Echo Tap & Grille — Restaurant in Mountainside

On Saturday January 4, 2025 my friends and I dined at Echo Tap and Grill for dinner. We were a party of 6 hoping to have a delicious meal and a good time. We arrived a little after 6:30 pm and were seated within minutes of arriving at table # 1. The dinner service truly did start out rather pleasantly. Veronica S. was our server and she took our drinks and appetizer order rather promptly. The appetizers were served within a reasonable amount of time. Veronica then took our dinner order down and we proceeded to enjoy the appetizers. Our dinner experience started to crumble the moment our entrees came out and we noticed that one of the entrees (the medusa burger) was missing altogether. Rather than owning and addressing the error (the burger order was placed), our server and all of the associating staff who helped deliver the food to the table (other servers and wait staff) abandoned us altogether. We innocently assumed that the burger would come out promptly so we lingered and delayed eating, but after about 6 minutes of just waiting… we realized that no one (not Veronica nor any of the other staff who helped deliver the food to the table) were returning to explain what happened to the burger. After an additional 7 or 8 minutes, Veronica approached the table and we had to bring it to her attention that the medusa burger continued to be MIA. We also brought it to her attention that a churrasco that had been ordered to be served at medium well was in fact medium rare and if she could please have the steak cooked for a little bit longer. Veronica took the steak and disappeared for another 7 to 8 minutes (so now we have two missing entrees…the medusa burger and the churrasco that was undercooked) only to return once more and say that the kitchen was backed up and that the steak and burger would be out soon. After some time, the steak was returned to the table but not much had changed in regards to the doneness of the meat which was disappointing. I think at this point we were just happy to get one of the entrees back to the table. After about another 30 minutes, I finally walked over to a staff member who appeared to be a manager to share our concern for our missing burger to which she responded “a well-done burger takes extra time to cook.” At this point, I was livid…mind you I was patient, calm, and never disrespectful to the staff, Veronica, or the manager, I do believe my demeanor was visibly displeased and disgruntled (can you blame me) but I surely was not rude to them in any manner or made any kind of public display… but yes, I was livid because the dining experience had been ruined, no one acknowledged the mistake, no one took ownership, we continued to sit at our table abandoned, absolutely ignored, no water for the table, no removal of plates, and at this point Veronica and the manager both appeared to avoid our table altogether. When we finally received our missing burger, we had to ask for the manager to please come to the table to help remediate the dining experience and her snarky reply was “well the burger is at the table now.” Seeing that we were visibly upset and caught off guard by her mocking response she did offer to remove the appetizers and burger from our bill and though I suppose this was a gesture to alleviate the dreadful experience…I can’t help but be livid because this was an absolutely unwarranted, awful dining experience. I am leaving this review in hopes that the staff at Echo Tap and Grill take a moment to improve their table side manner…I recommend you acknowledge your guests, own your mistakes, validate your guests’ experience and recognize that they matter…unfortunately, we will not be dining at Echo Tap and...

Just got home from a dinner here and I have never had such an awful dining experience. First and foremost sitting down at the table we had zero cell phone service. We have a 3 & 5 year old so to enjoy a meal we need some sort cell phone entertainment. Ask the waiter for the WiFi password and they don't have WiFi? What? You have 6 security cameras in the dining room and don't have WiFi? You are lying. Now trying to entertain my 2 kids which I didn't bring enough entertainment bc I thought I could give them my phone. They also told my husband to view the tap beer menu on his phone...ok with what?!!?

One daughter's food comes out 10 minutes before my other daughter's food. Now my other daughter is whining asking where her food is. Food for everyone else eventually comes out. My husband's food is warm at best.

He finally goes to ask for the manager and the manager points his finger to another gentleman (maybe the owner). Apparently there was no WiFi bc they got hacked. Sooooo did you also block cell phone service from your restaurant using a faraday cage? There was service right outside their restaurant. He offers my husband ONE milkshake for both my girls. Okayyyy that won't be a fight. At this time he also tells him we only have 2 napkins for 4 people and no napkins were ever brought over. When kids are involved you should be given a stack of paper napkins!

Waiter now comes over and asks if everything is okay. We expressed our concerns and made it known that it was not his fault. Owner (?) comes over and offers now 2 ice creams for my girls. That was the last time we saw our waiter. Legit disappeared.

Finally we were waiting 15-20 minutes and I couldn't entertain my girls any longer. I had to put their coats on and take them outside. This was after my husband was standing in the lobby for 10 minutes waiting for someone to acknowledge him. Owner (?) finally sees him and asks my husband if he is ready for the ice cream. No sir my children are already in the car. We just want our boxes and check. He ended up comping our meal bc there was negative attention being brought his way. What an awful, awful experience. Never again.

PS The bathroom had no heat! Why? My poor children were freezing when they had to go to...

⚠️VIOLATED FOOD SAFETY STANDARD & GUIDELINES⚠️

Okay. So this place has all the bells and whistles; speaking in terms of amenities and what not. However, the portion sizes are next to nil . . .; well not as bad as Bone Fish! The staff was better than just "okay". The dishes lack seasoning but guess that is not a problem if those dining are "serenaded" by jumbo televisions locked to the latest sport match or the alcoholic beverages being served upon request.

Complaint by one who dined at this location: "This place is out of rice and alcohol . . . .You know it is a problem when you are out of rice and alcohol!" So true, and we concur!

■A Quyloon Reese Report on Experiences & Custom (QR-REC)®:

⚫Food: 10/100 -❌Fine hair strand found in coleslaw, which really deserves 0 points but was a side order/dish❌

⚫Portion to Cost Ratio: 45/100

⚫Comfortable: 55/100 -Good for a group size of 4 or less but gets very tight for 8+, especially if you are sitting at the end of the table like we were

⚫Hospitality (Staff): 95/100 -It took a while for a person to get the most simplest dish (if we can call it that); a grilled cheese sandwich that was, in the one dining own words, "Good but was not THAT spectacular for the wait!" (with a chuckle) Yet, the server kept apologizing, which won sympathy from the said review panel that has been taken very seriously internationally -Ava did an amazing job and was very seasoned; also the greeters were very cordial . . . Job well done for that Echo Tap & Grille team!

⚫Clean: 55/100 (including restrooms) -Left stall was unusable and borderline unsanitary . . . Personally, we were grossed out! -Though, we praise this venue for having a semi-full, easily accessible large sanitizer bottle for everyone's use. We thank you for that and trying your best to keep our communities safe!

Overall Score: 260/500 [52%; ⚠️VIOLATED FOOD SAFETY STANDARD & GUIDELINES⚠️ Please see our reason(s) for such stated...