This was an interesting experience because if you based it solely on the food/drinks, it was good though not great. But what tipped the scales for me were the intangibles, which you either have or you don't. This place does, particularly when it comes to their management.
My chum and I stopped here for a post-hike meal this past Saturday around 2 or 3. The lunch crowd was just starting to peter out; we had to wait probably close to 10 minutes for a table, which was fine by us, especially since the host overestimated the wait time by five or 10 minutes. It was a very pleasant day, and we were lucky enough to snag an outdoor table with prime pooch viewing opportunities. For what it's worth, the indoor seating looked pretty edgy as well - upscale, Financial District vibes - and I'm sure we would have been perfectly content either way.
We each decided to get a cocktail as a reward for hiking six miles. My chum went with the Everything Rings my Bee-ll (at my insistence because I wanted to see what an everything bagel seasoned rim looked like - she was a fan), and I ordered the cocktail off the specials menu, which was called something like the Easter Egg. I'm not completely confident about all of the ingredients listed, but it definitely had vegan egg whites, gin and I believe lavender included. I wasn't a big fan. It looks great as you can see, but it was definitely more of a style over substance situation. It honestly tasted a bit like cough syrup, which my chum concurred with. I don't think I've ever had vegan egg whites before, so I don't know if it had anything to do with that, but in my experience that taste usually comes from lacking one more complementary ingredient or doubling down on something they shouldn't have. I had been debating between that and the War of the Ros(e)s, and I wish I'd gone the other way.
The tater skins app was pretty good - solid portion and definitely not lacking in any ingredients. Personal palate preference, but I thought there was too much cheese on it and the bacon wasn't cooked enough. My chum loved all of the cheese and that the bacon wasn't overdone, so that could go either way. But I don't mind letting the potato be the star of the show.
For my entree, I went with a plain hamburger, which came with fries. The fries are EXCELLENT. My friend saw them on someone's plate as we approached the restaurant and it influenced her decision to try this place. The power of advertising. They're seasoned and cooked perfectly, and in my opinion didn't need ketchup or any other condiment for flavoring purposes. The burger was very good, solidly above average. My one issue though was that I ordered it medium rare, and it came rare (see attached). I can do rare in a pinch (which is why I didn't send it back), but I tend to not order it that way because the risk of getting something still mooing on your plate is too high, especially if it's my first time at a particular restaurant. I'm also a little surprised that it came out rare because they cut it in half as part of the presentation so they could clearly see it was red in the middle. Not the biggest deal in the world, but something to keep in mind if your eyes are drawn to the burger section of the menu.
The service was very good. Our waitress was cordial and the food/drinks came out pretty quickly. The price point may have been a smidgen high, but honestly? It's a cocktail bar in one of the bougiest towns in North Jersey - you get what you pay for.
As alluded to in my introduction, the management team proved its mettle while we were there, and that made the difference. During our meal, a family of cyclists rode by on the opposite side of the street. One of the children fell from their bike and thankfully wasn't visibly injured. A minute or two after that, one of the managers went over there to check on them. It was a small but noble gesture that really resonated for me and just showed some basic humanity, which seems to be in short supply these days. I'd come back here on that basis alone. read more