Blue Moon Cafe (Fell's Point) and Blue Moon Too (Federal Hill), Sarah and Sherri Shirlington's Rock-Themed Cafes

[Tarisa]

For breakfast sort of near the Inner Harbor (Fell's Point), you absolutely can't beat the Blue Moon Cafe (1621 Aliceanna St

Baltimore, MD 21231). Small place with amazing biscuits, great coffee, great atmosphere. Due to its popularity, the lines can get long, but it's well worth the wait.

[CrescentFresh]

For breakfast sort of near the Inner Harbor (Fell's Point), you absolutely can't beat the Blue Moon Cafe (1621 Aliceanna St

Baltimore, MD 21231). Small place with amazing biscuits, great coffee, great atmosphere. Due to its popularity, the lines can get long, but it's well worth the wait.

Arrived at Blue Moon Sunday morning at approx. 8:55. First visit and went based on the recommendation here. Was told wait for the two of us would be approx. 45 minutes. Okay, we wander around. They're setting up the flea market a few blocks away. Lots of crap to buy for people who don't generate enough of their own.

Return to Blue Moon in about 30 minutes. Wait around outside amongst numerous others, including some parties of 6 who I just have to wonder how they're going to get seated. At about 9:45 I thought I'd run back inside to get a sense of how much longer the wait would be. "We're running kind of slow today. Maybe another 10 to 15 minutes," was the answer. Well, if we didn't expect amazing biscuits, great coffee and a great atmosphere, we'd have left long ago.

Finally, at 10:15 we're seated. This better be good.

Two crab benedicts, side of bacon, two cups of coffee and two glass of fresh squeezed OJ. The coffee was watery, the bacon was limp, the OJ was great (but it's not like the kitchen could have screwed up squeezing an orange), and the benedicts were semi-decent. The poached eggs were nicely done but the lump crab meat was actually kind of tasteless. It was missing the sweetness I was hoping for. So, either the meat wasn't the best around or perhaps there's something about trying crab meat with gooey eggs as opposed to having them in a fully cooked omelet or something. Giant-ass hash brown cake took up the rest of the plate with a few grapes and an orange wedge.

Blue Moon Cafe was decent, but for the life of me it is no where near worth waiting anything more than 20 minutes for. I realize it's a small place, but the food is just not that killer. I'm sure there are plenty of other spots in Baltimore that can do the same and, if not, then Baltimore is hurting big time. (Perhaps that's the case as many folks seemed to have no problem adding their name to the wait list when told the wait would be an hour or so. Although I'm sure many were regulars realizing they could use that hour to run to the Farmer's Market, or go get some other business done). I'd return to Blue Moon Cafe, but won't even think of putting my name on the list if the wait is more than 20 minutes.

Coffee and bacon were highly disappointing, as noted above, but we got one of the cinnamon rolls to go. Now that's one pleasant waistline buster!

[squidsdc]

Was this Sunday, as in Mother's Day???

[CrescentFresh]

Was this Sunday, as in Mother's Day???

Yes, but looking at the crowds waiting, there was minimal "taking mom out for brunch" action. It was mostly couples, groups of friends, etc. Perhaps 2 or 3 parties were Mother's Day-related.

[wangus]

Blue Moon is packed every weekend; I usually warn about waits from 30minutes to an hour unless you happen to be one of the first ones in the door. I happen to really love their homemade preserves and biscuits. Soft and warm with their own butter and delicious jam: it's really quite a treat. I agree that sometimes they don't pull off their 'higher-end' breakfasts (the above mentioned crab benedict) as well as one would like. That would be why I usually order and recommend either their scramble (very good) or an omelet. My only personal complaint is that I wish they're hashbrowns were a little more consistent. Sometimes they're perfect, other times overdone (I've never had them underdone however, thankfully).

A big complaint I hear about BM is the wait service. I personally have never had this issue; to be fair, however, I've only been to the place once on the weekends. I'm usually there early on a weekday before I go to work. That one weekend the service was fine as usual. I did, however, witness an example of the more 'brusque' attitude of a waitress to another table.

[sschlattman]

My recommendation to anyone who wants to try Blue Moon, is to go ahead and put your name on the list. Then, do yourself and your hungry crowd a favor by ordering a warm Cinnamon Roll to-go to eat while you wait. If it's not the best cinnamon roll you've ever had (and I'm willing to put good money on it that it will be), it'll at least tide you over for the long wait and give you a foretaste of the feast to come.

[Choirgirl21]

Blue Moon is packed every weekend; I usually warn about waits from 30minutes to an hour unless you happen to be one of the first ones in the door. I happen to really love their homemade preserves and biscuits. Soft and warm with their own butter and delicious jam: it's really quite a treat. I agree that sometimes they don't pull off their 'higher-end' breakfasts (the above mentioned crab benedict) as well as one would like. That would be why I usually order and recommend either their scramble (very good) or an omelet. My only personal complaint is that I wish they're hashbrowns were a little more consistent. Sometimes they're perfect, other times overdone (I've never had them underdone however, thankfully).

A big complaint I hear about BM is the wait service. I personally have never had this issue; to be fair, however, I've only been to the place once on the weekends. I'm usually there early on a weekday before I go to work. That one weekend the service was fine as usual. I did, however, witness an example of the more 'brusque' attitude of a waitress to another table.

Pretty much what I would have said. Service for me is always efficient, and while not rude, certainly not sugary-sweet, but I'm thankful for that, especially before I've had my first cup of (non-watery) coffee.

[JDawgBBall9]

A second location (nicknamed Blue Moon Too) opened in Federal Hill (1024 Light St) - open 7a-3p 7 days a week, lacking the original's extended weekend hours. There's more seating and the menu/décor is more or less the same. I hadn't had the signature Captain Crunch French Toast in a long time, and it was as wonderful as I remembered. I prefer Blue Moon to Miss Shirley's, and the wait seems to be shorter on the weekends. It's a good thing I forget that it's now in the neighborhood, otherwise I'd gain 20 more pounds.