Clydz — Restaurant in New Brunswick

First and foremost, we went here with the intention of having 15+ people come, and they all did, but some people were late with traffic, it was around 7 pm on a Thursday 5/3/12. The reason we went here was for my wifes birthday, and a friends graduation! It was going to be a great time with great friends, at least we thought.

Everything was great when my wife and her friend and I got there. Many of the group had already been at the bar having drinks, which were very good, and a few appetizers. Most of us have been there multiple times in the past as well, and I can't speak for everyone, but the following turn of events will keep me and I'm sure some others out of there.

We were seated, there were about 10 of us at the table, with more expected and en route. The 10 were pretty hungry so we asked our waiter if we could order food. Great, no problem. We ordered, 8 of us ordered some food and 2 were not planning to stay and eat so they did not. Immediately after placing our order, things turned south. Immediately we could see our waiter was making faces, and talking to other waiters at the waiter stand/ordering station spot right at the front of the dining area. I noticed this, but brushed it off as it is their job as service industry employees to take care of us, the customer.

A few minutes later, a manager or someone I presume to be a manager comes and takes my wife (the birthday girl) aside and tells her that they wanted to take some of our tables which were currently empty away and use them for "other guests" mind you, there was NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN LINE to be seated, and the bar area had dramatically cleared out from the happy hour crowd. We were all a little dumbfounded. This rubbed us the wrong way, and once the waiter came back to our table and began a discussion with my wife about the issue, everything took a final turn for the worst. not only did he sit there and defend his actions rather then apologize, he went into a long conversation about how other guests had to be turned away because of our reservation, and how it is expected that everyone in the party order food, mind you we had all had at least 1 or 2 drinks by this time. When we placed the reservation it was never stated to us that we must all order food, and all be there on time. I do understand that we could have tried to round up everyone at an appropriate time but that is not all under out control. If everyone in the party is expected to order an entree, tell us over the phone when booking!

At this point we all decided that this was enough, the birthday girl cried and that was not how a birthday should be! All of us left and took our business to another establishment within walking distance and had a fantastic time with no restrictions nor requirements on ordering.

Needless to say, I will never go back to Clydz for / with a dinner reservation, probably not for drinks either. Booker/party...

I have been a patron of Clydz since 2006 and have spent thousands of dollars at their establishment. When family and friends come to visit I always take them there to try something different... those are the reasons why it pains me to write this review.

When my fiancee and I were considering venues for our engagement dinner we instantly thought of Clydz. We had one of our first dates at Clydz and spent numerous New Years there as well so it was a special place for us. We started planning and reached out regarding a party of 20 - 30 people. We contacted them regarding their party menu and a date that we had in mind. We were told by a manager on duty that the first option of $33 per person would not be available on a Friday or Saturday and that it would only be possible to do on a Sunday. Fine, let's do it on Sunday...

We were excited that we had our venue and proceeded to send out invitations to our guests. We called back after we received our RSVP's to give them a final head count. We spoke to a gentleman who also asked us if we wanted to choose our appetizers at that time. We told him what we wanted and he politely recommended we skip the rabbit confit... we chose another side and he told us that we were all set for the date. Perfect!

Last night we called in to make sure that everything was good to go and spoke with the manager on duty. To our surprise she told us that the kitchen is not open on Sundays for dinners and that she can recommend other venues... she also admitted that "we dropped the ball on this one". We were shocked and speechless. Three days before our dinner they tell us that they are cancelling. We spoke to at least four different employees regarding this dinner and no one told us that they don't host parties on Sunday. Their party menu clearly says that they do and we were told by a manager that the only day that we can get the first menu was a Sunday... complete lack of training and communication between staff and management. How can you advertise a Sunday party menu, confirm that we can only do it on Sunday, and then ruin our dinner three days before? It's quite sad and embarrassing on their part. If you plan on having a special day at Clydz with a large group I would highly reconsider... we wouldn't want this to happen to you.

12 years and thousands spent... our bill for the engagement dinner would have easily exceeded $1,000.00 as well. You've lost a customer for life... but more importantly, you lost...

I dined at Clydz this past Saturday.. it was my wide and I, and two close friends.

My friends had to return her chicken entrée, because it was not fully cooked. My wife order a Filet Mignon and she requested it to be Medium well. Upon her cutting into the steak around the edge, there was a little pink. But she said she's continue on. Upon her 2nd cut, it got very pink. So I decided to trade dishes with her since I can do Medium. Mind you, my burger lacked any type of flavor profile, so THAT wasn't good either. I continued to cut into the steak, and as I got to the middle, it's damn fully rare. On top of it also lacking in any flavor. By time I had to send that dish back as well.

I will say that the service is TOP NOTCH, our waitress and the manager were extremely attentive, and apologetic and I can tell they wanted to make it right. They offered us the ability to order another entrée, and we selected the from the special which was spicy rigatoni. By that time our appetite was shot, and I really hate to say it, but even that dish was just ok. But as I mentioned, 5/5 for the service from the manager and our server.

My wife came here over the holidays for a work function and she ordered the Bolognese, and she mentioned that too just wasn't so good.

I'm pretty surprised at the amount of high reviews this place gets. Either everyone is sugar coating a lot, or there are a lot of easily satisfied people. One reviewer mentioned that they mainly go there for the drinks! That I can believe and agree with, as the drinks are the one thing, along with the service, that are the two redeeming qualities of this place. I truly feel the issues are in the kitchen. The food is extremely average, and apparently way over-rated!!

I am by no means a picky eater, or an overly critical person. Give me something that tastes good, in a hole in the wall joint, and I'm happy. Their grilled Shrimp dish that comes with Gigante beans doesn't even look appetizing. What an odd pairing, and the shrimp themselves looked dry (my friends wife ended up ordering that to replace her...