What a bad experience. I have been here before but I think the chef has changed. I ordered the paella. That might have been my first mistake. It arrived and it was very very salty. Chef promised he could make it less salty. It arrived less salty minus the mussels. Just the shells. Minus the Shrimp. So it was a bowl of rice for 29 dollars. I was on a date. So i didn't make an issue of it. I would NOT recommend this restaurant. The chef is NOT the same. read more

I really liked Circa, a lot more than I expected to. The menu looks dangerously pricey upon first inspection, but the portions were way larger than I expected them to be, so it's actually not a bad value, and the lunch menu especially is not unreasonable. Their house-made pasta is to die for. Service is pretty slow, but the restaurant is beautiful, and they have live music some nights. read more

My wife and I wanted to try circa for quite some time unfortunately it was not worth the wait It started when we sat down and my wife said a giant spring was poking into her from the chairs It went down hill from there the menu was set up nice with small plates on one side my wife ordered the shrimp dish I ordered the tempura calamari I found the tempura wasn't crispy kind of chewy the shrimp was a little fishy for entrees I had braised pork loan and my wife had the tuna They were average at best the service was not good they didn't clean the table between courses we had to ask them to clean a shrimp Shell after we finished entrees before dessert We would never eat here again read more

Flower 75 cocktail is so good, delicate and delicious! We got small plates: steak tacos, clams and bacon wrapped scallops. The clams were so good we ordered fries to dip in the leftover broth because we did not want to waste it! Lol! Acoustic guitar player and inclusive atmosphere in the evening. Great place! read more

First time at Circa and High Bridge, very charming small town. Was visiting family and decided to go there for some small plates and was not disappointed. We first started with our cocktails. Our waiter Anthony was very helpful and friendly, and recommended the Lemon Basil, it was delicious, very refreshing on a hot day. Great recommendation! For our meal we ordered 6 small plates for the table, we started with the Charcuterie Board, it was a mix of meats and cheeses with some nuts. Loved the honey sprinkled over the nuts, went well with the cheese also. Our 2nd pick was the Hummus, it was a little different than the smooth hummus we are all used to. We then ordered steak tacos, the homemade tortilla was delicious; the stuffed avocado; shrimp burger sliders; and crab quesadilla. All the dishes were delicious. The food and staff were awesome and friendly. Love this place and would definitely go back when I visit my family again. read more

I'm not sure how this place gets great reviews. It has a nice vibe, but that's about all. I went on a Sunday night and it was pretty much dead as far as patrons were concerned and the bar was empty. Should have realized why. The wait for our food was at least a half hour or more...couldn't understand why the wait with so few dining. Can't understand this pretentious "Small Plate" thing either. What it does mean, I found out, is very tiny portions for too much $$. If you like fish I guess you're in the right place, just order double what you think you'll eat. (Our table ordered fish tacos and there were three very small 1/2 sized tacos on one plate and one person got an overpriced, overdone hamburger with over cooked fries, but at least they got a normal sized meal out of it.) Needless to say, if you are hungry for great food at a good value, I would recommend going somewhere else. read more

This place is a breath of fresh air for the highbridge/surrounding areas. I went for the first time a few weekends ago to watch a local band play and we had a wonderful time! The food was excellent, I would especially reccomend the steak tartar as well as the hummus as an appetizer. For an entree I had the tomato basil gnocchi and it was just right. The atmosphere is nice, we went on a night when it was packed, but the ambiance was still great. The servers were attentitive and polite, and even though it was so busy we got our meals in a short amount of time. My only complaint was the bartender. The first issue is that there was only 1 bartender for about 100 people! It was crazy- and he was very rude. We had been standing by the bar waiting for our table for about an hour, and half hour in he glanced at me and I asked him for a riesling and he snapped at me saying 'we don't have that, try again'. That, I did not care for. But once we got our drinks and sat down it was a great experience :) read more

Went in here for a Sunday early dinner. Sat at the bar & our bartender Kendra was fantastic! She was always ready for us/anticipating our next need. Started with the jalapeño + chorizo Mac & the shrimp burger sliders which were different but delicious. Highly recommend coming here if you like good drinks & food items that aren't everywhere you go! Will be back for Friday night live music. read more

I really wanted to like this and also really expected to after reviews here. Alas, I'm sorry to say, it was terrible. Understaffed, and TERRIBLE martinis, managing to be both too sour and too sweet. Just awful. Hummus was good. Had the pumpkin goat cheese tart which was actually very good, although huge and really would have been enough for a meal. The seafood ciopino was so bad I sent it back. Had the gnocci instead which was odd, bland and just not good. Will not return. read more

Served a small plate special of parsnip ravioli with toasted hazelnuts and a cheese (what kind?) that was truly extraordinary. Food 8 + ambiance 7 + value 5 + service 5 = overall 7.0 / 10 (good) read more

the net-net: if you are going out for drinks and an app or two with friends, this may not be a bad spot. Going out for a decent dinner? find another spot. Dont get me wrong, this place seems like its good, but it hit so many things that grate me about bad restaurants. We made reservations and got seated in the bar area. She didnt even ask if we were ok with that. The bar area is LOUD. Very loud. It was, as you may suspect, pretty busy. it took well over 1/2 hour to get our drinks. We noticed that people at the bar were getting served that showed up after we did. Pretty disappointing. the server was apologetic, but for cripes sake, we were just about ready to walk out. The food came out somewhat timely and at least hot. We went for their small plates which were OK. details: green bean temupra - OK. greasy and slightly undercooked. I chalk that up to them being busy and the deep fryer dropped in temp from high use. Asian Chicken Meatballs - Tasty. decent size. the lo mein noodles tasted good too albeit greasy from too much sesame oil (but I like sesame oil) Duck tacos:real good. a little soggy for my taste - my wife didnt think so though. goat Cheese Tart: Very good. had cocktails - they were good (waiting time excluded). their wine list is small, but well varied. A word of caution though - we both though the wines were not very good. we had the malbec and the tempranillo. not impressed, in fact a bit hungover after 1 cocktail and 1 glass of wine. read more

Great live music and the place has a really nice vibe. read more

Circa - Listening to great live music at Circa. - New American Near Me - High Bridge, New Jersey

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This place is really cute. It's located in downtown High Bridge and has a very nice atmosphere. It can be a bit cool, so bring a sweater. The food is decent but the menu is limited and can be quite pricey. Most of the time I have opted to go with a selection of their appetizers for a dinner instead of the main courses and found all the food to be very tasty. I'm a big fan of their mussels and fries. They go great with the excellent selection of beers. Worth a try if you're in the area. They also host a lot of special events, like beer and wine tastings. read more

We went here a few weeks ago, and although we've been here twice in the past with good experiences, this time it was very average. The first, and worst, part of the entire night was that it was FREEZING cold when we went in. Granted, it was a cold night and they had opened only an hour earlier, but wow was it cold in there! I think they need to recognize that on a cold night, with high ceilings, you need to get that heat cranking much earlier! We almost left, because it was obvious that it was going to be cold for the duration of our meal, even if the heat kicked in. We were looking forward to their tapas menu however, so we wore our down coats the entire meal. By the end of the meal, it was tolerable in there, but we still had our coats on and we weren't too hot. It was a very slow night with only 2 other tables there, and the service was really quite slow considering. A fair amount of time was spent with the server in the bar area. They seemed to be working on something, but it made it hard to get our server's attention when needed. On top of this, they were playing some really cruddy blues music quite loudly and it just didn't match the ambiance for a nice dinner out. The food itself was all good. They were out of two of the tapas we asked about, but the rest that we had were tasty and well prepared, which included duck tacos, wild boar meatballs, szechuan shrimp and stuffed clams. We also had a bottle of wine. It's kind of a shame, because being so cold the whole meal really made a difference in the whole experience (and we're not usually complainers!). But when you only get date night once every few months, and it's a "big" night out...you want it to be worth it. The food is worth it, the atmosphere was a miss this night. On a better night with that solved, it would be a solid four stars. read more

This place is great and desperately needed in the area. While slightly more expensive than most restaurants around, the portions are great and the quality is excellent. Rudy is the owner and he is the nicest guy. Sit at the bar for a good conversation or grab a table for a more private dining experience. A great local spot with a bit of flair. read more

Went to see the band. Was served overpriced drinks, slow service and served 1/3 cup of coffee in a dirty cup without cream or sugar. Very disappointing. Don't think I'll be back anytime soon. read more

Ehhh... no. Not sure what their small plates thing is but it translate into smaller than an appetizer? Steak tacos were ok but very small. Fish taco special was not available so my husband went for the burger which was ok and $3 leas than the fish tacos and the waiter didn't make a price adjustment. When asked he said oh it's about the same price and didn't seem interested in redoing the bill. Then my husband's non alcoholic beer was expired. The service was lack luster and the only good thing was being able to sit at a table outside. We have been coming to High Bridge for years to ride the Columbia Trail and kept wanting to check this place out but should have passed. read more

Pros: Innovative, unique dishes. One of the best chicken pot pies I've ever had. The server was very attentive once he figured out that we were good tippers. The building is beautiful, very unique. Cons: The bar doesn't seem to stock a decent sour mix. The building seems a bit worn around the edges in places. I ordered a fish special that advertised a "fresh pineapple salsa." The salsa was so spicy with jalapenos that I burned my mouth. The server apologized but did not take it off the check or even offer a discount. read more

Been here a few times, average food, good beer. Cheeses for the cheese place are nothing special.

This place is awesome! It's small, intimate and the ambiance is great. The lighting is nice; not too bright. The spacing is good, we went for a birthday with 10 people and it was a good amount of space for us. We were welcomed to our table with water and fresh hummus and bread. I love hummus and having homemade hummus from the restaurant was a huge deal! Delicious. Also, they refresh it when you ask. I shared the beer,onion,bacon mussels and artichoke goat cheese dip as an app. Both were amazing. The mussels had so much flavor and the goat cheese and artichoke dip was fantastic. For dinner I shared a large portion of the eggplant meatballs and wow, they are AMAZING! Fried to perfection, the pasta was delicious and let me tell you, the portions are huge! Especially after having apps and hummus. I also had a Orange spritz and it was yum. They had live musicians playing acoustic and they were incredible. All in all the place is great and very accommodating to large parties(even cut our birthday cake and brought out candles). read more

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Oversalted food. It looked good, I was hungry.halfway through ,it was too late.good restaurants do not oversalt because its all about the taste of the food ,not the salt! Yech . Service was good though read more

My friend and I went for the small plates which were might tasty, although the falafel was cold. Bangin' good flavor and texture which made up for that, however. One of the lightest. most ethereal crab cakes I've ever eaten as well. Great Swedish meatballs served on potato pancakes (I think?). Our friends' entrees were great. The rib eye special was Flintstone-sized, cooked perfectly and served with crispy onions and a very creamy and dense (maybe too much) asparagus risotto. You could definitely taste the cream and cheese in it, so how could that be bad? May have to schedule an angioplasty next week to be on the safe side, though... Desserts? Eh, not so much. Stale-tasting pastry shells for the profiteroles with icy ice cream (sign of aging). Flourless chocolate cake was served cold (translate - "hard") with a heath crunch (no crunch) ice cream - again icy. Served with a glass of what was said to be an oatmeal stout beer. It was delicious. The beer, that is. Not the cake or ice cream. They really need to work on their desserts and ice creams. I can make better stuff at home. Maybe they shouldn't offer ice cream during the colder months? If it doesn't move, it gets icy and turns fast. Fresh ice cream only lasts a day or two...tops. Or, bring a top-quality commercial product in fercryin'outloud. The apple crisp was tres excellent. A nice place, excellent, unobtrusive, professional service by some really cute server girls and a food runner boy that just could never get it right. His skills had all the polish of a ten-year Blockbuster Video clerk. I recommend. read more

Go down the street to Casa Maya. Circa has nasty staff who seem to be very snotty. Too loud, subpar food. Many better choices locally. A huge disappointment overall. read more

We had dinner there last night. Excellent across the board! Food was insanely delicious from appetizer to desert. Flavor in each bite, beautiful presentation as well. Loved the vibe, outstanding service. Reasonably priced for all you get as well. We'd definitely eat there again when we're in that area. Best Service I've experienced in a long time. Refreshing! read more

This place is a hidden gem nestled on a small town Main Street. Great service from our server, Jack. Food and service was excellent! I will he back. read more

Such good vibes at Circa! Great place to hang out, have a drink, and listen to live music on certain nights. Love the mussels. Had my bridal shower here a few years ago and it was a great experience! Beautiful interior. So great when they open the front windows when the weather is nice. read more

I can't even give it any stars, but was forced to in order to post as I've never eaten there, although we tried. My husband made reservations for Mother's Day at 6pm. We arrived as scheduled and they were closed! Nothing on the website saying they were closed, in fact it gave the Sunday hours. We emailed the owner: zero response. My husband called to speak to the owner and the person who answered said the owner would call him: zero response. Great customer service, Circa! read more

I can't even believe this place is still in business . Way way way overpriced , portions small and food lousy . Rudy should be named mr. rude read more

Mediocre at best. The price they charge for the calamari warrants double the size. My salad was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. One star for being the only thing to do in high bridge and another star for a great octoberfest beer. read more

Like to go to Circa once a week around 9. Always meet good high quality people to business network with. High bridge is a friendly town with friendly people. High bridge is a sanctuary to get out of the nj rat race. Food and drink is great. David from Readington read more

We just moved to the area and decided to give it a try on a Saturday night. It is on the main st, has a cool vibe and seating on porch area but we decided to sit by the bar. We ordered the Szechuan shrimp and Greek salad as apps and both were delicous. My wife had the Taggliatelle with crab and she said it was fresh and yummy. I had the Steak Frites and it too was tasty. Topped it off with a fried apple pie dessert which hit the spot. Will be adding Circa to the list for date nights moving forward. read more

Circa used to be great! Great food, beer, atmosphere, entertainment. I'm not 100% sure but I think the owner sold the place and now its going downhill. The last 4 times I was in NJ I went here and it was awful. My friend and I went in there for drinks and appys. The shrimp actually tasted like the sewer, I kid you not. We had to send it back and then the waiter brought us something else on the house, which was nice, but it was so salty I couldnt eat that either. I used to have such great food here so I'm not sure what happened. The most recent time I went to circa was just this past weekend when i was visiting NJ and my family and I went in for coffee and desert. The waitress took forever just to bring our coffee and then we waited even longer for a stupid scoop of ice cream. She never paid any other attention to us or filled our coffee again. She never came over to give us the check so we plunked down money on the table and walked out. We probably overpaid because we had to guess how much we owed. It was good when Circa first came into the neighborhood because it classed up High Bridge a little but now it seems that the town has won. Its no longer hip, classy place it used to be. I think the previous owner was really good, he really knew how to run a restaurant. This new owner needs to take some tips from the old owner. They used to have a sushi bar too which was really good. I hope they can save this place because it would be a shame for it to go out of business. Maybe Gordon Ramsey can come help. just a thought. read more

I hate to give Circa less than four stars, because it has such great potential. We have been there many times since it opened, and I have to say we never know what we are going to get in terms of quality of food and service. ATMOSPHERE: Circa's interior looks great, like a comfortable old bistro. The acoustics are LOUSY, which is too bad if the place is crowded. Last night with a band there we couldn't even hear the person next to us. The ceiling is tin, and there are glass panels everywhere which cause sound to amplify and ricochet. HINT: visit in the summer when you can sit on the porch. PRICE: We never eat here any more, because it's always $100+ for two of us, if we have a glass of wine. Speaking of the wine, it is incredibly expensive to buy by the glass, and so rarely ever come to the bar with friends for a night out. FOOD: It varies from great to poor. We have had wonderful chicken and in the same meal an inedible salty soup. One time short ribs are marvelous, another time fatty and no flavor. One time steak tartare is what it should be, next time inferior meat and strangely done. My dinner last night was so sweet my teeth hurt, with all the candied nuts, pumpkin cheese tart etc. We wish Circa would take itself a little less seriously in terms of the food and realize that locals really want a place to go on a regular basis, with good food, a decently-priced selection of wine and beer, and a menu that changes on a seasonal basis. We want to be able to eat here more often. read more

Circa used to be very good. Overpriced but good. Last week we went for drinks and something light and all of us were surprised at how the place has slipped. Early evening and just a handful of people in the bar area - no one in the restaurant. We sat down at the bar which was littered with crumbs and drink spills from the previous customers. After waiting for a couple minutes, we waved to get the bartender's attention as he chatted with people nearby. Youngish male bartender comes over but doesn't notice that the bar is filthy. After placing our orders we had to ask him to wipe down the bar. Drinks were slow. The food much slower. We actually finished two drinks before our appetizers arrived. These were cold dishes that didn't need to be cooked! When the restaurant was empty! During dinner hours! The charcuterie plate tasted off - as in spoiled. The cheeses were fine. They've got some good beer selections. The wine list is good too, but they were out of my first two choices. The place lacks a competent manager. The service, food, cleanliness were on the level of a dive bar. read more

Love this restaurant. We just never get there as often as we like, mostly because High Bridge has such a dead main street. Food is always really good, full of flavor and complexities. Presentation is fantastic. Bar area is warm and inviting. Feels like a place you'd find in the city. Well worth the price. read more

Very upscale for this part of NJ which is a great change of pace. Overly expensive for sure, but its worth it every once in a while for a better scene. Nice staff, live music on thursdays. read more

Wish I could give no stars. Not sure which was worse the food or the service. Never again.

Thank you to Heather and the staff for an amazing rehearsal dinner! We booked Circa after eating with them a couple times based on both food and location. Our wedding party (and significant others) had a lot of food restrictions - two with celiac, two vegans, a vegetarian, etc etc. Everything on our menu, minus the Cajun shrimp pappardelle (which was delicious) could be done gluten free, and the vegetarians were able to do a stuffed avocado with quinoa or a vegetable stir fry. We ordered a few catering trays with options for everyone. Everything came out beyond perfect! Everyone left full and happy. We had 33 people and were able to close off part of the restaurant on a Saturday evening. What a great accommodating restaurant! We can't wait to come back and celebrate as a married couple! read more

We attended our son and daughter in laws rehearsal dinner this past weekend. We could not have asked for a better venue. The limited menu was tailored to their guests. The roast chicken was perfectly done as was the seafood fra diablo. The service was great and it was a perfect night. Thank you to the owners and staff for creating a great evening . read more

I usually never drink, but I LOVE the Circa Martini. It's one of the only alcoholic drinks I really like. Just be sure to request UNFLAVORED Vodka in it. The martinis are $9-10 and the food is pricey, but the atmosphere and live music are great. This place definitely has an urban, old NYC-meets-New-Orleans type vibe. Live music every Thursday. read more