Midland Brew House — Restaurant in Saddle Brook

I gave this place three tries and this past Saturday was final one. The first time I went to Midland Brew House was with a group of 4 people shortly after their grand opening. Upon arrival I was immediately impressed with the appearance of the building and quickly learned that's about the only thing this place has going for it. Since it was not busy we decided to sit down at the bar and order drinks and appetizers. After waiting for the bartender to catch up she took our orders and then we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally she served us our drinks, and then we played the waiting game yet again. Finally after about another half an hour our appetizers came out. (Food and drinks were on par with other brew houses so that was disappointing.) After we decided to try other drinks off their menu and found out that was a horrible idea since we waited an additional half an hour for our second round of drinks. After that not so happy first visit we decided to try again in a few more weeks so they could pan out their process seeming that the staff was new and clearly needed more training. Fast forward 2 months and we decided to give it another shot. Provided the same exact scenario with the same number of people in our group, time of evening, and current customer flow. Once again they failed miserably. We had to wait an incredible amount of time for drinks and everytime we tried to get the bartenders attention we we're either ignored or forgotten. After that we left and decided it was clearly not worth the time or money to go back. Three years goes by I and a group of friends were meeting here for birthday drinks on a Saturday night. Arrived around 10:30 and it was clearly busy seeming there was a line out the door for ID's to get checked. Not being an issue we waited and my entire party goes through except me. I was stopped and told by the bouncer that there is a "no work boot policy". I honestly thought he was joking because it was clear I didn't come in construction clothing off of a job. I quickly came to find out he was not because there were other people waiting in the entrance with the same issue. Me and total strangers were now pissed because never in our lives have we ever heard of a "no boot policy". I've heard of a no flip flops policy because of safety reasons but never this. Clearly not trying to start an issue about there unbelievable clothing policy and ruin a friends birthday I drove home and came back with sneakers on. Upon arriving again the bouncer thanked me and continued to explain that "most upscale nightclubs and restaurants don't allow work boots and that's why they inherited this policy" I would like to point out this establishment does not fall under either one of those categories. It is literally called Midland BREW HOUSE. After finally allowed to enter my group of friends and I stayed for about half an hour for one drink because we literally couldn't move because they forced everyone to stay around the bar area. This was and will be my final time my friends and I ever visit Midland Brew/Country Club/Night Club. Somebody needs to inform them they opened a BREW HOUSE in Saddle Brook New Jersey not in night club in Miami. Honestly if they end up closing up shop like Bennigan's across the street I would completely understand and...

I live in the area so this would have been a great place to frequent. But, not after the night I had last week. I had been here before with my husband because he enjoys the great selection of beers (a plus). It is a new place which needs to iron out a few kinks regarding the food. The first time I was here we ordered the zeppole for dessert. They arrived raw on the inside. No biggie, we sent them back. The next time we were here the bacon appetizer was under cooked and super fatty. Sent back. But nothing will top the night I had last week. My friend and I arrived to be greeted by a clueless hostess. There was no one in the restaurant itself and she wanted to seat us in a cramped table. I asked to be seated at a booth near the bar area. She said she had to "check" ok......strike one. The waiter arrived sick as a dog wiping his nose with his hand. My friend and I commented to him that he looked so sick. He then told us that he was, and that the manager (Hopper/Hooper) (I can't remember which name.) would not let him go home because they were short staffed. He proceeded to LEAN on our table to take our order! We then had to wait 20 minutes for our drinks which I had to get up and get myself. While the waiter stood around at the bar looking at his phone. Finally got our drinks and sat down. We wanted some water, and the waiter was no where to be found. My friend then had to get up and go to the bar to get us two waters. I then got up and asked the clueless hostess that I wanted to speak to the manager. (Hooper/Hopper) Then came over and I explained the situation to him. That I had been here before with my husband, and was not satisfied with anything that was happening that night. The little snot nose then has the nerve to say to me "Boy, you come here a lot for someone who doesn't like the place) I nearly lost it. He was arrogant and condescending to me. The biggest jerk. TOTALLY unprofessional. Who says things like that to a paying customer?? I then told him to his face that I was going to write a super negative review on Yelp... Regaining my composure I suggested that he comp us our drinks. Which he did. I am never returning to this place. They obviously do not care about their customers. My husband has been bringing clients here to try their beer selections...well, guess what.. Not anymore! There are many other restaurants in the area that we can spend my hard earned money on. Oh, and the ridiculous valet parking is a huge turn off. ps. You also cannot order food at the bar....

I was excited to try this place, but I wasn’t impressed by my experience here. The customer service wasn’t the best.

I came here on a Tuesday night with a friend and we were seated at one of the tables in the bar area. We weren’t acknowledged for some time so at that point, my friend got the attention of one of the waiters and asked him if he knew who was handling the tables in our area. The waiter responded by pointing to the bartender. At that point I asked him if we had to place our orders at the bar. The waiter then responded “yes,” but then followed up with “hold on, let me check.” He goes over to the bartender, I’m assuming to ask if he’ll come over and take our orders and I see the bartender very upset, telling the waiter no and shaking his head while looking in our direction. I immediately thought that this was rude and I already wasn’t feeling the vibe so I wanted to leave. My friend wanted to stay however, and she noticed that two bar seats were opening up so we ended up just making our way to the bar.

When we got to the bar it took awhile for the bartender to even acknowledge us. When he finally did, my friend asked him “what’s good here, what drink should I get?” The bartender responded with “no time for that tonight.” We ignored his rude response and proceeded to order our food and drinks.

In terms of the food and drinks, I did enjoy them. I ordered mozzarella sticks, an Armaretto sour, and a Moscow mule. The drinks were good, not too strong, not too light and the mozzarella sticks were very fresh.

All in all, I f you’re just looking for good food and drinks you might want to try your luck here. I probably won’t be returning though due to the lack of customer service. It’s a shame cuz this place really does have a lot of potential, it’s a beautiful venue. To me it’s not worth it to spend my money here, there are plenty of other places in Bergen County with much...