De Olde Towne Restaurant — Restaurant in Bridgeton

Four of us went out to the Towne Tavern to celebrate my friend's birthday. We checked their website, and it said they opened at 11 o'clock in the morning. We arrived at 11:20. We were the only people there at that time. So, I asked the waitress if they were ready for us. She hesitated. Then she said that she was the only person there. I asked if she'd be doing the cooking then. She told us no, that the cooks were there and they would cook. I told her we checked the website and it said that they would open at 11 o'clock. She said, "Well, you're not wrong." She made us feel so unwelcome, as if we were inconveniencing her. This was the place my friend had picked to celebrate her birthday. I suggested we go someplace else, but she wanted to stay, so we took our seats. The waitress brought us menus and left. She came back and started to collect the menus. She asked if we were ready to order. No, we weren't, so she gave us back the menus and left. When she returned with the drinks we were ready and she took our orders. Other people started to arrive, and she told them the same thing she told us, "I'm the only person here." The other patrons asked. "Should we leave?" They were confused just as we were, by the ungracious greeting. The food was delicious, and she was a competent waitress. Unfortunately, our experience was spoiled by the unfriendly welcome. My friend likes the food and I will go back for her sake but I won't...

As a current waitress of 15 years and someone who ACTUALLY loves what they do and take pride in it, I was EXTREMELY disappointed. I ordered a Br Sea combo, bak twice pot, peas. All so very bland for being an ‘upscale’ restaurant. AND I asked for a wine menu and they didn’t have one! (That means poor quality wine and it was) No, I did not complain about the bland food or drink nor will I.

My waitress, sub parr. Received our food relatively quickly but they also were not busy. It took her 15 mins to check back on us to see if everything turned out okay. On top of that, I put my food to the side to let her know we were finished and needed boxes. She walked a cross the restaurant a few times without even looking over so we were sitting a while. Long enough that the man with a red shirt apologized without me saying anything and took my plate out of the way. She came over shortly after, I asked for a box, she came back with our food and dropped off the check WITHOUT asking if we wanted anything else! (I always get coffee after I eat dinner) I than put my card in the receipt book and put it to the side to let her know I was ready to pay. She NEVER came back around! I waited another 10 mins before I finally got up and paid the bartender.

On top of all of this, they turned up the music enough to be a nuisance and unpleasant! I will never be back nor will I ever recommend anyone ever...

This was our 2nd time here and it was just as good as the 1st. We were a party of 4 on a Saturday evening. The restaurant is popular and fills up fast, so we made a reservation.

The service was excellent. We were greeted promptly. Our server was very attentive. Need another knife? No problem. Dropped a fork? A new one appeared magically.

The food was superb. I had the crab over angel hair. My 3 companions had crab imperial. We also had the self-serve salad buffet, which was continuously replenished.

The desserts are amazing. Also self-serve. There were at least 8 to choose from. 3 of us had a vanilla-strawberry cake (yum!) and one of us had bread pudding, which I was told it was delicious.

Pricing is mid-range. The dinner included the salad, dessert and a drink, which makes it an excellent value.

When the place is full, it can get a bit noisy. All we did was wait a minute for the laughter to die down. After all, we laughed too...