Nero's Grille — Restaurant in Livingston

We ate at this restaurant (Nero's Grille, Livingston, NJ) on a recent Saturday evening. Three of us ordered filet mignon sandwiches. On all three sandwiches, we received a huge amount of bread with 5 ounces of fat and bristle. There was nothing to eat with this platter, except for bread. Another person at the table ordered a filet mignon steak. Not one thing came with the steak. It was 37 dollars and was a tiny piece of meat on a huge plate. There was nothing else on the plate except for the marginal steak. It was a steak on a plate and not one thing came with it. So, we'd spent $37.00 for a small steak without even as much as a piece of garnish on that plate. The steak looked lost on the plate! We had to fill up on bread because we would have been hungry. The meal was hugely expensive and everything was ala carte. I normally would have not complained about the food, except for the issue that happened next! The parking attendant was apparently angry because we needed to park our car in a disability parking spot (per hang tag). The parking attendant had his own car parked in a disability parking spot and he used the other disability parking spots to valet park the patrons' cars. The parking attendant's car along with the patrons' cars did not have disability plates or hang tags; however, those cars were apparently being parked (illegally) in all the disability parking spots. There were no other available disability parking spots except for those that the attendant was using illegally. There are huge fines for this in NJ.! The restaurant has a large parking lot. There was no reason for this. After eating, we came out to the parking lot and saw that our car was strategically wedged in such a way -- we almost couldn't get our car out of the parking spot. We had only a few inches in the front and rear sections, so that maneuvering out of the spot was nearly impossible. The valet person was sleeping in his car while we struggled. His car was wedged against ours. And his car was still parked in the disability spot directly in front of ours -- his car had our car wedged in while he slept in his car! His car was blocking ours in such a way, that we struggled greatly to get our car out of the spot. The other disability spots were filled with patrons' cars that he apparently valet parked in those disability spots. There were no available disability spots because of this situation. We also saw that one of our tires was completely flat -- like a pancake! The flat was apparently due to the fact that someone had let all the air out of our rear passenger tire. The tire that was flattened was clearly out of sight as the car was wedged in with little visibility. We live 90 minutes away and luckily we have AAA. We needed to make an emergency service call to have AAA add air into this tire in order to drive home. How dangerous! The next day, a tire specialist looked at the tire and said that the flat was apparently due to nothing except for the air being eliminated. There were no nails or punctures, or leaks of any kind. The tire has been fine for weeks now. I spoke with a restaurant manager the night we'd eaten there and I spoke with another manager the next day. They assured me that the owner of the restaurant would contact me. To date, this has not happened! Stay away from this restaurant! The food is lousy and over-priced, and there's illegal activity going on in their...

Nero’s in Livingston is just around the corner from my home, within extremely easy walking distance. I’ve patronized the warm and charming Nero’s bar for over five years – and for very good reasons! Not only is the bar convenient, but they feature an extraordinarily FANTASTIC happy hour 3:30 – 6pm, Monday through Friday. Drinks are deeply-discounted and the food fare (particularly the oysters) is outstanding! On the whole, the place is very well-run, with certain bartenders truly exceptional. Eloy particularly stands out as an HONEST, always-friendly, attentive, and superbly professional bartender.

Regrettably, a service issue surfaced just before Christmas that management refused to address for me. In the grand scheme of things my grievance was minor (the cost of one drink) – but nevertheless, it was an annoyingly distasteful problem that has repeatedly occurred with the same server. Moreover, in my five years of Nero’s visits and dealing with dozens of different bartending staff, this same problem has ONLY occurred with this one person. Can you imagine that? No one else has unfairly overcharged me even once. In the end, I found the most recent repeated episode of the same problem so glaringly hurtful that I felt obliged to vote with my feet and so I won’t be back.

My heartfelt suggestion to the on-line community is that Nero’s patrons should meticulously examine how their bill is handled. Although I believe most everyone would enjoy this wonderfully classic and cozy bar, I can’t help but caution that if you consider yourself a principled person and hope to rely on Nero’s management for help addressing a problem the way that I did, you may (sadly) find yourself...

We are regulars going twice a month for dinner and I go with friends for lunch often. The food is great, the servers are great, Jeannine makes everyone feel at home. I always request a window table. They say they can't guarantee. We are a familiar face. We really enjoy it. One manager (luann) who is often at the hostess station and never ever looks up ignores our requests and sits us in the worst tables. 2 weeks ago we asked for a particular table. We were not seated there. It was vacant the entire time we were there. Turns out it "was reserved". Real double standard.I've never even spoken to her but it seems personal. After several years of this I'm disgusted. Certain people somehow get reserved tables. There are also empty window tables while we're eating and we're against the wall. I don't expect special service although some people get that. 2 weeks ago the head manager, I think Dan, was there and luann smiled and waved at us when we left because he was standing next to her. If luann responds I hope she explains the double standard because at this point I'm really disgusted.

Dan your response is greatly appreciated however there is favoritism and tables are reserved. It's very clear. The times we have been seated with the waiter Eloi are rare. The first attempt to seat us I refuse always as it's insulting. I honestly don't know what I want to do. Like I said, it feels personal. I would like my dining experiences stress free. And Luann absolutely ignores us. Except last time when...