(Feb. 9, 2017) While reviews of the Ocean Pines Yacht Club have been all over the map since the new facility opened in 2014, a stress test of the rebranded Mumford’s Landing last weekend appears to have scored passing grades.
Interim General Manager Brett Hill said there were only a few hiccups, which he largely attributed to the expected growing pains of the all-new bar and wait staff, and new computer systems.
An invitation-only soft opening was held Friday and Saturday, and the club was open on Sunday during the Super Bowl.
The building had shut down, except for weekends, during January in order to train the new staff and renovate the interior of the club, including adding the new Tuffy’s Tavern bar area. The restaurant is now referred to as The Cove at Mumford’s Landing.
“Overall, I think it went very well,” Hill said on Tuesday. “We got a lot of positive feedback and we got some constructive criticism, which was good. It really gave us the opportunity to work out the kinks of having actual customers on the floor and food going through the system.”
On the plus side, Hill said the décor, food quality and service all received high marks from customers, who were asked to fill out a brief survey following their meals, which entitled them to half-off their checks.
He said the stress test did reveal the need for a wine list, which had not been part of a revamped menu. An apparent glitch in the point of sale system also caused the salad and entrée courses to come out at the same time early during the weekend, Hill said.
“The experience definitely improved through the weekend where Friday night, we had more of the constructive criticism. By Sunday night, when it came time for the Super Bowl, there really wasn’t any feedback at all other than positive,” Hill said. “That was definitely the direction we wanted to take it.
“There were tweaks in the system, and this was the right time to have those hiccups and work through them,” he added.
After the August election, when Hill came onto the board and soon after took over as acting general manager, the new leadership in Ocean Pines met to discuss its priorities. The yacht club was universally selected as the number-one priority.
Since then Hill and Marketing Director Denise Sawyer have spearheaded a major rebranding effort there, which led to the name change, renovations and addition of new staff.
“I’m extremely happy [with the results],” Hill said. “The board got to go in Thursday night and take a look at everything and they as well were very pleased with the results. It’s definitely come a long way.”
He said the sentiment from the board was, essentially, “you’ve finished it,” meaning the building. The new $5 million yacht club originally opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2014.  
Because Ocean Pines is a notoriously eclectic community filled with a membership of diverse ages and tastes, Hill said the facility was remodeled to cater to several types of clientele, from fine dining to the more casual crowd.
“Getting the themes in there and catering to the areas where our guests feel most comfortable really changed the dynamic,” Hill said. “It was the little things that left that kind of vacant feeling in the building that having color on the walls, having decorations and having at least some type of theme and a sense of comfort brought in.
“We just have so much real estate in there that it needed to be broken up. We cater to so many different people here in Ocean Pines that one theme is not going to work for everyone. Being able to divide all that space up and really have something for everybody is playing out very, very well,” he added.
A public grand opening is planned this weekend, with live music starting at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
On Valentine’s Day, Mumford’s Landing will offer a dinner-for-two special, including a shared appetizer, two entrees and a shared dessert for $60. To make reservations, call 410-641-7501.