Parker's Garage & Oyster Saloon — Restaurant in Beach Haven

I expected sooooo much from Parker's Garage, given the positive reviews that I'm always reading on the Long Beach Island Bites Facebook page. But we were not impressed.

Our server brought water and an ice bucket for our wine right away. We asked if there were any specials, she said no, and did not note any unavailable items at that time. When we tried to place the appetizer order, we were told we needed to order appetizers and entrees all right now, which was off putting.

We opted for the "famous" tuna crackers and duck buns to start. My husband ordered fried chicken, with sides of Mac and cheese, and brussel sprouts, and I ordered swordfish Milanese.

About 10 minutes after we ordered, our server came back and told my husband there was no chicken. Unfortunately, he didn't like most of the other entrees. It would have been much better to be informed of this up front, or at least right after ordering, as we probably would have left. He picked the scallops with "bacon" (pork belly).

We received our appetizers. I dove into the tuna crackers - tuna is my favorite appetizer, and I order it everywhere I go. This was easily the WORST tuna appetizer I've ever had. It had a strong and overwhelming citrus flavor, and the chunks of tuna were mixed with mashed avocado. It was a visual mess. I don't know how people are out there singing the praises of this dish. I would never recommend it to my worst enemy. I don't know if we just got a bad plate of it, or this is the norm and people who eat here just accept mediocrity.

The duck buns tasted fine. But they were still...odd. I fully expected shredded or chopped duck, topped with pickles and hoisin. Instead, they formed the duck into a bizarre patty and breaded and fried it. It felt like something you'd get at a fast food restaurant like a filet o fish patty, but with duck. There were not pickles, there was something pickled that was pink (possibly radish? It didn't taste like pickled onion), but the menu description should be more accurate.

Entrees and sides...Let's start with the visual of my husband's scallops. Why on earth are they covering scallops with a layer of dry/undressed frisee and greens? As he ate it, he also found the scallops could have been seared better, and the pork belly was not fully rendered. Some was inedible.

The sides were terrible. They were originally selected to go with the fried chicken entree, so it was already a mismatch. The Mac and cheese had a THICK layer of congealed cheese on top. The Mac and cheese itself was bland and uninspiring, and I left the gross top cheese on my side plate.

The brussel sprouts were burned to the point of tasting bitter. I did not taste any of the honey mustard vinaigrette that was supposedly on them. We ate a couple, but they were not good enough to keep eating them,

The swordfish Milanese was plated terribly and tasted worse. It was in a bowl where I wasn't able to even get in to cut it. The fish was extremely overcooked and dry as a bone. The "tomato salad" on top was dry tomatoes and onions. It didn't have the juiciness a regular tomato would have, never mind any dressing or moisture whatsoever. Dry salad on dry fish with dry pieces of basil on top. The whipped avocado was piped on like it was buttercream frosting in little bits, it had no flavor and was visually unappealing. There was no basil aioli to speak of. It may have been in the corn underneath the fish, but it was desperately needed on the dry fish and vegetables. The corn was cold and was not a good match for the fish.

I waited...and waited...and waited...for our server to come back, so I could tell her I didn't like my entree. She finally came over, and wanted me to order something else, but I said that would have been a fine solution 20 minutes ago, but not at this point. She asked if we wanted to wrap the sides, I said no they weren't good, and she took them away. She came back and had taken the swordfish off the bill, rightfully so, but did not remove the sides.

We spent $106 plus tip, and I still had to come home and eat...

First of all, we know why you are here: the food is excellent, and worth every penny in my opinion.

Now for the verbose part. We went twice this week to this restaurant. We went on Monday and it was so good we snagged a reservation for Friday. You will want to make a reservation and you will want to do so early, our two reservations were for 8:15 and 4:15 respectively, as that was all that was available, and that was booking a couple days in advance.

Both of our servers were fantastic. On Monday we had Dave, who was happy to explain the menu to us and quick to put in our orders. We ran him ragged slightly by ordering 3 waves of food, but he took it all in stride. On Friday we had Ashley and she was incredible as well. She asked about dietary restrictions and when one was expressed (dairy), she went and checked with the kitchen to make sure that the things we ordered were not cooked in butter and came back to inform us when one item was so that we could change it. Both servers were incredibly polite and helpful, and they are a big reason why we will happily come back in the future.

Now to talk a little about the food itself. YUM, absolutely delicious. Getting the Shucker's Dozen is a fantastic option if you want oysters but aren't particular about which ones you want. Of the things we ordered, here were the best in our humble opinion:

For the raw bar, obviously oysters and clams are a great choice, but the salmon crudo was spectacular. For the sharables, the duck buns and the mussels toast were top notch. In the classics section, I think of the ones we ordered, the bouillabaisse was easily the best. Cooked perfectly, lots of flavor, and comes with fresh focaccia; what's not to love? The desserts all sounded amazing and felt very inspired, but we (ie the one of us who could eat dairy) had the banana pudding and the donuts, both of which were spectacular.

The restaurant sits right on the bay and there are a few seats that sit along a window looking out into it, but you're a lot more likely to sit further back. The restaurant feels lively and fun, with gentle music coming from speakers and the restaurant next door will sometimes have live music you can hear. There's a good cross breeze from the bay and the space is very open. There is a time limit of 90 minutes for groups of 4 and under, but we were able to order 3 courses without any issues whatsoever.

I cannot recommend this place more highly. This will become a staple for us anytime we stay...

Consistently Disappointing

I’ve dined at Parker’s Garage multiple times over the years, trying to understand the hype—but I just don’t get it. The food has always been average at best, but tonight’s experience sealed it for me.

The monkfish was so overcooked it was downright inedible. I took one bite and couldn’t bring myself to take another. I’ve never sent an entrée back in my life, but I seriously regret not doing so. Between the stifling heat and the lack of even a decent breeze, the atmosphere was just as unpleasant as the food.

For the first time ever at a restaurant, I actually found myself looking forward to the check just so I could leave.

Added After Parker's Response 7-10-2025 Hi Parker’s Garage Team, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my review.

While I appreciate the follow-up, I want to clarify that although you have the date of our visit correct (July 8th), you are referencing the wrong table. My wife and I dined alone and ordered the following: • Tuna crackers • New England chowder croquettes • Duck buns •. Shrimp gumbo • Monkfish Entree • Tilefish Entree • Side - Brussels sprouts

We did not order steak frites, mac & cheese, crab cake, or calamari, so it appears there was a mix-up in identifying our check or table.

As for the monkfish, when our server asked how everything was, we specifically mentioned that it wasn’t good. She apologized and took the dish away. I’m not sure what more we should have done in that moment — we gave the feedback while still dining and were polite and respectful. I wasn’t looking to make a scene, but it also didn’t feel like anything was going to be addressed further at the time.

Regarding the weather, I completely understand that it’s an open-air restaurant — and we weren’t expecting climate control. I was simply pointing out that the conditions were uncomfortable that evening. There’s no need for a snarky comment about “summoning a breeze.”

Lastly, we are actually year-round residents and long-time patrons of the Tide Table Group. We regularly dine at your other restaurants and have had many great meals. This particular experience just didn’t meet that same standard.

I’m not looking for a back-and-forth or any compensation — just an accurate representation of what occurred. I only responded because your reply contained details that weren’t true and implied that we didn’t raise our concerns when we...