Maize Restaurant

Came here for dinner before a 7pm show on a Sunday night. I was skeptical because of the ratings but I am so happy I tried it out! We were running late and we only go to maize by 6:15. We told them we had tickets to a show at 7 and asked if we had enough time. Our waiter said it wouldn’t be a problem. I had the garlic shrimp and my boyfriend had the NY strip. They were both delicious! And we were out of there by 6:55pm. So happy we came here!

I was a little skeptical when my boyfriend told me he made reservations at Maize and I looked it up on Unilocal and it only had 2 and a half stars. We went last night and I was pleasantly surprised. We had 6:30 reservations because we were going to an 8 pm show at NJPAC. We were running late and didn’t arrive to the restaurant until 6:50. They made sure everything was done efficiently so we wouldn’t be late for the show. Our appetizers were out within 5 minutes of ordering.
I got the New York Strip Steak and it was cooked perfectly. My boyfriend enjoyed the Sea bass and the Shrimp Cocktail. At the end of the meal I had a delicious cappuccino.
All in all, it is a great place for a meal before a show at NJPAC since it is right across the street.

Awful. We went last night before a show at NJPAC. When I called to make a reservation 2 days prior, I asked if we could order off the dinner menu or only the pre-​theater. I was told either would be fine. When we arrived that was not the case. I was told that these things change at the last minute once they see how busy they are. I asked to see the manager and she/​he never showed up.
The food was awful. I started with the soup of the day — chicken soup. How you can kill that I don’t know, but they managed to. My main course was the swordfish which was barely edible with a terrible aftertaste. The veggies were limp and tasteless. The only thing edible was the mashed potatoes. The people next to be warned me not to order the mousse for dessert. The chocolate cake was fine. My dining companion was barely able to eat her duck.
The final insult was the cost.
Sherri N.

The worst service ever! The ambiance and food prices scream superior quality, but the end result is crap. Do your best to avoid this place.

This place sucks! Fernando, the manager, was extremely rude to myself and two other women. We entered, the bar was full, so we moved towards the service area to wait for the attention of the bartender rather than stand behind patrons dining at the bar and interrupting their meal. Fernando, hands full, rudely said «You can’t stand here you have to leave.» We told him we were trying to order a drink, to which he replied «there are people waiting to be seated and you just walked through». Excuse me but I have never been to a restaurant or bar where service is restricted to table service or those fortunate enough to have seats. What bar doesn’t permit standing patrons to order a drink? The response of the hotel, the Robert Treat Best Western Plus, was «We’ve had this problem before». However, because the restaurant is independently operated, there was nothing they could do except apologize for me being poorly treated.
I won’t hazard a guess as to why the service was poor. The reason doesn’t matter at the end of the day. I have had few experiences in my life where I felt powerless to address poor treatment. Thank goodness for Unilocal!
Save your money and spend it in places that appreciate and respect all patrons. Unfortunately no one was surprised by my experience. Fernando, I think you were disrespectful and rude to 3 Black women simply seeking a little respite and for that you suck!

Ambience was very nice. Servers were attentive and prompt with any request. I ate the Linguini Puttanesca. The dish was ok, the sauce would be better if used a fresh and simple marinara with the capers, the seafood was slightly overcooked. But you know what, all in all a good experience. I think anyone looking for a meal in the $ 20 – 30 range for an entrée in a hotel should consider this location. Menu choices were plentiful. House Chardonnay was good. All house wines are from California.

Great location just steps from NJPAC. Beautiful dining room with great service. Food served cold but I blame it on a full house on show night. Plenty of options on the 3 course show night menu. Desserts are outstanding.

Based on the reviews, i almost didnt come here but glad i ultimately ignored reviews bc the place was awesome !! Good atmosphere, décor, food ans waitstaff.

What a horrific waste of $ 95 for two prix fixe meals. Could have better food at the worst diner. Can’t say enough about what a ripoff this was.
The salad was limp; shrimp and rice dish worse than a diner; never had a worse duck dish. Three meager and subpar courses for $ 45!

Awful!
Can I give zero stars? The food was horrible. Over cooked steak. WAY too much pepper. Poor menu selection. I hated it. Just wanted to leave.

Just got back from another business trip and another go-​round at Maize. A better experience all the way around. First of all, there were a couple of large parties having a great time and enjoying their evening. The sounds of laughter brightened up the atmosphere considerably. Other tables commented favorably on their food, and the wait staff and manager were friendly and attentive.
Food was pretty good! The first night I had some fried Portuguese sausage and a side of fries at the bar. The sausage, with honey mustard dipping sauce was great… at turns crispy and savory, and the fries were hot and crisp. (They might want to change out the oil more often… I could taste a hint of seafood in the fries.)
The next evening I tried the Chicken Francesca, with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The portion was large ($ 24 dollar entrée) and the plating was attractive. The chicken in a lemon sauce was delicious, as were the sauteed vegetables (a nice mix, not just the carrot-​cauliflower medley). The mashed taters had been piped onto the plate, and were a little cold, but garlicky and flavorful.
Pleasantly surprised. Two good meals. Very elegant atmosphere, prices appropriate.

Came down in the evening to have a decaf and a piece of cake.
The place look nice however the dessert is most likely industrial and so is the whipped cream :(you can tell from the overpowering sweet flavor.
I asked for several refill (the cup is very small) and then out I was charged for each refill. The coffee taste like any decaf in a dinner and thirst was fine.
I ended up paying $ 15.00 for a more than average coffee which refill amounts for a regular mug of coffee.
The host behind the bar (a couple for Portugal) are as friendly as a prison warden!!!
That’ ok, they ripped me off $ 7.00 bit I thought i’l let people know that they charge the refill because they didn’t bother to let me know and argued I should have asked. Possibly! But not service oriented like you would expect in that line of business
As a follow up on the owner’s comment in bad faith, I had 4 tiny cups of decaf and got charge for 3!!!
Get your facts straight

After checking out NIKKO’s menu and not being impressed, my friend and I walked endlessly around the NJPAC area for a restaurant. We couldn’t find anything (That’s a whole other issue). We circled back to the Robert Treat Hotel and ate at Maize before attending the Culture Club concert on Aug 4.
I ordered the Garlic Shrimp which initially came with two starches (saffron rice and Spanish potatoes). I substituted out the saffron rice for mixed vegetables. My friend had the tilapia which initially came with spinach and a starch. She substituted the starch with asparagus.
The service was very slow and we had to speed eat our meal to get across the street for 7:30. We had different waiters bringing us different things at different times. No one provided a drink menu when we sat down. I actually ordered my wine with my meal.
When the food arrived, the mixed vegetables they gave me looked like they were steamed out of a Birds Eye bag. The «Spanish Potatoes» were actually homemade potato chips. The garlic shrimp was flavorful and there were a good amount provided. When my friend’s tilapia arrived, they forgot the spinach and took the whole plate back instead of just leaving the plate and bringing her a dish of spinach. She ended up enjoying her meal even though she had to speed eat. I enjoyed the shrimp and that was it.
When the check came, they already put the tip in based on the subtotal. For one glass of Pinot Noir and two entrees plus their added in tip it came to $ 71.25. DEFINITELY NOT worth that much money.
If BURG would have opened on time, that’s where we would have gone because that was the initial plan until I checked out the Facebook page and read the opening was delayed. That really threw an inconvenience and wrench into our plans along with the horrendous traffic we hit on the way to the PAC.

Decided to choose this restaurant when we went to a JILL SCOTT CONCERT at the NJ PAC on July 15^th. The ambience was fantastic. The servers were nice people. But very quickly the kitchen became overwhelmed and we had a long wait for food.
My wife had a fish dish that was actually cold to the touch properly despite looking fantastic on the plate.
My steak had perfect grill marks and was cooked to perfection but I agree was also cool to the touch.
Because the food took so long to get to us we were not in a position to really taste, savor and enjoy it. We immediately asked for doggy bags and our check so as not to miss the opening curtain of our show. We arrived at 6:20 PM for an 8 PM show. So there was plenty of time. This was in advance of our 630 reservation.
It took about 40 minutes before we got our food and that’s unacceptable. Also the bathrooms are very nicely appointed but there was no toilet tissue in the ladies room. I would suggest that they coordinate their staff resources for big events at the venue across the street and anticipate a large crowd and have the proper resources available to manage it.

A Scam & a Rip Off! Owners just set whatever price they feel they can get away with at the moment hoping you won’t notice on the bill. Called-​out the wife-​owner on the extra $ 3 added to the price of the pizza and the $ 4 added automatic tip (for a party of 1?). She yelled at me, then went and got the husband-​owner who also yelled at me, then offered to take 50 cents off the bill. I threw down a twenty on the bar and stormed-​out so disgusted with their greed and unscrupulous morals.
Stay far, far away… these restaurant owners are what’s wrong with the NYC area and why people don’t visit: Rip-​off people for whatever you can, whenever you can.
Pizza was flat-​out awful! Imagine lukewarm Ellio’s styrofoam pizza… only worse.

This is an attractive old restaurant hanging on in the center of Newark, and the city desperately needs a place like this. They have a nice little bar which is very affordable during happy hour.
The restaurant serves an attractively presented dinner. We ordered the duck, which was quite good, served with green and orange puréed side dishes that were probably spinach and squash but I’m not sure. Both were overloaded with butter and spices. Service was outstanding. All in all, we had a good dinner, but not much actual food and it was more expensive than we had been planning.

This is the worst wait service I’ve experienced in a very long time.
We were staying as guests in the hotel and decided to eat here for dinner. The restaurant was ¾ EMPTY, we walked in a asked if they could accommodate us (10 guests) they said sure, no problem. We waited 15 mins for a table which makes no sense at all since it was empty, but I digress.
We were seated and our water glasses filled. They brought out one basket of 4 rolls… For a table of 10… And then we didn’t see anyone… Until someone came to the table and asked one gentlemen to remove his dress hat (not a beanie or a baseball cap, a dress hat and while wearing a dress shirt and sport coat). Then he walked away and we didn’t see them again. Eventually, one gentlemen from our party went a fetched some waiters. The manager came over and said that the service was bad because we didn’t have a reservation (even though they seated us quite happily) …
They finally took our drink and food orders.
The food really was quite good, and so it should be for the price.
And then our bill comes as one check. I ask our waiter nicely if he can split it and he said «no because that will mess up the tip»… I then ask him if I put the guest detail next to each item if he could split it onto the cards. He said, ‘yes that’s fine, no problem’. So I spend 5 minutes adding everything up and making it neat and organized for him. He came back to the table, looked at our cards and receipt and he rolled his eyes and huffed and puffed so one person at our table offered him an extra $ 20 bill ON TOP of the $ 61 built in tip. He storms off and returns 5 minutes later and says «I won’t do this, I don’t want to. I can’t.» …
May I note, as we left we noticed multiple other people in the restaurant with hats on. One girl in pajamas. We were never once smiled at or welcomed. The staff barely even speaks English, we actually couldn’t understand them multiple times as they were announcing dishes. Which again for $ 25-​$ 30 a plate, I find all of this to be unacceptable…

I came in on a Tuesday night before an NJPAC event. I was spending the night at the hotel, so it was nice to just wander downstairs.
The restaurant was pretty empty, but I came in at 5:30 to eat my late lunch /​early dinner. Throughout my meal, it did fill up a bit.
It’s pretty on the inside — long rows of white linen tables, nice low lighting… I was immediately welcomed and directed to my individual booth seat in the back.
I do agree with the comments that the staff wasn’t particularly chatty, but i personally prefer this, especially when I’m dining alone. I like to just space out.
I can’t speak to the speed of the bar as I only drank sparkling water. Warm bread and breadstick crackers came out to me immediately, but there was a bit of a wait for my main dish. I ordered the blackened salmon, and due to my brand new stomach situation not allowing me to eat anything undercooked, I asked for it well done. That may also account for the extra time it took for my meal to cook!
My fish was perfect. I noticed that a lot of people will burn food that I ask well done. It was nice that they cooked it the proper way. The potatoes and asparagus on the side were also delicious.
The only thing that drove me a little crazy — and this doesn’t affect my rating — is the speaker balance. Maybe the surround sound is balanced as a whole, so if you sit in the dead center of the room, it sounds AWESOME! But the speaker I was under had muffled vocals, and enhanced things like cowbell or bass. My OCD was off the charts!

Came to Maize on a Tuesday night after being turned away from Dino bbq. It was quiet and only a couple people sat at the bar when we came in.
We were quickly greeted and sat at the bar because the other part was already closed for the evening! The bartender/​waiter quickly placed water and bar food menus in front of us. He asked if it was our first time there and made suggestions on what to order. We took his advice and ordered what he advised. My PIC had the Avocado Chicken Sandwich with a side of fries, I ordered the buffalo wings with a side of celery and a salad.
We didn’t wait long for our food to arrive and were surprised by the large portions we received. His sandwich was huge and very filling his only complaint was that it was a bit bready but tasted very good. My wings were great they had just enough spice to them not overwhelming and I was given quite a few of them. I don’t eat veggies so the PIC took care of them and I ate his French Fries which were awesome (I used ranch dressing as a dipping sauce.
For a good late night meal our total came to 26.36 which is pretty good for the quality and portions of the food!
We will return to Maize to try out their dinner menu and hopefully we will have the same great experience

Came here for lunch at noon with friends on a Thursday. The restaurant was fairly empty except for another table. The ambiance is quite nice. I ordered the seafood linguini and was pleasantly surprised when it came with plenty of shrimp and giant scallops. I understand that it’s an upscale restaurant, but it would be nice if they offered less expensive options for lunch since the linguini was 17 or 18 bucks.