The Rod & Reel Tavern

take it or leave it, ill take it w 5 stars cause it is what it is… not so much your cup of tea, then dont order the whole kettle

Forget about it. It’s closed and for sale. Rest in peace rod and tavern. Trying to post this but they say it’s not long enough. How much can you say about closed and for sale.

Dive bar of Brigantine. Food will surprise you. Make sure you have cash

Cheap drinks, not great food, no atm or credit accepted. If you are expecting all of this, it is a nice place to hang out. The crowd and bartenders were friendly. We had no problems that some of the other reviewers mentioned. No fights, no sarcasm, no attitude.
Dark dive bar with a jukebox and a pool table.

While it definitely fits the bill of a dive bar, Rod & Reel isn’t a place I’d like to visit on the regular. Boyfriend and I were so hyped to find a go-​to bar on the island, and unfortunately Rod & Reel didn’t really deliver the goods.
I appreciated the bartender’s sarcasm when I asked for a water. I was legitimately thirsty and wanted to hydrate a little before drinking. But he served my water in a paper cup, with a lid and a straw… sippy-​cup style. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a child when really I’m just a semi-​responsible adult.
About halfway through my juicy juice, I mean water, a couple entered through the side door, directly behind us. The female bartender greeted them and yelled out, «Just let me know where you want to sit, I’ll tell whoever’s there to move!!!»
Now, I’m sure she was kidding (I think…), but still not really a professional thing to say in front of other patrons, especially because since the door was right behind us, it looked like she gave us kind of a sideways glance after her comment. It was definitely a turn off as this was our first visit.
There was awful music being played from the jukebox, and even worse karaōke. Cash only… they have an ATM, but it’s not in service.
Lastly, it was so unbearably cold in there, we had to pack it in and leave after one drink. I went home and put on sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and uggs.
The location is really very pretty at dusk; but I think for a dive bar, we’ll head off the island to our old faithfuls.

A dive in every sense of the word.

Everytime I come to Brigantine, I visit the Rod & Reel! What you see is what you get. It ain’t pretty, prestigious or pretentious. That is also what I would say is it’s charm. Mostly locals, all fun and come as you are. It’s a joint to hang and have some drinks. You’re hungry, you can eat there… but that ain’t the draw to bring people in the door. Great place to throw back a few adult beverages and not lose your shirt. That’s what AC and the uppity places on Brigantine are for. That’s not the Rod & Reel. And that’s why I love it.

Look people, as soon as you come over the bridge onto Brigantine you are greeted by a sign that says «Slow down, you are already here!» That philosophy is also practiced at the Rod. This is where the locals come to meet and talk to friends. They come to enjoy the company, the drink, and the food. They aren’t in any rush to gobble down their food. So yes, the pace of the kitchen is slow, but the food is good, portions are large, & the locals are friendly. The Rod is always entertaining.

OK, this is a 2-​star eatery very generously bumped up one because of the rather good turkey triple-​decker club sandwich I just had. From there it kinda goes downhill. We ordered the friend clams and got a few clams sprinkled over a basket of french fries. How am I not going to remember that? Waitress service is quite good but these ladies look pretty edgy and like they live hard, kinda like they’ve been waitresses their whole lives and sit in the sun for hours and drink a lot more than they should. The scene in the front is a gigantic bar, which is their primary income, apparently, aptly being named Rod & Reel Tavern. The scene in the back is table and chairs. The volume of the hard rock music was decibels too high. The view out the window was a gravelly pebble-​strewn parking lot overlooking a bay you couldn’t even see because of overgrown marshland. Man if I owned this place the things I could do to make it really pop as a Brigantine destination… sigh…

A relaxed island atmosphere with friendly people and fairly cheap drinks. Mind you, it’s cash only!
A pool table, pinball machine, and shuffleboard bowling will keep your drunk self entertained. Kids are allowed until 10 PM, and the place is open 24 hours.

After spending the day at the beach in Brigantine, which I prefer to AC, we (the boy and I) were famished. Wanted to pub ‘n grub before we split home to Philly. Couldn’t find a decent eat-​joint driving the main drag and Unilocal didn’t help. There seem to be mediocre reviews for all Brigantine area food spots. So we asked a local to point out a spot and we were a block and a half from R&R in the Brigantine bay area.
For what we were looking for in our sandy state, this place fit the bill. It was reasonable and must’ve had a tattoo convention in the ‘hood because there were all these goth people hanging out front, which made me think there was a wait. No wait — for a table, that is. The bar was packed — elbow to elbow. I was really starting to believe there were no other eating establishments in this sleepy beach town. The whole town was there. Likely, that’s why it took like 40-​minutes to get our eat on. For a burger and some shrimp and a round of Coronas. Was okay — but not fast by any stretch.
Atmosphere: Exactly a shore bar — paneling and aging seashore décor. But clean. 2 ½ stars.
This place, as it’s on the bay would be so cute if it had some outdoor seating and a deck. It had the view/​sunset. C’mon Brigantine, get with it!

Given the exterior and name, I figured the Rod and Reel was going to be a hole in the wall old person bar. It was kind of surprising to walk in and find out half is a family restaurant, and the other half is a well… a fairly normal bar. The food was pretty good, highly recommend the hot turkey sandwich or the cheese steak. The crab/​seafood pasta was pretty good, but maybe a little over priced. One thing I liked was that the salad you get is a full plate, not just a tiny little cup.
Be aware that they don’t accept credit cards (at least not last night), and their ATM wasn’t working.