Crystal Tavern — Restaurant in Hardyston Township

Our dining experience at Crystal Tavern was a complete letdown, spoiling our wedding anniversary and birthday celebration. The Manhattan the clams in the manhattan chowder were gooey and the soup overly salty. The French onion soup was the only edible dish. Everything else was atrocious. As a Maryland native, I found the crab cake—soggy, mushy, and utterly deplorable—to be the worst I’ve ever had. The ribs had a foul odor, suggesting spoiled meat, and the beef fat fries reeked like a dirty gym sock, rendering them inedible. Even the complimentary dessert was poorly executed and unenjoyable.

The staff—Sue at the front desk, Cheryl at the activities desk, and our server Rachel—were exceptional and a delight, but their kindness couldn’t salvage the abysmal meal. To add insult to injury, while my complimentary drink was free, they charged $8 for my wife’s “complimentary” drink, which was a flat sparkling beverage that tasted like it had been open too long, lacking any fizz.

At these prices, this level of incompetence is unacceptable. In our four years here in New Jersey this was the worst dining experience we’ve had. The breakfast at Kites, another hotel restaurant, was equally dreadful. We cannot recommend any of the hotel’s dining options and won’t return.

To management: spare us empty apologies. My wife, with over a decade in the restaurant industry, agrees that the pattern of similar complaints reflects serious issues with ingredient quality, kitchen execution, and basic oversight. Soggy crab cakes, rancid ribs, foul fries, subpar dessert, and a flat, overpriced “complimentary” drink are inexcusable for a high-end venue. Either the kitchen isn’t tasting the food, or their standards are so low they can’t tell it’s inedible. Months of consistent negative feedback demand immediate action. Taste the food yourselves—honestly—and address this...

Very disappointing experience. You have a captive audience with the hotel guests staying on-site and should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves for the quality of food, prices charged and service you provide.

Our dining experience at the Crystal Tavern included two breakfasts and one dinner. Overall, our experience was just plain poor and expensive for what you receive.

Dinner on Tuesday started off poorly with our appetizer. It was placed on the table between my friend and I with a long dark piece of hair in it! Disgusting. Our server and the manager on duty (Ken) were very nice about it though and took care of it immediately. Dinner itself was overpriced, underwhelming and tasteless. Service on Tuesday night was fine.

Breakfast on Wednesday was just ok. My friend's coffee was cold and our eggs were just lukewarm. Service was fine.

Breakfast on Thursday was a hot mess. We waited 35 minutes for our breakfast to be delivered only to have to send my ice cold eggs back to get new scrambled eggs. My friend had to rush through eating her breakfast (without me) in order to make it to her spa appointment. What should have been a nice relaxing last breakfast together turned out to be a huge disappointment for both of us. My friend was so rushed, didn't get to finish her meal or her coffee.

Your in-house dining was totally disappointing. Overpriced and awful.

My suggestion to everyone... SKIP THE CRYSTAL TAVERN. LEAVE THE HOTEL PROPERTY FOR YOUR MEALS. LEAVE the hotel property for breakfast, lunch AND dinner if you can. Visit the lovely Milano restaurant just a few minutes down the road for lunch and...

One of the WORST restaurant experiences I have ever had. The wait staff was not trained properly and giving incorrect information or having no knowledge of the drink menu. The management was unprofessional, rude, and unattentive. After 3 different drink orders and finishing our appetizers we finally got our FIRST set of drinks. When the management came over to explain why the first two drinks we ordered were not available he tried to offer us daiquiris on the rocks and one of the guests explained that it was not the same and the manager caught an attitude and said "well I can't convince you, I don't know what you want then." The appetizers were the best food that we had out of the whole meal but was nothing spectacular. Our entrees were overcooked and some of it was cold. At the end I asked for our desserts, boxes, and check at the same time. We received our boxes first Our desserts (which were just ice cream sundae) took over 20minutes. Then the bill came another 10minutes after that. To top it off they tried to charge us for our original drink order (that we did not receive) instead of our actual drinks. Which was a difference of $3 each. When I explained we were trying to make a massage appointment it took another 10min to receive the adjusted bill. It was supposed to be a nice lunch for a special occasion and ended up being the worst part of our whole weekend. I am extremely disappointed and from my experience I wouldn't recommend booking a reservation at this restaurant, quite frankly I received better food at our local diner for a quarter...