Houlihan's — Restaurant in Paramus

This place is a restaurant we used to come and eat at every now and then, it is not the best thing ever and is a 3.5 star experience. The establishment had a very good look and was very unique and for atmosphere it is a 4 out of 5. However as time went on the service got worse and worse. At one point the service became bad, this may be due to poor management. Now for food that is decent you will almost always wait over an hour to get your appetizers, the tables plates and the utensils are extremely dirty and unsanitary especially during a pandemic. Our food didn’t even come warm, it came frozen, it looked like a microwaved dinner, that wasn’t even microwaved! We also got calamari which is the best part of Houlihan's (well used to be) and is honestly quite an embarrassment, we received calamari that was not edible (no actually it was so old and spoiled that it tasted like nothing and was tough like rubber, it also had dark yellow spots looking like the mold on a piece of cheese). Now that we are done with the food let’s start with the service. One time (before the pandemic) we had a waiter that took my husbands credit card and he had to call up the manager directly to get it back. During the year of 2019 we were experiencing many problems with the staff before COVID. However after the original manager left we saw that the staff was lacking and we never got good service there again. Our last visit here we received the worst experience in a fast food restaurant yet. It was like a D grade restaurant. However this experience led us to never go back to this establishment ever again or any of the others this does not mean you should not eat at Houlihan's. It is pretty decent when it is prepared well and not lazily. I do not want anything bad to happen to this establishment, I just want improvements. Last time we went it felt like it could have been in a Kitchen Nightmares episode. Although I will probably never eat here again, I genuinely hope it gets better so that people can have a good time eating here unlike we...

My sister Gina treated me to an early lunch today at this location and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. Especially taking into account the fact that the last time we were at Houlihan's was Christmas Eve 2019 at the one in Hasbrouck Heights where our family had been regulars for many years and it totally sucked unfortunately but that is neither here nor there at this point in time. This particular lunch at the Paramus location was a whole 'nother trip and a great one in every possible way. Our server, Giselle, was personable, professional and at the very top of her game therefore she is indisputably an exemplary member of your restaurant chain who is to be commended and deserves every accolade imaginable. The overall ambience and the atmosphere in general was warm, friendly, welcoming and just plain comfortable. Even the music that was being played while we were eating was thoroughly enjoyable. As far as the food goes, my sister Gina had the Heartland Chicken Salad, which has always been one of her favorites, done her way with grilled chicken along with her own various specifications and stipulations and she loved it. I opted for the SoCal Fish Tacos, instead of my once upon a time usual Pot Roast or Buffalo Chicken Tenders, and they were nothing less than luscious. We both had unsweetened iced tea to drink and were ultimately way too full for dessert this time around but we did take an order of Shrooms to go for a family friend. After all is said and done we definitely look forward to dropping in more often and thank you kindly again to Giselle for her impeccable service and also to the rest of the staff as well. Unsolicited testimonial, folks. Cheers!✌🏼P.S. My sister Gina and I stopped in for supper this evening aka Thursday 08/07 and once again everything was absolutely delicious and on point from start to finish, not to mention a big shout-out to Antonio for his excellent service as well. Thank you, man, we...

UPDATE: I went back to treat my grandson to lunch for doing well in school. I was truly looking forward to eating there because the 4 times I've been there the meals have consistently been good. However, while the appetizers - buffalo wings and pork dumplings were great, and the ribs with fries my grandson had were great, my burger was not. Whomp, whomp so much for savoring every bite. I ordered it medium-well to ensure juiciness but the chef made it well done. I ate it because I was starving, don't like to be wasteful, and I especially don't like sending anything back to the kitchen. It was obvious our server was overwhelmed because I heard her say it to another table. She took forever to come and take care of us and a long time to bring us our water, appetizers, and food. I never expected that I would be disappointed. But lesson learned NOT to go there at lunchtime during the week.

My 2 daughters and I stopped for a quick bite. We had French onion soup, fish tacos, a chicken sandwich, and a burger. All of the food was good. The portions were perfect. My fish tacos were delicious. Our server was Brian. He made sure we were well taken care of. He kept his eye on our table to ensure we had everything we needed. He was courteous and polite. I would return on a Sunday and request to sit at one of his tables. I find that great service is very hard to find. I made a point to let him know that I appreciated how well he took care...