Old Glory Kitchen + Spirits — Restaurant in Keyport

3 1/2 stars

I always want to really like Old Glory, but it never quite meets expectations. This was my third or fourth visit, and like every other time, I left just a little unsatisfied. This establishment is conveniently located a block or two off the main drag in Keyport, within easy walking distance of the Millennial Chum. It has a lengthy, pretty solid American menu, so even if you're going with a group of people with varying tastes, it's not difficult to find an option for everyone.

I stopped by here for an early lunch this past Saturday with three chums and a pooch. Old Glory is very obviously housed in a converted church, which is a cool vibe - very high ceilings, lots of arched doorways, etc. It was a pretty nice afternoon (and again, we were carting around a canine companion so we didn't get much of an opportunity to ogle the interior design beyond a quick bathroom visit) and we opted for the outdoor seating, which was pleasant. There's a bar out there that I imagine can get pretty rollicking in the summer months.

Everyone was famished from recent adventures, so we ordered the Coconut Shrimp app ($16) to split, which was a definite highlight. It wasn't overly cooked, and the chili dipping sauce paired very well with the shrimp. From prior experience as well, this place has pretty solid bar food so it wouldn't be ridiculous to exclusively focus on that in the future.

I also surprisingly enjoyed my cocktail, which was a Spiked John Daly ($12). I hemmed and hawed a great deal before ordering because nothing in that section of the menu really stood out to me, but based on the description it sounded like it would at the very least be refreshing, which it was. I've had one or two cocktails here before and was pretty underwhelmed - from what I recall, they were light pours that didn't even put a bit of a rosy hue on the cheeks and too sweet so all I got for my trouble was a sugar crash an hour later - but this was the best I'd had. Your mileage on this may vary, but I would have liked an actual glass to drink this in, not a cheap plastic cup, but we ARE approaching Jersey Shore season. I'd just rather not have images of sunburned GTL bros dancing in my head whilst drinking a cocktail in April, but again, that's preference and I didn't take any points off for that.

For my entrée, I went with the Cajun Catfish ($22), which was okay. I thought for the price the portion was pretty small and it was overly seasoned so you couldn't really appreciate the juiciness or natural flavor of the fish (though I don't know how much you REALLY want to complain about a Cajun dish tasting too Cajun). It was perfectly fine but I think in hindsight I'd look elsewhere on the main menu.

The service was honestly pretty mediocre. Our waitress was friendly and demonstrated a solid command of the menu when I couldn't remember the name of the cocktail I wanted ("Spiked...a guy's name?"), but in the second half of our meal was difficult to track down. We had to wait a pretty significant period of time to get the check and then have her pick it back up for processing. We were also a bit disappointed because there was one specific dessert we were looking forward to (S'mores & Nutella skillet) that they didn't actually have the ingredients for. Coincidentally, the Millennial Chum and I ended up at the nearby Shoprite less than a mile away a few hours later, which had a prominent display of s'mores ingredients for sale right by the entrance, so it's hard not to wonder why Old Glory was seemingly unable to maintain an inventory for that particular dessert.

Old Glory is just good enough where you'd come back, but not good enough where you'd go out of...

I was there for take out and the young ladies that had taken care of me were very pleasant. I love the atmosphere in there as I always do even though there are no seats to sit on while waiting. I was there about 8:20 pm and it was pretty busy but the length of time I had to wait for my food was a little long so that was a little annoying but could have been forgiven if my food was excellent but it wasn't. I had ordered 2 fish and chips dinners and an order of clams with drawn butter. I mean for $24 for fish and chips and $19 for clams they should have been premo but they were not. I have to say that they're the most expensive in comparison to other local places in the area 1 right in Keyport and the other in Laurence harbor both restaurants charge under $20 and they're well worth it. I am partially blaming the packaging which was aluminium foil with a cheap cover so my fish and chips were very soggy because they ended up being steamed the fish tasted pretty good after I peeled away the heavy soggy batter. The clams were ok but there was virtually no flavor to them. I was very disappointed because I was looking forward to nice crispy good tasting fish and chips and they were horrible not to mention the fact that there was a resisidual flavor of old bay, who puts old bay on fish and chips to cook them unless you choose to add that after they're cooked I like old bay but not on my fish and chips. There was no mention of old bay on the menu so I was surprised and not in a goid way. I have gone there recently for both take out and eat in and it hasn't been the best food experience so it's quite disappointing because it used to be but anytime I've been there whether if it's been to eat in or to go the common denominator seems to be poor management or lack of management and different chefs so maybe that needs to be addressed as well. I am sorry but I keep trying to give you another chance but I have the same issues quality of food ,price and service. I do love the atmosphere. I would have gone to the other places but 1 closes at 7 and the other closes at 8 but believe me when possible I will because I will get excellent fish and chips and they will never be soggy and they won't be overpriced. I will also get excellent class as well. I'm sorry I've really tried but I feel the need to stay away unless I hear that there is much...

As much as I hate writing this, as we’ve gone to Old Glory plenty of times (especially recently) this past time was possibly one of the worst experiences I’ve had at a restaurant.

First off, we ordered our drinks. One soda came out pretty gross, and when we asked for a different drink, we waited over 20 mins and had to remind the server…we can look past that.

However, dinner service was unexplainably bad and unprofessional. My date ordered a pasta dish with gluten free pasta, as they can get very sick eating gluten. This was absolutely not gluten free pasta, the one we’ve always had here. We wanted to confirm with our waitress that the pasta was gluten free, and she seemingly didn’t know what to say and nervously said it was. After telling her our concern and asking to send it back, she pretty much blew it off and told us “that she was vegan, so she understands how we can get confused.” First of all, two absolutely different scenarios. Second of all, if we were so concerned about eating a dish that could actually harm us, why try and justify anything. Why not offer another dish? Offer to take it back, especially after we asked? Whatever.

Worst part of the night was the manager…I hate having to escalate to the manager but this was a serious matter. The manager definitely took his time, as we waited a good amount of time before we even saw him. He walked up to the table as if we were bothering him, put his hands down on the table right next to our other food, and the first words out of his mouth were “So you’re Pasta Girl.” Then, he proceeds to “show us” what a pasta noodle containing gluten looks like by putting it right next to my date…mind you she can’t be near gluten let alone eat it. Again, trying to justify themselves when there’s obviously a concern, and a completely reasonable one at that. Then, winks at me and laughs like I was in on the laugh against my own date. Smart guy.

My main complaint isn’t even the obviously incorrect order. It’s the manner in which a MANAGER of all people acted. Why not just offer a new dish? Or just remake it. It’s the right thing to do. Of course we paid for the dish, regardless of not touching it, but this was probably our last visit until...