Christopher's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in New Brunswick

BEWARE! This restaurant is under new management with a completely different menu which has little resemblance to what you will find on their website or others. This review seems to be the first since 2020, and I think it is safe to ignore any reviews before 2022. Big changes for a little restaurant with no public notice. (There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for not having an updated menu on their website!)

BEWARE that menu options did are not that many. Of the three (3? - Really!) appetizers on the menu, one was not available and the other was a basket of fries (which is hardly an appetizer!) Entree choices were just similarly limited to 3 different salads. pizza, or burgers (served with those "appetizing" fries!) That's it. What we ordered was good, but with few options.

BEWARE that I and some others before me found the chairs to be less comfortable for eating than for lounging. They are probably great chairs for a bar, but a poor choice for a restaurant. (I usually eat closer to the table.)

BEWARE that our service was provided solely by one bartender who had no other assistance. He mostly did an adequate job, despite being overtaxed. For a burger joint, it was certainly not "fast" food. Had the restaurant been busier, I'm not certain that the service would have been at all satisfactory.

BEWARE that a 18.5% gratuity is automatically added to your bill without any mention of that fact on the menu. That amount is not unreasonable, but it seems unfair not to make customers aware of this policy before ordering.

I would have awarded 4 STARS on the basis of the food quality alone, which is the main feature I want in a restaurant. We had garlic parmesan chicken wings for an appetizer and burgers for our entrees. (I'll bet you could have guessed that from the menu options.) The chicken was quite tasty, but a little tough and dry. The burgers were tasty, succulent, and cooked precisely to our preference (medium and rare.) Those "appetizing" fries were good, too.

The LOCATION, close to the State Theatre, is another plus for this little restaurant, but in all fairness there are many other great dining options just a short walk away.

Finally, BEWARE that Christopher's no longer honors dining certificates sold in their name through Restaurants.com. The manager informed me with a an apology, but with no offer to comp any part of our meal, even the iced tea. I expected better treatment than that, but I didn't actually press him on it further. The dining certificate was one reason I chose this restaurant, and I will probably choose a different one next time.

BOTTOM LINE, if you are looking for a good burger or simple salad, this is not a bad spot for a bite and a drink before catching a show at the State Theatre. Just don't...

Our dinner was just awful. We made a reservation for a Wednesday night at the restaurant for 6 people. We arrived and the restaurant was closed so we had to sit in the bar. The server had no idea a table of 6 was coming in. It was at least 10 minutes before our server came over. We ordered drinks and food at the same time.

The tuna tar tar was ok. Unremarkable but nothing bad about it. The mushroom bisque was fine. The charcuterie board was woefully overpriced ($15) for what we got.

For entrees we got one salmon, one pasta, two steaks, one cheesesteak and one burger. The salmon and pasta were fine. The two steaks came out cold with a big slice of butter on top, which was not melted, because the meat (and plates) were cold. The cheesesteak was nearly inedible as the bread was so hard that it could not be bitten into. The burger was asked to be cooked medium and came out nearly raw - after it was cut there was blood all over the bottom or the plate and the bun was blood soaked. We sent the steaks back to be heated and the burger back to be refired. The burger came back rare, but at that point we saw no point in sending it back a second time. The accompaniments that came with the cheesesteak (onion rings) and burger (sweet potato and regular fries) were the bright spot in this bleak meal.

The manager came out with apologies as did the server. To her credit the server seemed overwhelmed but very pleasant.

I do not know if the quality in the restaurant is better but I cannot stress enough to stay away from the bar. Coming here will be a complete waste of money and you will, very likely,...

My first time going was today for the start of restaurant week to celebrate a friends birthday. Although there was only one woman working the bar and trying to take care of tables alone (she was very pleasant and was doing her best) I still enjoyed my time there. I must say the special three course meal was outstanding for restaurant week. The roasted pear and arugula flatbread was outstanding and should be added to the regular menu. The entree was great and the crème brûlée dessert was exceptional. Chef Shannon came out to talk to us as we were the first customers for restaurant week to try the special menu items. He created the dishes and we let him know everything was delicious. My only complaint was they needed more staff on hand to be able to keep up with the amount of patrons.Someone finally came to assist the young lady who was working alone but she could have used two additional people when they opened. will prolly b bck again before the week is over for the special before it’s...