Barnsboro Inn — Restaurant in Mantua Township

I have travelled to a good number of historic inns and taverns along the East Coast so I'm always excited to try new places. Barnsboro Inn was on the list of stops and so we made the journey north to see and experience New Jersey's oldest tavern. The bar was packed on a weekend day, which was nice to see. The dark and dingy interior had the feel of a comfy dive bar, with lots of neon and alcohol advertisements, but not so much an establishment that is interested in expressing its historic roots. We ate in the secondary bar because it was quite crowded in the main bar. The food was traditional tavern food. I saw a steak on the menu, but our waitress warned me away from it, given she said she gets complaints about its small size. Crisis averted. I decided to play it safe and go for the burger, parmesan wings, and French Onion soup. Everything was good, but I didn't find anything remarkable. The beer list however featured local breweries and that was quite good! I walked around a little bit, and despite it being an historic property, it just didn't feel like it carried its age well. You look for nostalgia in these instances, but instead I found a rather gaudy Christmas tree in their main dining room, and when I asked the hostess if they had anything (like a brochure) on the history of the inn, I was told they didn't. It would be a nice touch, considering some people are interested in the age of the tavern to have this information handy, or at least to educate the staff on the finer points for history buffs like myself. I've ventured to a number of taverns that provide small handouts. Otherwise, the staff was friendly, and you can tell that this is a place well beloved of the local clientele and lots of regulars who knew the staff by name...

I had a good time at the Barnsboro Inn in Sewell, NJ. The building itself has a charming, winding layout, but it was a little confusing at first figuring out where to go to be seated. We eventually made our way to the patio area, which appears to be under construction — not sure how long it's been that way. We were seated near the road, and while there are bushes to help block the view, the traffic noise was noticeable at times.

For food, we ordered the wings, the Barnsburner Burger, and the tortellini. Luke, our server, was excellent — friendly and attentive throughout. I was surprised that the wings only came with six; I was expecting ten, so it would be helpful if the menu clearly stated the portion size. The Barnsburner Burger felt a bit basic for something named after the restaurant itself. I ended up adding lettuce, tomato, and onion (LTO), which wasn’t clearly indicated as included or optional.

The tortellini was very good, though it came in a red sauce, despite the menu mentioning a blush sauce. That said, the flavor was solid, and I still enjoyed it. We ended the meal with a slice of carrot cake, which was excellent — moist, flavorful, and a nice way to finish the evening.

Overall, I'd consider coming back. The food was good, the service was great, and despite a few quirks, it's definitely worth a try. It’s not setting the world on fire, but it’s a respectable spot...

Awful dinner experience at the Barnsboro Inn. 4 for dinner tonight. 3 filets ordered Med rare came out medium well x 2 and well x1. Asked to take back. They came back to say 20 minutes. We questioned it. That seemed too long for filet. She said they were thick. We saw them. They weren’t that thick. So then they came out and said 10 more minutes. Longer than 10 min and no food so we said forget it, we want our check. We got multiple excuses small grill, busy, thick steaks. So then a different waitress came out with a bag and the check. We said what’s this. She said your food. We said we didn’t want it. It went downhill from there. The 3 steaks were on the bill. When I complained she said here it is. We said we didn’t want it. We asked for manager/owner and were told he went home and we called him and he said to do this. I said you people know nothing of customer service or service recovery. At that point Nick the head chef came out and accused us of being loud, belligerent and to quiet down. We weren’t loud. We paid just to get out of there. $200 and 3 of us didn’t get an entree. Nick then followed us out the door and onto the porch where he hurled insults at us and goaded us. Then cursed at us. And told us 2 of the steaks were fine and he has pictures to prove it. WHAT AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE. TOTALLY CLASSLESS and NO...