Jester's Dive Bar — Restaurant in Middle Township

I used to frequent this place weekly when it was Rio Station but since the new owners took over and rebranded.. I feel I've given them a fair chance and I wanted to like the place but I find myself continuously disappointed each time I go there

The good:

The remodel looks great. The openness between the bar and dining area was done well. It is now inviting and bright where as before it felt a bit stuffy and confined with the dining room and bar being divided by a wall.

The staff, as always, are friendly and pleasant. Their service is above standard and they are very attentive.

If you dine-in and catch the happy hour deals, prices are reasonable and portions are fair if not generous. It's a different story if you're paying full price for some of the menu items.

That said; The bad:

The food is a huge disappointment. They have eliminated dinner plates and instead gone with a 'small plates' way of dining where you can mix and match this or that. That's not all bad, but In doing so, they no longer serve any form of steak, which was one thing that kept me coming back. All their offerings are bar or pub-style food. I've tried a lot of their offerings and I can't say I'm impressed with ANY of them. I can get a better burger at Five Guys and for less. Their Sloppy Joes are rather basic/plain and a bit greasy; If you get the bowl, it's served topped with cheezwiz which only serves to cheapen the dish. The ribs are chewy and tough; Ribs should be falling off the bone tender, not 'need to wrestle every bite off the bone'. If you were a fan of the Motzy logs of the past (Rio Station) Don't ruin that memory with what they have now; It seems they have been using a different cheese and it's no longer the same experience it used to be.

In short, if you love a loud bar atmosphere and cheap bar food, this place is probably for you. But if you're looking for a decent, quality dinner, this place isn't what you're looking for. It has changed and sadly not...

We are locals and almost didn't try this spot because of the negative reviews... but I'm so glad we did.

People, this is a BAR. It's going to be loud. There are sportsing games on a ton of TVs. Also loud. The bartop is HUGE and there are chairs ALL AROUND it. The bartender is SLAMMED, and that is a sign of a great bar. If the reviews about how loud it is, or how long it took to get a drink dissuade you from coming here, then you probably want a chill and quiet restaurant and not a sports bar.

However, if you enjoy bars with great foods and apps, and some delicious BBQ, then ignore every review that talks about that and give this new, local spot a try. My teenager, who is a Buffalo Chicken Cheesesteak connoisseur, said this one was in his top one of two in all of Cape May. My pre-teen LOVED the Brisket Mac and Cheese (and I stole bites of his because it was SO delicious). The hubs had the brisket sandwich and I wanted to stab him with my fork and steal his. I had a salad because I'm on a stupid diet, and even THAT was yummy! Portion size is great, taste is tasty, parking is ample, and the decor is fun (especially at Christmas!).

Go during happy hour or a sportsing thing and there might be half price apps.

But good grief, do give this place a try. I know we'll be back!

UPDATE! We have been back and are still super happy! This time we tried the burnt ends, a burger, and the two pulled pork tacos! Burnt ends were super yummy!! Build your own burger was pretty good, and the pulled pork tacos were ok. Come here for the BBQ and the Brisket Mac and Cheese! Parts of the cornbread were DELICIOUS and parts were so crunchy thwy were inedible, but I'm glad...

Went in for dinner on 10/17/23 and it wasn’t busy at all. Our sever was a young girl with glasses on. I ordered an ice tea with extra lemon, she brings my ice tea with one lemon no sweetener for the ice tea. Had to ask for sweetener she has the hostess drop of two packets not a caddy with sugar like the other tables around us had. When she came to check on us how our food was I asked for another ice tea she never brought it out to me so I had to ask one of the other servers for a refill, and had to ask for more sweetner because our server choose not to bring me the sugar caddy. The other server brought it out to me quickly and was very friendly. So we sat for a while all finished our meal she never came over to us so I went to the hostess and asked if she could get our check because we were finished, the hostess was kind and said sure I told the hostess our service was awful. When I walked away from the hostess stand I noticed our server was sitting down at a table doing some side work. When she finally dropped the check she asked was there something wrong so I proceeded to tell her her service was awful and she should not neglect her customers because of side work. Our server was just miserable non personable like she hates her job. We’ve eaten here before and have never experienced such poor service. The good thing our food was...