Tavern On The Lake

Mediocre food and moderate selection of drinks, but service is very friendly and helpful. Beautiful on the river front, and with the live music adds to the ambiance and vibe.

On our way home, we stopped in this small quaint town. Can’t get over how cute the town is, reminds me of the town in Gilmore Girls. Having now described the town let’s talk about the restaurant and the food. The menu is massive of American dishes and the prices are decent. We got the teriyaki chicken appetizer and «build your burger» that starts at the price of $ 6. The appetizer was too salty and the teriyaki sauce tasted bitter which is a sign of being burnt. As for the burger the pattie was great, it was tender and fell apart nicely. Could tell that it wasn’t premade frozen patties. The bun was great as well cause it didnt soak up with the juices (making it soggy) nor did it indent with a simple touch. My only thing was there was something missing from the burger, that «umph». Having been super hungry from a day at Six Flags with no food you would think the food would have tasted extra delicious. The pattie and the grilled onions were missing seasoning, it would have helped kick the burger to the next level. Other then that the staff was very friendly and attentive. The food also came very fast after ordering.

I really, really wanted to like this place. They have a very decent beer selection, and the service (we sat at the bar) was very attentive and friendly.
However…
As soon as we walked into the place, I was hit with an almost overwhelming odor of disinfecting cleaner. I had to make a trip to the ladies’ room and was hit there by a different smell of disinfectant. So give them credit for attempting cleanliness, though the place definitely looks as if it’s seen better days.
The beer selection, as I mentioned, was good — some good NJ brews and other craft beers, as well as the more commercial labels.
The dinner menu looks like a good value — soup/​salad, entrée and a dessert (cheesecake/​rice pudding). However, the general quality left something to be desired. The red sauce with the chicken parm tasted like Chef Boy-​ar-​Dee, which, when you’re in the mood, might be fine, but not when you’re spending more than $ 2 on an entrée. It’s a bit of a disappointment, given that any diner in New Jersey can put together a decent tomato sauce. Tossing a bit of basil and garlic powder into the pot probably would have done the trick without a lot of effort.
I’ll say this — the salad was pretty decent, with some green leaf lettuce mixed among the iceberg. The dessert was about what you’d expect. Nothing to write home about, but hey, it’s dessert — how bad could it be?
Maybe they do better with classic bar food — pizza, wings, burgers, etc. I hope so. As I mentioned, the people working there seemed really nice, but there was nothing about the food (or the smell of the place) that would bring me back.

This place has the greatest beer selection in the area. When one beer is out, they have a replacement ready to go in an instant!
The staff is amazing, I have had every waiter and waitress the staff has to offer. If you want an amazing even ask for John. He is a stellar waiter and good with the conversation.
If you like wings go Monday nights and take advantage of the 3 dollar wings and 5 dollar strips. They are amazing deals, and if you not there on a Monday, go hunrgy, the plate size will blow your mind!

Service was good and our food arrived quickly. We don’t recommend the Tavern Chili… unless you like meatless chili that tastes bland. However, the buffalo chicken pizza and spicy burger were delicious! We would highly recommend either selection.

This place has a decent sized bar/​dance floor available to rent for events upstairs. Hall style where you must bring decorations, dj, etc. but it at least has a full bar. Not bad but not great either.

Fun place! 23 rotating beers on tap. Bands every Friday and Saturday night. Get a burger. Will is the coolest bartender!

Not a great place but not too bad either. Nice being on the lake and as others have said there is a nice patio when it is warm.
It’s the kind of place I will go but wouldn’t seek out myself.

A good selection of beer.
Friendly staff. Soup was ok but the other
Food was very very disappointing.
Chicken Marsala was recommended and tasted bad. My friend had chicken Parm and was also very disappointed too.
I will not be going back.

This place has no redeeming qualities. The food is abhorrent, the service is slow, the bathrooms are disgusting, and the whole place smells like a dirty mop bucket.
I’m going to focus on the food, because that is the main reason for my 1 star experience. I ordered soup and chicken marsala. What I got was microwaved dollar store minestrone, stale bread, angel hair pasta that was cooked so long that it tasted like play dough, a big unevenly and overcooked slab of chicken meat, and half a can of congealed condensed cream of mushroom soup. I gave up after eating about 20% of this garbage heap.
I would have been better off jumping into the lake and eating whatever I found at the bottom.

This place could be so much more! They have a great beer list and a nice patio during the warmer months. The inside is in need of a major renovation to the point where I avoid going here unless the patio is open. Burgers and bar food are good but the other items on the menu that my husband and I have ordered have been ok at best.

I had been going to Tavern for a few years. They had an awesome Chef (yes, Chef) there. They have since changed their menu and personnel and the food is horrible.
The facilities could use a good cleaning, along with the dining area.
It’s too bad, they could have a gold mine there.

Unfortunately, wifey and I didn’t fare as well as others during our recent trip to Tavern on the Lake. Luckily we had a throwaway meal to eat, so expectations were fairly low going in. But alas, the bad still outweighed the good, making it unlikely that we’d make a trip here again, save maybe for drinks out on the patio.
The location is actually very nice — adjacent to Memorial Park, with a pretty view of the lake. After that, things generally go downhill. For one, the service is really spotty. My wife and I were sat for at least 15 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us. This was pretty ridiculous considering I must have spied at least 5 or 6 waitresses with their «Rosie the Riveter» bandana heads mulling around nearby with big pusses on their face doing absolutely nothing. I purposely waited a few extra minutes just to see how long they would ignore us sitting there looking up with our menus closed. Finally, I got annoyed and yanked someone over to help us. After that, the service issues generally subsided.
As for the food, my wife got the Penne Vodka, which was just dreadful — with a capital «D.» The worst diner in New Jersey could make a better penne vodka than Tavern on the Lake, and that is no exaggeration. Her side Caesar salad was basic, but passable at least. I was wiser and simply ordered some buffalo chicken tenders. Made from what seemed to be a freshly sliced and breaded cutlet, these were also passable, but nothing to write home about.
We had purposely sat outside because it felt pretty grimey inside the main bar and restaurant. The place could really use a good floor to ceiling wipe down. But even sitting outside ended up being a bad choice because they sat us near the bussing station, which attracts a lot of flies and is no place you want to sit for an entire meal. (Especially when they let the dishes pile up like they do.) I would have relocated us once I realized it, but at this point, we were just trying to get through the meal as quickly as possible.
No need to beat things to death, you get the picture.
I guess this a good place for locals who just want to indulge themselves on cheap food and even cheaper drinks, the latter of which earned them a second star because I had a foot in the bag by the time we left.
Pass.

I’ve come here two wed nights for some drinks and karaōke with my date. The second time we had some food also. This is a solid bar restaurant with great reasonable bar food. Nothing spectacular, but good. We had the buffalo chicken strips which was a great appetizer, huge portion and tender white meat chicken cooked perfectly in s buffalo sauce. Then me and my date shared a bacon cheese burger which was a good burger but certainly nothing spectacular. Wed is burger night, I believe for $ 5. The karaōke is fun with mike dworkin. Some nights are much more crowded than others. Drinks are good and beers are very reasonable.

First time at this place. I had gone to it when it was theo’s. Friend n I sat outside on patio, me in the shade. Lol. really nice menu alot of choices, except on salads. Your kind of limited on that but tons of sandwiches and lunch specials. Alcohol prices were reasonable and many different choices. We ordered grilled salmon over Ceasar salad. I have to say the salmon was delicious. It had a light flavor which didn’t over power the fish n a little crunch but moist n flavorful nice compliment with the fresh romaine n light Ceasar dressing it wasn’t drowning in dressing. That was wonderful. I was actually sad when the salmon was gone it was that good. Nice portion also I couldn’t finish it. I had unsweetened iced tea since I don’t drink soda n so sick of water but the iced tea was refreshing not bitter hint of lemon I actually ordered 2 which I don’t do. Definitely worth going back really delish. Waitress was awesome. Never had empty glass made sure we had everything we needed, she was friendly n right on top of everything but not overbearing so was able to talk to company. Definitely Worth A Check out.

Service was fast. Got our drink orders fast. Food came fairly quick considering it was pretty crowded. Waiter was informative and funny! Buffalo chicken pizza was very good and kids loved the Mac and Cheese.

We enjoyed a dinner on the deck. The food was very good especially for the price. My son had a chicken and pasta dish called Chicken Josalyn that was delicious. I had a calamari salad that was very good.
The service was good. Just a nice local place to eat.

If you’re on the fence, don’t bother.
I had a Groupon for this place and didn’t enjoy anything about it.
I think what appealed to me in purchasing the Groupon was the name– «Tavern on the Lake”– «lake» being the operative word. From most of the seats in the indoor and outdoor dining areas, the lake is not visible. In fact, the lake is really only within view if you are seated in the smoking section outside. Otherwise, enjoy your view of the street and parking lot.
The service was slow. My boyfriend and I weren’t asked for our drink order until we had been sitting for 20 minutes. 10 minutes after that, we made our food order, which didn’t come out for 45 minutes after ordering. When our food did come out, we were missing an order of fries, which we asked about and our server seemed confused about, saying that she would ask the cook. 25 minutes later, we flagged her down and asked about them again, and she said she would go grab them, seemingly frustrated. We told her it was fine and that we would just have the check. After two hours of waiting around, we were bothered and disappointed in the poor quality of the food that we had ordered, not to mention the service.

The patio seems to have been ignored for a long while. The waitresses appearance leaves a lot to desire. A true disappointment!
We will NOT come back.

Maybe three stars. Monday afternoon saw two of us almost having the place to ourselves. A nice beer menu– if at least six taps didn’t run dry as we attempted to order a flight. That probably shouldn’t happen at a place that bills themselves as a beer bar.
Food was just passable. No bacon for a burger-​really??? With the excuse that it was on order, I think that the manager could have gone to one of the many stores that are within walking distance to cover that shortcoming especially since we heard others ordering the same thing and being denied.
Wings were okay but nothing else was noteworthy. A little off-​putting to see the bartender trying to control the flies with a spray bottle of water. A remodel and a good cleaning would go a long way.