I wonder what he paid for it? Thanks to BMS we got a great snapshot of how hated and vilified the former owner and place was. To all those people who think Federal Hill will crumble under the weight of the zero tolerance parking, I give you Abbey Burger Bistro! Let the flame war commence!

I wonder what he paid for it? Thanks to BMS we got a great snapshot of how hated and vilified the former owner and place was. To all those people who think Federal Hill will crumble under the weight of the zero tolerance parking, I give you Abbey Burger Bistro! Let the flame war commence!

Definitely sounds like a place worth checking out. Nice work, Sam.

Are there going to be any specials tonight, i.e. happy hour?

kkeds, today is their first day in business. I'm sure happy hour specials are the last thing on their mind. I'll check back in with Russell in a week or two when he has time to get his bearings.

Maybe my question was a bit premature... but I just figured on an opening day of a bar/restaurant there would be specials to bring in a crowd and show off the new place.

did they mention how much burgers would run? given their association with ryleigh's i would think somewhere in the 10+ dollar range?

nm I read L.I.Z.'s post.

Way to go Russ! I can't wait to check out the new place. I am so glad Sky Lounge is gone. I don't think anyone who actually lives in Federal Hill every went there.

Find out what time they are closing the kitchen on the weekends when the meatheads come out.

I went to Sky once, don't remember much (yeah one of those nights) except negotiating the cover down from 30 to 20 for our group. Looking forward to checking out the new place though!

I am heading to the Abbey tonight, with or without drink specials. Russ is a great guy and will be a great bar owner. My car is parked in Riverside and I am walking to Cross Street for a beer tonight. Yum!

Went to Abbey Burger Bistro over the weekend and loved it!! Looks great and can't wait to get a 'spiked' milkshake!

I agree Russ is a GREAT guy! He will be a great bar owner as well. He also owns Planet Beach...lets see...is it a Casino next?

I have to agree, the place looks great, and Russ is an awesome guy...inside scoop--the kitchen will be open everyday until midnight!!!!!! I believe burgers start around $7---See you there
!

You guys are so lazy. Couldn't you find a picture of a hamburger that obviously wasn't from another restaurant. What the hell.

Rob,

Maybe you're too lazy to read the actual article. If you did, you would realize the article was written before the kitchen opened, and for the that matter, before the restaurant opened to the public.

BTW, went to Abbey Friday after the LL show at the Meyerhoff.

The burgers were delicious, we ordered a few for the table.

It's worth checking out.

went there friday nov. 14th. They had only been serving the full menu for a couple days, and the place was packed, so it took a while to get our food (which is understandable). however, the burgers were fantastic, the service was very friendly, and the beer selection was good and reasonably priced. the remodeling looks great too! i'm excited to go back and take some of my friends there. i really hope this place does well!

The abbey burger bistro is a welcome change to the typical bars in federal hill, it's actually something different. I want this place to succeed but in my 2 trips there i have been disappointed. The idea is excellent, but the execution of the beer side of the business is poor.

My first time to the bistro was a week or two after it's first opening. The food side of the business is good, some of the best quality and unique burgers around, but we are going to focus on the beer here. Looking at the tap menu there were about 12 beers on tap and 20-30 bottles. A few good seasonals on tap, some solid year round beers, Belgians, and some unique bottles.

The first thing I noticed was the multiple misspellings on the menu. Such as St.Bernardus was St.BArnardus which then the waiter referred to as St. BArnarBus. So you have misspelling leading to mispronunciation on top of the misspelling. It's a new place and the wait staff needs beer specific training, I can understand this so no big deal in my mind. But I was actually corrected four times on the pronunciation of St. Bernardus by the waiter. Yes, four times in one conversation (20 seconds), needless to say the waiter was mispronouncing on top of the misspelling. Okay that put a bad taste in my mouth.

On the menu St. Bernardus was listed with out stating which St. Bernardus it was. So I asked "do you know which St. Bernardus is on tap" the response from the waiter was "the usual one". Well since there are 10-12 St. Bernardus beers I knew the waiter had no idea what he was talking about, nor was willing to find out for me. I gave up and just said "oh okay I'll go with that". It turned out to be St. Bernardus Abt 12. Thumbs up for being on tap though.

The exact same thing happened to my girlfriend when she tried to order a kriekbier. The misspelling on the menu was "krakenbriar". When she ordered a "kriek-bier" she was quickly corrected with "kracken - briar". Well they were out of the kriekbier which leads me to another gripe. Only half of the draft menu is ever available. There are 2 draft systems about 6 taps down stairs, 6 taps up stairs.

I have been back to the bistro a couple weeks after my first experience (praying to see improvements) and every time my girlfriend and I have ever tried to order a beer that is on the upstairs taps It has been out. This leads me to believe that the upstairs draft system is not functional and therefor those beers should not be on the menu.

Also on this second trip the kriekbier was still misspelled and still unavailable. My girlfriend finally got fed up when she was corrected AGAIN on the pronunciation and she informed the bartenders of the miss spelling and mispronunciation. Three bartenders looked at her with a confused look and said "oh okay" and seemed to care less. Again, the staff needs some serious beer education especially when your business focuses on two things, burgers and beer, and the beer side is poor.

Dear Anonymous, I will make 2 comments about your ridiculous post above.
1. Your in Federal Hill not Belgium so deal with the mispronunciation.
2. I would like to offer your girlfriend a taste of MY St. Barnadus brew and you can lick my Kracken-briar....

we love this place! where else can ou rparents get growed up shakes and we get growed down shakes?!
the boogers are sabbath and the staff rocks harder than ozzy on meth.