Monday, March 8, 2010

Brick House Tavern + Tap

4901 Stelton Road
South Plainfield, NJ 07080
Menu here

We've been watching the old Bennigan's and Pizzeria Uno locations for a long time, wondering what was going to replace them. Since we were watching them, it became clear they were opening soon, so as I drove by today, I checked out the situation, and it was clear that they were open. This coincided perfectly with my cold causing me no desire to cook, so I called up Joe's Crab Shack and learned they were in fact open. We were unable to find a phone number for The Brick House, but figured it was no sweat to drive by. Clearly, they were open too, so that's the choice we made.

It has a really nice decor; definitely cozy vibe, caused by the central fireplace, sofas, and armchairs. Their website describes them as "Bachelor pad, meet man cave," and it definitely is true. After a trip to the men's room, BAJ said, "Now I'm saying this as a man, but there is absolutely no reason for a woman to be at this restaurant." This after seeing the pinup calendar type posters hanging the walls on the way to the restrooms (side note, I found the "one scantily clad man" in the place--in the women's room. Nice touch). But yeah, it's very much a place for men as far as decor goes. It happens, though, that I dig that kind of vibe. I'm weird.

So, it's for men. The only jobs for men here appear to be in the kitchen, as busboys, or as managers. The bartenders, the hostesses, the servers--they're all women... women in short shorts and showing their belly rings.

BUT, we got into a conversation with our server. BAJ and I like to ask questions, and it was clear that she felt like chatting--maybe that was true, but she said that's the atmosphere they are trying to set; the servers are supposed to be about hospitality, so they will sit down and chat, a group of them will come over to your table to have a conversation (and they did--we had four ladies around our table, talking to our 2 year old), and you are the guest of all of them... so you won't get that "I need a fork and I feel bad asking this waitress who just happens to be walking by my table." I wonder if it will continue to be like that a year from now, but I definitely like the sound of that.

Now, let's talk food. As I said, I'm fighting a cold tonight, so went for a bowl of chili. It was super, and I bet it would've been awesome on the chili dog on the menu that I had my eye on. BAJ had a Yard Bird chicken sandwich, which he liked a lot. So, the food is good--definitely pub fare.

Finally, let's talk kid friendly. It's not. Sort of. When we walked in, I was alone so asked for a kid's menu. They don't have one. Looking at the menu, I was really hesitant about staying, because the only thing I'd really order for The Boy was White Meat Chicken Bites, but at almost 8 bucks, I wasn't really that interested. But, we stayed and we ordered it. It is definitely worth the 8 bucks, and he LOVED having three different dipping sauces. I also grabbed his fries to complete my meal--we were unable to replace them with veggies and would have had to pay extra for them. That said, they were most definitely accommodating and tried everything to make him happy--they gave us his drink in a smaller juice glass rather than an enormous adult sized one. I gotta tell you--he loved the place. He was able to watch sports on tv, he had pretty girls fawning all over him, he got to dip his chicken (ranch, bbq, honey mustard, plus the standards of ketchup and mustard), and he got to run around.

In short, we were really happy with our trip to Brick House, and look forward to going back. I especially am looking forward to going back and having an enormous beer on their patio when warm weather comes.

Brick House Tavern and Tap on Urbanspoon

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Finnagel's

1531 State Rte 31
Clinton, NJ 08809

We were in the Clinton area around lunchtime, so turned to urbanspoon mobile. The only restaurant that came up, seemed like something that would work well for us, we could agree on, and was very close was Finnagel's, so despite the not so hot review that was already here, we decided to go for it. How bad could a place with pub food be, and if necessary, there were other places around, so if we pulled in and weren't happy with what we saw, we had alternatives.

Since it was lunchtime, we all got sandwiches--I had a buffalo chicken wrap, BAJ had some kind of chicken sandwich, and The Boy had grilled cheese. The waitress was really accommodating of our request to sub out his fries for something else, and he got a plateful of nice steamed veggies. My wrap was tasty, and BAJ said he liked his sandwich too. I was a little disappointed in how long we waited for our food, especially considering how empty they were, but nothing worth really complaining over. Otherwise, our service was very good. We ate in the dining room, which had a nice older tavern feel to it, but could also have chosen to eat in the "lounge" (aka: bar) instead. For our three sandwiches and soft drinks plus tip, our bill came to right around $30, which isn't too shabby!

BAJ also wanted me to mention that they are kid friendly--The Boy got crayons and an activity sheet, his drink came in a covered container (a big deal for anyone who has tried to give a toddler a regular styrofoam cup with a lid and regular straw), and there is a changing table (although in the women's room only). In addition, his meal was fairly inexpensive at around $4.



Finnagel's on Urbanspoon