Mack’s Bar & Grill

Nate Cooper has done it again. Omfg Mac & Cheese burger. Not your mama’s hamburger helper. Come and get some people.

Locals love it, a great drop in for lunch or a wholesome mom makes you type dinner. A good spot to catch a game on t.v. with 8 up to date lcd flat screens. And if you enjoy a cocktail or family freindly type place, kids are welcomed before 8. Bartenders are full of personality and the owners are great local people.

I have discovered a hidden secret and just have to share it! The secret is a restaurant within a bar and grill in the cute little town of Penngrove. It’s called Cooper’s at Macks bar and grill, with a one man kitchen crew, notably Chef Nate Cooper.
What may initially look like a hohum bar menu turned into intense interest on my part as I read the menu descriptions. Turns out Chef Cooper has some impressive credentials under his hat, and let me tell you, his food shows it! The menu and specials change, but I will describe my current sampling.
I went for lunch and had the slider trio, which are minis of some of the full sandwich offerings, served on Parker rolls. The fillings were generous and the trio included pulled pork where you pick your heat factor from 1 to 3. I chose 2, which was perfect for me. The pork was so tender and delicious. The next was a buffalo chicken which had a gourmet twist, really yum. The final slider was the cooper burger mini with gruyère cheese and bacon jam, I was in heaven!
I also ordered the pulled pork nachos. They are covered in cheese and drizzled with a tasty cream sauce. The chef fries the tortillas to make the chips, which were thick and hot and did not become soggy. Who friggin fries up tortillas for nachos? This extra step took the nacho experience from the ordinary to wow.
Currently locals, which I assume means if you live or work in Penngrove, receive a 20% discount on food. Nice gesture that I was not expecting.
The only reason this is not a five star, as the food was certainly deserving, is the wine list. Only about four cheap wines offered by the bar part of the bar and grill, and none would complement the food. You most likely cannot bring your own due to the liquor licensing of the bar which operates separately from the restaurant part of the business. If they offered some local fabulous wines, I would not hesitate to hit this place up for dinner. If you enjoy cocktails, their specialty cocktail board did look interesting (blueberry margarita anyone?)
I will definitely be back to try more of the lunch menu. They also serve breakfast/​brunch on weekends, and the menu for that looked pretty alluring as well.
I highly recommend you take advantage of my shared secret and discover this gem yourself.

I am surprised to read these three very negative reviews but they are rather old and perhaps things have changed for the better.
I’ve driven by this place countless times but recently stopped for lunch. Inside were about a dozen people and everyone seemed sober & well behaved. The food was tasty and locally obtained, the bartender friendly and attentive plus it had a generally good vibe and pleasant ambiance. I’ll probably stop by again but if I run into anything like the other reviewers have experienced I’ll update this appraisal.

I shun any one who gives this place a penny. My friend went in and was told to leave by the owner when one of the other customers called him a «Nigger «my friend is the nicest person ever and any business that condones Racist behavior does not deserve to be open. BAD Busness

This was the former Black Cat, but it is all new and much nicer now. There is now a beautiful classy bar, nice seating and floors and nice ambiance. They also preserved our
Historical Penngrove Architectural details.
Great sandwiches and good people!

A friend of mine, a former bartender, was in Macks last night and was sexually assaulted by a dunk husband of an employee there. She had neck surgery about a week ago and was just minding her own business playing the juke box when this Jackass grabbed her neck where she had her surgery and also her right breast so hard she was crying and when this idiot finally let her go she went outside to have a cigarette. The owner of the bar who was bartending told her to stand 20 feet away because she did not want to smoke to come into the bar. She DID NOT apologize for the drunk assaulting her or anything else. Don’t recommend this place to any single women unless you like to be sexually assaulted! I guarantee if I was there when this happened it would have been a different outcome!
I have been a bartender and still am a bartender for over 30 years, this would not have happened on my shift NO MATTER who that jackass was!

Local yokels. If high school was the high point of your life, you’ll love this place. As a matter of fact I don’t have to write a review because Bruce Springsteen already did one:
I had a friend was a big baseball player
back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you
Make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar
I was walking in, he was walking out
We went back inside sat down had a few drinks
but all he kept talking about was
Chorus:
Glory days well they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days
Well there’s a girl that lives up the block
back in school she could turn all the boy’s heads
Sometimes on a Friday I’ll stop by
and have a few drinks after she put her kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby well they split up
I guess it’s two years gone by now
We just sit around talking about the old times,
she says when she feels like crying
she starts laughing thinking about
I think you get my point about this place.