Best Restaurants for in Ocean City, MD for Fine Dining and Outdoor Dining

For outdoor dining in Ocean City, MD, here are my top restaurant reviews and tips for fine dining restaurants and casual restaurants.

5 Best Fine Dining Restaurants in Ocean City with Outdoor Dining

In order of preference, here are the best restaurants with outdoor dining in Ocean City, MD.  

1. 1. Spain Wine Bar – bay water view from a roof top – delicious tapas and drinks
   2. The Hobbit – bay water view and a level above in fine dining experiences for food and service; 
   3. Longboard Cafe – Good variety for seafood and steak
   4. Cafe Mirage – family owned, small restaurant – simple food at honest prices
   5. Sunset Grille – view of the marina – Tuna Mignon is our favorite but not a lot of other choices for us. 

Spain Wine Bar Restaurant Review

Spain Wine Bar is located on the rooftop of the Cambria Hotel and features a stunning sunset view of a bridge and bay and the boardwalk Ferris wheels in the distance. For the outside patrons, you can get a wool blanket to help ward off the chill from the setting sun. From sangria to fun drinks to delicious tapas or small plate food makes this a fun place to try several dishes.

When you park, make sure you note the parking curb stop color and wording, some spaces are for the restaurant and many are for the hotels. You will enter the hotel and take the elevator up to the Wine Bar.

Over two different nights, we enjoyed the:

• • Drinks: Liquid Lima whipped cream vodka, limoncello, limonade – slightly sweet and sour, big glass and sangria

• • Croquettes – four of them
  • Charcuterie Board – Meat and cheese platter with nuts, jam (see picture)
  • Roasted Beet salad
  • Corn Avocado Salad
  • Potatoes Bravas (roasted potatoes with tomato sauce and garlic aioli)
  • Flank Steak with green chimichurri sauce – very good but small pieces and a little fat
  • Coffee Rubbed Pork Ribs – three thick ribs – so good! (see picture)
  • Lollipop chicken – three with honey chipotle yogurt sauce
  • Flourless chocolate cake – not to sweet and with a white anglaise sauce. I would do this over the popular Olive Oil Cake which was a big piece of cake but not really spectacular

After dinner, we moved are car and walked four blocks to the Boardwalk for a nice after dinner stroll.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 star

• • Atmosphere: 5.0
  • Food: 5.0 – Excellent flavors and quality
  • Service: 5.0 – Welcoming and friendly
  • Price: $$$

• • Address: Cambria Hotel – 13 St. Louis Ave., Ocean City, MD
  • Phone: (410) 520-4541 
  • Website: http://spainwinebar.com/

• • Value for the Money: 5.0

The Hobbit Restaurant Review

The Hobbit is a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Assawoman Bay and marsh, perfect for a romantic dinner or celebration. It serves creative and seasonal cuisine in an elegant atmosphere 7 days a week. It is our favorite fine dining restaurant in Ocean City.

The indoor dining area looked elegant and romantic with the white tablecloths and modern, tasteful décor featuring soaring windows providing a panoramic view of the bay. The booths had plastic dividers between them.

The outdoor dining area is on the balcony with tall high top tables and chairs, like bar tables. My only complaint is that my feet rest on a rung in the chair and don’t reach the floor, so it makes moving your chair closer to the table a difficult. The view of the bay and the condominium’s swimming pool is gorgeous. Dress in layers or bring a jacket, since it can get chilly at night. If you can get a table before sunset, it is the best. There are a very limited number of the high top tables on the balcony, so reserved early.

For the appetizer, my husband and I shared an iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese. They split on the salad for us on separate plates, and it came tastefully draped with its vegetables and balsamic glaze. It was fresh and had a wonderful bursts of flavors.

 

In the Fall, I had the Smoked Gouda Pierogis with bacon, red sauerkraut and fried apples which was delicious, not too heavy or smoky. In the Summer, I had the Smoked Cheddar Pierogis with smoked cheddar, fried garlic and caramelized onions and a poppy seed, bacon, apple butter, sour cream and chive dressing. It is served with red sauerkraut, fried onion and sautéed apples with a beurre blanc sauce. It is available as a vegetarian option without the bacon. It seems they rotate the cheese filling for the pierogis but the sauce stays the same. I had it without the bacon, and the dish was lighter and I could taste the flavors more easily without the stronger bacon flavor.

 

My husband had a fresh salmon which was a step above our normal dinners of wild caught, frozen salmon. He was making “mmmm” sounds throughout his dinner which told me how happy he was with his dinner. Considering we eat salmon once a week at home, it must have been a really, really good salmon since he never “mmmm’s” over my salmon. He has tried other fresh fish specials at The Hobbit, and they have all been delicious. The Coconut Cream Pie is a must for dessert for coconut lovers.

Service from the hosts to the waiters have all been excellent. Out of all the restaurants we enjoyed in Ocean City, the Hobbit restaurant is #1 and we even enjoyed twice in one week for our last trip.

If you are a hobbit fan, take a stroll around the restaurant, starting with the lobby to see hobbits.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 star

• • Atmosphere: 5.0

• • Food: 5.0 – Excellent flavors and quality

• • Service: 5.0 – Welcoming and friendly

• • Price: $$$

• • Value for the Money: 5.0

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Longboard Cafe Review

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Longboard Cafe is open 7 days a week starting with lunch. It is a busy, popular restaurant and is located in a TownCenter shopping center. The indoor restaurant was crowded and noisy with the tables close together. The outdoor dining area has an open section and one inside in an area surrounded by four plastic walls (a tent). There was not much air flow in the plastic tent except from the door and under the walls, but it was more comfortable than inside the building.

We enjoyed our dining experience. The Ahi Nachos were excellent with plenty of ahi tuna, crunchy wonton nachos, seaweed salad, wasabi cream, and sriracha hoisin aioli. Both the Cocoa & Coffee Rubbed Sirloin and the Fresh Catch “Lime on the Coconut” were tasty, although the vegetable portions were a bit small.

 

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars

• • Atmosphere: 3.0 – Outside view was of a shopping center

• • Food: 4.5 – Food was very good. Vegetables were small

• • Service: 4.0

• • Price: $$$

• • Value for the Money: 4.0

Location, Phone Number, Website

Address: 6701 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD 21842
Phone: (443) 664-5639 – Call for reservations. No online reservations.
Website: https://www.longboardcafe.net

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Cafe Mirage Review

Cafe Mirage offers simple food at honest prices. It is a small family-owned restaurant in the Montego Bay Shopping Center, near the Dollar Store and located in the corner of the “L” shaped building. The parking lot has some holes, so be careful as you weave your way back. I think it is better to enter from the right side of the shopping center.

The outdoor dining is on the patio surrounded by a wooden fence for privacy and more atmosphere. There is a blue tarp providing shade and protection from any rain. There are also a number of umbrella covered tables. It was like being in someone’s backyard.

The menu changes with daily specials. Follow or check them out on Facebook for the specials for the day. Since they are a small restaurant, they may be out of certain dishes so it is best to come early (before 8:00 pm) if you want to have a greater opportunity to try what you like. Check out their web page for their current hours. In May, they were only open one day and in the summer, they are open Thursday – Monday.

They offered a bottle of wine at the several dollars less than other restaurants. The Smoky Tuna was made from tuna fish, not ahi tuna. It came as a huge serving with plenty of butterfly crackers. The picture above is what was left after we did our best to try and finish it. I really didn’t taste the smoky flavor nor a fishy flavor. It was a nice filling appetizer and went well with the wine, but if you see another appetizer that looks good, I would try that instead.

For our entrees, we got the Crunchy Rockfish, seen below, which came with fresh asparagus and redskin mashed potatoes. My husband really enjoyed it due to it freshness and liked this restaurant over Longboard. I thought it was fine but didn’t have depth of flavors – It was a nicely done fried fish. For the prices, quantity, value for the money, and helping a family owned small restaurant, I like this restaurant. If they had the Ahi Tuna entree, maybe Cafe Mirage would beat Longboard in my book. For dessert, they had Salted Caramel Brownie Bread Pudding and a Peanut Butter Pie which did not appeal to us. We were really full anyways after the Smoky Tuna appetizer.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars

• • Atmosphere: 4.0 – We were surrounded by the wooden fence. It gave a cozy atmosphere.

• • Food: 4.0 – Simple, fresh, but not gourmet

• • Service: 4.5

• • Price: $$

• • Value for the Money: 4.5

Location, Phone Number, Website

Address: 12817 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD
Phone: (443) 664-5687 – Call for reservations. No online reservations. Please leave a detailed message with your name, phone number, party size and desired time. A reservation is only confirmed if your message is returned.
Website: http://www.cafemirageocmd.com/

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Sunset Grille Review

Sunset Grille is located waterfront at the Sunset Marina. You can also enjoy happy hours and live entertainment at the outdoor Teasers Bar. In addition to the indoor dining which was very full, there are outdoor tables located at the edge of the deck and on the 2nd floor balcony offering outside dining and drinking.

For outside dining, the 2nd floor balcony had plastic tent sheeting up to block the wind and protect diners from any the rain. The plastic obscured the view of the marina – making it a bit blurry. I could not feel much fresh air even sitting only two tables from the open end and the tables looked like a pre-COVID distance apart, so I asked the waiter to unzip the panel in front of us which then allowed plenty of fresh air and made my dinner much more enjoyable in this COVID-19 pandemic.

We had the Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Calabrian chili cream, burrata, and herbs. They were soft inside and nicely crispy outside, and not too spicy. It was a generous portion for two.

We had the out-of-this-world Sesame Crusted Tuna Mignon. It was a thick, large slice of tuna cooked just right. It came in a sesame ginger sauce with a seaweed salad, fresh avocado, wasabi, ginger and toasted almond basmati rice. We would go back just for that! In fact, we did and it was still great even the next year. After the huge tuna steak and appetizer, we skipped dessert which was rare for my husband.

We enjoyed our dinner very much, but there were not other dinners that we would hurry back to try. They seemed more in the normal American dinner category versus a fine dining culinary adventure: New York Strip, Crab Imperial, Lobster and Scallops and Cheese Tortelloni, Chicken, and sandwiches and burgers.

You definitely need a car to get to Sunset Grille, since it is past 1st Street (Boardwalk) over the Harry Kelley Memorial Bridge (Rte 50) and through a residential area, about 5 miles or 15 minutes from the Aloft hotel at 44th Street.

 

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

• • Atmosphere: 4.5 – Nice views of the marina

• • Food: 4.5 – Sesame Crusted Tuna Mignon was excellent

• • Service: 4.0 – Hostess greeted us after a wait and we had about a 20 minute wait past our reservations one time. Service was good.

• • Price: $$$

• • Value for the Money: 4.0

Location, Phone Number, Website

Address: 112933 Sunset Ave, West Ocean City, MD
Phone: (410)-213-8100 – Call for reservations
Website: ocsunsetgrille.com

Top Casual Restaurants 

For breakfast and lunch, I recommend The General’s Kitchen, Real Raw Organics.  Blue Fish, Seacrets, and Buona Vita Pizzeria are other casual restaurants. I included short reviews below. The links take you to their websites.

 

 

• • The General’s Kitchen ($) – breakfast for the chipped beef and gravy, open for lunch
    • • For 30 years, I have fondly remembered the General’s Kitchen for their Creamed Chipped Beef and now after finally coming back, it is still as great as ever! It comes with two biscuits or toast and hash browns or grits. It is not salty or peppery and the flavor is delicious. The beef itself is very tiny, so don’t expect big pieces in your breakfast. My husband had the omelet. There is no outside dining, only dine-in, so we got our food carry-out. It kept its heat for the short ride back to the hotel. Dine-in (no outside dining), delivery, carry-out. 6601 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD Phone: (410) 723-0477 – Call to see when they are open.

 

 

• • Real Raw Organics ($$)- Organic, healthy breakfast, lunch – sandwiches, smoothies kombucha made in-house
    • Best kombucha I have had – not too tart. I tried Guava, Matcha Honey Lime, and Pomegranate Hibiscus. Bring back your jar for a $1 discount refill on the kombuchas on tap.
    • We had the Coconut Curry Hummus plate, Tempeh Reuben, and Turkey and Avocado sandwich. If you get the Reuben as carry-out, I recommend you get the sauerkraut put separately since it made my bread soggy by the time I got back to the hotel. It was on nice thick Ezekiel bread, so the sandwich still held together. The Turkey and Avocado sandwich looked so beautiful; I got it the next time we were in town. Fresh and good!. The sandwiches came with a choice of blue corn chips, quinoa chips, white cheddar puffs or salted popcorn. The tacos come in four flavors: tempeh (spicy Asian or teriyaki with black beans), black bean, avocado). One or two are enough depending on how hungry you are.
    • • Dine-in (no outside dining), delivery, carry-out (call or text). Parking lot very tiny in front of building. Walking distance to Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites – two blocks away.  3406 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD Phone: (443) 783-5374

• • Blue Fish – For a beautiful little Japanese restaurant with a lot of atmosphere and good fresh fish, this was a true treat. The Ahi Tuna Tower was a feast for the eyes and senses.  There is indoor and outdoor seating with indoor seating in wooden tables and chairs with pillows, blue shear curtains and silk Japanese cherry blossom trees and wooden framed lights.   9401 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD  Phone: (410) 524-3983
  • Seacrets – I had heard about this place for years, and it was a short walk from our hotels, Aloft. and Hampton Inn. Seacrets offers a restaurant, bar, and distillery with plenty of bay-front and even in-the-bay seating and a unique Caribbean atmosphere  See this link for my review.
  • Stowaway Grand Pizzeria aka Buona Vita Pizzeria ($)- located on the boardwalk under the Grand Hotel, delicious hand-tossed, made to order pizza. Really good flavor and dough for their pizza. Best pizza we have had in a while. The boardwalk sign says Stowaway Grand Pizzeria but the side entrance says Buona Vita Pizzeria. Dine-in, outside seating, carry-out.  2100 Baltimore Ave, Ocean City, MD Phone: (410) 289-6191