Black & Blue — Restaurant in Easton

Ordered via Grubhub.

Portion size: Overall the portions were a good size except for the asparagus fries. I feel the asparagus fries are too overpriced. You receive only a few stalks (maybe 1$) wish but it costs 11$.

Packaging: The actual containers the food arrived in was fine. The side sauces should have been wrapped in foil or put in a separate box so they didn't open and spill all over. Everything was squeezed int thin plastic bags. At least using paper could have kept it a little warmer and even cleaner.

Taste & Flavor: To start, most of the food arrived cold or barely warm, so it's possible if it was hot or served at the resturant, some of the negative aspects might not be present.

Asparagus fries: Very bland, no spices or seasoning appeared to be used. They were not prepped well, they were almost impossible to bite through and needed to be cut or have the entire stalk put in your mouth at once. These could have been steamed, blanched, sous vide before frying to make them more easier to consume, or if they wanted to keep the crispness, they could have skinned them first. The breading was really greasy and added no flavor to the dish. Personally I would have preferred batter dipped over the greasy fried coating.

Mac & Cheese: Very bland with no Flavor. It was had and dry because it was cold. I tried many methods to reheat, but they all just made it more dry and the cheese coagulated forming more like hard rubber. This appears to be made with just a form of cheese and no ingredients to make it an actual cheese sauce. This probably would have started better fresh and at the resturant, but it would still have been bland. Part of the reason for a cheese sauce is to add flavor. Plane melted cheese and noodles are not the best taste.

Empanadas: There were not bad. Nothing special, seemed a generic pre-made variatey that has an over doughy shell instead of a rich flakey shell that you get at most Empanada shops.

Chili: The chili was great. I wish it had an option to make spicier, but that's just my preference.

Fettuccine Alfredo: Another bland dish with almost no flavor/seasoning. It also had a mysterious over cooked piece of cheese on top that was almost transparent. I'm guessing it was Parmesan, since the details stated it had this type of cheese, but due to the overheating and plastic like texture and taste, I can't say for sure. Maybe it would be better at the resturant, or maybe it would be better if they grated it like most places. The bread that comes with it was good, but instead of providing butter packs, they pre butter it with almost no butter at all.

Black & Blue Burger: It was cooked as requested, and had fresh lettuce, tomato and other toppings. The only down side was that the sauces were thrown in litte containers that had opened and spilled all over the bag. Even know I didn't get to taste it with the sauces, it was a good burger.

Black & Blue Fries: (3$ upgrade for burger) This were the worst item. I don't know if they were made correctly or not, since many places make them different. But what I received where fries cooked so poorly they were soggy and near translucent. They seemed kinda blackish, but they had no flavor, so I don't know it it was prom spices or dirty oil. The had about a tablespoon of Bleu cheese on top. Definitely not...

Update (9/28/2017):

Decided to go back after giving them a couple of months to work the kinks out and update my review accordingly.

When I walked in the manager, Tara Perruso, made a beeline too me and informed me that I was not welcome there and they did not want my business. Which really seems to reinforce my statement below about the lack of customer service and public relations skills by the new management of the place.

So here is my updated review. I didn't get a chance to see it the food and/or service improved; but the management's customer service and public relations skills still suck. It is a shame that the new management here didn't take the opportunity demonstrate that their food and service improved, so I could provide a more positive update to this review. Tara blew that opportunity, way to go.

Review (8/1/2017):

This place has reopened, with new management and new employees. Gone are the old familiar faces behind the bar, the eclectic menu, the excellent beer list and the gothic/wiccan decorations that moved from Which Brew to Black & Blue.

So I stopped in one night and there were 3 customers at the bar and one table with 2 customers. Asked for whatever double IPA they had only to find out they had no double IPAs. Very disappointing.

This was my go to place to get nachos and a rare burger in the past. I had already been warned by other former clients that the nachos now suck and to not order them.

The menu is very limited, and not very inspiring.

All the burgers in the menu are now $15. I ordered one rare. Then I waited, and waited and waited some more. Remember there were only 5 total customers in the place but it took the kitchen over 30 minutes to make a rare burger.

When it came out it looked good and was cooked to my liking. Then the disappointment set in because it was served with plain old regular fries, not the shoestring frittes that Black & Blue was known for, and gone is the Blithering Idiot sauce as well. Now replaced with a choice of some chipotle aioli or guacamole. Yes, I said guacamole.

The burger was served on a larger version of a store bought hamburger roll that did not have the density to actually stay together once the burger was picked up to be eaten. I had to resort to eating my burger with fork and knife due to this sub-par roll. The burger tasted good, but not worth the $15 charged for it.

I wish the new management luck getting this train wreck back on the tracks. I would have left a review on Facebook, but the new management has removed all the past and recent reviews from Facebook, as well as the ability to post reviews. They have also been deleting posts by clients and has even blocked some clients from posting on the Facebook page. Seems like the new management needs a lesson in customers service and public relations. More importantly if they remove the ability of customers to share feedback, they will never be able to fix what is wrong.

As a long-time customer of both Which Brew and Black & Blue, I probably won't ever step foot back into Black & Blue. In fact this place is so changed, they should have re-opened with a...

Best place in Easton bar none! We really miss it, I hope they reopen soon... Edit: as I said originally, this used to be our favorite place in Easton , I rated it it 6 out of 5. Recently it has reopened under new management and things have taken a big turn for the worse, which is truly heartbreaking. Everything that made it unique and special has been stripped out, the quirky dark goth decor all gone, the charm gone,even down to the chalkboard art. the menu once full of vegan/vegetarian fare is now difficult to find much thats not meaty...the remaining favorites we'd get, Belgian Frites and veg-head nachos are now only there in name only. Frites are supposed to be very thin, what we got were fat burnt steak fries, the blithering idiot sauce also gone . The nachos were stale and chewy like rawhide and ingredients were just piled on top rather than properly layered throughout..it took 1.5 hours to receive our fries and nachos,just crazy. Getting a check also took far too long.. I can understand a new team not being up to speed, but this was beyond the pale, like they'd never worked in a restaurant ever. The one big improvement is turning one of the front rooms into a lounge/waiting area, it's honestly much better than the old high bar tables ,and nicer to chill with a drink than up on stools at the bar so great job there!. I think with a better chef and more experienced servers, it could improve to be on par with other basic homogeneous eateries in easton, but sadly the real black&blue we all adored is likely gone forever. Still I do truly wish them the best of luck, perhaps I'll be...