Vesper Tavern — Restaurant in Newark

I was very skeptical about coming here because of all the bad reviews.

The issues that were at hand were service, food, price and advance payment.

The service - she greeted me as I sat down and brought me a paper menu. She was very nice and pleasing. She checked on me after I had eat a little bit. I don't like it when they come to quickly, give me a chance to taste it all.

The food - I had the filet mignon, sweet potato fries and caeser salad. The steak was cooked to my liking and tasty. The fries were not overcooked, they were good and the salad was good, it would be really bad to screw up a salad.

Advance payment - I had a talk with her first about this. First I asked if all these restaurants pay upfront and she said yes. I already read about that in reviews from other places. Then I give my thoughts on upfront tipping. How am I supposed to grade my tip without the experience?? She was very open to my complaint and kindly said it was ok to hit $0 for the tip. She never copped an attitude with me. I chose to go ahead and tip and deal with that as needed. It seems that it is what it is if you want a meal from a place like that. And the price is gonna be high... it's airport food.

I will give credit where it's due, trust me, I've received some horrible service at places and the manager wiped my bill. So I will be...

Impossible to place an order. You absolutely 100% have to order through your phone. It’s Newark Airport and it’s packed. I took a seat at the bar as all tables are taken and asked the bartender to order and they stated you had to use your phone. Zero cell service and zero Wi-Fi. I begged the guy to just place an order and he said he couldn’t. One of the staff let me use her Wi-Fi hotspot which again didn’t work because low data mode (can’t get a signal). Another bartender tried to do it on his phone and it couldn’t load so I told the man I’m going to sit here for 2 hours until my plane comes which I did. What a horrible establishment. AFTER 1 HOUR OF TRYING I GOT FOOD IN THE CART AND IT TIMED OUT!!!! You cannot place an order in a restaurant! AVOID!!!!! This is a restaurant full of people who cannot help you. You may as well be a ghost. In addition I later found out that when you tip it goes to the company and then the comply decides who it goes to with zero accountability. You cannot leave money or transact in any way with the staff it’s all on the company through the phone so zero accountability. I am willing to bet a class action lawsuit will appear with stolen tips. This is the worst establishment I’ve ever...

Worst service we have ever experienced. The two bartenders were busting their butts, and so was the manager. The huge bar was completely filled, and they received NO help from the lazy servers. When we asked them for help, they would ignore us, pretend like they acknowledged us but never return with what we asked for, OR looked extremely bothered that we had asked for a refill or a side of ketchup. The grill guys were doing a GREAT job getting food out fast, but the food was SITTING on the counter for SEVERAL MINUTES with servers walking past it and not helping! The poor manager was running all of the food, and didn't have any help. The wings were terrible, but the burger was great. Way over priced, but that's expected in an airport. Thank God my husband and I had a long lay over, otherwise we would have waited past our flight for our drinks and food. It's a shame because the set up of the bar/restaurant has such potential. All the guests we were sitting near we heard complaining, and then even guests sitting at tables had to walk up to the bar area to ask for things they needed! I've worked in restaurants when I was younger, and I usually give people the benefit of the doubt... but WOW... this place was...