The Rock Yard — Restaurant in Trenton

Update 01/08/2024: Had a great dinner. Jose was our server, did a great job and food was excellent.

Orig review: Overall a great experience. Only a couple things might cause one to reconsider visiting again; Our server was obviously new (only being tasked with 4 small tables) but it's essential to teach wait staff not to serve drinks by the rim of the glass. The food actually came out fast considering how busy it was, but it took quite some time to get our server to come back out for water or anything else needed.

The staff preparing the pizza were also we're not wearing gloves, handling meat and cheese with their bare hands, one with a bandage on his finger..!

The food was good overall; the pizza was good other than being soft, The nachos my son ordered were so so, the wings were delicious, and the fries are awesome.

Update: went last week, ordered for the family and then were told they were out of wings ... At 5pm! Which was why we went there over another restaurant.

Update Oct 2021: This place is so 'hit or miss', sometimes you get excellent, fast service and good food... Other times you have to wait and ask for water, orders take forever and they start putting up chairs around you, 30 mins before they even close, let alone start sweeping next to your table while you're eating... Unimpressed. May just be a training issue, but regardless, it's unpleasant, to say the least, to have people sweeping next to your table while you're eating. If it were closing time, I'd understand, but 30+ mins before close, it's rude.

Update 10/24/2021 : unfortunately the service at this place just keeps getting worse and worse. Brought the family in to have a dinner, and waited as the hostess handling to go order. She left for a few and then came back and asked how she could help us. We said we needed a table for seven, she informed us, at 7:22p, that they were not seating anymore customers, was already packed up, and they would be seeing no more customers. From the front we could see 8 or so empty tables.... They had a concert going on in the back, but the dining area was half full. Maybe it's because it's a small town and they think it's acceptable, but this won't last long.... It'll start burning customers who will then just go elsewhere. Usually when a place is busy you at least get a, "it's going to be 30, 40, 50 mins until we can seat you. Would you like to wait?". But this was just a simple, we're not seating anymore people,. Because we didn't staff for this much business... That, in my experience, is poor management.

UPDATE 7/14/2022: upgraded from 1 to 3 stars - to reflect this experience against the previous visits.

It was super busy but the staff cleared tables to seat anyone waiting without delay. We ordered nachos, a burger and hot wings. It was a bit of a wait, because they were so busy, but everything came out fresh and hot.

The food was great and the wings were coated in sauce perfectly.... I wish more wing places paid attention to dressing the wings in...

What has happened to The Rock Yard??? Our last five experiences here have been terrible. Tonight being the last. Over the last five visits someone in our group has had an issue with either food coming out wrong or not even coming out at all. I'm really not sure who is at fault on this as the servers blame the kitchen and the kitchen blames the server. Unfortunately, when we asked to speak to the manager, Tyler, on one occasion, he refused to leave the kitchen to talk to us. One of the orders at our table was not delivered. It was a philly cheese steak. We were a large group, we placed our order around 9:30 on a Friday night. When we pointed out an order was missing we let our server know and he went back to the kitchen to look for it. He came back and told us the order was forgotten by the kitchen and that they could not make it because the kitchen was closed by that time (10:10). We expressed our frustration, the server went back to the kitchen then returned and said they would make it, afterall. when he brought the order, it wasn't a philly cheese steak sandwich, it was philly cheesesteak beef on top of french fries covered in queso. At that point, we demanded to see the manager. He was still refusing to come out when two waitresses ,who had nothing to do with our table, decided to get confrontational with us about why we needed to see the manager. They said he was busy, in the kitchen, cooking. Mind you, we had been told the kitchen was closed. The manager finally came out and after a discussion offered to make the missing philly cheese steak and comp our entire bill. We appreciated him making the original order and told him the comped food was not necessary; we weren't there for free food. He met of half way and we split the bill. Fast forward to tonight, I had ordered a buffalo chicken wrap, no bacon. The food delivered to the table was a chicken wrap, no buffalo sauce, but with bacon. I let my waitress know it was not correct. she went to the kitchen, came back out, set a small cup of buffalo sauce on the table and said they forgot to leave off the bacon. Instead of offering to correct the order she asked if that was ok. I was done at that point. Took the wrap home for my son to eat. We have been patrons of The Yard since it opened. The owners have been extremely generous and hard working. They have hosted fundraising auctions we have attended. No matter what happens, we will still attend the fundraisers for our community. But, I am going to have to take a break from here for awhile. It has become an unpleasant experience when the food is incorrect and the staff doesn't seem to want to make it right. I'm frustrated and sad.

Update:

I am very happy to report the Old Rock Yard that I knew and loved, is back to excellent food...

Only been once. It's out of the way of my normal travels. I was in Trenton to help with the robotics competition at the school. My son and I needed a place to eat, he said he passes by on his way to and fro work, so in we went.

Front of House: They are a bit confused here. The young lady who first greeted us asked if we were good for the bartop. I'm not and most bartops have a 51% alcohol sign that keeps me from sitting there. I asked for a booth preferred or a table. She went to ask an older lady who seemed confused about us not wanting the bartop. After a few minutes and consulting with our eventual waitress, we got a high table.

Waitress: Older lady, but very personable and informed.

Food: We both ended up ordering burgers. We tried for chicken fried steak, but was told that was a Monday only option. We also ordered one with fries and one with tots. All of it needed salt and pepper, but that's normal for us. Nothing to write home about, just a decent burger.

We also ordered, I think it was called Texas Tots? These are tater tots that are 3 times the size of normal tots, but with some ham and cheese inside. They were tasty, but we had our compliments and takes. Nice and crunchy on the outside with a soft center. I like tots and fries this way. Tasty as well. Our takes were the center was too soft. But to get a less soft center would require and crunchier outside, which I would be good with having. They also need more ham and cheese.

Service: Amazingly quick for the number of tables that were occupied.

Cost: A bit high. The two of us was just over $43 before the tip. Now, the Texas Tots were $5, so we could have been just under $40. But the portion sizes and taste are not much more than other burger joints, does not seem to be equal to $20 per person.

Side Notes: Can we put salt and pepper back on tables yet? Ketchup as well.

Apparently the liquor store does NOT want you in their parking lot. They have signs up stating this that have red blinky lights on top of the signs.

Edited: spelling and...