Grain & Cane — Restaurant in Berkeley Heights

Update 4/9/24: food is still really good. Love the calamari, they actually use slices of lemons which are battered and deep fried with the calamari and actually taste really good. We ordered the Lobster Cobb salad, and it was really nice! Also had the rigatoni Bolognese which was perfectly cooked and hit the spot We ended up also asking for a side of bread for the Bolognese, which was promptly served with butter .

We sat outside as it wasn't to cold, but with the built in space heaters they had on the ceiling as well as the fireplace going, it was a perfect evening meal. The added bonus was that there weren't many tables occupied out on the patio. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food. Not seeing a chefs name on the menu typically means that this is more of a corporate restaurant than a carefully, handpicked, selected menu. But not so with this place. It's definitely giving you what you paid for, and I have to say that the service behind all of this is upscale for the price. While I was expecting more of an upscale diner, since it was attached to the hotel, from the selected decor (think Campbell's Bar in Grand Central or a restaurant that buys everything from Restoration Hardware) overall it's very well done.

The space is smartly broken up into several different sections, so you can't really tell how big the place actually is, which is kind of nice because it feels more cozy. While we went here on a Sunday evening for dinner, and were asked if we had reservations, we had no issues getting a table of our own choice. The food was cooked to order and tasty. I was actually surprised at how good the calamari was, perfectly breaded and deep fried (not those diner rubber rings) and the accompanying sauce was spot on for the dish. I had the steak, medium rare, and let me tell you they must have susvide the steak because it was cooked to perfection and had nice grill marks on it. The herbed butter on the steak I would recommend taking off as it overpowers the flavor of the steak, but the fries that came with it were great. My spouse had the burger and it was just as delicious. Overall, we were impressed with this and will...

Our server Christine was fabulous! She was authentic and top of her game. The restaurant was beautiful, open, yet felt cozy, with the most comfortable leather chairs. Clearly, someone has attention to detail because I wanted to buy the chairs for my home. The restaurant had a commodity trading board or a train station type sign behind the bar that changed to different fun quotes, mostly about food. All of the quotes were great conversation continuers. I liked the one lamp in the middle of the bar with a purple lamp shade. The lighting, cheetah painting on the brick wall, and mirror were picture worthy.

Grain & Cane served complimentary and delicious and dense banana nut bread. We ordered disco fries to share with the table. The fries, cheese curd, and gravy (on the bottom) were outstanding! We could have licked the plate! Three of us ordered eggs benedict. I added lobster to mine. The additional spinach was yummy; we usually find that on eggs - florentine. The salad was fresh. If I had room to eat it all, I would have asked for extra dressing on the side. I don't recall there being much dressing at all. The radishes were cut round and thinly, which made the salad look colorful. My hubby ordered the burger, which had too much pepper and was cooked medium rare and not medium. He didn't tell the server. I wondered why he was eating more of my meal? LOL. All four of us shared the chocolate cake. Ooo la la, it was delicious and decadent! We also shared a scoop each of lemon sorbet, chocolate fudge ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. The lemon sorbet with the chocolate cake paired wonderfully, as well as the chocolate fudge ice cream and lemon sorbet. I love that combination. My friend and hubby ordered an apple cider and lemonade drink with a dried blood orange and cinnamon garnish. They loved every sip! Our other friend ordered a pretty martini cocktail. She liked that, too.

Our server Christine gladly took...

The food was absolutely phenomenal. Unfortunately the hospitality was something to be said for. We stopped in after an 8 hour flight back from Dublin Ireland to drop our daughter off at college. We are obviously exhausted, starving and in travel leisure clothes. The first greeting from the hostess she immediately said there was a wait for 30 mins. That's no problem we understood and knew we would end up driving for another 30 mins to find somewhere else to eat since we are not from this area. As we looked around there was multiple tables open. I'm a Manger at a restaurant I get it Maybe they didn't have staff for those sections. It was very obvious that wasn't the case though and very upsetting. We opted to sit at the bar. The bartenders looked past us multiple times cleaning glasses. A simple hello I'll be with you in a moment would be sufficient. But it was more of a you don't look dressed up enough for us to care about kind of vibe. Which then set the entire mood for the remainder of the time spent there. We were barely acknowledged . We finally got drinks then our appetizer which was the artichoke dip which was delicious. Still no further contact with the bartenderand the manager spoke with the one bartender and he finally came over to ask if everything was alright and if I needed another drink. I normally don't write reviews but how they made us feel unwanted and as though we weren't as important because of our attire after a long trip was definitely a disappointment. It's a shame to be honest. Maybe they should follow the advice on their boards. (Which was super cute...