The Linden Hotel — Restaurant in Linden

This is a difficult review for me to write but I feel it's needed. A very close friend and I decided to have dinner at the Linden Hotel a few weeks ago. I've lived in the Linden area since 2001 and over the years I've enjoyed dinner here numerous times. Overall the food and service has always been good. I hadn't eaten here in a while and wanted to show my friend who lives an hour away a local landmark so to speak. My friend ordered a hamburger and I ordered a nacho and asked for chicken rather than beef. After a longer than normal wait our food arrived and our waitress placed our plates on the table. Before I noticed it myself she said my nacho had beef in it, not the chicken I had requested. She then asked me if that was ok? To be perfectly honest here I was so hungry I told her beef would be ok but I typically don't eat red meat. So, it didn't look or taste very appetizing to me and in retrospect I should have sent it back to the kitchen. To make matters worse it lacked flavor, seasoning, and love. My friend told me her burger was not very good either. So yes I should have sent the nacho back but regardless the food didn't look very appetizing anyways and lacked flavor. It didn't taste fresh. I love the historic feel and charm of The Linden Hotel but I'm very disappointed in the food and service I recently experienced. I was also embarrassed that I chose to bring my friend there. I sincerely hope that some improvements are made because I fully support local businesses, especially ones like The Linden Hotel that are historic icons. Crossing...

Just had lunch today, ordered regular burger MEDIUM RARE with the toppings on the side and a side salad with ranch. Salad was good, ranch was excellent, the burger came out bleeding juice, so RARE, biting into the meat it did not seem even warm. I asked the server to fix the problem and she said it did not look on the rare side to her, I asked again to correct the issue of the meat not being properly cooked to MEDIUM RARE, I had put mayo, onion and tomato on my burger and had taken 1 bite out of it. The server took my plate and burger back to the kitchen, she returned back to my table and put the SAME BURGER and plate down in front of me and said we just put back on the grill for you, I was expecting my burger to be cooked over again and replaced. I bit into the burger again and it was almost as RARE as it was before and dark red juices ran out it as I took a bite! This is the third time I have eaten there where the food was not correctly cooked, sometimes over done, sometimes under done. I have never had a food order re-cooked and not replaced in my life....

An impressive remake of an old landmark I have been familiar with since the early 1960's. They may not have a summer picnic on the Linden Sportsman's grounds or rent seven rooms out on the second floor-but there is still something of a by-gone era mystic that embraces the visitor with a warm welcome. Yes, things have changed. The upper level is now one of the better sports bars and gathering places the area has to offer for adults. Both upper and lower levels offer the same menus of great tavern style food that won't disappoint most appetites. There are no longer fist fights, pool tables, or legendary drunkards from forty years ago, just good intentioned folks waiting to make your acquaintance. This place has evolved over the years into one of the city's better assets. No longer a neglected meeting place for the locals alone, but a wonderfully inviting destination suitable for...