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Punk's Backyard Grill
Rating Details »
Category: American (New) [Edit]
Westfield Annapolis Mall2188 Annapolis Rd
Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 571-7744
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
18 reviews for Punk's Backyard Grill
Thanks, Yelpers, for the head's up about Punk's. Had a great lunch there on Friday with the kiddos and two other grown-ups.
Pros:
-Flavorful, freshly-grilled food
-Healthy options
-Casual vibe
-Affordable
Cons:
-Noisy inside
-Limited kids' menu
I had the homemade veggie burger, and it was simply delicious! The gazpacho was spot-on with chunks of fresh cukes and onions. Chickadee had the kids' mac and cheese along with a side of fruit. My little sophisticate, however, was not grooving on the white cheddar. We'll have to work on that. The other adults each ordered salads which were plentiful and crisp.
There are high chairs available, and there is a changing table in the women's room.
Next time I visit (and I will be back), I'd love to sit outside if the weather is cooperative. I am planning to try dessert too!
I was pleasantly surprised when I first walked in to Punk's... judging by the name, I thought it was going to be more like a Dick's last resort type of crummy interior. But it is very clean and nicely decorated. The menu is a bit different with the a la carte, but I got the chicken sandwich and ordered the "salad" (lettuce with vinagrette dressing). It was actually pretty good tasting food, and the price was right. The fountain soda was a little different... no coke or pepsi here, but beware, the black cherry soda was quite sweet.
My friend and I split the icecream sandwich which we both found very disappointing. Literally a scoop of icecream with two cookies. Pssht, I can do that, only I would have made better tasting, softer cookies.
The atmosphere was cute, and the nice manager that took care of us gives this place extra bonus points, but I don't think I'll be rushing back there any time soon.
Nothing like a tasty cheap meal to get on my good side. Add some macaroni and cheese, and I'm sold.
Sure, it's in the mall (shudder), but you can only enter from the parking lot, which is a bonus.
Debbie's right -- the ice cream sandwich was disapointing, but the steak skewers were super yummy. And I wish I had gone for the large mac and cheese instead of the small. Good stuff. I'll be back.
Recommended Punks to my aunt and uncle who live in Easton, Maryland. They were in Annapolis for the day shopping and told them to stop by. They LOVED it! They said it was casual, friendly and the food was excellent. They absolutely loved the atmosphere and creative decor.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
7/7/2009
Just got back from a trip to the east coast and met a friend at Punk's. He said it was a great new… Read more »
For those of you who felt that the portions at Punk's were too small (myself included in some cases), please note that they have made several changes in the menu including upping the overall portion sizes of the meats. The Pulled Pork sandwich is still my favorite and now with about 40% more pulled pork on the bun. The chicken skewers are also markedly improved.
Big kudos for adding Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler to the menu for summer. Grandma would be so proud.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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3/2/2009
Just a quick update. We've been back for several visits now. The pulled pork sandwich is divine.… Read more »
This is a fast-casual restaurant made for FOODIES. I've dined here several times and never been disappointed. The restaurant itself has a very unique outdoorsy feel that goes with their whole "backyard" theme, and their plating is simply artful. Not to mention the tasty artisan soda fountain, and the always intriguing selection of grown up drinks offered at dinner time (sangria or strawberry/vodka cocktails, anyone?).
The thing that keeps me coming back to Punks is the food. Which I thoroughly enjoy. Their mac & cheese side is fantastic - ooey gooey creamy deliciousness with a crispy, buttery crumb topping. The steak sandwich is divine - tender marinated hanger steak cooked to perfection, on a bun with grilled onions and a tangy & peppery aioli sauce. The bun is sturdy enough to hold up to the whole thing, and the garnish of arugula and cherry tomatoes on the side is nice to munch on as well as pleasing to the eye. My mom is a Culinary Institute of America grad, and this place tastes like the amazing food that came off of her grill when I was growing up. MMmm mmmm good. Literally transports me! I love it and plan to bring LOTS of friends next time I go.
What do you do when you're disappointed in a place to which 6 of 7 fellow Yelpers, including 1 whom I respect, have given 5-star reviews? I mean, what did they see that I didn't ? I feel all this Yelpy peer pressure to fall into line. Is an extra measure of justification required on my part now in order to back up my 3-star assessment? Will my fellow Yelpers diss my review and deprive me of "useful, funny, cool" feedback? Can you feel my angst?!
Yes, it's pristinely clean. But it's also not cozy, which is what I was looking for on a sub-30 degree winter night. If you haven't been to a Punks, then think warehouse interior with a high (40'?) ceiling, exposed brick walls, tall windows, slate tile floors, and patio furniture. Our table wobbled, and Darling Wife had to keep her foot on the leg to keep from getting seasick.
Yes, the staff may be friendly. The manager on duty did personally check on some of the customers. The other staff, however, seemed to be going through the Punk's checklist in their minds as they performed their tasks. I didn't leave with a feeling of personal connection to the staff.
Yes, the ingredients are fresh. But the some of the portions are meager. Darling Wife ordered the lamb skewer plate. Call me a gourmand, or worse yet a glutton, but two small, 6" wooden skewers, each with 6 tiny (slightly bigger than dice) morsels of rosemary-rubbed lamb? Two small quadrants of grilled flatbread.? And mixed greens? It was all well-prepared, but not a value at $10 compared to other local venues stressing fresh ingredients where you order food up front and then it's brought to your table like Baja Fresh, Noodles & Co, Lebanese Taverna, or Fuddruckers.
I had the "Chesapeake" Cobb salad which was good, but I'm not sure what was Chesapeaky about it. No Old Bay. Chicken, and not lump crabmeat.
Yes, the pecan pie was the best I've ever eaten. But they don't have coffee. How can you enjoy pecan pie without a cup of joe? i want to come back and try the pulled pork sandwich, but in the summer when it's warmer.
2.75 stars
We were bored on Sunday. So bored that we drove out to the Annapolis Mall just to check out a different Banana Republic location. It's sad, I know. While in the mall parking lot, we decided we should try one of the many chain establishments ringing the outer perimeter of the building. Punk's seem like a good choice...I mean, really, how bad can a place with the name "Punk's" be?
The answer is that Punk's is mediocre at best. The boy ordered a tenderloin sandwich & I had a burger with gorgonzola. I'm still not certain what cheese I received, but it was not gorgonzola. Gorgonzola is like the angry-cousin-who's-been-in-jail-for-the-past-seven -years of the blue cheese family...it comes out angry and ready for revenge! The cheese I got was wussy. The burger itself was ok...just ok. The boy enjoyed his tenderloin sandwich. We split an order of sweet & sour cucumbers, which were tasty. But, seeing as Puck's is selling itself as a backdoor grill place (complete with TONS of white picket fences throughout the restaurant)...where the hell are the potato chips?!? I mean, I appreciate the macaroni salad & all that jazz, but you guys don't have a backyard cook-out basic? Really?! Sigh.
+1 for the soda fountain and the friendly service. The all-natural black cherry soda rocks. If I ever come back for a second round at Punk's, this will be why.
After having to go to the mall to shop and do the basics, I'm usually ready to get out of there and go find some decent food. Wait... But at the Annapolis MD Mall there is something worth hanging around for. Hell...It's worth making a trip to the Mall for.
Punk's Backyard Grill is apparently a very new restaurant with sort of a cool, outdoor picnic essence.
Staff was super friendly and the place was spotless.
But the main event was the FOOD! Our table decided to share a few things off the menu for some variety. And variety there is...
We had the Flat Iron Steak Sandwich (the mushrooms were insane and complimented the taste of the meat so well), Lamb Skewers (fab!), the Pulled Pork Sandwich (awesome) and the Thai Steak Salad (this was hands down the favorite - with some sort of amazing gingery dressing). The food just kept getting beter as it went along. Oh... and they had some killer sides too. We had the corn and beans, the mac & cheese Both were tasty) and the potato salad (now....I have to pause to say that I have never been a potato salad fan. But this won me over HUGE! I wanted to hog the entire bowl for myself).
Since we were sold on the food so much, we hung around for some dessert: Mint Choco Ice Cream and Key Lime Pie (possibly the best I've ever had).
Oh...and if you go... This will sound odd, but go to the restroom (only for the hand drier). Finally one that worked. This thing is like a jet engine. Dried you r hands in about 2 seconds.
So... Thanks Punk's. The food was so tasty and the prices were so cheap. Finally food at the Mall that isn't Mall Food.
Oh dear... I wanted to like Punk's, I really did. Their website is great, the theme is cute and the menu items sound so tasty, really simple yet fresh stuff. Once we were there, I appreciated the fact that you order and pay in one step, then find a table and wait for your food, much like so many fast-food-but-not-fast-food places are doing these days (think Baja Fresh and Noodles & Company).
Alas, I was a bit disappointed. Not truly disappointed, but it just didn't measure up. I ordered the Chesapeake Cobb Salad, which had a couple of tomatoes, some "roasted" corn (apparently the thawed-out frozen kind), exactly three thin slices of red onion, two slices of cucumber, a few bits of processed chicken breast and a small clump of bacon bits, haphazardly flung to the side of the bowl.
My husband didn't do much better with his Flat Iron Steak Skewers. They were actually very tasty but a seemingly miniscule portion over a few scattered field greens, paired with a tiny triangle of very tasty flatbread. For $9.99, I expected more, especially for his sake, as the amount of food on his plate was what my first grader normally eats.
And for the aforementioned six-year-old, there were exactly three choices on the kids menu... hot dog, mac & cheese or chicken fingers. When are these family-style restaurants going to get with the program and understand that many kids are more adventurous eaters than that? How about quesadillas or Swedish meatballs or kebabs - all fun fare that most little ones would gladly tuck into. So he got a hot dog with some carrot sticks (and really good dipping sauce!) along with a side of decent white cheddar mac & cheese. It tasted fine but I think he was as uninspired as us.
What made me most frustrated is that it took well over 20 minutes for us to receive our food and the restaurant was not at all packed. One upside was the drink selection - we had a delicious sangria ($5) and the original varieties at the soda fountain.
With all due respect yelp is really designed to be a comprehensive review site - this liberal splashing of 5 stars on virtually everything just because it was 'good' is not how it was designed to work.
I went to Punk's today and had the vaunted pulled pork sandwich. I'm a member of the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) and a certified BBQ judge for many years now. The sandwich was average at best - on a scale of 1 to 10 it gets a 5 or 6 which is average by KCBS standards - so this is worth FIVE STARS??!?! Their pork for one is not smoked and has no signature smoky flavor associated with truly good pulled pork BBQ. It had virtually no real flavor on its own. The price isn't UNreasonable for one of these kitch new restaurants in the 'new' mall however as one who runs a BBQ stand in front of my church several times a year; we offer far better value for the dollar. I also got a side of their red bliss potato salad which was a bit mushy and way too mustardy for my tastes. Red Hot & Blue reigns supreme still in the potato salad category in the Annapolis area - I buy it by the quart when attending picnics where I'm asked to bring a side dish - high fives all around every time.
Punks just appears to be another one of these 'image' restaurants that are popping up all over the new 'mall' and in the new town center. It doesn't stand out against chains and at least on this experience doesn't stand out in a crowd either.
Service was fine for carry out. I doubt I'll be going back - I just don't see any driving reason to. Kind of like that 'nothing to see here folks move along' analogy.
A real food / restaurant critic should be much more sparing with 5 star ratings - they should be reserved for all around experiences that are tantamount to ORGASMIC in nature. If for whatever reason you felt Punks was '5 star' you probably really only meant 4 star.
Or is everyone rating this 5 star here an employee???
Sorry - Punk's is OK - probably decent for families and adult-mall-rats but this is hardly such an amazing place on every level that it warrants a 5 star rating.
One plus I did dig completely was the use of complete eco friendly paper based carry out containers and products. If only we could get more restaurants using these materials. I give them 5 stars for THAT! ;)
I have been to Punk's 4 times since they opened and have been very happy with the food and service. The pulled pork sandwich is tasty, perhaps a bit salty, but the bun was very good.
The grilled veggie skewers are fantastic. The marinade brings out the flavor and it comes with salad and flatbread. I agree with other reviews that the servings for the skewers could be larger, and that is the only reason for a 4 not 5 star rating. My husband got the chicken skewers and was still hungry.
The desserts are awesome. I love pecan pie and it was one of the best I have ever had. The last time I went, everyone got a small piece of key lime pie for free for the grand opening. I have never been a fan, but theirs won me over.
The food is fresh and tasty. A nice change from the heavy, greasy food court choices. I would definately recommend a visit, but if you are very hungry, go for a sandwich, not skewers.
I love Punk's Grill!!
I wasn't sure about Punk's when it opened - the exterior is a little too folksy for me, compared to where I would normally eat but I decided to try it out anyway and I was very pleasantly surprised!
The food is fresh and tastes great. They have a very clean, simple menu that still manages to pack a lot of great taste and variety into a very reasonably priced meal. They have increased their portion sizes since they initially opened in response to customer comments and I think they're pretty generous now. Look, you're not going to get Cheesecake Factory portions here - but the entrees are significantly less expensive at Punk's. So you can come back the next day for more :)
They also serve beer and wine and some sangria and other drinks for those that want it. The furniture is comfy and they have an outdoor seating area. The inside was frightfully cold for a while but they seem to have solved their air conditioning issues.
It's true that there is no coke, no pepsi, and no fries at Punks. But don't let that discourage you - after all, you can get those things pretty much anywhere but at Punks you get awesome fresh food cooked to order, interesting sodas, and good ambiance. I love the place and I think it's a real standout in Annapolis and ESPECIALLY at the mall.
Cool idea for a restaurant but the food is mediocre and pricey. The worst part is that it's expensive. Punk's is too pricey for the amount of food they give you. Everyone seems to be raving about the pulled pork so maybe I will have to try it. (Pit Boys on Chinquapin has the best pulled pork.)
I ate at Punk's on Saturday April 25th. I went with a buddy after enjoying a day out on the water in Annapolis which was a really great place to visit in general. I ordered the Thai Flank Steak Salad and he ordered the Shrimp Skewers.
The Thai Flank Steak Salad was very reasonably priced in the $7 dollar range. It had fresh bib lettuce, peanuts, oranges and an asian style dressing. The portion was plenty for lunch. The steak was well seasoned and I appreciate that it was cooked exactly to medium doneness. I didn't specify how I wanted it prepared but they got it right anyway.
My buddy got the citrus shrimp skewers plate. I only had one shrimp from his plate but it was larger than I expected and had a fresh grilled flavor. Served with it was a side salad and grilled flatbread. The plate was priced in the $9 range which I thought was very reasonable for the quality of the seafood and the serving size.
For dessert we split the key lime pie and an ice cream cookie. Normally I would not have dessert but we had been out and about all day and I was starving. Of the two desserts my favorite was the key lime pie. The flavor was sweet and tart without being too puckering. The crust maintained it's shape and was not overcooked. Nothing ruins a key lime pie like a burny crust so I was glad to not encounter that. The ice cream cookie was large with a white ice cream sandwiched between two generous chocolate cookies. Cookies were a bit harder than I expected but perhaps that's necessary to maintain the structure of the sandwich.
Oh yea, we each had beers with the meal and I appreciate that they got a liquor license. Nothing says backyard like beer for me. They had a surprising selection of about 10 beers to choose from. They also had 3 fresh made cocktails like mint juleps. One thing I suggest is for them to add some regional beers to the menu. I can't remember seeing any. Some Dog Fish Head, Legend, Starr Hill, Hook&Ladder, Clipper City would be nice additions given they seem to pride themselves on their regionally sourced ingredients. I'll definitely stop back in the next time I am in Apo.
Meal: Flat iron steak skewers, cuke salad, Boylan's sugarcane soda, homemade ice cream sandwich; a Friday mid-afternoon.
My six words: Superior to my backyard. Grilled goodness.
I strongly urge everyone who reads this to try Punk's. I don't live in the area, but while I was in Annapolis visiting friends we took a trip to the mall and stumbled upon Punk's. What a great find! The food is absolutely fantastic. My friends say they keep finding something new that they love about the place and have been back 4 times in the last month. We tried the Steak Skewers, Pulled Pork, Arugula Salad and a bunch of the sides, my favorites being the macaroni salad, cucumbers and the red bliss potato salad. Everything from their vegetables to their breads was extremely fresh.
In addition to the great food, the service was on point. Everyone working there was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Also, the grill chef's seem to have it down to a science.
The beverage selection is also something to be appreciated. A nice selection of beer and wine is always a plus, and the fact that they have a Boylans soda machine only sweetens the deal. I also highly recommend the Bloody Mary's.
Punk's is definitely worth a trip to the mall, even if you aren't going shopping. I don't see why anyone should even contemplate going to the mall food court when they can spend about the same amount of money and have a delicious, freshly made meal at a friendly place like Punk's.
Probably one of the only decent places to eat at the mall. Definitely check it out.
