Red Horse by David Burke - Bernards Inn — Restaurant in Bernardsville

My family and I have been visiting the Bernards Inn to celebrate occasions for the last 20 years. This past Saturday we took my Mother here to celebrate her Birthday. It was the first time we had been here since the restaurant was changed over to The Red Horse by David Burke. We had reservations at 7:00 pm and upon arrival, we were promptly seated. This is where the good stuff ends. We waited longer than average for our server to present us with menus and announce the specials. The server was all business but not as attentive because only two servers were working the dining area. Here are the highlights of why I only gave this place 2 stars. Strike 1:  we ordered the bread service ($8.00) it was four pieces of bread all baked together in a giant paper cupcake dish with some spices sprinkled on top and they gave you a knife so you could cut it out of the paper dish. It was a mess, to say the least, and resulted in all of the spices getting spread all over the table. Don’t worry after we served ourselves the bread we were glad to see that for the rest of the dinner, no one bothered to crumb the table. Strike 2: throughout the dinner when our orders arrived the food runners gave the wrong order to the wrong person this was pretty consistent with the appetizers, main course, and dessert. As you all know there is nothing more pleasurable than having to interrupt your conversation to explain who should be getting what, I guess this is a new level of fine dining that I'm unfamiliar with, shame on me.

Strike 3:  I ordered the 22 oz ribeye medium rare and it arrived medium well, it was burnt on top.  I don’t know about you but that's a pretty big mistake.  I can see it being a little undercooked to someone's liking but for $72.00 you would expect it to be pretty close to temp. Don't worry though when I finally got the server's attention She apologized and sent it back for a replacement. While I was waiting the rest of my family finished their meals and right as the replacement came out one of the managers approached the table and made a fool of herself. It was obvious this person has no clue what she is doing. First, the second the steak was sent back is when you do damage control you don't wait until the meal arrives and try to talk to me while I’m trying to eat. Second I don’t want to hear that she has to stay on top of the staff and remind them to cook the orders correctly because it's a poor reflection on her. I kid you, not this is what she said. Unbelievable right? I have witnesses.  Strike 4: Yes they whiffed this too. We order dessert and the same manager decides this is the perfect time to present me with three options to remedy the mistake. While we are all sitting at the table in the presence of other patrons she tells me that 1) she could give us a round of free drinks, 2) take a percentage off of the steak price or 3) give me a free dessert. This not only was the tackiest thing I have ever experienced at a fine dining establishment but it was rather embarrassing to me and my family. I get it mistakes happen the manager should just do something or do nothing but make a decision.  At this point she took off two desserts $29.00 and to be honest with you our bill ended up being around $535.00 with a $100.00 tip on top of that so $635.00 in total for five of us (3 adults 2 kids). At this point do you think I care about the $29.00 worth of free dessert, oh wait it wasn't free because I paid for it by being embarrassed in front of other customers as well as my family when I never said a word or complained about the mistake this was entirely initiated by the manager? Then I had to listen to my mother apologize on the way home for wanting to go there. They pretty much ruined the occasion for us. This place is a far cry from the old Bernards Inn.  I will never set foot in there again as long as it's the Red Horse. If David Burke truly cares about his reputation He should get in a car right now, drive to this location, and rip his name off the building. This place is a joke. All I can say is Don't do it, just...

This was the worst restaurant experience I have had in recent memory. To start the waiter, Daniel was not knowledgeable of the wine list. Minor issue, but at this price point the wait staff should be on point with the wine selections. The restaurant acoustics are horrible and it is extremely loud and echoes all noise making conversation strained.

We ordered the bread which comes out over cooked and cold with oddly designed butter presentation that was too cold making it stiff and difficult to spread. Red flag when a restaurant at this price point can’t even get bread right.

I ordered the king crab and shrimp spaghetti while my husband and our friend ordered the duck. They seemed happy with their meals. Mine came WITHOUT the King Crab and a few bait shrimp. I was slightly confused thinking maybe they cheaped out and put the crab in the sauce? After a few bites it was apparent that one, the bait shrimp was terrible and cheap, two the sauce tasted like a microwave dinner pasta topping and three, there was absolutely no crab.

Daniel did not come back to check on us so I waited for a period of time with my meal while the rest of the party continued to eat. Daniel eventually came back and I informed him that the pasta was missing the crab. He said “well I didn’t see the plate when it was dropped off.” I said “I’m sorry, what?” And he said he didn’t see the plate get delivered so he wasn’t sure if it really came with crab or not. He was implying I ate the crab. I was in awe and he said he would get a manager. I figured Daniel can’t even recommend wine, maybe this is his first waiting job, but was obviously still shocked.

His manager Kate came over after a discussion with Daniel and was abrasive from her first word. She was accusatory and said the kitchen is really good and doesn’t mess up. I was like ok, so can you then look on my plate and point to the crab for me? Kate said “I didn’t see the plate get delivered and the kitchen doesn’t make mistakes but the customer is always right so if you want me to discount your food” I said I didn’t want it discounted I just wanted the crab. I could not believe our continued exchange. She was the most rude person working at a restaurant I have ever experienced. She said “I have worked in service industry for a long time and I get it the customer is always right.” I wasn’t trying to be right or wrong, there was just no crab and I was being accused of EATING IT, HIDING THE SHELLS, and then accusing the restaurant of forgetting it to get more. Where would I have put these crab leg shells even?!

After the exchange and another extended wait I was eventually brought the very obviously not included crab leg pieces. No one ever came back to check on us again and Kate was never to be seen afterwards. It was also pleasant having to watch the waiter talk about the situation in the mirror I was staring into for the remainder of the meal.

They comped the spaghetti and dessert, but we weren’t concerned about money. It was insulting to have both the waiter and the manager be accusatory to the customer from a kitchen’s mistake and to literally argue with a customer. This establishment is an embarrassment to restauranteurs and I would be horrified to recommend this to anyone I knew.

Learn to serve good bread, train your waiters, include the main part of a meal, and don’t accost your guests when you’ve...

We came here for NYE and it was a terrible way to start the new year. We had reservations and we all had to wait 2 hours to be seated. Nobody took our coats. It was impossible to speak to the hostess, especially because she was constantly ignoring everybody and vanishing. 2 hours go by and we are downstairs at the bar. The two ladies behind the bar, who do not even work at Red Horse, charged my husband and I $60 for cocktails. RIDICULOUS!! The espresso martini was actual garbage. Worst espresso martini in my life, no exaggeration. Worst part is, he ordered a drink with Bombay Sapphire and they did not use Bombay Sapphire. Still after the 2 hours, we still had to wait. Nobody was being seated and there was an overwhelming crowd in the lobby. So I myself had to find David Burke and tell him nobody is getting me a table. Another lady was saying since he was the boss, he should fix this horrible mess, and he said sternly to her face, “I am not the boss, I JUST own the place.” Like what the actual… Then as soon as a party got up, he said to me to hold the spot. Like, so my reservation was unnecessary because we are all now just picking and choosing tables? While my party of 4 were seated, it took 45 minutes to have our table cleaned and set. Now it is 10:45. Took 30 minutes to get our order taken, another 45 to get our appetizers out — 1 was the wrong order, and another never came out. Our silverware were disgusting and our wineglasses smothered with lipstick and fingerprints. Midnight came around and we were still waiting on our entrees. As soon as it was midnight the DJ and band left which upset all the guest because we came to eat and then dance at midnight so choosing this place to dine and dance was pointless. It was 1 am till we got our entrees. One entree was beyond bland whereas my husband’s was extremely salty. I ordered scallops and only had two pieces come on my place with two raviolis. Other guests had a larger portion. I did not pay $100 to eat something so tiny. And Who wants to be eating at 1 am?? We spent $650+ for a nightmare... If somebody can contact me to compensate my upset guests and I for such a horrendous...