. I absolutely loved the ahi tuna nachos, it was so light and perfect for summer time. It's my new fav that I will be returning for. Thursday is $1 oysters so I went the perfect night. I was really in the mood for oysters and they didn't disappoint. My boyfriend really enjoyed the seafood gumbo. So much that he wanted to order another to go. The inside was crowded so we sat outside which was covered and had fans so it wasn't bad. Great atmosphere and fast service. Five stars for sure!

Our party of 3 was quickly seated outside and promptly greeted by a waitress. There was a large party inside but it didn't affect our service at all. We got our drinks and appetizers quickly. The oysters were an excellent size and very fresh. The tuna fish was tasty. The crab nachos were fresh and had lots of crab meat. Just as we were finished our appetizers the entrees started coming out. Everything was perfect! Orders were all correct and the food was hot and fresh. The crab cakes were a nice size and flavorful. My husband got the short ribs and he was able to cut the meat with a fork. Absolutely delicious flavor and perfect portion. It's been a long time since we had such a great experience at a restaurant. The waitress was attentive and quick to bring refills and boxes. We selected some deserts and they were all delicious. Highly recommend this spot

Lovely atmosphere Nice, long bar.Great service.We sat at a bar high top. It was tough not to have a back to the chair - my own personal issue. Lots of nice seafood items- I didn't fall in love with any of them. But somebody surely will. There was a selection of 12 different oysters. That was impressive! My friend ordered two different types. They were both salty, which they can be in some areas. I've never had salty oysters before; it wasn't my thing.The peel'n'eat shrimp were slightly overcooked.But overall, still a great place!

A nice, affordable restaurant in Catonsville. We came for dinner on a Friday and it was packed with people enjoying themselves at the bar and at all the tables. Our server was very nice and friendly and tried her best to be attentive on a busy night. Service was a little slow, but it wasn't the worst and her friendliness was appreciated. The inside looks brand new, all white and very clean and crips. The table layouts are great for small and large parties. The crab dip appetizer is creamy, gooey, and packed with real crab. The bread that comes with it was fresh baked and sprinkled with sea salt, the perfect pillow for the crab dip. We also ordered two dozen oysters, which were fantastic. The prices range from $1.75-$3, and the local ones we ordered were big and meaty! Plenty to share and so fresh and tasty. The Chilean Sea Bass special was everything it promised, including lump crab and lobster sauce on a bed of risotto. The mushroom ravioli was also really yummy, the ravioli were large, and it had plenty of sauce, mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes.

Steamed Gulf Shrimp: Menu describes gulf shrimp steamed with old bay, onions, and lemon for $26. What you get is about 10 gulf shrimp that are steamed (mine were over cooked and rubbery) in a bowl of garlic-butter sauce with capers. There was a light dusting of Old Bay on top, no onions, and one lil lemon wedge.I wanted steamed shrimp with old bay ("Maryland style") not garlic-butter shrimp. We kept the garlic-butter shrimp on the table and said we would still pay for it, but asked the waitress if the kitchen could make me what the menu actually described--steamed shrimp with old bay. She said they could. Unfortunately the new shrimp she brought out still had garlic-butter sauce on them. Didn't eat them, don't like greasy food, wasted $50. Crab cake: Wasn't bad, but wasn't good. It did have a lot of jumbo lump in it. Just, nothing either of us would go back for. Also felt like a waste of money because it was disappointing. Neither of us appreciated the mustard sauce it is served on, you can't eat the crab cake without also eating mustard sauce. MD crab soup: Also very mid. Nothing either of us would go back for. Did have a sprinkling of jumbo lump in it, which was nice, but the soup base felt "off."Caesar salad: Nice size, good quality romaine, but the bowl it is served in keeps you from being able to toss it enough to get the dressing evenly distributed. We dumped out some of the salad to get to the dressed bits. Not a big deal. The dressing didn't have the right counter points, though. So, again, just not satisfying and nothing either of us would return for.The atmosphere: We went in the late afternoon on a weekday, a bit after normal lunch rush hours. We sat on the deck. It was nice. The beer was cold and our waitress was kind and attentive. The hostess was mildly rude/unprofessional, but whatever, maybe she was having a bad day. The seating is somewhat close together on the deck so your conversations will be heard by anyone near you--just a heads up. I think that's really great for a happy hour/social experience, but maybe not ideal if you're hoping for more privacy.We spent $120 on our lunch and we left feeling let-down. We are true "Maryland" seafood people and it felt weird for us to encounter such non-Maryland style seafood at a... local Baltimore county seafood restaurant. I think they might be going for some kind of blended casual atmosphere but slightly upscale seafood experience? Personally, it's not for me. I get miffed when restaurants drown all the seafood in butter and cream-based sauces. I can get that out in the mid-west. That's not the "Atlantic" seafood experience I've grown up loving here in MD.

It's a Thursday... $1 OYSTERS!! As born and raised Marylanders, we love our OYSTERS! My husband and I decided to get a dozen each. His were from Virginia and mine were Chesapeake's own, plump and iced cold. They were served with an interesting cocktail sauce. It was not the standard ketchup, horseradish, lemon + Tabasco etc. This was uniquely different but very good. Gr8 appetizer! From the bar, we drank Guinness draft, which was perfect with our meal. Our entrée was Rockfish (of course). It was excellent with more than enough for two. The presentation was amazing with a large filet over qinuoa, spinach, sweet potato potato, lump crabmeat and a delicious buerre blanc sauce. This combination was outstanding and complemented the Rock perfectly. Dessert was a homemade ice cream sandwich. Really yummy. The menu is huge. Lots of choices: seafood, meats, sandwiches,soups, salads, desserts and more. Our waiter Jack was wonderful and gave us gt8 recommendations on what to order. One of the owners, Bobby and another owner/manager stopped by so that we could compliment them on their restaurant, the meal and service. We'll be back next Thursday with friends!