Jim Barbarie's Restaurant — Restaurant in Danbury

Jim Barbarie’s has been serving Danbury, CT for fifty years. A fish and steak house that also serves pasta dishes and sandwiches, it attracts a large crowd from regulars to travelers passing through. We saw as many NY and NJ plates on cars heading in for dinner. Upon entering, diners are asked if they have a reservation. If the answer is no, you are seated in the bar room. A yes response gets you into one of the two dining rooms. Apparently a lot of people don’t have reservations as the bar tables and then stools filled up quickly after our arrival around 6:30. The one photo I grabbed of the dining room seen on the way to the bar had only two booths filled despite their doing good business on a Saturday evening. There was another full table in the second dining room.

We were brought a regular and special menu and asked if there was a special drink menu. I ordered a French Martini that was made with a citrus vodka, Chambord and pineapple juice, and asked to substitute the vodka for gin, as no martinis on the menu had traditional gin as a component. My partner ordered the Manhattan made with bourbon, vermouth and bitters. The bartender asked if he wanted rye or bourbon and if he wanted it with ice or neat. One French Martini was gin and Chambord with little to no pineapple juice, and the second was gin and pineapple juice with little to no Chambord. One pink the other yellow. Both were good just different. All the drinks were well made in pour and flavor, but our first round wasn't brought to us until after our appetizers came to the table. From what I gathered they’d been sitting on a station for awhile.

Appetizers: The six Littleneck Clams on the half shell from the raw bar menu were incredibly fresh, sweet and tender. The accompanying cocktail sauce was perfectly balanced with grated horseradish. The “Rhode Island Style” fried calamari was one of the least favorite spins on this common app for both of us. We thought we’d try it, but the garlic vinaigrette on the menu along with cherry peppers was missing, and a variety of hot peppers dominated the plate making the calamari secondary. They do offer a traditional choice. One staff member came out with two fresh warm rolls and whipped butter which he dispensed throughout the room. Good density in the roll and bread is always appreciated.

Mains: One regular menu item, the Sea Scallops Barbarie’s and one special menu item, Pork Shank Osso Bucco. The latter wins for price and flavor. Excellent choice when available. Even though the menu said it was served over mashed potatoes, he was asked if he’d like rice or a baked potato. I suggested he stick with the mashed potatoes as conceived. My scallops, described as baked with sautéed mushrooms in a brandy cream sauce, brought our server back to ask if I wanted the scallops fried, broiled or baked. I said the menu said the scallops were baked. She said, the chef wasn’t sure you wanted them baked. I said, well, this is how the dish is described, so yes. I chose a baked potato as my side. We chose parmesan peppercorn dressing for our salads. Plating wise, the aluminum foil could be left off of the potatoes.

The scallops served seemed to be a mix of things in how they were cooked. I would say they were prepared like fried, with no mushrooms and dollops of a creamy sauce on top of each. The right ceramic dish was used, but I thought it would be hot and bubbling, all melded together in the sauce. The good news is the scallops were like the clams, really fresh and tender as well as plentiful, with maybe 8 in the serving. I took most of the breading off, but it was well seasoned and the right texture. Barbarie’s excels in seafood quality but their prices for an add-on lobster tail and King’s Crab Legs are high, though I’ve noted before in my reviews the price difference between King Crab Legs on the west coast vs. the east coast is tremendous.

Choosing pasta I would have tried chicken carbonara and my partner the filet mignon grinder. Next time we’re in the area, we’ll try these and order more...

ONE STAR FOR THE RESTAURANT! 5 STAR FOR OUR SERVER!!

Went last night to celebrate a relatives birthday! Immediately we were seat and attended to by our waiter! Started out with excellent service, We ordered (2) $75.00 lobster dinners, (1) $70.00 King Crab dinner, (1) Prime Rib dinner (ordered med rare but got med well), and (1) Chicken Parm. (Overcooked) The main issue we had was with one of the lobster dinners, it was served stuffed with imitation crab meat and a dry bland cracker blend stuffing. Unfortunately once I got past the stuffing I noticed the actual lobster was under cooked! I continued eating until I found almost raw tail meat. We notified the waiter, who immediately offered a replacement, taking back at least 3/4 of the meal! I accepted and knowing the rest of the party would be done eating shortly told home to just steam it that way it would be faster! In the meantime the ever so polite manager Carl arrived at the table asking me would I mind if the just recook the same dinner? Which I declined. He then got all huffy about the situation and walked away. About 20 minutes later he returned and dropped a plate in front of me with the same type cooked dinner. In the meantime, my wife goes to use the ladies room. And in the lobby there’s Carl the manager pointing and talking badly about our table??? He returns to the table a third time all nice and apologetic about the dinner blaming the chef and staff! When I called him out about talking about us while my wife was standing next to him, he was tongue tied and walked away, only to return to drop a gift certificate on the table! Not for nothing it wasn’t even for the cost of my meal! But it is what it is!!

Under no circumstances was our server at fault! Even with all the problems our server was great! He did an excellent job! And was tipped for his excellent service!

I always wanted to eat at this establishment... what a disappointment not only for us but our...

The manager of this restaurant should never be allowed to work in a customer facing role again. We had someone in our party who was gluten free, and made a very low key comment to the waitress in regards to her need for there to be special steps taken for her intolerance. The waitress discussed the menu items with us and was incredibly kind, and mentioned asking the kitchen. Within minutes of her leaving the table, the manager (John) came back to the table and berated our guest who was gluten free for almost 5 minutes straight. He made snide comments like “I mean maybe you can have lettuce?” And “I don’t know? Is steak gluten free?” He was loud, ignorant, and incredibly rude and ruined our evening (and ultimately ruined her evening enough that she left). While our guest made every effort to reassure him that her allergy was not “deathly” (which is not required of her regardless) he continued to loudly and aggressively tell her that he could not accommodate her allergy in any way and when she joked “so I should leave?”, he responded with an “I mean I’m not kicking you out, but…” absolutely horrendous excuse for an employee, let alone a manager of a restaurant. He made a very poor attempt at apologizing to the table after our gf guest left our holiday party early, and continued to lurk on our table and provide nothing but extremely awkward and disingenuous encounters. Again, the server was lovely and the food was honestly not bad. But John, who is meant to be the face on the floor…. Horrendous. Should not be allowed to be in a customer facing...