Acacia — Restaurant in Lawrence Township

Qualifiers: Dined here very recently for dinner on a Saturday night. I search rather surgically for quality BYOB restaurants. I do not believe I can easily find a good one, as is commonly the position of most people dining in local suburbs. I strongly dislike franchise dining, including Season's 52 and other pretend high-end restaurants. If you've ever dined in Manhattan (particularly in Lower Manhattan, SoHo, the Village, etc.) then you've likely had an extraordinary dining experience (and paid for one too). So, I guess I'm trying to say that I a not easily impressed or pleased with restaurants of any caliber, in any location. These experiences don't make me an expert, but they do make me someone with high standards and a sincere appreciation for an extraordinary restaurant experience. And those are extraordinarily difficult to find in any given local town setting.

Atmosphere and Decor Dimly-lit, but not especially memorable beyond that. But then, I don't think of that is a bad thing. Makes me think the food will be the hero. But they do a nice job making the space cozy and inviting.

Service and Hospitality Very friendly people. Being greeted, to seated to served - were all well-done. They didn't clear the table after each course, nor crumb or remove unwanted or other items no longer in use, but again, I am used to this outside NYC, so I don't hold it against Acacia that they didn't prebus the table or keep our surfaces clean and tidy. I will add however that this is an easy opportunity for a suburban restaurant to "pop" a bit by comparison to others of this caliber and category. I never see my table crumbed and cleared passionately at any BYOB outside, again, of Manhattan. Seems like a great and simply way to stand out amid a crowded field of competing restaurants. Give it a go, Acacia!

Food and Presentation Food was good, but only good. Plating was disappointing. The food lacked strong, pronounced flavors, color and aesthetic style. the plates were dark green or brown, I could not tell in the moody lighting. But this plates were very dark, which I found odd - and always have when used - because the hero really should be the food. Plating food is an art for certain and among the background of a dark, rustic plate, the food disappeared into its background. This approach to presentation made the food disappear and become rather anonymous. Add to that the flavors and colors were both underwhelming, and the dark choice in plates, combined with a lack of creativity plating, and one is left with a forgettable dish.

I'd recommend white plates. I love the idea of negative space and there just wasn't any. Apple is a brilliant brand for many reasons, but among the biggest is their design. They place their product centered on white space - or what in design is commonly known as negative space. Acacia's dishes deserve their day in court and they are lost on dark places. The food is the centerpiece. Let's give it a stage worthy of your efforts.

Conclusion This restaurant loves food. I can tell. They take restauranting and food seriously. I suspect that I caught them on an off night. I believe this spot is owned and run by a husband and wife team, which I adore the thought of. That means they care. Why on earth do this as a married couple otherwise? But my presentation and flavors fell short. I'll come back to give them another shot, but for me, my visit was ordinary. And while ordinary isn't the same as bad or terrible, it is synonymous with average and there is no way the owners want to be thought of as that. I'll be back! Put the love on the plate...

First time dining here & first time dining out in months, granted it was outside, and will most likely become the norm. Its a shame.... Everyone is scared literally to death, not just by actually catching the virus, but businesses must be extremely careful and follow stringent guidelines to remain open, staff are under more pressure. These are not things I thought about in the moment but looking back while we at carefree. I've been on the other side the server making sure everyone was happy and satisfied. I lived in the general area most of my life, and Acacia was AMAZING, serivce was excellent, the food all well prepared and presentation was perfect. For the first time in months going out and sitting down to eat, felt surreal. They were well prepared, as the server said they were open a few nights prior to, but one night were at the mercy of the weather. To sit with great company and enjoy a fantastic meal is one of the little things in life I took for granted. I hope to see all these restaurants that were not able to remain open during the "midevil" lockdown, Able to open and prosper. I encourage everyone to go out to a restaurant you've never been to. I apologise for the rant I wish I could post it as a general review. At Acacia the staff was eager to get back to what they do best, I couldn't see behind the masks but could tell they smiled at some points were genuinely happy to be back at work. Food was perfect, we had calamari as a appatizer, which had a little spice that added the perfect essence to the dish. One had ordered the softshell which was also extremely delicious. As an entree I order the Mahi Mahi, it had a gentle char on the outside which I love and still retained a moist center. Others had ordered the salmon dish, which they actually took a temperature on and advised them med well, and was perfect for their liking. Extremely juicy and cooked perfectly. Lastly was an order of the Skirt Streak ordered med-rare and cooked exactly to what med rare should be. Suffice to say nothing was left on the plates. I had the dessert with the blueberry compote (all I could remember in reference to the dish it was the special), I took a chance on it and was sold mostly by the compote, which was extremely delicious as was the rest of the dessert, I'm also not one to try "different desserts" I usually adhere to canoli or maybe mint ice cream. Others and I apologise for forgetting the names of the dishes was like a chocolate pudding, looked like a texture of mousse, but was a pudding, which I didn't get to try but heard nothing but compliments. From service to plate to presentation to professionalism everything was an A+, I recommend highly! I will be back as although it seems as if they are just getting going again and didn't have a full menu would love to return in a month or two to see what else is offered. Definitely stop by Acacia and other local restaurants, they need our support, and hate to see such great places disappear after many years due to a...

I have eaten and enjoyed the food at Acacia many years before the current reviewers even have a basis to comment! The food and presentation in the past were great! I ate there tonight with my family and if I being honest the food and service was terrible! I left over an entire entre minus one bite and no one bothered to ask what was wrong! The food is terrible! I definitely support small businesses and very much would have loved to have positive things to say about an old favorite restaurant of mine. The experience and oblivious lack of care on a celebratory Saturday night is inexcusable. I do appreciate Lauren immediately responding and offering her number to discuss but I don’t see the point. I don’t want anything for free and it’s not the reason that I provided negative feedback. I just think that any decent chef should taste the food that they serve prior to letting it be served to patrons. Acacia used to be a great place with caring and extremely attentive staff. We all ordered different entrees and each were pretty bad . Some slightly better than others but all were sub par. My dish was worse than anything that I could have ordered in an average diner. It’s sad that the pandemic has caused this level of struggle for restaurants to maintain quality with the rising costs of food. I truly wish the new owners future success. The recipe for that is to keep the quality high, but better ingredients and charge a little more for them. People who care about good food will not object to paying more...