Anton's at the Swan — Restaurant in Lambertville

Went for Valentine’s day special. The atmosphere of the restaurant is beautiful cottage-clutter core. The experience, service and food leave much to be desired.

My boyfriend and I had a reservation for 7:30pm. When we got there on time they told us our table wasn’t ready and we were asked to wait in the bar area. Not unusual, but not off to a great start. When we asked for only water at the bar they looked dissatisfied and escorted us to separate bar area that was clearly where the wait staff kept their personal belongings. There was half eaten bread, half drank wine bottle, and other random items. After 15 minutes of waiting, we started to look up other restaurants near by that had reservations available for later that night. It was tough since it was valentine’s day. At 8:02pm they finally said our table was ready. Service was exceptionally slow. It took a while for our server to introduce herself.

It was a four course prix fix meal, where you get to pick from a selection for each course. Upon further inspection of the menu, one of the courses is a salad and you don’t have an option for anything else. Pathetically, the salad was my favorite thing (besides the free bread given at the beginning).

My boyfriend has a dairy allergy. We had put that in the reservation notes and told the server when we started to order. The apps were okay, my bf liked the Korean bbq ribs. For the main I ordered swordfish which was blah and my bf got skirt steak that came with scalloped potatoes and the saddest looking broccoli and carrots. The server said NOTHING about the side possibly having dairy and still brought it to us. When he saw the potatoes he said “those look creamy” so I tried them and said they totally have dairy. We asked our server and when she came back she said “yeah, sorry unfortunately those do have dairy” and then started to walk away!!!! I had to ask her to come back and say “is there anything else you can offer him? the potatoes are half his plate.” and that’s when she said they could give him risotto. but seriously!! I had to say something or else she was just going to walk away. That is not how you should handle a mistake of that gravity. She’s lucky his allergy isn’t more severe. My bf and I both have service experience at lower end restaurants and we were baffled at how she handled the situation.

Additionally, my bf struggled cutting his steak. It was SO chewy. The table was shaking and quaking as he cut into it. I tried a bite and it was charred on the outside and chewy inside. Very bad steak.

Dessert was also laughable. My bf was certain they wouldn’t have anything dairy free, and he was right. That was one of the four courses and he couldn’t have anything!! The server offered a berry plate and he said sure. She brought the saddest bowl of blueberries with a dusting of powder sugar and rock hard biscotti. I know biscotti is usually hard, but this was next level. I wish I took pictures of anything, but I was 1) so hungry and 2) just wanted to get out of there. Everything was so slow we didn’t end up leaving until 10:30pm!! I get have a slow enjoyable dinner for vday, but this was not enjoyable so the slowness was torture.

This place used to be really nice. But lately, the service is atrocious and the food is lack luster. Save your money, go anywhere else in New Hope/Lambertville. With so many restaurant options, I don’t see why anyone would still go here. Maybe nostalgia? But I certainly will never be returning and will tell anyone and everyone to...

This review is for the Swan bar, not for Anton's restaurant at the Swan.

The Swan bar in Lambertville is an amazing space, but unfortunately the drawbacks are overwhelming. First of all, it is not handicap accessible in any way. The venue could be wonderful and is ripe for a hot vibe; however, the service and the management is the absolute worst. The staff ruined a perfectly good evening out.

The "gentleman" that "greeted" us at the door immediately gave us attitude. He had no smile, and no welcome, instead we were hit with his hostility. He treated us as if our presence was a hassle to him.

He made a big deal about everyone (all 3 of us) having to have a seat - no standing at the bar is allowed or anywhere else for that matter. By the way, I come with my own seat for I depend on a wheelchair for mobility.

As he hovered over us, we were informed several times that they have rules that customers must follow, although we weren't aware of which rules we might have been breaking. There are no rules posted, but everyone is expected to know and follow them. Some time after we arrived another friend joined us for only a few minutes. He wouldn't allow him to crouch next to us or even pull up a chair from an unoccupied table behind us. Apparently, this was one of the broken rules that put him into a tailspin.

The bar is not a private club and yet we were treated as if we were intruding at a red velvet rope line in New York City. We are a respectable group of mature friends, that have traveled extensively throughout the world and have lived in large cities, from New York to Miami; and, I can unequivocally state that none of us have ever been treated like this before.

It's a shame that a neighborhood lounge with so much potential, makes their customers feel so unwelcome. And, although we couldn't quite put our finger on why, our suspicion was that it had something to do with our group being a combination of the disabled, gay and of mixed race. I suppose it's possible that they treat all of their customers this way, but I wouldn't know as this was the first and the last time we will ever spend money...

Returned to Anton's this weekend with my husband and had another fabulous meal! The atmosphere is lovely, the staff is super friendly, and the food is impeccable. I started with a mushroom risotto that was absolutely perfect! My husband had the Ceasars salad which was very good. His entree was the buccatini pasta with grilled swordfish and the delicious pasta was topped with two perfectly cooked and generous swordfish steaks. I had the broiled queen cut pork chop served with a scrumptious Demi glaze atop a healthy smear of truffle mashed potatoes. The side of vegetables was carrots and broccoli which may seem elementary but in a world where fine dining stuffs us full of grilled asparagus, cauliflower steaks, and green beans, this was a welcome change for someone who dines out frequently. Everything was cooked to perfection! I did not care for my dessert which was the lava cake accompanied by mint chip ice cream so I sent it back and got what my husband was enjoying....the most delicious butterscotch pot de creme served with almond biscotti. The biscotti was thin and made with almond slivers and tasted like a sugar cookie and biscotti combined and it was the best either of us have ever had! Its important to note we have had access to and frequented the best Italian bakeries on the east coast our entire lives and know well what is considered to be the best biscotti around. All menu items are made at the restaurant including this biscotti. I recommended adding it to the top of the pot de creme as a crumble or serving it alone aside cappuccino for a light dessert. We did not drink from the bar beyond my Shirley temple but we had two bottles of their sparkling water which was a brand unfamiliar to me that I will seek out to have at home. We had cappuccinos with dessert that were also quite good. The prices are reasonable for elevated dining. They lowered our bill because of the dissapointing initial dessert which was unnecessary but very much appreciated. We will be back and recommend Antons...