The Office Tavern Grill

Most of the restaurants at Newark have relatively the same choices. No overwhelming amount of options or anything exotic; very basic and unimaginative menus on display. After circling the Gate A twice, not impressed by any of them, The Office Tavern happened to be close to my departure and was chosen purely by proximity.

There was no signage to wait to be seated so I sat at the counter bench facing out to the main thoroughfare. Even though it was busy, the bartender greeted me quickly, and took my drink order. He was friendly, efficient, and most importantly, made an awesome Espresso Martini.

For dinner, I had the Ceaser Salad with shrimp. While the salad was a very generous proportion, it only came with 4 jumbo shrimp. The menu said grilled, they might as well have been boiled. There was no seasoning and they weren't flavorful. The ceaser dressing was the perfect companion as it also was flavorless. The croutons were toasted bread, nothing more, nothing less. I've never drowned a salad in so much salt and pepper. Looking at the pictures here now, I'd say you're better off getting the chicken ceaser, (if tasteless salads are your thing) at least then you'll get a larger portion of protein. I must say, the romaine was cut well and it wasn't just chunks of white stem.

After trashing their salad so much, why the decent star rating you ask? Because I was starving and would have eaten the menu itself at that point. In addition, the service was on point. Even though the place was busy, I was never forgotten. I was repeatedly checked on, and my water glass refilled, which is a huge green flag for me. Let's not forget about that amazing martini that made me ten time more susceptible to tolerating the meal. And let's be honest, it's an airport restaurant; pay twice as much and receive half the expectation.