The Avenue Steak Tavern — Restaurant in Washington Township

I’ll give a very generous 4 stars.

We come to celebrate a very special occasion at what we expected to be a very romantic kind of classy meal and expected better than I can have at home for the caliber of the restaurant.

When paying $$$-$$$$ for a meal I would expect part of that to be for atmosphere, ambiance, presentation, service, quality of food, creativity of the meals offered etc.

The host was very kind for the short time we had him.

The waitress was top notch. Could not ask for a better waitress. She was worth her weight in gold. Never had to wait for her or ask for her to get us refills she kept plates cleaned off the table and worked the table beautifully. She took our photo for us and made sure to make it look as nice as possible. She acted like she cared about our experience. But some things are out of her control. The poor girl had to yell to be heard over the very loud atmosphere. We had to yell back. Not what I expected at a place like this.

The steak was good but wasn’t any better than a $7 NY strip I made at home for Valentines rather bland but I’d rather it be that way than over seasoned. It was cooked medium PERFECTLY!

The Brussels sprouts was delicious but average to what I could make easily at home so nothing wowing there.

The bread was outstanding! Enjoyed it very much!!

The green beans was blah fancy name but not fancy or wow factor worth.

Now the highlight of the meal.

The mac and cheese is outstanding amazing. It was fantastic highly recommended.

The crème brûlée was also deliciously perfect.

The noise factor in the restaurant was nearly unbearable and we just wanted to eat and get out of there especially because of the rude patrons beside us. I never in my life wanted so bad to stand up pull their extra chair out and sit at their table and give them a kind little talk that I was celebrating a very special occasion and a lady was present and ask them to kindly lower their voice and clean up their language as they was ruining our meal. The most expensive meal we have ever had. I bet I heard F* 20 times within 30 seconds of talk. The two business men were very obnoxious and rude. We made sure to take our photo with them in them only because they are what we remember most about our 20th Anniversary Dinner.

We didn’t complain because we was trying to not ruin our special evening anymore than it was being ruined.

Thought this was supposed to be a better atmosphere and fancier and better tasting than Texas Roadhouse would be but other than the staff sharply dressed more attentive staff and nice tables and candles you may be just as well at a place for half the cost. But the bread and Mac and cheese is definitely outstanding.

The meal is at least double or more than double what it was worth with the...

The Avenue provided a wonderful birthday dinner experience! Our server Abe was FANTASTIC. He was knowledgeable about the menu (familiar with the specials, knew which cocktail I was talking about when I could only remember one ingredient, etc.), answered questions I had before I even had to ask them (i.e. what's in the Tavern salad and what's the difference between the two columns of cocktails on the menu), guided me on how to have my filet prepared when I was hesitant, and made excellent recommendations based on the preferences I shared. He checked on us the appropriate amount of times, and I really liked how our meal was spaced out appropriately between courses - I didn't feel like we had to rush to finish our appetizer or salads.

There was a crystal water decanter at the table, and the cocktails come in cute glasses. I had the Sloe Tom Collins and Staten Island Ferry and my husband had the Old Fashioned. Abe described the Staten Island Ferry as a Pina Colada but better and that is accurate!

We shared the oysters on the half shell appetizer (6) which we ordered after Abe got us interested by mentioning oysters in one of the specials. For dinner I had the Caesar salad, 8oz medium rare filet, and creamed spinach. Husband had the Tavern salad, Ribeye, and mashed potatoes. My filet was cooked perfectly, and it and the creamed spinach were easily the highlights of my meal. The sides in a little crock which kept them piping hot and made for easy sharing. The filet paired with their steak seasoning is DIVINE. Jars of it are available for purchase but Abe gave me one on the house for my birthday because I liked it so much! Everything in our meal was an appropriate portion - we were full but not overstuffed.

I got to choose a dessert from the menu for free for my birthday. The creme brulee came complete with candle and a little chocolate that said "Happy Birthday" on it, and was delicious. All the desserts are made in-house except for the ice cream which is Johnson's, and we were offered coffee after dessert.

The restaurant itself has a very cool atmosphere and a great looking bar. Lighting has a soft amber glow and the furniture provides pops of red. The whole place has a vintage, 1920s masculine glam feel. Even the women's restroom had glam decor and candles, and had mouthwash and feminine products available.

We made our reservation for Friday because Saturday only had outdoor seating available, but it appeared that the outdoor area is enclosed for colder weather and would have been fine. Valet parking is available, as is an entrance from the nearby parking garage.

We came a few months ago for a drink but the bar was packed so we decided to leave. I'm SO glad we came back for another try!...

Short review: Bar service (specifically the bartender Taylor) gets 5+ stars. Waiting for a reservation gets 1 star. I am a very laid back person and can understand things happen. This was just not acceptable at all. My advice, go somewhere else!

I wanted to take friend somewhere nice to celebrate his going back to teaching and renewing his license so I picked The Avenue. I had heard great things about it and read a lot of great reviews. I made a reservation on Wednesday for Friday. We arrived about 45 minutes early and sat at the bar after letting the hostess know we were there. The bar service was great and we didn't have to wait long for drinks. The drinks were strong and very good!

While we were seated at the bar, I watched while people who came in after us were seated but no big deal because we were early for our reservation. Then at our reservation time I went back up to the hostess and was told a table was not ready. I reminded her that we were sitting at the bar when the table was ready. About 15 minutes after our reservation time I watched as people who I saw walk up and ask for a table were seated (about 3 couples). It is possible that they had reservations but highly unlikely they were 45 minutes early for their reservation and waiting. Approximately 25 minutes after our reservation time I lost all of my patience as I continued to watch everyone else being seated and the hostess going up to other people to assure them their table was almost ready, never coming up to us. My friend let the bartender know we had been waiting for almost 30 minutes past our reservation time and he went directly to someone who may have been the manager. The bartender Taylor is the ONLY reason we stayed because of HIS hospitality. When we were seated, it was at a table in the middle, you know the tables no one wants to sit at because you feel like you are always in the way of the wait staff. Guess what, they had plenty of booths open and sat other people in them. My friend said he was OK with the table and just wanted to eat since we had now been waiting for over 35- 45 minutes past our reservation time.

The food was just OK at best. The jumbo crab cake was good but the Caesar salad was not. Fortunately, my friend did not let any of this dampen his celebration. For the amount of money we spent (close to $200), I can say that it was not worth it at all. I have been to other places in Dublin (e.g. Tucci's, Oscar's, Hen Quarter, etc.) that are just as nice but were more worth the...