Hat City Kitchen

Went on Fat Tuesday to see a great band play — Big Mamou. Special menu, drinks were between $ 4 and $ 6 and limited menu. We made reservations for 6:00 but our table wasn’t ready till almost 6:30. There was nobody there, so not sure why that was the case. When we did finally sit down, several of us had no silverware. Drinks were served to half of us and, although we asked repeatedly where the rest of the drinks were, our friends were done with their first before we even got served. Same with the food, many of us were done eating before others got their food at all. No apologies, no explanation, no compensation. I’d go back to hang at the bar and listen to great music, but there’s no excuse for the poor service. The food, when it arrived, was fine but there are too may good restaurants in this area to have to deal with that. Eat first, then go to the bar.

horrible experience at this establishment. I met a group of friends there to watch a performance by a friend. The waitress took my order about 45 mins after we ordered everybody’s food came out but not my order. I sat and watched people eat for about a half hour. I finally saw a waitress from another section and I asked her if she could get ouR waitress. Our waitress never came back but about 20 mins after I requested our waitress a kitchen hand came out the back with with my meal that I ordered about a 1.5 hours prior. The waitress never came and apologized either for forgetting to put in the order or for the kitchen messing up and not making the order. I had the shrimp and grits, which was pretty tasty and at 21 $ it wasn’t cheap. The end of the performance comes and the ghost waitress finally comes back (we only saw her maybe twice in a 2 hour period) I tell her I’d like my tab. NOT surprisingly she comes back extremely fast with that. I look at the tab and I’ve been charged a 10.00 «valley arts pledge «ontop of my what I ordered and gratuity as well so my 27.00 meal now turns into a 45.00 meal of bad service. My table is also curious about the phantom 10.00 charge. The waitress says its a cover charge for the band. NO WHERE is that advertised in the bar not at our table or even when reservations were made. I planned on leaving her little to not tip because how terrible her service was but since gratuity was included anyway that’s probably why she never bothered to apologize for the delay in me getting my food or ever coming back to our table
in over an hour and a half. I’ll never come back here. To charge someone a cover on their bill and not tell them at the door or when they sit down or even bother to advertise it is shady and probably illegal and to have to watch people in your entourage eat and not get your food till about a 40 mins after they received theirs is too ridiculous for me to ever come back to such a business. My food was good but at the price point I paid the service was awful. I’ve heard about this spot for awhile and decided to check it out but I will not be a repeat visitor.

After seeing the menu online I really wanted to like this place but my experience was very underwhelming. We sat at the bar for dinner and the bartender wasn’t rude but I wouldn’t describe her as friendly. Now I can deal with service without a smile as long as the food backs it up but that wasn’t the case. The food wasn’t bad but everything was just okay. There was nothing that stood out or anything good enough for me to return. Unfortunately the fried chicken was burnt, the rasta pasta lacked flavor, and the steak was overcooked.

I hate to give this place only three stars but here’s why:
Hats used to be my go to spot after work, almost every week but last I visited which was in the summer 2015, I had a sangria and it was bland. The food was also a little not well prepared.
Hats City is a great hang out spot with a mix culture of people and live music. I love the vibe but the food and drinks have went down significantly.
I’ll return soon to check it out tho.

Not a bad place but the web page boasts no cover and they charged me $ 10 cover charge

The food and drinks were excellent! The service was good as well. Overall it was a great experience with the live music and food!

I love that Hat City Kitchen exists. We need clubs for live music. That part is great. But on Saturday night I went with 4 friends at about 8:30. We had made reservations and was looking forward to their Catfish Dinner, but their Chef didn’t go shopping. In addition my friends wanted Mussels, but they were out of that. They had no Salmon. I asked to speak with the Manager, but he was not there. I asked to have a word with the Chef, but no one came. I ordered a hamburger. It took a half hour to get that. I ate half and asked for a container. But they threw out my food. So they made another burger to take home. One of my friends kept looking for a waiter for another beer.
My recommendation is to call ahead and ask if they will have what you want to eat. There’s a very good seafood store about a mile away. There is no excuse to not stock what you feature on a fairly basic menu.

So I went to Hat City to get a salad… and by the looks of this salad wouldn’t you agree that 22 $ is a bit expensive!!! This is a salmon Ceasar salad (must be an expensive wild caught piece of salmon) NEVER AGAIN!

Food very good, went on a Sunday for Mother’s Day, I do wish they would have had live music that day!

Music is always good.. But for some reason. returning back to Hat City wasn’t a good experience.. They couldn’t serve me s drink bc of no clean glasses available. .then the food was horrible I’m thinking maybe they’re going out of business or just don’t give a damm

Starting off with 3 being generous for my experience tonight. Always start off with the positive and in doing such I will say that the location was in a nice neighborhood and parking was a breeze also the place offered a very cozy ambience dim lit filled with lots of folks with guitars just vibing out. Now for the bull !!! Friend and I sat a a high top table alongside the bar and the bartender never came over to us after about 15 mins (there were only 3 people sitting at the actual bar). Eventually I got up to get us some menu ok no worries. Then another 15 mins goes bye and still the guy never comes over to take our order, I get his attention (He did a magnificent job acting much more busy then he really was lol I mean Bravo). He then proceeds to ask me to Yell my order over to him. Ummm ok. Despite the look of horror on my face he seemed quit comfy doing such. Smh. We both had a glass of wine (wine was good glass looked dirty as all heck but as they say the alcohol kills germs. RIGHT ?). I ordered the shrimp and grits appetizer that Inquired if there was bacon in and he said NO. Of course half way thru it I see ham strips on bottom of the dish !!! Oh boy. I only eat seafood or Vegetarian dishes oh yeah and my friend is Muslim (yeah he had a shrimp also). Though the bartender appologized and took it off the appetizer I was soooo over the place. I heard about this place from a master Unilocaler so I was sure this was gonna be a treat. Perhaps wrong day. Maybe if someone else is treating and I’m really really thirsty i will come back for a drink or two and listen to music. Then again maybe not. Sigh. On to the next xoxo

Where to start… All the prices here on Unilocal are wrong, everything is a couple of bucks more. This place has seriously gone downhill. I didn’t even order food because the place was so dirty and the prices were insane. The bartender hand washed 2 glasses in front of me and set them on the bar to dry, I looked and they were both still filthy with lipstick and fruit residue on both, when I pointed that out and asked the guy if they were clean,
the bartender said yes but, oh I would have noticed that! The mirror behind the bar is filthy, the glasses I could see were also dust covered and disgusting.
There were about 4 other patrons in the place at 6:30 on a Saturday night and I had to wait about ten minutes just to pay for my draft beer so I could leave.
I can not recommend this place.

The food here is not great, but it’s not terrible either. Two words come to mind to describe their food: ordinary and forgettable.
WHAT WE ORDERED: Southern buttermilk fried chicken, red snapper mueniere, collard greens, Mac-​n-​cheese, crab puppies, buttermilk cornbread.
PROS: the crab cake appetizer was good. The atmosphere is nice. The waitress was friendly…
CONS: I ate the fried chicken (very dry on the inside. Outside borderline burnt it was so «crispy») My husband had the red snapper, like I said, neither was terrible, but also not worth a trip back. I can’t stress enough that everything is VERY average. Including the Mac and cheese & greens. Both taste generic. And I’m not a picky eater at all. The cornbread was dry, hard, and lacking flavor.
Would we go back? No

The restaurant sits smack in the middle of a main road way in West Orange. A community based establishment with patrons from as far as Philadelphia come to dine and enjoy great Live Music.
Yes! The have live music almost every night of the week with artists from a wide array of genres. Various nights of the week you can explore music from blues to blue grass, jazz to soul music.
The food is for the most part always delicious and reasonably priced. The only reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the service is so slow. They can be really swamped some nights and under staffed. So just get there early if you have other plans — but the food is worth some of the wait.

I’d like to call this a sassy upscale dive bar because its that and so much more! Its a wonderful neighborhood bar restaurant with live music, excellent food and a great local crowd. The drinks are always on point:) The food is creole/​southern flare which I love! I’m a ‘no wings’ kinda lady BUT the LEMON PEPPER wings are so very, very good! Fried catfish sticks are tasty too! If you’re in the area, it is a must try, especially when there’s live performance!

Nice casual spot in the Valley Arts District of Orange. excellent southern and Cajun food. Great oversized 10oz fresh ground grass-​fed beef burgers. Very reasonably priced. Plus a great happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 7. Includes 3 or 4 $ 3 craft beers plus half price appetizers. And Britney the bartender is very attentive concerned and knowledgeable. Plus they have great live music everyday except Monday, plus the kitchen is open till midnight everyday except Sunday.

Let me start of by saying the food is really good… not amazing but really good. However what makes Hat City Kitchen amazing is just about very thing else. Awesome atmosphere, extremely attentive and friendly staff, great drinks, and really great music. Unlike other reviewers, i only experienced about a 15 minute wait between courses on a Saturday night. The location is perfect too as there is typically plenty of parking and is off the beaten path. I will definitely be back soon.

Well we had last min reservatioms on valntines day. We came a bit late, but was seated right away. This place was not packed around 6:40. We got the half pitcher of white sangria. It was a waste of money because they filled most of the pitcher with ice and it was extremely small. I ordered the fried chicken with mac and cheese and fries, my partner ordered the cat fish with red beans and rice.
Let me tell you, the food took 1 hr to come out. I felt like a starving child waiting for these people. When we finally got out food, the chicken was bland and a little under cooked, the mac and cheese was ok, and the fries had wayy to much salt. My partners fish was horrible. The flavor was off and the sauce with it didnt match up.
I would not come back to this place. Bad service and ever worse food. Better off going to a chain soul food place.

Love, love, love, this place.
But OMGGGGGG, you would think that the bartender does not want you to buy anything.
It took 18 minutes to get the bartenders attention, and that’s not because they were busy.
They where taking shots, and I just wanted a beer.
But other then that, I had a great Sunday night here.

Food — 0
Cleanliness — 0
Price — Ridiculous
Ambiance — 7
Service — 6
I’ve been to Hat City on two separate occasions. The first time the service was great, drinks were okay but the food was horrible. Almost a year goes by and against my better judgment (aka I saw that they had $ 3 bloody mary for brunch) I decided to give them a second chance. BIG MISTAKE!
My best friend and I scheduled a Sunday brunch date to begin celebrating her bday. After a series of back and forth (mostly due to me hating the food the last time) we ended up at Hat City. Our waitress was super nice. She presented us with a brunch menu that looked NOTHING LIKE THE MENU I HAD SEEN ON THEIR WEBSITE. I pulled up the menu on my phone and politely asked the waitress about the brunch menu I saw on their website — she advised me that the menu on the website is incorrect and that for over a year nothing on that menu has been available. She also noted that she’s told her manager about this.
Although disappointed, I was incredibly hungry so I decided to stay. BIGGER MISTAKE. The only thing that was available to me was a breakfast buffet, eggs made to order, mimosa, and bloody mary. Several of the items listed on the breakfast buffet menu was not available. Mimosas although advertised as $ 5 were $ 3 (trust me not a good thing). And Bloody Mary still $ 5. ALL THE FOOD WAS COLD, tasted completely HORRIBLE and/​or like it came straight out of a box. Even more disappointed I thought perhaps I could just drink my way through this — We ordered two mimosas but what we got was orange juice!
To make matters even worst — there were FLIES EVERYWHERE, mostly in the BUFFET, frolicking on the ShopRite bought red velvet cupcakes, hovering over the fruit … There was a dirty mop and bucket near the kitchen entry that smelled disgusting.
Total cost of this — $ 40! RIDICULOUS !
CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED — DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!