Moose's Tavern

Great bar and restaurant, especially when it comes to food and service.

~ Drinks: 2 ~

The beer selection left little to be desired, comprised mostly of Big 3 selections, a mystery beer (this time was some sort of blueberry) and Kane's Head High.

They did have a Moose margarita and Cos-Moose-politan which I thought were cute. The margarita didn't sound that special, but the bartender/waitress did offer to prepare a drink she was gonna serve during Easter. It was delicious, though a tad too sweet for my taste, and packed a bit of a punch.

The espresso was actually pretty good and had a really nice crema to it. As an added bonus, they even served it with a lemon rind, which I had absolutely no idea what to do with.

~ Food: 4 ~

The food is where this place shines. To start, the salad bar can be a meal in itself. 3 types of greens, all the fixins you want, almost any dressing you want and then some and even a few sides - including potato salad and sesame noodles!

The French onion soup could have used a little more caramelizing in the onions, but the crouton was replaced by a full on grilled cheese sandwich! Unfortunately my friend started eating it before I could snap a pic =(

A full rack of a ribs can be had for cheap (the same goes for the prime rib options). It was super tender (too tender for KCBS standards, but just fine for NJ) and had great flavor. Lots of meat and only the smallest amount was overcooked. Unfortunately, it wasn't smoked, but knowing this, it's still a great choice.

The burgers came on a sturdy bun and had great color. Think pretzel bun w/o the salt on top. The outside had a nice char and the inside was perfectly pink.

~ Service: 5 ~

As for the service, it was excellent. The bartender/ waitress (I believe her name was Rosemarie) was awesome. Super friendly and willing to help. She's the one who specially prepared the Easter margarita for me.

~ Overall ~

I'd definitely go back here when I'm in the area... then I'd go to my friend's house for a beer.

This is essentially the old Charlie Brown restaurant with a new sign and lousy food. Yes the salad bar is decent, as it was before, but the actual meals were sub par making it a very forgettable and regrettable experience. If the level of quality we saw persists there will probably be a new name on the building soon.

Be very suspicious of any rating above 3 stars.

The best things about Moose's are the 2 bars - the real bar and the salad bar.

Beyond the salad bar, I've found the food to be mediocre in quality. Many of the items seem priced fairly, until you get the food and you see how small the portion is. Examples: fried pickles for $5.99, and you get only 5-6 dill pickle slices fried up; and buffalo wings $8.99, and you only get 8 wings. The menu doesn't give an amount, so we thought maybe 10 wings - who would expect just 8? It makes the dish overpriced.

The kitchen does not really know how to cook beef. Ordering a burger medium on some nights will yield you a well-done burger, but on others, you'll get a medium-rare burger. I saw someone else eating a steak sandwich recently so I ordered one, and when I got it, I had to trim off a LOT of fat and gristle myself. The thick pieces of fat and gristle totaled at least one-third of what had been on the bun.

It's nice to have a bar around the corner, but the food is just too blah to keep coming back for.

Moose's tavern is in the old Charlie Brown's and Gertrude Brown's building.

The salad bar is big and has a lot to choose from, and the items were tasty. A real plus as far as I'm concerned and a good start to the meal.

I had the Kings Cut (18 oz bone in) Prime Rib $ 19.99, which was very tender, a tad fatty, but not too bad. The baked potato was a little old, as we arrived there near closing.

She had the 1855 St Louis Ribs 2 pounds $ 18.99, which were very good and meaty with the steak fries which were also very good.

The service was very good.

The owner or manager was around to see if everything was OK, and it was.

Neither of us had desert.

The restaurant needs to be made a little more "cozy", the white ceramic floor tiles make the restaurant look a little "cold" or "stark", that was the only thing i could put my finger on as to improving the restaurant. Maybe they could try adding table cloths to make it less "sterile".

We'd definitely try the restaurant again..

We only stopped in for drinks while exploring the area. A nice sized local restaurant with a large bar and dining room. We were surprised to find that we opened the place as the summer hours were not posted on Yelp yet. 4pm on weekends during the summer. Service at the bar was good, the bartender let me try a few samples of beer and a local chatted us up. One of the samples I tried was too hoppy for me so I had the Summer Shandy, and the predictable husband a Yuengeling. I forgot to note the exact price but the bill was around $8. This looked like a nice place to eat and if we were in the area again we would give it a shot.

This has been the second time that a group of us working out if town have eaten here. The first time I had the St. Louis ribs and thought they were great! 2lbs were more than ribs than I should've eaten, but they were delicious.

Today, I had their Osso Bucco. I've never had it anywhere prior, but felt that it was a very tasty meal. I have every intention of returning again for yet a different meal.

The service has been great both times, I leave there anything but hungry and they let you know that they really appreciate the fact that you chose to dine there.

I feel that their prices are around or a little higher than the standard Anywhere USA type restaurant depending on what you get, but the food is worth it!

Been to Mosses Traven 4 times don't waste your hard earned money on this place. The 1st time I ordered the kings choice med rare and it came in med well done with frozen side dishes, the 2nd visit I ordered the BBQ shrimp over pasta. Ended up getting baby size shrimp swimming in the pasta sauce.
The 3rd visit I ordered a sirloin steak med rare and my wife order a simple chicken dish well my wife got served 1st with an over cook potato and an uncooked chicken so that had to go back. We waited for the waiter to redeliver our plates. 15 minutes pass by when they brought my wife her dinner and I waited for my dish. I sat their watching my wife eat when I asked the waiter where my dish is. When my steak dinner finally came out it was over cooked to the point I couldn't even cut the steak. By this point I was fed up so I sent it back and ordered a plain hamburger with fries. The burger came in very dry with a bun that you could tell was old and the fries were overdone. It's very clear that whoever is in the kitchen can't cook!!!
My advice for this place is don't bother, MJs across the street has better food and a nicer staff.

I'm on the road quite a bit and fortunately or unfortunately have the opportunity to sample many restaurants. Traveling with a party of one always leads to interesting adventure. I read the reviews on Yelp and had to sample it for myself. I'm a sucker for a full salad bar, especially one rated so high by even the toughest critics. I entered the restaurant through the winding labyrinth to be greeting by smiling faces. I set the rules early and requested a "table for one" not near the swinging of kitchen doors nor the charm of toilet. It was shocking to the staff that anyone would be seated in such terrible locations. Wait staff was absolutely wonderful and accommodating. I'm on a strict diet and my requests rattled from me. Candace, my interface with the cooks was spot on with her assistance and tending to my food requests. The steak was exactly as ordered and the salad bar exceeded my expectations. The salad bar was fresh and plentiful. I was also impressed that the owner/manager was very visible in the dining room. This is a sign of caring.

In these times of chain, cookie cutter places its refreshing to order what you want and get charged a reasonable fare.

I will be returning.

Service at Moose's was excellent.....the salad bar was very good.....potato salad, etc. was all fresh....an improvement on salad bar is the prepackaged lettuce could be replaced with freshly torn lettuce.....also, there was no Russian or thousand island dressing and the dressings could be labeled......my strip steak was tender and juicy and cooked correctly as was my dinner partners steak....the baked potatoes were good as were the accompanying garlicky green beans.....
the two kids ate all of their chicken fingers and really liked them....ice cream was included with the kids meal and they were invited to decorate it with whipped cream, syrup and cherries which was a nice touch.....I had raspberry iced tea which was delicious but I had to request more ice as it was not cold enough.......all in all, it was a very pleasant dining experience.....

Fun place for sure.....the owner was super nice and we had a great time there! My one issue was that the bar itself is kinda small! Not much room in the bar area....but overall it's a nice, clean place where I had some fun! I'd recommend this place, definitely.