Restaurante Tio Pepe

We had a dinner reservation, and were seated within just a few minutes. Our waiter, Claudio, arrived shorter thereafter, and we ordered a pitcher of sangria. He brought that back fairly quickly. One of the runners brought us a basket of cold bread and cold butter, which made it difficult to spread, so we each only had a slice of bread.We started with the artichokes with hollandaise sauce as our appetizer. When they arrived, my wife commented that they looked like Brussels sprouts coated in cheese. The artichokes themselves were small, somewhat cold & wet, and the hollandaise sauce was pretty bland. It wasn't bad, but we definitely wouldn't order it again.We both ordered specials - the Chilean sea bass with black butter and capers for my wife, and the rockfish with jumbo lump crab meat and champagne sauce for me. The Chilean sea bass had crispy edges, a medium-firm texture, and a clean flavor. The black butter was reminiscent of a Marsala sauce, and the capers added a nice, bright punch of flavor. My rockfish was absolutely loaded with lump crab meat, and the champagne sauce had an oddly cheesy, but really pleasant, flavor. The fish portions were rather large, so we took quite a bit of it home. We enjoyed both of these entrees.Both of our entrees were accompanied by green beans and saffron rice. The beans could've used a bit more cooking, and the rice could've used some more flavor.We had to flag one of the managers down to order dessert. Other than a quick 10-second stop to check on our meals, which we were already halfway through, Claudio hadn't stopped at our table for nearly 40 minutes.We ordered the baked Alaska, which had a nice serving presentation with flaming brandy. They were a bit too liberal with the brandy though, because what little cake there was was soaked in it, and it wasn't a pleasant flavor. Most of the dessert was just Neapolitan ice cream covered with just a little bit of whipped & toasted meringue covering it. We'd definitely skip it next time.When we were finally able to get Claudio's attention again for the bill, we had to wait another 15 minutes for him to come back with it.Overall, we both enjoyed our meals and the atmosphere. We were disappointed that we spent nearly an extra hour waiting for Claudio though.

We had an amazing family dinner at Tio Pepe's with a group of about 10. The experience was perfect for a large gathering, especially since we were seated in one of the private cove areas.We enjoyed both red and white sangria, a fresh salad, and an incredible paella with both seafood and meat options. The almond brazo de gitano, their famous dessert, was a highlight, and we wrapped up the night with delicious Spanish coffee.As someone whose family has roots in Spain, my mom said the paella was very authentic and flavorful. The service was exceptional; the staff took great care of us throughout the evening. I absolutely loved the almond cake--so delicious I couldn't get enough!I highly recommend Tio Pepe's and can't wait to return with my group.

Tio Pepe's is and always has been the single best dining experience in Baltimore. Chef Emilio took the time to meet me in the afternoon and cook a birthday dinner for me. What else can you say? Truly an institution !

For the first night of winter restaurant week I had a girls night dinner at Tio Pepe. The restaurant was extremely busy but that didn't stop the service from being friendly and efficient and the food was delicious. We all started with a lemon drop martini then 2 of us had cosmopolitans and one of us had an espresso martini. For appetizers 2 of us had the garlic shrimp and 1 of us had the salad. For entrees 2 of us has the shrimp and scallops in champagne sauce with green beans and rice and 1 of us has the filet mignon with a baked tomato and green beans. All of us enjoyed the creme brûlée for our dessert. 10/10!

I've always heard of this restaurant and finally gave it a try. The sangria was great. Everything else was just okay. The service was just okay and if anything a bit slow. We tried various items from the menu and nothing really stood out to me. I'd come back just to have some sangria.

Despite living super close for five years, I could only recently try Tio Pepe. It is definitely a unique restaurant with an old-fashioned feeling (in a good way). The interior is absolutely beautiful, and you can tell that everyone, from the host to the servers, are taking their job very seriously. We arrived on time for our reservation and were seated immediately. Considering the atmosphere and the attitude of the staff, I was ready to be impressed; however, the food was just mediocre-almost disappointing. I've tried the shrimp marinated in garlic sauce as my appetizer and salmon as the entree. Both dishes were ok-no major issues but nothing impressive. We also tried the flan and creme brulee for desserts but did not really like them, so I would skip the dessert. If the food is your priority (like me!) I can't recommend Tio Pepe, but it's worth a shot if you want to enjoy the unique atmosphere and good service the restaurant offers.

OMG what has happened to this Iconic Baltimore Top restaurant! I remember how famous it was throughout college and while working at the hospital. I was lucky enough to have eaten there when our lab would treat us to lunch there. The food was exceptional and service was second to none. Over the years I remember when you could only make reservations as much as a month in advance.Last 2 school years, my daughter's Spanish class had their class field trip at Tio Pepe's and I chaperoned. Last year the food was okay, nothing spectacular. The paella was just okay. I've had better paella at other places. The Flan was Meh, and the salad was just salad soaked in plain vinegar with no flavor. This year it was just horrible. The shrimp, mussels and clams were way over cooked and dried up. The chicken cubes were like chicken jerky cubes. If I wanted to eat Jerky, I would have just gone to Cabela's and bought a bag of Jerky and it would have tasted better. I am no Chef, but, I suspect that the used leftover seafood and chicken from previous days, dried up in the refrigerator, added new yellow rice and served it. The rice was moist and fresh, so there's no way the seafood and chicken were over cooked and dried up if they were cooked at the same time as the rice.The servers were obviously not happy. Probably because they are usually not open for lunch? And we're asked to come into work to serve kids. One of the kids who dressed up in a suit for this field trip enthusiastically asked one of the veteran servers as he walked by - " excuse me sir, how many Michelin Star is this restaurant? The server turn his head angrily to the kid and snapped - "be patient, you wait your turn!!!" I was sitting diagonally at the same table and I could not believe what just happened. I wanted to get up and say something but I decided not to cause a scene because the teacher worked so hard to put this fies trip together for the kids.Needless to say, I will suggest to the teacher to find another Spanish restaurant for next year!The ambience - the restaurant smells like mold. I guess it has been there for so many decades, it definitely needs a good cleaning or even a remodel. Imagine going out, dressed up to a gourmet dinner and enjoying the smell of mold while you eat?Goodbye, Tio Pepe, it's been nice knowing you over the years but it is obvious that it's time to go!

This is my second time coming to Tio Pepe, and both times was because I had a gift certificate to use. I have heard great things, but I don't think I would return without the gift certificate. The red sangria pitcher is solid but strong for sure. It's worth it but not very sweet. We ordered the warm artichoke, gambas ajillo (shrimp), and oyster special for appetizers. The artichoke didn't look appetizing and was very bland. The shrimp was good but nothing special. The oysters didn't taste fresh and had a fishy taste - it was honestly disappointing because Baltimore otherwise has amazing seafood. For entrees, we got the seafood paella, Chilean sea bass special, and pollo a la riojana. The seafood paella was honestly awful. Not flavorful at all, the seafood was dry and had a fishy smell. The sea bass and chicken dishes were fine but nothing special - also very bland. For dessert we got the flan and the creme brulee. Creme brulee was tasty but the texture was too dense. The flan was too firm as well. We tried this espresso flambé drink that was cool to watch them make and a little sweet, but very strong. Service was absolutely awful and inattentive today. We spent over 2 hours dining (group of 5 of us) and it took forever for them to take the order and bring out our food. The waitstaff didn't look happy to be there and were not very nice. The ambiance is nice and interesting, as it feels like you are in a wine cellar or something. Overall, I think this restaurant maybe used to be better, but it's not worth it anymore. I have eaten at better Spanish and seafood restaurants in the Baltimore area. You know you didn't enjoy the food when you don't were want to take home the appetizers.

I'll be honest, I chose this restaurant off a list of great Baltimore restaurants because I had a Tio Pepe and thought it would be a cute way to remember him...but it's not my favorite kind of food, so I wasn't expecting much. Whoa. Everything I ate blew my mind. There was a limited time garlic soup that haunts me all the time. I was dining alone, which can often lead to servers not spending a lot of time on you, but I felt so looked after--Oscar popped up as soon as I had a thought to want something and the manager even swung by my table to check if I was enjoying my meal. I could tell from the conversations I overheard that many of the other diners in that night were in often enough to know all the servers and have a lovely sense of community. I will be looking for excuses to come back to Baltimore to eat here.

Wow, the best part of the evening was the quaint entrance with the red awning and steps down into a larger-than-meets-the-eye restaurant. Then, it all went downhill. After being seated, we waited 15 minutes before a server asked if we had been seen yet. It took another 15 minutes to get our table's bottle of wine. At this point we're 30 minutes into our dinner, haven't ordered drinks, haven't ordered food, and there's no silverware on the table. At last, a server came to take our orders and it appeared as though he were in a rush the whole time. Without waiting for our choices off the Restaurant Week menu, he started barking the choices at us and demanding the menus back the second we finished ordering. It was...strange, to say the least. We chalked it up to the restaurant being busy and the time being later in the evening. We continue to sip our wine and wait, and wait and wait and wait. It took nearly an hour for our appetizers to be served and another 30 minutes before our entrees were brought out. When we asked about the status of our entrees we were met with "Soon, soon" and nothing more. Oh, and a few minutes before our apps arrived, we received a basket of bread (cold) and pads of butter--but there was still no silverware at the table so we couldn't butter the bread. (When the food finally came, the server removed the loaf of bread & butter which we still hadn't touched.) When we asked for silverware, the staff seemed confused as to what we were asking for; it's not like the food we ordered was finger food. The night was no longer young when we were again disappointed by the quality of the food. The steak was ordered medium-rare and somehow the singular steak was cooked well-done on one end and was rare on the other. The scallops and shrimp lacked scallop and shrimp flavor and the overwhelming flavor on the plate was egg and butter. The crab cake was fine, but nothing special, especially given this is a Maryland restaurant. All entrees were served with rice and green beans, both of which lacked seasoning and therefore were not tasty in the least. As we had other places to be we had to ask for our desserts to go and we're glad we didn't stay to eat them at the restaurant. The creme brûlée was lackluster with a nonexistent caramelized topping that ensured the dessert was more reminiscent of polenta rather than creme brûlée and the chocolate roll tasted like it came from any grocery store, in fact it might have been better if they just served us grocery store chocolate cake.A long evening made longer by the slow service and disappointing food, we will not be returning. Oh, and when we spoke to the manager she condoned the slow service and focused on making sure the food was good (it was not).