Anyone else think Padonia Station has gone down hill??

[DadM]

We used to LOVE going to Padonia Station. Never had a bad meal. Food was not complex, but always tasty- good burgers, fries, wings, sandwiches, crab cakes, etc. Price reasonable. Service decent.
Then....over the last year or so...burgers have more gristle, lunch meat now pressed turkey, not the real thing (my wife DUG the Cloak and Dagger)....
Anyone else notice a downslide???

[crabsnbeer]

I had not noticed. I like the wings and the last burger I got was good. But I have never been a regular.

[Moandie]

Yes yes and YES. We used to go there for happy hour a lot. The buffet sucks. Not that the food was awesome before but there was more variety and more to go around. They advertise their 20 foot buffet 5-7 on Fridays. That is a bunch of BS. Most of that 20 feet is blank space on the table. We went there a month or so ago. The buffet was picked clean before 6 and it wasn't even as crowded in there as it used to be. I don't like the newer bartenders either. Some of the long time ones seem to have left. Oh and what's up with that outdoor seating? The day we last went there was the day that opened - the touted their beer garden on the website. When I pulled up I saw a bunch of tables facing the parking lot on the sidewalk behind a big iron fence. It is nothing like Hightoppes or Michael's outdoor seating. Pretty poor considering it is accessible off the bar side but looks geared more towards diners. Oh well maybe people can sit there and smoke now.

Oh and the bathrooms are absolutely rank. The one in the front has always been bad but now the sewage smell in there is so bad I avoid it but unfortunately you can sometimes smell it if you sit in the front area. I think it is not just a cleanliness issue but a plumbing one as well. The back bathrooms ("2P") used to be OK but every time I go there now at least 2 toilets are full of puke or god knows what. The last time there were no paper towels.

[TheIcon]

Went there about 3 days a week back in college. Once in awhile I get there now for a football game. Haven't noticed it go downhill that much. Although never really put it on a pedestal either.

Bathrooms were always horrible and I have no idea who came up with the stall design in the bar mens bathroom lol. You get in the corner you don't get out till everyone else finishes.

[NOTAGUNNUT]

The old tiered Christophers layout was much better for the lounge side too.

Putting a huge square bar with a reefer in the center of the room was just stupid.

[barrysanders20]

This is what happens when you align yourselves with Bill Batemann's. I used to work in Hunt Valley. We used to have a lot of events or hang outs after work at Padonia Station. Eventually, the wings became 70% sauce, 30% meat and the burgers like hockey pucks.
________
Hot box vaporizer

[Jake the snake]

Yep the last time I went there was on a Sunday last year to watch football. There was broken glass on the bathroom floor along with the worst stench imaginable. They said, the " cleaner" hasn't been in yet. Well it was 12:30pm on a Ravens away game, so I thought that was pretty lame.

[DadM]

Sad, sad, sad. It was a reliable place for a family meal- grab the kids, go early, have a nice beer and a good burger, fish and chips, what have you. I hope they read this and improve!! There just are not enough decent casual family-friendly reasonably priced places in the area; I loved living in Parkville- tons of places there that fit the bill! We still end up driving out there sometimes; miss living close to Firehouse....

[DadM]

The old tiered Christophers layout was much better for the lounge side too.

Putting a huge square bar with a reefer in the center of the room was just stupid.

They served reefer there! I had no idea! Might have improved the taste of the food!! Ha!!

[NOTAGUNNUT]

They served reefer there! I had no idea! Might have improved the taste of the food!! Ha!!

You'd have to go there to see what I mean. The square bar has liquor store beer coolers behind it.

[DadM]

You'd have to go there to see what I mean. The square bar has liquor store beer coolers behind it.

Yeah....I know...couldn't resist the bad pun though,,, and the fact the OTHER type of reefer would be about the only thing that would make me want to back there now......

[MooGoo]

When did it go up? That place has sucked since it was the place you called the other table on the phone. Numbers? maybe. Awful tripe.

[AvantGarde]

When did it go up? That place has sucked since it was the place you called the other table on the phone. Numbers? maybe. Awful tripe.

Yep, Numbers. The phones broke not long afterwards.
I liked it when it was Ordell Braase's place, The Flaming Pit.
About 20 years ago they used to have a great porterhouse steak.
Why would you go out and get a burger? Of course after you have sat, and drank I understand.
Again, you have to go downtown if you want to dine out.
LEARN HOW TO COOK!!

[MooGoo]

Yep, Numbers. The phones broke not long afterwards.
I liked it when it was Ordell Braase's place, The Flaming Pit.
About 20 years ago they used to have a great porterhouse steak.
Why would you go out and get a burger? Of course after you have sat, and drank I understand.
Again, you have to go downtown if you want to dine out.
LEARN HOW TO COOK!!

Ordell Braase's Flaming Pit. I never made it to that one. Johnny U's golden arm and Bill Pellington's place off of Ridgely, but never got out to THe Flaming Pit.

Great name, though!

[DadM]

Yep, Numbers. The phones broke not long afterwards.
I liked it when it was Ordell Braase's place, The Flaming Pit.
About 20 years ago they used to have a great porterhouse steak.
Why would you go out and get a burger? Of course after you have sat, and drank I understand.
Again, you have to go downtown if you want to dine out.
LEARN HOW TO COOK!!

Even when decent, it was never a place for fancy! But, when you got kids, there are times when it's nice to have someone else cook, have a beer, step it up from fast food and all. No drive downtown, no parking hassles, just cheap, decent food that even the kids won't think is too weird and yucky!!
I know people use it as a bar, too, ..we mainly went there for early family meals. Spend a day hiking around Reservoir, head home, stop for a bite out...
But my last meal there...fast food would have been an improvement!