Warrenside Tavern

The food is always amazing which is why I keep coming back! But waiting 15 minutes just to get drinks is annoying. Waitresses were visibly getting backed up by bringing food out causing them to not be able to greet my and others table. Hire a food runner for some nights. Maybe you would have less horrible ratings about your FRIENDLY but way too busy staff!

Had the Roast Beef dinner last night. It was great. Neil and his coworkers are always thoughtful and provide wonderful service.

Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing reminds me of my grandmas spinach salad with bacon dressing. My go to meal here. Good food takes time and it’s usually worth the wait.

The soup was good, the burger and fish and chips were ehhh… I would not go out of my way to come here.

I have come here off and on for the past 5 years or so.
It is average Americana dining, the kind of place that you get canned/​frozen vegetables with your $ 25.00 entrée.
Every time I give it a try again, I walk out saying nothing special.
Even had one of the workers forget my order one time (had to leave without eating due to time constraints).

This is one of my favorite haunts. The food is good but nothing to write home about. I recommend coming here for the burgers. If you want a juicy, tasty, delicious burger then come here. The service is on par, the food is also on par, and the drinks are on par. This is no fancy 5 star joint but if you want a tasty meal with no fuss then come here.

A very basic place unless you want to go to drink only… the bar always seems to be packed, even for the almost criminally overpriced beer they serve. It’s a good selection, but not at almost $ 8 a glass. As far as the restaurant, the food is squarely average, not all that cheap, and the service, as several have mentioned, is terrible. Takes forever to get your food and your check. Just OK.

Most of these reviews make sense, their service is horrible at best. Went in with my family and ordered a bowl of minestrone and got served beef chili. Since our waitress was notoriously absent the bartender came over to help, so after I explained that I’m a vegetarian and have never been served a minestrone with chunks of meat in it all she did is say «well … well», ignore my statements, and walk away with the unwanted bowl. No apology, nothing. After 35 minutes our main courses were dropped on the table and the server never acknowledged what had happened with my soup order, nor she came back at all to check on us again. No sense of care at all. My wife’s fried chicken had no highlights whatsoever and my daughter’s pizza was slightly under-​cooked and doughy.
When the check came I noticed a $ 9 charge for 3 drinks when all we’d ordered was carbonated water from the gun. Really!!! We both have worked in hospitality in the past and are well aware of the carbonation process in the soft drinks machine. That effervescent water is just tap water into which carbon dioxide gas under pressure has been dissolved. There is no cost associated for any syrups or additives. When my wife confronted the joke-​of-​a-​server we got stuck with she just blabbed a lame explanation about the gun and how they have to pay for that equipment. In the end, her tip was lamer than her arguments and this place will never see our faces or our dollars back in the future. They really need an intensive Hospitality 101 training.

2.25
Warrenside Tavern is a place I used to visit when I was at my old job, but even though the food may decent at times, the service could be improved.
Once you enter Warrenside, you coming in to see that there are a good amount of tables and a good-​sized bar to just hangout and order drinks. They have a couple drink specials at times that are good price. As for the food, it is average at best. The best food I’ve had here is the pizza, but unfortunately it is not anything too special. The burgers are average and one time I ordered a special dish which was their Swedish Meatballs over pasta. I received a plate of paste with four very small Swedish meatballs, which in my honest opinion covered less than 20% of the plate.
Another issue is that the food would take a long time to come out at times. I have visited here many times and the service has been consistently slow. Even when it is not busy the food would take a while. This can be frustrating at times especially when I am here during my lunch break, as it would force me to take a longer lunch than I would wish for.
Other than the food and slower service, if you are just coming here to drink, this place can satisfy your need.

Food was OK, service is bad, décor is bad, beer is over priced.

The neglectful service we had totally killed this place for me; unless you like sitting for an hour plus waiting for your dinner, pass this place by. Now, if the place was packed I would be more understanding. It was not, it was a very early Sunday evening, and there were many empty tables around.
It’s a shame, because the atmosphere is lovely country/​huntsy, and the food was good.
The service ruined it all; my dinner sat for too long, so it arrived room temperature. Other selections looked unlovingly thrown together.
Worst was getting the check; in my younger days I might have been tempted to dine and dash, for it was real work getting someone to ring me up.
Locals next to us had similar trouble, and said the situation was pretty much the same each time; screwed up service, good food.
I don’t mind bad service if the price is right, but this place was not cheap, and there are too many other places in the area that have their act together.

Ok I’m updating my review bc I went a few weeks ago with my family and the food was decent and service was better then the time before.
Read last review for reference

Warrenside Tavern is very good. I had a wonderful burger with cheese, carmalized onions and mushroom and BACON! The steak fries were tasty and Delicious. My husband had the king cut prime rib … It was a generous cut of meat enough for leftovers. The drinks were good and the atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxed. Oh the best part was that you got bread on a cutting board (warm) with both butter and warm garlic oil… relish! I can recommend this to friends and Renee was our server and she was fantastic!!!

What a nice little find. My son and I came here while waiting for our car to be ready from the Hyundai store up the street. We were very excited but hungry so they suggested we stop here.
I’m so happy because I prefer little places instead of the chain restaurants. This place was great, we both had the burgers, they were hand made and just perfect. The food was just amazing.
Our server was nice. This place was no frills except for the food! Loved it! So glad they told us about it I think we will make it our regular stop when we are in the area! 5 stars!

Several of these reviewers sound like Zagat poseurs. In my experience, I’ve never been disappointed with the food, prices or service. You can go elsewhere if you want and are willing to pay for fancy linens on the table, but the Warrenside is for regular folks who appreciate unpretentiously good food and a friendly ambience.

The four of us went in their last night for dinner. It’s an interesting place in that it is a little dive-​ish but has a menu that is not at all for a dive restaurant. The layout of the place seems to put the bar as the focal point of the place but the booths around the edges are fine too. It wasn’t overly loud — read that as we could talk to one another and hear one another easily.
We started with the Lobster bisque. Nice touch of sherry in the flavor and the bread on the top is delicious. But watch out because the bread is hot and full of steam from the soup. Really good though. The crock is $ 1 more than the cup and I would say it is worth the difference in price. The salads were run of the mill normal salads, nothing great or bad about them. They are simple and to the point (cukes, tomatoes, onion, lettuce). We all had the prime rib in various sizes. It was good prime rib and one of us got an end cut. The twice baked potatoe seemed to be lacking something but I could put my finger on it. But then, I wasn’t all that hungry to finish it because the prime rib was so large (got the king cut). Again, I would pay extra for the larger portion. The chocolate mousse was a great. Possibly a tad heavy for some but I like it that wat.
Service — people say it was slow but when you have four adults talking I think the service was fine. We started with drinks and then the soups with hot bread and a huge bowl of olive oil/​spices, then the salads, and then dinner. It was nicely paced and we didn’t feel rushed nor were we waiting for a long period of time. Drinks usually showed up within a couple minutes of being ordered.
Oh, and if you have critters at home that would enjoy the prime rib bones, they nicely wrapped them up for us too.
Luckily my friend knew the place was there. I would have never stopped in because I never knew it was there.

The Warrenside Tavern is a classic case of «don’t judge a book by it’s cover.» Not much to look at from the outside — or the inside for that matter — the WT’s food belies it’s gruff décor.
For starters, the lobster bisque is a must. Served with a baked on cheesy bread topping, it features a smooth consistency with a few surprising chunks of lobster. Artichoke and crab dip with homemade potato chips are terrific. Chips are a bit oily, but hey, they’re chips!
The specials are hit or miss. During Octoberfest, they featured a varietal sausage, bratwurst and schnitzel combo that wasn’t particularly distinguishable. However, as the waitress noted, people generally come for their prime rib. They offer 3 cuts and I’ve tried all 3. Each time, it was fantastic. Smokey and flavorful and definitely a generous portion surely exceeding the listed weights. Fried chicken was also surprisingly good. Very fresh and slightly sweet with a blast of honey baked in.
The stars of the show are the deserts, particularly their coconut cream cake. Moist and not overly sweet, it is the winner of the desert options with their chocolate mouse cake a close second. Again, generous portions are the norm. The drink menu and wine list are broad with some interesting concoctions thrown into their martini menu. They also feature a local wine from a nearby Alpha, NJ, vineyard. As a bonus, look for live music on Friday nights.
The one element that will keep WT from a 4-​star rating is their service which is wildly inconsistent. I’ve experienced everything from flawless to frustrating service on various occasions which seems to be consistent with other reviews. Yet, I do go back for the quality of the food and the laid-​back environment.

Great lobster bisque, beyond horrible service. So slow even during slow times. Waited about an hour + for 4 bowls of soup.

Food is average at best, and service is highly questionable. Our waitress tried to keep up, but she clearly had too many tables, and it appeared the issues lied in a slow kitchen. She seemed generally embarrassed whenever coming to our table. I had wings, soup, and a salad. Everything was okay. The wings were nothing special, soup (lobster bisque) was too bland and cold, salad was cafeteria quality. My girlfriend had a chicken dish that was edible. They do have a decent beer selection. I probably would not return unless it was due to sheer boredom.

The wings seem to get better each time we have them, which is like almost every Friday night! Always great local characters at the bar to talk to.