The Thirsty Turtle

Florham Park, United States

3.3

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 973-845-6300
Website:
www.thirstyturtle.com
Address:
186 Columbia Tpke, Florham Park, NJ, 07932
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2.4 miMadison
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:30 am – 12:00 am
Closed now
Local time (Florham Park) 4:49 AM Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 12:00 am
Tuesday 11:30 am – 12:00 am
Wednesday 11:30 am – 12:00 am
Thursday 11:30 am – 12:00 am
Friday 11:30 am – 1:00 am
Saturday 11:30 am – 1:00 am
Sunday 12:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Brand new casual American menu restaurant with full-​service bar in Florham Park. Located at the Regency Plaza Mall. Currently open for dinner only Tuesday through Sunday. Expect to open for Lunch on September 11.

History

Established in 2012.

In May of 2011 James Yacenda of Florham Park Realty approached Growth Restaurants with the idea that he had a liquor license and space at his Regency Plaza Shopping Center that could be developed into a restaurant. Several months of negotiations ensued during which Mr. Yacenda agreed to sell the principals in Growth Restaurants the liquor license he owned and finance the renovations and lease the former site of Trader Joe’s to a new firm to be know as Florham Park Restaurants, LLC. Joining Beers, Welch & Finnegan in this venture were Mr. John Dourney & Mr. Jim Beers who managed the Bamboo Grille & the Famished Frog respectively. Of course the municipality of Florham Park need to approve this planned construction and Mr. Yacenda also significantly improved the exterior of the Regency Plaza and added parking places.

Meet the Business Owner

Jim B.

Business Owner

Jim Beers grew up in Morristown. He is a Penn State grad who has managed several locations for Growth Restaurants including Willie’s Taverne, The Famished Frog and now the Thirsty Turtle where he is also part-​owner. Jim lives in Bernardsville with his wife, 2 sons & a daughter. He is a Pittsburgh Stelers fan.

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Vicinity

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20 reviews of The Thirsty Turtle

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Place rating: 4
Morristown, NJ
Been frequenting this great find since they opened a few years ago.
The food…
always been great. Wide range of dishes from burgers to fancy salads. Decent portions. The menu isn’t the biggest and it does change, but never had a bad meal, and I’ve tried just about everything on the menu.
If I’m looking to fully indulge and blow the diet, I have to get the pretzel burger, SO GOOD!
The staff…
is average at best. Never had a bad experience, but never a notable one that left an impression.
The place…
is always clean and well kept. Nice bar with a varied mix crowd. Family friendly, good for lunch or dinner with little ones.
Can get very busy during the workweek lunch rush.
Not a place I’d go for a special occasion, but great to start or end the night for a drink and some good apps before going out on the town or ending the evening.
Prices…
are decent, not to crazy, but not the best deal around either. Not a deal breaker though. I still come here often.
Place rating: 3
Florham Park, NJ
They are the only place to get a drink in the center of town so that is a plus …
Food better than average but overpriced. Menu a bit limited. Drinks good but overpriced. Lots of taps.
Service is hit or miss. Received anywhere from awesome service when busy and «couldn’t care less «service when it was slow. I guess it’s the luck of the draw with your server and if the eyes of a manager are watching the floor.
If you need to stay in town, it’s a fair choice. If you can go 10 – 15 minutes away, go elsewhere.
Place rating: 1
Mount Olive Township, NJ
Poor service, I had to actually get up and ask for service after waiting almost 20 minutes. To makes matters worse the silverware was filthy and the food wasn’t very good. I will never go there again.
Place rating: 3
Springfield Township, NJ
Very average-​if you want a quick bite and feel like grabbing traditional American fare then it’s fine. Decent burgers, salads and sandwiches.
Sat at the bar a number of times and they don’t seem to have too many drink specials and they can be pricy.
Place rating: 3
Livingston, NJ
This is a solid place for good food and drink with spacious seating and nice large bar area. The menu is diverse with lots of apps, like wings, spinach dip, buffalo wings and delicious French onion soup; burgers, pasta, salads and full entrees. I’m a fan of the turkey burger, served on a thin sliced wheat sandwich roll. They have a good assortment of kids meals, including pizza, mac and cheese, chicken fingers, among others, which is great for those little picky eaters. The meals also come with yogurt, grapes and a drink for a mere $ 6. Can’t beat that. The service is always really attentive and friendly and there’s been few times that we have had to wait for a table. I like that the bar area, which is huge, is kind of separate from the dining area, but there are still tables and bar tops. The bar is also a good place to catch the games. Prices are very reasonable, for drinks and food. It’s a welcomed joint to the suburbs.
Place rating: 1
North Plainfield, NJ
This place sucks, pretty much anything that would be an inconvenience for them that ANY other bar or restaurant would do, they don’t do.
Place rating: 4
Woodbridge, NJ
The food has gotten better over the years and the prices higher.
I seem to have become more of a fan as the quality improves.
The BURGER is a great example of the improvements. While the bun (a Brioche) is tasty, it is dry, and hard and appears to be pre-​toasted; sitting around for a while and somewhat burnt.
It also cracks and breaks apart making it difficult to hold the burger in place while your thumbs dig beyond the bun and into the meat itself.
And to top it off, It’s now $ 11.
So, where’s the improvement? The meat and how it’s cooked. (Now that’s an explanation)
The VEGI BURGER is also a winner; one of the better ones.
COLE SLAW a complex winner.
SLICED FLANK STEAK is very tasty and tender but the quantity makes it like an appetizer.
A good rendition of FRENCH ONION SOUP also.
A nice and unusual alternative for appetizers is the POTATO CHIP NACHOS but the potato chips need salt. Speaking of potatoes, the FRENCH FRIES are frozen; not fresh. Makes them somewhat tasteless.
Other items also pretty good including the TACOS and desserts like the BREAD PUDDING.
Beer and other drinks seem fairly priced.
One other negative is that even though the bar and restaurant are separated, the restaurant, because of lack of acoustics, is very noisy on its own when busy.
Place rating: 2
Rockaway, NJ
Been here twice. The food is average and service below average. The waiter couldn’t be bothered explaining the dish to us. He didn’t check to see how the food is and to get the check I needed to flag him down from BSing with his buddies behind the hostess station.
I wouldn’t rush back.
Place rating: 4
King of Prussia, PA
Stopped by on a whim on a Saturday night. Sat at the bar watching the game. For a Saturday night they don’t seem to attract a large boisterous crowd and there were plenty of seats. Had a beer and a burger for $ 17.60 (including tax) which wasn’t bad and the burger and fries were enough to fill me up.
Plenty of parking and the place is good sized so you probably won’t have to wait long to be seated.
Place rating: 3
Hoboken, NJ
It’s a decent local place to grab a drink with friends. The grilled jerk wings are good but I find everything there to be super overpriced especially the drinks.
Place rating: 5
Florham Park, NJ
Excellent food overall. Great wings, flatbreads, ONION RINGS/​FRIES, calamari, Irish nachos, BURGERS, bruschetta chicken (ask for mozzarella on top!), Cajun chicken sandwich, blackened chicken salad, and much much more.
Order from the list above (or really anything else) and you won’t be disappointed. The burgers are some of the best in the area and the fries are HOT every single time you order them. I’ve been here well over a dozen times and I’ve never gotten cold fries – or even warm ones for that matter.
Their sauces: Cajun mayo, BBQ, blue cheese (which I typically find repulsive), salad dressing (something with cilantro lime?) are all exceptional. They’re all made in house, nothing is pre packaged.
No reservations, entire party needs to be there to be seated. On a busy night expect to wait but it’s worth it. Bar high tops are first come first serve. We learned that the hard way.
Place rating: 5
Jersey City, NJ
What makes The Thirsty Turtle great is that it never disappoints. I go here with friends who live in the area for the occasional meet up. It’s a good location to meet because there is ample parking as it’s located in a shopping plaza.
When you enter The Thirsty Turtle, the bar area is to your left and the sit-​down, dining area is to your right. We’ll often go to the left for drinks and appetizers, but you could very well order entrees at the bar, as well. This bar restaurant has a good amount of seating. I’ve seen many of the other Unilocal reviewers say that the place gets crowded during happy hour during the work week. I usually come here on a Friday/​Saturday night or Sunday afternoon to meet up with friends and fortunately haven’t ever had to wait for a seat at the bar or at one of the high top tables. *knock on wood*
The service at the bar is excellent. The staff are friendly and attentive, and always do a good pour. There’s a great selection of drinks available. The beers on tap are good and never stale (they have good rotating selection along with their regulars on tap). I like the food here, too. The guacamole with chips and the Margarita Flat Bread are my personal favorite appetizers.
Overall, it’s a really nice place to meet up with friends. I recommend The Thirsty Turtle if you are in the area.
Place rating: 4
Roselle, NJ
One of our favorite lunch and after work spots. The food is a step up from bar food and I’ve never had a watered down drink.
Because the place is popular, the wait for a table can be long at times but I’ve never been annoyed at the wait. The bar area is spacious enough yo stand and enjoy a beer.
Some favorite are the wings (jerk and buffalo); irish nachos; burger on pretzel bun; flatbread pizza and crème brûlée!
Place rating: 4
Livingston, NJ
I got say I had low expectations going in. But it exceeded expectations, inside was clean and updated, menu had lots of options bar food but also healthier options. Kids meals come with yogurt, fruit.
Turkey burger was juicy and came on a whole wheat thin. Waitress and all staff were nice and friendly.
Place rating: 3
New Windsor, NY
Not bad — I liked The Thirsty Turtle and would go back when I’m in the area. It’s at the back of a strip mall, so you think, «hmm, not sure about this». But when you go inside, it’s quite nicely done. It was quite busy for a Thursday night.
Nice big bar area, great beer selection. We focused on all of the bar food/​appetizers, and they were not bad. Sliders were a bit unexciting and dry. Wings were wings — nothing special. The calamari wanted to be new and different but it was not everyone’s favorite. The good items were the onion ring tower, Irish nachos, and the filet spring rolls. I felt a little like the kitchen was hurried, and tended to use stuff that had been re-​heated or had been sitting under a lamp.
Service was friendly, but uninterested. I think with a few improvements this place could be great.
Place rating: 3
Morris County, NJ
The place is pretty nice and always crowded at the bar. (Probably because it’s the only bar in town and close to all the offices.) a pretty big happy hour crowd.
The stars I give are mainly for the fact that it’s local, bar area and nice inside.
The bartenders aren’t so friendly nor do they seem to be trained on set ups and condiments to be set up for when you order food at the bar. (Ketchup /​salt pepper etc).
My margarita was all sour mix. Didn’t seem to be any tequila in it.
My husband and I both had burgers. He had a Turkey burger. The coleslaw was terrible. No taste to it at all. They need to add some seasoning.
My burger was supposed to be medium and came completely raw. Totally undercooked and my raw onions were very mushy.
The only thing good is the bar area for happy hour.
Place rating: 5
Verona, NJ
This place is busy. A lot of people come here after work from many different businesses in the area. They will not seat you until your entire party has arrived so make sure you are prepared to go to the bar. The drinks are pretty good. The food is interesting. I didn’t order this, but Irish nachos are pretty original.
The menu is simple. I had the French onion soup which was probably the best French onion soup I have ordered in months. French onion soup is something I order a lot so please trust me when I say that it was amazing!
My friends ordered chicken wings and a pretzel burger. I had a wing and they were very good. I didn’t try the burger but it was huge. I believe she took half of it home.
My drink was simple– jack and coke. I had two and both were made identically. Not too strong and not too weak. This wasn’t my first time here and from what I remember it’s been good every time,
Place rating: 1
Washington, DC
Went during lunch with 5 other coworkers. It was a Friday so I understand it was packed and everything. But at least take some time to cook your burgers!
I give this place business all the time and never had a problem til today. But this was unacceptable.
Asked for medium well n got a raw burger. Both my friend and I received raw burgers. Pretty dumb.
Place rating: 4
Caldwell, NJ
I’ve been to the Thirsty Turtle about 4 or 5 times, all for dinner or drinks with colleagues after work. Given its location, it draws a pretty good sized 30s — 40s professional crowd.
The bar area is really nice, given its modern décor and that it’s pretty wide, allowing for plenty of room for those not sitting on a bar stool. The drinks I’ve ordered came with an ample amount of booze and always with what I was looking for.
Food-​wise, I’d say they hit the mark pretty well if one is looking for tasty food, but at a price not too exorbitant for a work-​related gathering. For comparison, I’d say their menu is somewhat like a Fridays or Applebee’s, although of a bit higher quality. They have plenty of good sized booths, easily accompanying parties of 5 or 6. Lots of tables for larger parties.
So if you’re looking for a place in the Florham Park area to get together with friends or colleagues for happy hour or a meal together, I’d say that The Thirsty Turtle hits the mark!
Place rating: 3
Livingston, NJ
Good enough local «pub» that’s family friendly with a vibrant atmosphere. The prices are reasonable and the food is on point.
The Salmon was flavorful, cooked right and a generous portion size. The onion rings are better than you’d expect here, while the fries are just so-​so. Go figure.
I would like them to offer some a la carte sides, but they only seem willing to offer appetizers. In addition, we’d inquired about a side salad with our entrees, but were again told that wasn’t offered. Why not offer something so simple for a few bucks??? You’re already making entrée salads. Would a little lettuce tomato, cucumber and carrots with some dressing be so difficult? Surely not.
Again, while I wouldn’t recommend this to a couple looking for a night out for fine dining, it’s certainly a fine place to come with your kids to get a reasonable meal for a reasonable price.
They also have a nice bar area that would be nice for adults to get together for happy hour, guys/​girls night out, small party etc.