Old Angler’s Inn

menacing 0

ebeth
2004-07-26

I really don’t want food-plan to become “ebeth’s bitch plan”, but I must relate the following story. Last week while driving my car to the repair shop it started overheating. I pulled off to the side of the road across from Old Angler’s Inn. My mom, who had been following, walked over to request some water to add to the car. They refused to help since she didn’t have a container. When she found a bucket outside, the man told her to be sure to return it. I returned it, attempting to make some snide comment about how much I appreciated their attention to an elderly lady in distress, but the two men just inside the door cut me off. I’ve never seen two people in the hospitality industry behave so badly to someone asking for help. My lack of writing skills prevents me from conveying just how nasty their tone of voice was.

OAI suffers from location, I’m sure; they must be overwhelmed at times with smelly hikers trying to sit on the patio, when the usual lunch clientele is Potomac ladies who lunch dressed in their finery. It’s probably an unending headache for the management. Still, that doesn’t forgive them being mean to a little old lady asking for assistance. What cads. With an attitude like that I must rate OAI a big fat zero: menacing.

[original review 1/22/04 follows; original rating was 4]

Continually overrated, Old Angler’s Inn pops on and off reviewers’ “best of” lists every few years, usually when there’s a change of chef. For fifteen years I’ve read about how wonderfully charming and intimate and romantic it is. Y’know what? It isn’t. The upstairs dining room is cramped and drafty. The only thing I remember about my only dinner here five years ago is that the pheasant was so tough I couldn’t even cut it with the steak knife they gave me. I’ve dropped in a few times for lunch, because of the huge outdoor seating area (I love dining al fresco), but the mediocre food is overpriced, so I just stopped going.