Shady Rest Restaurant — Restaurant in Berkeley Township

I've heard many good things about this place. I've read so many of the reviews. So I decided to try it . Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed. The parking lot was full, which usually is a good sign because it means that the restaurant is good enough to stay busy. When you walk in, it is crowded. I don't mean like busy restaurant on a Friday night crowded, I mean let's pack as many tables in like sardines to rake in every dollar possible crowded. It took about 10 minutes to get seated. Another 10 for our waitress to come over. And another 10 minutes to get our beverages. No mixed drinks, just iced tea, So it should have been quick. The menu seemed impressive, until you took a closer look. And it was missing a few key things, Like a boiled or fried seafood combo or some sort of way to add seafood to the steak. I kept it simple. Kids spaghetti and meatballs, sauce on the side, with butter for my daughter. A long-running special called steak Alexis for my lady. And I settled on the chicken parm sandwich for myself. Started off with this appetizer called krabby bread. Garlic bread covered in a few different cheeses and some crab meat. Tasted amazing. The kids spaghetti was a huge portion. The meatball was lacking in flavor. The sauce was quite zesty, I'm very glad I asked for it on the side. And even though we told the server to bring out the kids spaghetti as soon as possible, it still came out five minutes after the appetizer arrived. That's almost 45 minutes the time we walked in the door. Not good when you are dining with a 5 year old. The steak.... I was quite disappointed. It was an 8 ounce sirloin that they called a butt steak. For what they are charging, they could have went with a better cut or added more crabmeat. they offered soup or salad, and one side. For $26, you should have gotten a starch and vegetable with that. My sandwich. I think that was the worst thing of all. I had specifically asked if it was served on a Kaiser roll or a sub roll. I was told that it was a "long roll". What came out was a hoagie roll that had been cut to be the same size as a Kaiser roll. And they cut it that short because any longer and it would have dwarfed the small piece of chicken that came on it. French fries were an extra charge. And when I asked for a side of sauce to dip it in, I was immediately informed that it would be a dollar extra as well. I then declined it and used the sauce that was put on the side for the spaghetti. By the time the entrées got there, I had already been in this place for an 1 hour and 20 minutes. When we were all done, I had asked if a kids meal came with a dessert. I was met with a resounding no but for $2 I can get a single scoop in a cup. At this point, I was already quite annoyed with the place and just wanted to go. When I got the check, there was one more little annoying surprise. Seems the kids meal didn't come with a drink either. Another dollar the owner manages to squeeze out of people. Overall, I was quite disappointed by this place . The horrendous amount of time between each stage of service due to only having one waitress on For the entire dining room as well as only two cooks. That he tries to up charge for things that no other restaurant (including those I've owned and worked for in all my years in the business) charges for. What he is trying to pass off for "generous portions". And how tightly he packed all the tables. It seems to me that all he cares about is resting on the laurels of what used to be a fabulous restaurant and trying to exploit every nickel and dime from his clientele. I will never go back. And will make it a point to warn others what to expect...

I sent this message to the owner of Shady Rest on 7/8/2021 and got no response. So I am posting the details of my message and experience.

I would like to preface this message by saying I have visited your establishment since I was a kid, with my parents. I am now 47 years old and regularly bring my family to dine there. The food and service has always been impeccable. Tonight, 7/8/21, I made a reservation for dinner with my wife and 6 year old daughter immediately following her gymnastics class. We were seated, our server Rebecca promptly took our drink and food order and we also requested some bread for our daughter to snack on Then it seemingly took an immediate turn downward. We got our soft drinks and water and my wife was told that the wine she ordered would come in a couple minutes due to the bar being “backed up.” We waited for exactly 22 minutes before my wife finally got up and requested some bread or crackers for our daughter who now had the hunger shakes. It was another 9 minutes before the wine and bread arrived. Our ordered consisted of a antipasto, pizza and kid's chicken fingers. We continued to wait almost 15 more minutes until our antipasto arrived, and the lettuce and ingredients were actually warm leading us to believe it sat for a long period of time waiting to be brought out. We then got the rest of our meal after another lengthy wait but the food was good. We were ready to walk out but not getting our daughter fed at that moment would have been even more of a disaster. Just the fact that we waited so long, and our server was not attentive because she basically disappeared. We did not get drink refills in a timely fashion nor did we even have enough silverware to help assist our daughter to eat. Lastly, I am an understanding person and always am compassionate to the fact that it’s a human being serving us and try to give that person the benefit of the doubt. I even tipped her my customary 20% when in actuality, it was not warranted. I also am understanding that even the best restaurants have off nights. This is why I am reaching out to you first prior to making a...

I really hate to leave bad reviews but I have to after my experience here. My fiance and i were excited to finally eat here after passing it countless times and seeing how busy they always are. It looks like a hole in the wall from the outside and even more so inside but I don't judge a book by its cover. We both ordered the ribeye steaks and was completely let down. I ate mine but after 2 bites, my fiance couldn't eat hers. Even with steak sauce, she couldn't. I informed out server and she asked if she would like something else. She decided not to get something else and thr server asked if we wanted her to take the steak. I said she could or I'd take it home and feed it to my dogs so it didn't just get thrown in the garbage. When the check arrived, we were charged for the steak. The steaks were cooked well so compliments to the chef but they had NO seasoning on them and the chsr tasted like a dirty grill. I was starving and ate mine but to be charged for the extra steak is something I've never experienced and I hate to complain about food. One restaurant brought me a really fatty tough steak and apologized and brought me a new one and took it off the check. I argued saying they didn't need to but they insisted so i added the cost into the servers tip! The baked potatoes were good and the broccoli was ok. I was just really disappointed because i really wanted to enjoy the restaurant and have a new place to go but that just didn't happen. At least my dogs enjoyed a 29...