The Claremont Tavern - BERNARDSVILLE

I was very impressed with the selection, quality, and pricing of the food. The establishment has a large, classic tavern atmosphere, featuring a great bar with numerous TVs and an excellent beer selection. Although parking is limited to the street and finding a spot may take some time, it’s definitely worth it! Service: Dine-in Meal type: Lunch.

Always a wonderful dining experience. Food is fresh and amazing. The chef Steve is extremely talented. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $50–100 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Recommended dishes: The Claremont Burger

2 1/2 stars The Claremont was on my list to try for literally years, going back to when I worked fairly close by in Parsippany, but this past Thursday was when I finally made my debut. I don't recall what captured my attention initially, but I honestly don't see a return visit in my future for a myriad of reasons. Several other reviewers have mentioned it, and it bears repeating the parking situation is rough. I love an authentic ye olde tavern like this, but one of the downsides of that can be limited spacing for vehicles (it's not like there was a need for them back in the day). There is no actual parking lot here it looks like there's a small space to the side that could theoretically house a few cars for employees but it's definitely not publicly accessible to patrons so you have to rely on street parking and hope that there's room for you within .1 miles of the entrance. I knew that ahead of time and pulled into a parking lot about two or three blocks away, which was fine, but something to certainly be aware of. I met up with a chum for dinner but was predictably a bit early so I made myself comfortable at the bar just to the left of the entrance for about 20 minutes. The biggest selling point here is the environment and their bartenders very friendly with personal recommendations. I'm not in love with hanging out at the bar by myself, but it helps when the bartenders are welcoming and engaging for sure. I had two drinks over the course of the evening: a lavender lemonade and a peachy sangria. The lavender lemonade was very bland/watery. It was arguably refreshing at least but pretty tasteless for what it was. I wouldn't order it again. The sangria wasn't actually on the official cocktail menu, but I saw it being prepped for someone else and made an impulse call. That was better, but VERY sweet. Neither drink seemed to have much alcohol in it, based both on taste and the fact that I never ended up with even a slightly rosy hue on my cheeks. The bill for the two drinks came close to $30 without tip, so in hindsight I would have just stuck with water or soda. The food was also unfortunately pretty underwhelming. We split the calamari app, and at one of the bartender's recommendations, I ordered the drunken grandma pie (knowing it was a huge serving and leftovers would be forthcoming). There were pieces of the calamari that I thought were very tasty, especially with the spicy tomato chipotle sauce that sauce was the star of the night in my estimation. But I'm honestly a little mystified at the addition of the balsamic reduction on this dish (which to be fair is absolutely referenced in the menu description). Palate wise, it's just not a great blend of flavors in my opinion, so I avoided the pieces that were covered in that drizzle. When you have such an excellent accompanying sauce, why mess with perfection? It felt like an unforced error. The pie was also not great. The description referenced a vodka sauce, which is what I've encountered in drunken grandma pies at other establishments. However, this just tasted like normal tomato sauce, and you can see in the picture it just looks like a normal square cheese pie. I had a few slices of it, but the cheese was way too rubbery for me. Definitely a miss in my book. The service was uneven. As mentioned, I had no issues with the bartenders, but when we sat down nearby the wait time increased considerably. Our waitress was nice, but she had to come by at least two or three times to apologize for the wait on the food. It wasn't a huge deal since we weren't on a tight schedule, but it was noticeable enough to me where I'd be reluctant to come back here in a situation where I was pressed for time. This was a disappointment. My expectations may have been a little skewed because this place is pretty close to downtown Bernardsville so I assumed it would a little bougier, but when the drinks and food aren't particularly good, it's hard to find redeeming qualities to justify a second trip.

I visited this restaurant for the first time and I'm already planning to return! The service was excellent, and I enjoyed a delicious dinner. The price per person was around $20–30. Overall, I would rate the food, service, and atmosphere all at 5 stars. I highly recommend trying the turkey burger!

I had a wonderful experience at the restaurant. The Thai salad was excellent. Overall, I would rate the food 4 out of 5, the service 5 out of 5, and the atmosphere 4 out of 5.