Five Guys Burgers and Fries

 (908) 756-7770
5020 Hadley Center Dr
South Plainfield, NJ 07080


Like so many others, I've heard wonderful things about Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and so wanted to give them a try.  Alas, a look at their menu shows they really only serve what the name says--burgers and fries.  With a husband who doesn't like the taste of beef, I knew I wouldn't be bringing him here.

So, he's working late and I took a different kind of date to Five Guys; two little boys under the age of four.  My three year old and I split a cheeseburger; Five Guys has two sizes of burger:  "Burger" and "Little Burger."  The difference is that the Burger has two roughly 3oz patties while the Little Burger has one.  I chose a Cheeseburger for the two of us to share.  It was just the right size for the two of us, especially considering how badly the little guy wanted to dig into that cup of fries.  I'll turn to the fries in a minute.

I really like restaurants like this; ones that allow you unlimited toppings.  I went pretty typical:  mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, relish, and I requested sauteed mushrooms on the side (though Little Man went for those too).

This burger is deserving of the hype.  It was really really tasty, not at all fatty or tough, and very messy.  And the price of around $6.50 certainly beats any of the chain restaurants, which would also charge you extra for additional toppings.

The fries were really delicious too.  I do wish they had a smaller size than their small because we threw away about half the container.  Definitely enough fries, though, for my fry loving self and my little buddy.  I chose to dip mine into bbq sauce, which was a great choice, but they also have malt vinegar around because these fries are the kind I just know malt vinegar would be great on as well.

For some reason, I thought they also had shakes here, and sort of jazzed myself up for a strawberry shake.  I guess I was thinking it was Cheeburger Cheeburger or something.  At any rate, I really  like Five Guys, and hope to twist hubby's arm into starting to like beef.

Joe's Crab Shack

4901 Stelton Road - Hadley Center
South Plainfield, NJ 07080

I don't think I have ever before complained to a manager about the service at a restaurant.

My expectations for the new Joe's Crab Shack were high--we LOVED the Joe's in Lawrenceville, and I've been trying to persuade my husband to make the 45 minute drive... pretty much since we moved from 25 minutes away to 45.

This location has been jamming fairly constantly since it opened a few weeks ago. As a result, I called before we left the house to see if there was a wait, and if there was, to put our name on the list. I was told there was no wait.... sweet! Away we went. Ten minutes later, we arrived to a fairly full parking lot and people standing outside. Any number of variables for those two, so in we went. We were told there was a 20-30 minute wait. Um, ok... not sure how, in ten minutes, they went from no wait to 20-30, but ok.

I sat and waited for our table (this location has more waiting area seating than the Lawrenceville one, which is a big plus) while the boys went to check out the playground area in the back. My husband texted me that there were tons of empty tables...weird, but ok.

Thirty five minutes later and we were seated. Hooray! (We ended up being seated at one of the empty tables my husband had seen 10 minutes before)

We waited a good give minutes before anyone said, "I'll be right with you," and then another good five minutes before she came again to take our drink order (we also placed our food order at that time). It probably took 10 minutes from there to get our drinks, none of which came from the bar. She came back to tell us they did not have milk as she said they did, and that the kid's meal comes with a side... about 10 minutes after taking our order. To her credit, somewhere in there, she had to do a dance.

Luckily for us, our two year old was in great spirits, was enthralled by the dancing, and was entertained by a shark that came with one of our fellow diners' drink.

When our food arrived, it looked really good. We had no silverware, and waited for it for several minutes. Ahh, the food was outstanding! The Boy DEVOURED his mac and cheese--clearly, someone was hungry.

As my husband finished his bucket of crabs, I asked for the check. Again, a really long wait.

Every step of the service took an extraordinarily long time. We finally left the restaurant 2 hours after arriving. I'm not saying I expect the food to be McDonald's fast, but am hour and a half of sitting at a table, for two fast eaters and a hungry little boy, is pretty long. There's no doubt about it--the food at Joe's Crab Shack is very good. It's not, however, so good to be worth the poor service as they're working out the new restaurant kinks.

So, our trip to Joe's was disappointing, although perhaps it was just a one off...maybe they were understaffed (although it appeared that they had bus people as well as runners, so the servers' responsibilities seemed to be drinks, orders, bills, and performing the dances) or it was just a bad night. But, we probably won't be going back to Joe's until it's clear the lines have died down a LOT.

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.