Stage House Tavern — Restaurant in Scotch Plains

The outside bartenders were rude. We chose to go because they have an outside bar and looked to have a good atmosphere. However, last night me and my wife sat at the outside bar and didn't have a good experience. To start, the bartender serving us did not smile the entire night and made me and my wife feel like we were troubling her. Initially, I ordered a beer and my wife a regular margarita. When ordering the margarita with Jose Cuervo, which they did not have. My wife then asked for the brands they have. The woman behind the counter appeared annoyed, did not make eye contact, and stumbled through the brands. My wife, not being a big drinker and not knowing all the brands, didn't hear anything familiar. When explaining this to the bartender, all we received is a blank face (literally - absolutely nothing). My wife took a guess and chose one. Not that this is a big deal, but this attitude got worse. The next round, because my wife was not overly satisfied with her drink, decided to order a Chipotle margarita. She chose it because she ordered the same drink at Texas Roadhouse on Hwy22 about a month ago and loved it. Unfortunately, it was not the case this time. That said, she caught the bartender's attention and asked her to exchange it back to the regular margarita. While she was making the new drink the bartender complained to a fellow bartender. This was made apparent when the bartender she was talking to looked over at us while she was talking to him and she didn't serve us again after making that drink. The other bartender was not too good either, with no smile, I had to ask for a refill every time, and when serving my beers there was no eye contact, he just turned away as he served my beer and always had a hard face. Granted there is no crime in having a hard face, but when paying for higher than average food and drinks, I expect a certain level of service. After eating our food my wife ordered dessert. When getting the utensils (spoons) for the dessert, the bartender set two bare spoons on the dirty, stained concrete bar top... There was no napkin, nothing, he just put them off to the side. With that, my wife asked another bartender for another set of utensils. When my wife received them, the bartender that provided the spoons saw this and moved his set of spoons and position them in front of us, as to show us he gave use utensils. At this point, I was going to point out what I viewed as obvious but I had too many beers and I errored on the side of caution and chose not to. Not everyone can be spoken to bluntly. That is how I communicate and I did not want them to think it was the alcohol.

We moved into the area about a year ago and this is our forth time at the Stage House and it will be the last. Our previous experiences fell flat and I kept thinking to myself "maybe it was an off day, there is a good atmosphere about the place." This time; however, really left me with hard feelings. I am 47 y/o, and I work too hard to be served and treated like this. With the cost of food and drinks at this establishment there is a level of quality and service I expect. My bill was $156... a smile should come with that. If you're charging superstar prices, you need a superstar performance. Quite frankly, we could have gone to any bar/restaurant and gotten the...

My family and I loved the location by Mountainside so much we decided to try out the original location because nothing can beat the original right? Welllllllllll our experience at this location was just okay for us.

Service - It didn't seem too busy on a Tuesday night but we feel as if the service was just too long of a wait. Everything felt like it took forever besides getting a table as soon as we walked in

Food - It was okay. We wanted to try the things that were not on the Mountainside menu. They have a lot of the same things, but a few different options in every area of the menu.

We tried the Fried Tofu for the appetizer and OMG that was more than 5 Stars!!!!!! I wanted that all daaaayyy!

We had the Seafood Ravioli, Mushroom Spinach Ravioli, and the Lobster Mac&Cheese for our Main Courses. Mom liked her raviolis and I thought they were good, too. Their sauce choices were delicious. My Mac&Cheese though, I did not like at all. I am a Mac&Cheese lover, and I've had waaaaaaaaay way way waaaaaay better tasting Lobster Mac&Cheese at a different restaurant. Baaaaaaarely had any lobster in my dish, maybe why the price was lower than expected. It was dry, less creamy, the american cheese smothered on top seemed pretty stale tasting. There was some flavor in there that I just wasn't fond of. Every ingredient was listed on their menu, but I saw nothing I didn't like so that was weird. Its like it got mixed in something else that was cooked, idk honestly but I was super disappointed I really lost my appetite to eat it. I just went searching for the tiny bits and pieces of Lobster that I could find and thats it.

Dessert - We had the Apple Crisp Waffle Sundae and yesssssssss, it was yum yum yum!! It is a shareable size so make sure to order only 1 for 2-3 ppl. So gooooood! An option for dessert at this location that wasn't at the other one so we haaaad to try it.

Ambiance - Its good for people who like it super quiet, secluded and home style, hence their Tavern name. It makes sense, just not for us. The other location is much more beautiful and picturesque.

Price - No difference really from their other location. This chain seems pricey but its the "norm" for what eating out is these days. Mom and I shared most things so it wasn't as pricey, but if we both ordered everything like normal size and one of each App, Main Course and Dessert .. it would have certainly cost about $200 easy!

Cutlery and Plating - Great, no complaints

Parking - 5 Stars ..... plenty plenty plenty of parking! I feel like on their busiest of days it wouldn't be so bad, but I wouldn't know.

We will probably try this location again one day, but...

I came tonight with my husband and 2 children 3 & 5 year old and it was the worst experience I ever had at Stage House. We have been to both the Scotch Plains & Mountainside locations more than I can count. We never had such an awful experience as we did tonight. We arrive at 5:30 and we were told we were first on the waitlist but it is would be a 25 minute wait. We figured how could it be 25 minutes if we were the first on the first waitlist. We were never told half of the restaurant was closed to a private party. We indeed did wait a half hour and were then seated on the 3rd floor. By the time we sat our children were done. Our dining experience started out normal besides the fact we had two waiters at the beginning and we weren't sure who was our waiter. It all went downhill after our food arrived. Never once did anyone ever check on us. We had to ask the bus boys for anything we needed. Our children wanted dessert and our waiters were on the 2nd floor and were seen gazing at the 1st floor and then sitting down at the table on the 2nd floor. Would have been nice if the waiters were on the 3rd floor that actually had customers. Finally got a bus boy to bring us boxes for our leftovers. Then the waiter decided to grace us with his presence so we could order dessert. At this point you would have thought he would have brought us the check. Nope. Patiently waiting with a 3 & 5 year old. Not. Time goes by and one of the waiters comes by and is like "oh you want the check". Yes sir, yes. Tried to speak to the manager before I left and he was just shaking his head at me acknowledging my situation but not really caring.

I just can't believe the service we got tonight meanwhile this place has been our go to for years for dining and catering....