Stage House Tavern Somerset — Restaurant in Franklin Township

We have been going here for our Mothers Day brunches for years. We have slowly seen a deteriation in service and food quality over the years but today was the absolute end of us going here ever again.

We were seated promptly and we were told they had changed their set up slightly. No longer will pancakes, bacon and sausage be available at the buffet you must order it from the server. So right away we didn't like this change as we always order those items every time. This is a BUFFET!!!! I we wanted this type of service we would have gone to a diner.

So now we are waiting for a server to take our drink order and food order. 10 minutes go by and nothing. So we go up to get some other food we usually would also get with our usual pancakes and sides that have to be ordered. Come back and start eating that with no drinks waiting for a server. Almost eat everything before we had to get up and find an employee to ask why no one has come to take our orders.

Finally order the drinks, pancakes and sides. The drinks come out in a short time followed by the bacon and sausages seperately from the pancakes. So now we wait, wait, and Wait for the pancakes. Now our bacon and sausages hVe become cold. The pancakes arrive in a frigging cast iron pan!!!! Why the hell are you serving them in a 5 pound iron?!... And it is absurdly hot. The server almost burned my wife when he put it on the table. There is only one pancake in this pan as well. And the pancake is so hot it has gotten crispy on the edges and most of it was stuck to the bottom of the pan. The eating experience was awful. You shouldn't have to be careful not to burn yourself when eating one pancake!! Little kids love pancakes and this is how you present it to them?!? Just a ridiculously stupid managerial move to switch how they use to serve these items.

We ate a little and furiously returned what we couldn't eat. It tasted terrible. Then went back to try and get something else from the buffet. By this time we were all angry and the whole Mothers Day experience was ruined.

It only got worse when the bill arrived. A slap in the face $50 per person for this disaster. With an unconcionable 20% tip included in the bill. Now I always tip well, usually higher than that but had not planned on a tip that high due to the horrible service and experience we received.. And the audacity to have an "additional tip" line aswell was absurd.

A $260 bill, 4 extremely unsatisfied people and a family that will NEVER be going anywhere near this place again....

We so wanted to like this restaurant. It has a wonderful space and look to it, it came recommended from friends, and the menu looked good. If only the food was decent... No one in our family thought the food was great, most of us thought it was barely passable.

We started with the warm soft pretzels and were quickly disappointed to find that they were just rewarmed frozen super pretzels like you could get from the supermarket. My son got the chicken and waffles. The chicken was over cooked and not juicy at all. He quickly passed on it, but no one wanted to eat it. My daughter had the chicken tenders, which again were overcooked and only ate one of the three. I tried one but couldn't get past a single bite. My wife had the mushroom ravioli dish, and she enjoyed it enough to bring the leftovers home.

I had the lobster roll, which I guess was okay, but there's a problem when it has more and larger celery than lobster. I was not digging the fries that came with it, and offered them to my son, who turned them down. Something must be off in the universe for either of those events to occur.

As for service, it started fine, but when we ordered dessert that to started to go south. We ordered the creme brulee, hot cookie skillet (with the ice cream on the side), the hot brownie sundae, and the brownie that came with the kids meal. After waiting 15 minutes, the server showed up to say they were just finishing them up. Ten minutes later I asked to speak to the manager (as our waitress had not been back since) who took no responsibility and said they're just backed up (the dining room was almost empty... I'm not sure how many were on the patio). Five more minutes later the desserts were served. The skillet and the cookie were not hot, and they put the ice cream on top (as well as on the side). The hot brownie sundae was ice cold. The kids brownie was actually warm and tasty and the creme brulee was passable but nothing special. Our waitress was upset with the kitchen, and went to the manager of her own accord and got our desserts comped.

Even with the desserts taken off the bill, the quality of the meal came nowhere close to the expense. We will not go back. Such a shame for a space that has so...

Updated review June 2023: Low rating due to the service and exorbitant cost. Made a Father’s Day brunch reservation for 4 adults and 2 kids, where no one mentioned it would be buffet pricing. (Post COVID they had stopped the brunch buffet, so we were not expecting it). When we got there, we tried to sit outside but told outside was for walk-ins only on a first come first serve basis (it was half empty when we came, and when we left). We were seated in a tiny room in the back right that fits about 3 groups. It was extremely loud and cramped, but then we were finally moved to a slightly larger room across from it. Our waiter never came by to refill waters, and only once did someone come by to take our plates once we started stacking them up high on our table. We were charged $20 each for my 6 and 3 year olds; The $200+ bill for our group was not worth it for the experience we had. In hindsight I wish I’d asked for a kids menu to order for my children, but there was too much going on with the noise and moving around tables. I wish we’d gone to a diner or somewhere instead. We do like their food but their service is just not up to par for the price.

Note to management: please be clear about buffet being in place at time of reservation, transparent about outdoor seating policies, and offer children’s menus when you see families with kids. Would be nice if kids 3 and under were free of charge.

2019 review: I’d give a 4.5 star review if possible. Had a wonderful experience at Sunday brunch for father’s day. Love the rustic ambiance, 90’s alt music was great, and food was delicious (with many kid friendly options). The variety for brunch was impressive! We sat outside which was wonderful (and was great because inside is a bit too loud, especially if you have kids with you). However when it started to rain, all the tables around us were offered the option to move inside. But all we were given was the check “in case it pours and we decide to run out”. If it weren’t for that, I would give this place 5 stars. Will definitely return (on a sunny day) to eat in the...