Escape

Came with a group of 5 for brunch and we ordered quite a few items from the menu including the cheese platter and biscuits with gravy as well as main items like the steak and eggs and fried chicken. We also ordered dessert and everything was amazing! Great flavor and reasonably priced. BYOB was a plus. Very surprising that more people were not there. We enjoyed our meal and would return.

I have no idea why this place was not crowded. We were the only party on a Sunday? Really??? Everything was delicious and best part it was BYOB. I had the eggs and hash. Perfectly done. Would definitely come back.

The food was very good and the price fix deal made it reasonable. The shrimp and grits app is a must and duck was fantastic. The portions aren’t big but when the food is that good it doesn’t matter and I left feeling full. Will be back.

I came here to kill time while waiting for my nail appointment.
I ordered the biscuits with gravy as an appetizer and had my lunch custom made which was cool — buffalo chicken sandwich with fries and pickle on the side.
The food was really good especially the chicken. The biscuits taste homemade and I normally don’t like gravy but it paired well with the biscuits. The chicken was moist and seasoned and marinated just right. I really enjoyed the chicken sandwich and will likely be returning.
The place was pretty much empty and the waiter was very attentive and friendly.
I knocked off one star simply because from the outside the place looks dark and so I was initially skeptical about going in. I asked whether they were open and another guest came in and asked the same thing!
So my only critique is to brighten the place up to make it more welcoming from the outside.

My fiancée and I went last night just bc they had a promotion on open table and I am so glad we went! The food is outstanding. From the bread all the way through the entrees, I was highly satisfied. I had the fried chicken and she had the scallops. The honey on the chicken was a delicious addition and her scallops melted in your mouth. Get to this place today!!!

I had made a reservation for this restaurant about a week in advance to celebrate my husband’s recovery from a complicated surgery. It was advertised on Opentable as a great place for foodies. We drove up there (25 minutes ride from Secaucus). We were asked to wait and after I checked again we were told that there are no table available for a while. We looked around and about 10 closest tables by us had no food on their tables. My daughter was starving so we ended up leaving. I called this place about 30 minutes prior to coming to confirm our reservation and they did not bother telling us that we will not be seated at all. Anyway, I will never step my foot into this horrible place with horrible customer service.

Another stellar dinner by Chef Gregg and his staff. The care and technique that go into every ingredient is well executed and properly paired to provide balance without over doing it. If you want to eat well, do it here!!!

I went on a Monday and no one was there and I don’t understand why! The food was amazing. One of the best meals I have had in a long time.
They offer a $ 35 fixed price which includes a small plate, an entrée and a dessert. Such a great deal for the quality of the food.
I ordered the pork belly and cucumber salad, the fried chicken (which had the best gravy ever) and the sweet potato buttermilk pie. All of it was awesome. Awesome I tell you!
My girlfriend also got the pork belly, but had the roast pork loin and carrot cake instead. The pork loin was so tender and came with butternut squash purée which really made the meal. The carrot cake was spiced and not your standard. We obviously shared everything.
Our server was a super nice guy, really friendly and took great care of us. Service was totally on point.
I was not expecting to love this place so much! Please just go now and eat everything.

Came in for Sunday brunch and I was ecstatic to try this new place. I love farm to table restaurants and Escape has some amazing reviews. Place was empty when we arrived but quickly filled up well.
The décor is simple with blue curtains and what I imagine to be noise dampening blue pads, some of which were a bit crooked.
First glance of the menu filled me with excitement: $ 19 prix fix menu for starter and entrée! I was eager to order the pork belly with grits then the famous EM burger. My friends tried the beets, goat cheese, pecans; along with the crab and grits, and duck slaw entrée. Since they didn’t provide table bread and I was ravenous, we ordered the cornbread madeleines. A nice ice bucket was provided for the byob.
Madeleines were awesome! Pork belly and grits were delish but portion was small. Beets, cheese, and pecans were ok; they were just that-​a mix of the ingredients on a plate. EM burger was disappointing, bread was too thick and hard, fries were oily and soft. Duck with slaw looked like something from a Chinese fast food restaurant. Crab and grits were fine.
To make sure that I didn’t got home hungry, we ordered desserts– chocolate chess pie with Peanut butter cream which was good but again small portions. No cappuccinos here, they only serve regular or decaf coffee.
Not sure if I will return.

We have brunch on Sat. The waiter messed up one appetizer. We were just part of four. The food was very good. We had butternut squash soup, foie gras and cheese plate (the messed up one) for appetizer. As for entrée, they sold out EM Burger. I don’t recall what I ordered. Not so special, just normal. Maybe because that’s brunch menu.
Their dessert was amazing. Definitely try any.
However, the waiter seemed not so honest. He didn’t ask if we want to choose prix fixe, which we assumed we order fixed price appetizer+entrée. Later, he came out that they gave us bigger portion, which I don’t agree.
Overall is good, but might not go back again. They don’t seem to be honest.

Writing this review is bittersweet for me. This place has so much potential and you can tell the kitchen has some great skills, and with some adjustments, I think Escape can be a really good restaurant.
First off, the décor. We came at night and the lighting was very off putting. Very dentist chair/​fluorescent type of mood. Invest in some soft white bulbs! Also, the photos on the wall are lovely, but that’s taken away when the frames are crooked and the photos are a wrinkled mess.
Other reviews have mentioned the service as being an issue for some and we also encountered a bit of that. I asked if the foie gras appetizer was a cold preparation like a terrine or a hot one that’s seared. The waiter just said «I don’t know what you mean». So I just asked how the foie gras dish is prepared. He said «it’s basically a seared piece of meat with some fruit or vegetables I think». Hmmm. Think the wait staff needs a bit more training.
Ok. Now to the important part, the food:
Corn bread and biscuits were great. So was the butter. Though it was off putting when we noticed that the whole bottom of the bread pan was rusted.:-/
I got the crudo. It was fabulous. Well seasoned and fresh. A plain baby radish, though cute, seemed unnecessary (especially since there was some dirt on it).
My friend got the chowder. It was good. Though the bitter and almost uneditable garnish on top wasn’t (baby oregano?). It’s a pet peeve of mine when chefs throw raw herbs on top of a dish just to make it look pretty.
One of our mains was the burger. It was fine. Well seasoned. Cooked well. Didn’t get much foie flavor.
Our other main was the seafood stew. And for as far as we could tell, it was the basically same dish as the chowder except grits instead of potatoes and lobster, fish, and some truffle slices were added. Same stock flavor, same bitter uneditable garnish. It was good, but just extremely similar to my friends appetizer.
I hate writing reviews like this, but I felt I had to cause I could see the potential at Escape. The kitchen can cook and the concept of the restaurant is great! Just clean up some stuff and I’d be happy to come back.

First impressions are everything, Escape’s first impression was as they say. no bueno. I hate writing negative reviews, I really do, but my experience was not even close to okay.
I met my two best friends here for dinner for our yearly Holiday dinner.
Small place, unassuming. 7pm reservation on a Friday evening.
Host/​Manager was delightful and welcoming — the one of the only two high points of the evening.
Waiter was right off the bat anxious, rushing us, and he gave off frenetic energy which in turn made us all anxious, felt rushed, and very uncomfortable. He never once made eye contact with me and he did not know the menu. (later to find out he was on the newer side)
Small menu, BYOB, they provided an ice bucket for our chosen poison for the evening.
Two orders of chicken and waffles for the friends, and one EM burger for moi. (gimme that foie gras!) I inquired if the burger came with fries, as not denoted on the menu. The server informed that everything was a la carte, so I ordered a side of frites.
I informed my server of my lactose sensitivity. I was not having a good day with dairy so opted to be on the more careful side with dinner even with medication that helps. (its great being a human sometimes! Sometimes my body will accept dairy, sometimes it won’t…thanks body!) No cheese on the burger for me please.
First high point of the night — the delicious corn bread madeleines and biscuits. The Madeleine was great, I didn’t eat the biscuit since I chanced things with the madeleine.
Our mains came quickly, and we were kind of shocked.
First, the burger DOES come with fries. Because on my plate were fries, and then we were served a side of fries. We were fine if they took the fries away but the food runner said he’d have them taken off the bill. (those side of fries are close to costing a Hamilton)
You know the size of the refrigerated biscuits you pop open the tube, that was the size of the bun of my burger. I also discovered the bun to be drenched in some sort of grease… I’d assume from the foie gras or burger so I took a bite. The burger while seasoned nicely, was ruined by the bun. It was so dry, even drenched in whatever grease may be it, and rather tasteless. So I ditched the bun off to the side and forked and knived the burger. The slice of foie gras was so thin… but the burger itself was very nice. And those fries, nothing to write home about. Limp and not crispy, sadly.
My friends weren’t too happy with their chicken and waffles either. The waffle was the diameter of a coffee filter and very thin. My friends had some issues with cutting the chicken and even picking up to eat. For some reason the chicken seemed awkwardly fabricated. (cutting a chicken into parts is called fabricating, I’m not fabricating this! ha!) I honestly think it felt weird because the waiter was incessantly checking on us which kept making us feel rushed.
So my friends gave up on their chicken, I at least got the burger patty down and we were still hungry so we opted for dessert. Maybe that would be better!
I asked my server if the chocolate, pretzel dessert had ice cream or cream and he said no. (again, lactose sensitive) I was under the impression it was a cake as the description left a lot to be imagined. I said okay great, just make sure it’s not decorated, no whip cream, no ice cream etc. Friend went with carrot cake. Other friend didn’t want to risk something else bad so she opted for just our conversation. :)
Dessert came, carrot cake was a good size serving, maybe dessert is the way to go in this place.
Chocolate pretzel thing, turned out to be a chocolate ganache on top of pretzels. And guess what… it was served to me decorated with whipped cream. Ganache is made with cream, so I opted to take the dessert to go — sans whipped cream — my bf would eat it.
Then the bill came… and those damn side of fries were still on the bill. I was SO close to screaming… and so were my even tempered friends. Restraint and calmness, I got the attention of the food runner and showed him the fries were still on the bill. He did immediately apologize and took the bill from me. A few moments later, the very professional and calm manager/​host came over and sincerely apologized about the fries mix up, the server was on the newer side and still learning the menu. I took this opportunity to let him know about the server basically ignoring my lactose sensitivity. I wasn’t looking to have the dessert taken off the bill, as I knew my bf would like it — I was more concerned about an allergy/​sensitivity not being taken seriously. While my sensitivity is not severe, if someone had a major allergy (shellfish) they could be in serious trouble. He sincerely apologized again, and I accepted that and he hoped we’d return and give them another chance.
Sadly, as I said in the beginning — first impressions — this was not a good one, and we will not be returning.

Loved it.
What a nice surprise in Montclair on a weeknight.
Food was fresh and seasonal, and the dishes were beautifully plated.
The fish was the star of the show, as were the hushpuppies w/​trout roe and smoked cream.
Loved the exposed brick walls and attentive kind service.
Why has it taken so long for me to get here?
Great BYOB on Bloomfield Ave… can’t wait to go back.

New American cuisine with a somewhat heavy influence in southern cooking. This is farm to table and you can taste the freshness in the food. We came here with a party of six on a Sunday. All diners raved about the food, including the older folks. I had the duck which had just the right amount of melt in your mouth fat. We ordered a side of Mac and Cheese. Very good and rich, definitely share it. We had the cheese plate for the appetizer. All local, very good.
This is a byob, the seem to specialize in prix-​fixe dinners. So if that is your thing, give them a call and see what they’re doing that month.

I brought a party of 6 here. We came at 7PM and there was just a single couple occupying a corner table. By 8PM the place was packed and jumping.
I’m just now noticing all of the reviewers commenting upon the cluelessness of the wait staff. Several members of my dinner party said the same. At the time, I found their criticism annoying. I intended to focus upon the food and not the eccentricities or even the perceived state of disorientation that the waiters and servers appeared to be in. I was not at all annoyed when they mixed up plates and delivered medium rare to someone who ordered well done and vice versa.
The waiter came over several times, but we were all just staring at the menu… desperately trying to find something enticing to order. After 20 minutes I began to question my decision to bring us here. The waiter advised us that the EM burger was voted top 5 in NJ by NJ Monthly. I went with it. Ultimately, it was similar to but not as good nor anywhere the size of the burger you can get up the street at Stuffed. It had the identical bacon jam, but the bun was annoyingly soaked in butter. I love butter, but this was horrible and so rich it was inedible.
Unlike others, I was less than impressed with the buttermilk biscuits. I tried the cheese plate and a few other appetizers. I also sampled the hangar steak. The portions are indeed quite small for the extreme mark up. I take comfort in the farm to table aspect, but that’s practically a given these days for a good restaurant. Overall I was disappointed. Dessert was well presented and a decent palate cleanse, but like the rest, it was overpriced.

Escape was a waste of time and money.
This was my second time here. The first time was after the restaurant first opened and I had the prix fixe menu, which is only available until 6:30, and I recall the food being fresh and enjoyable. This is why I chose Escape again last night. Our reservation was at 7:30 and when making the reservation they said to call if we were going to be late. I don’t know why because there was one table of 2, a party of 10 in the back, and us. No one else came in the restaurant after us, so the reservation promptness requirement was bizarre.
We sat down and had to wait at least 10 minutes for the menus and the bottle to be opened, then it was another 10 minutes for the biscuits, cornbread madeleines, and pickle stems to arrive. Literally 2 small pickles and the majority of the dish filled with pickle stems; I can’t complain because on paper it’s free, but don’t insult my intelligence. The madeleines were too sweet for me and the free biscuits were the best part of the meal.
The bottom line and my opinion is Chef thinks his techniques justify the huge mark-​up of his lesser quality ingredients. Just because the mussels are smoked (and too smoked at that) doesn’t justify charging $ 14 for an appetizer dish. Certainly not one that is made up of 3 different color PEI mussels (they should be a milky color and not orange or grey). I wish as much care was taken with the mussel selection as was taken with dicing and arranging the tomatoes or placing the fennel fronds on each. Further, charging $ 17 for 3 appetizer «crab» cakes is crazy. Don’t advertise something as a crab cake and forget the crab. They were corn cakes!
The entrees were no better. I should have known not to order a scallop entrée when the only special that night was a scallop appetizer. I wanted the scallops medium rare, which they were, but were not seared well. Heat your pan well for a scallop this temp! Also, these were not entrée size scallops. I expect a larger sized scallop for my entrée when you’re marking up the product at least 60%. I don’t want six appetizer sized scallops as an entrée, give me 3 or 4 larger scallops and I’m happy. My friend did not like her steak and barely ate any of it. Adding too much cheese to your grits, and serving with greens and corn jam does not justify charging $ 32 for a sirloin steak.
We politely complained about the appetizers, but were more vocal about the entrees. The server shared that the meals were prepared by the sous chef because the chef was at a party. Remarkably, the server was able to reach the chef at the party, who offered us free dessert and coffee. Of course, we declined. I don’t want anything for free, I just want value for my money and I don’t want to waste my time.

Very good menu.
Excellent food, our meal was perfectly prepared, great service.
I will be back here very soon !

Started with madeleines, mini biscuits and butter, sweet pickles. The butter and madeleines were especially fantastic, the butter very sweet. Then on to the cheese platter for 2, which is more than enough for 2. Pecorino was quite strong and gamey, not in a bad way, but I’d have preferred a little more of the other cheeses. Can’t recall the others, I think a couple aged cheddars and one other. The fruit jam and breads all excellent. Water served in mason jars.
Wife had the Em burger which was outstanding. I had the lamb, I believe tenderloin, which was very good, though the veggies were the star of the dish.
Really outstanding farm to table restaurant. Staff was friendly and pretty attentive. They seemed to know the menu well enough.
We will definitely be back.

When I hear southern menu I automatically think «sloppy» barbecue food. Escape is far from that. The menu is a southern influence with a gourmet flair.
I ordered the fried oysters with bacon and balsamic as an appetizer. At first the dish was a bit too salty but then balanced out. The bread bowl was also excellent. The biscuits reminded me a bit of christmas sugar cookies.
For my entrée I ordered the pork chop which melted in your mouth. The butternut squash mash was another highlight. It was creamy and smooth. My girlfriend ordered the burger which was cooked to order. It came with caramelized onions which gave a nice sweet and tang.
The service was very pleasant. They explained things on the menu.
Solid 4 stars would recommend to friends.

Montclair can lend itself to a Manhattan-​ish vibe, from upscale Italian, to endless cafes and bars… and this New American eatery.
I went out to dinner with my family in celebration of my mom’s birthday. I usually roll my eyes when a restaurant prides itself on ‘farm-​to-​table cuisine’, since there’s usually a fine line between a meal that’s well executed and one that wallows in pretension. But, damn if Escape didn’t deliver one fantastic meal.
This is not a big restaurant, seating only about half a dozen tables. The décor is sparse, though chalkboards on the wall proudly list the local farms supplying the goods. As expected, portions were on the small side but more than made up for it in quality. The six of us each began with an appetizer, with offerings such as crab & farro, an arugala salad, and uni over apple. I went with the uni, which was present as a sliver of sea urchin roe atop a smaller pieces of apple. A tiny taste, but it packed an incredible amount of flavour with the intense brine of the roe tempered perfectly by the crisp sweetness of apple.
The portions were only slightly larger for the entrees, but the quality remained outstanding. I went with a braised rabbit over grits, with others leaning towards steak or duck. The rabbit meltingly tender and well seasoned, with the creamy grits providing a nice balance of texture. The portion size left us room for dessert, including a dense carrot cake wedge and an impossibly rich chocolate semifreddo.
Where Escape falls short is where most its counterparts in Manhattan often do: a lack of ambiance and sky-​high prices can bring down what could otherwise be a flawless meal.