The Shannon Rose — Restaurant in Clifton

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Friends and Family soft re-opening of The Shannon Rose Irish Pub in Clifton, New Jersey after a major remodel. This place was gorgeous. Visually it was downright stunning but as usual, I am here to focus on the food and beverage portion...which was definitely something that stood on it's own.

Started the night off with a nice Moscow Mule, maybe not a beverage that screams Irish Pub, but it sounded refreshing and I followed my gut. I'm very happy I did, this was one tasty beverage. My girlfriend got herself a "Shannon Rose" which is made with Rose Gin and vanilla and this was also quite tasty (yes maybe I stole a sip or two)

Started off the food portion with some butlered hors d'oeuvres that consisted of things like Cheeseburger Sliders, Battered Shrimp with Sriracha Aioli, Bacon and Cheddar Boxty, and Corned Beef Egg Rolls. I will let the photos do the speaking for these but I will say that all of these items were downright excellent. I almost passed on the sliders thinking "eh, I can have a burger anywhere"...and I'm so happy I didn't.

We soon settled into a booth and had some more drinks including trying the "Sagamore Rye Cocktail" and an "Irish Old Fashioned" before getting into some of the main course items for the night. The main courses included a variety of pizza's, Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Pot Pie, Cavatappi Pesto Pasta, and last but not least - The Murder Burger!

All of these items were very good but this Murder Burger really caught my attention! The took a burger patty with lettuce, tomato, pickles, sautéed onions, jalapenos, American cheese, and Thousand Island Dressing and then they battered the entire thing and deep fried it! I hadn't tried anything like this before. It was definitely a bit greasy but the flavor was excellent. I would order this again any day of the week.

Closed out the meal by trying out some Irish Soda Bread Pudding and a Ghirardelli Brownie and washed it down with a true Irish Coffee. The desserts were sweet and decadent without being over the top and the Irish Coffee was potentially the best I've ever had...and I have had many. Look no further for the results, it's plain as day...Shannon Rose Irish Pub in Clifton, New Jersey -...

This place gets 2 stars, only for ambiance and presentation of food. We came as a group of 6 at 3:30pm on a Friday and was seated very quickly. That was the extent of the good service. Our waitress was very nice, but must've been new and in over her head. There was also a second waiter that came and was kind of there lingering around and took two of the six orders which confused us and complicated things for the initial waitress. We ordered off the happy hour menu, and the drinks came out after 25 minutes and were good. I got the blueberry mojito and the strawberry mule. I ordered a chicken salad without dressing and it came with the dressing mixed in, and I told the waitress but ate it anyway. She was nice and apologized. When the checks came, the drinks were charged at full price for me and several others at the table. The waitress needed help from the manager to fix it and this process to over 30 minutes. We requested to see him, he came and gave a dry apology then left. I got my check the second time and it said -$5 discount which still didn't amount to the overcharge. After another 10 minutes of waiting, I offered to pay in cash the amount I owed. I requested to speak with the manager again. He was arrogant and also seemed in over his head. He said some of the menu items were new, which was the reason the checks came out incorrect. In addition, two food orders at our table never came out because the waitress didn't put them in the computer! Imagine waiting 45 minutes for a chicken sandwich to learn that the order wasn't placed when the rest of your friends food comes out. After I told the manager about our experience and the wait time (the restaurant was not at all full), he said that he'd comp my bill because that seems like the only way I'll leave happy. That wasn't at all the case, I had my cash out ready to pay. I wasn't trying to get a free meal. I wanted the pricing corrected and I told him that. I think he realized that I wasn't going to let him try and disrespect me, and so he tried to change his tune and say he wanted to have us give the restaurant another chance. In all, I probably would go back because the food and drinks weren't bad. The service needs...

This is the second time I received sub-standard service and the last time I will ever go there. It was a Friday night after a hectic week at work, and I was meeting a friend for drinks after work. It was not busy at all, and she was seated on the patio waiting for me. The waiter asked her (several times before I arrived) if she wanted a drink. She explained that she was waiting for a friend who would be there monentarily (note: I arrived 10 minutes later). He came back and we both ordered drinks. Immediately after, he asked us for our order. We explained that we needed to look at the menu for a few minutes. Then, he took our order (appetizers) and someone else dropped it off. We had no forks - and could not find him (or anyone) to ask for them. Finally we grabbed another waiter who was passing by and said they would get our waiter (they didn't). Ultimately, I got up from the table for forks. We then planned to order a second drink - and I had told the staff that it was my friend's birthday and asked if they could bring a dessert with a candle. That never happened. At that point, we decided to go somewhere else and could not find the waiter to give us the check. I got up again, and the manager (who was very lovely) asked if she could get us anything and apologized for the snafu. By then it was too late - we were extremely aggravated and - again - did not understand why we got such poor service when it was not crowded and in the outside bar area, there seemed to be a bunch of wait staff hanging around chatting. The last time we were trying to get a check (a few months before) something similar happened. There was a waiter standing at a table next to ours playing with his phone - and when we approached him, he seemed annoyed. Never going back. In fact, a friend wanted to go there to celebrate an occasion and we explained what happened - and now none of my friends will go back. Big mistake, because although we are women "of a certain age" we are all still working, dine out at least twice a week, and...