Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant — Restaurant in South Orange

This place is destined to become a legendary landmark should NJ be destroyed and we had to select which places were most memorable in our history. The ambiance and decor here are unique and beautiful - all which seems to be artistically balanced and well-taken care of. Beautiful backend restaurant settings, a large wood based bar setting, with side stations where darts and other games are available.

The goal of my visit was to explore and savor their craft beers that are brewed onsite. I visit many breweries to explore their brews and while one finds many winners, there's always a few brews that aren't agreeable with your tastebuds. At Gaslight Brewery, every beer I sampled was a hit! There were 2 types of brews I'm generally not fond of, but they were so carefully crafted at Gaslight, that they were pleasurable experiences. In short, Gaslight has experienced brewers who understand that crafting beer is both an art and a science.

Others in my party had foods and they expressed stellar joys with their eats. Menu does have a great selection of eats.

Another awesome factor to this place: no overbearing TVs. I know this sounds odd, but many places are plastered with 8-15 large screen TV's blasting different sports simultaneously. It's distracting. It steals from your experience. Here, there are 2-4 small TV's that are strategically placed in areas for those that need to watch sports. The ambiance here is dim in evening with excellent selections of tunes playing in the background, while a candle quietly glows on your table.

Initial service seemed a bit slow, but that's a waiter-employee issue. Heck, the bartender with the legendary beard walked to our table to take drink orders and genuinely asked if we were enjoying our experience. He was kind, charismatic, and genuine in his sincerity. I believe he is the owner. Thank you sir for a memorable time.

Place is highly recommended for good brews and eats in a chill ambiance. Oh, you can park around on side streets and use the brewery's rear entrance. Should you be interested in beer making, inquire about the courses and supplies available on...

Might have been an off-day for the guy, but the younger bartender (or bartender-in-training) didn’t know what beer I wanted when I asked for the stout. There was only one stout on the menu. Maybe there was another on special? I wasn’t sure, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I specified I wanted the stout on tap. I figured that a brewery with one stout would serve a classic stout.

Anyway, it had soured, or it was purposefully sour? Either way, it shouldn’t be marketed solely as a stout (and definitely shouldn’t be the only Stout on the menu at a Brewery). There was no indication in the menu description that the stout should be sour, but the foam was spotting on the top & it had that distinct green apple bite.

I ordered some food, great flavor, well marinated chicken in a succulent BBQ sauce in my quesadillla, but I did get a couple of bones in there that I had to spit out mid-bite.

After a while, another bartender with more confidence came over and asked about the food, which I was really enjoying (dodging a chicken bone is part of life every now and then, whatever), but didn’t ask about the beer as it sat there untouched for the rest of my visit.

I left a note about the beer, because I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or put them on the spot. Hopefully they check the batch & line, teach their people the menu, and offer tastes of beers they know are off the beaten path in terms of flavor for what they’re listed as. Or start carrying Guinness! That would’ve been perfect with the bbq chicken quesadilla.

Fine place, but a star overrated for the service & quality. Food saved it. Weird for a Brewery to be pouring pints...

Tony provides some great food and new brews here on tap and in bottles. Just listening to what he's coming up with is amazing, and a mix of interesting stories and ingredients waiting for the next barrel.

Inside decor is a mix of liquor brands and ads and a knightly armor watching over the dining area. Parking in the muni lot in the back for 2hr or on the street, and back entry and front entry. They have an upstairs, I think, but it wasn't open when we went. The big brewery tanks for beer located to the right room as you enter, as well as one of those little sand/hand shuffleboard tables.

Nachos were ok, a good mix of toppings, though I will have to ask for more olives in the future. Service was a little slow, but at least they figured out they were missing an extra after-dinner candy for the group of four- good check by the young man.

The key to visit for: The Ante-Gator is an antelope-alligator-ribeye-pork burger which is amazing. This is the only place I know that does this combo. Obviously not rare (must be fully cooked because of the pork and antelope), and instead of the normal salad on top, you get shredded napa cabbage, jalapeno bottle caps, chipotle aioli for a kick, smoked mozzarella, french fried onions, bacon, and comes with garlic dill steak fries & a house made pickle on top. Juicy, and limited - if you come late, you may not get one, so if you want to call ahead and reserve if you have a large party that wants more than a couple! Amazing and filling burger, and the dill steak fries (if you're a fan of dill) are hard to stop eating! Definitely filling... couldn't...