Bonds Tavern — Restaurant in West Orange

To start off I wanted to celebrate my 35th birthday here to support a black owned business. I could’ve went to ANY OTHER PLACE like i do every year but once again I wanted to support a black owned establishment. To start off the guy I spoke with on the phone before coming false advertised everything from the time they opened to the menu. He also made me switch my reservation from 2-4 to 1-3 because he said brunch only ran 1-3 which was false. It was from 1-5 they ran happy hour specials from 1-3. Secondly, we were a party of 10 women of mixed race! And the owner Kashif made a comment about BLACK PEOPLE AND HOW THIS PLACE/ESTABLISHMENT ISN’T FOR US??? Whattttttttt then who is it for Kashif ? All I see are black people doing nothing but being supportive of ALL YOUR ESTABLISHMENTS. But this location is off limits ? We sat through a power outage in your establishment, with your workers not knowing what to do. They were apologetic and saying that the system has been acting up all week. (So why weren’t you at your establishment to make sure things ran smoothly?) We stayed and say through them serving someone in my party with a pineapple allergy , A PINEAPPLE MIMOSA WHEN WE WERE ASKED IF WE HAD ANY ALLERGIES AND THEY STILL DID WHAT THEY WANT. Oh and YOU THE OWNER KASHIF DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE SERVING THIS. You also said you didn’t even know they were serving brunch this day 7/28 or had a brunch menu for this Sunday 7/28. BUT YOU PROMOTE THIS ON YOUR INSTAGRAM!!! You kept saying you feel bad for your workers when we were more than kind and very patient but what ABOUT US ? The patrons!!! Our food was served WRONG AND COLD. We tried to make the best of a 2 hour brunch which turned into almost 5. So for you KASHIF THE OWNER OF CRABBAEWEST to say that “ BLACK PEOPLE ALWAYS WANT SOMETHING AND YOUR ESTABLISHMENT ISN’T FOR US” is way MORE THAN UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNACCEPTABLE ITS HURTFUL. As you claim to be A BLACK OWNED BUSINESS! YOUR BLACKED OWNED BUSINESS SHOULD BE FOR BLACK PEOPLE, FOR ALL PEOPLE. I stand 10 Toes down when I say if you aren’t going to tend to all your locations then SHUT THIS ONE DOWN. There are so many horrible reviews about the servers, the management and everything on Google. So my BLACK BROTHER KASHIF, let the people know how you really feel about US BLACK WOMEN/PEOPLE SINCE YOUR ESTABLISHMENT ISN’T FOR US. We are hardworking paying women with all different corporate jobs and chose to spend our money with you!! But I guess our hard earned dollar isn’t good enough. I WILL NO LONGER BE SUPPORTING YOU AT ANY LOCATION AS I HAVE SUPPORTED AT ALL OF THEM ON...

I went here on Juneteenth for specials that were advertised. Let's just say, I should've read the reviews first. The bartender/server was very rude. She initially took my order. Approximately 30 minutes later I called for her by saying excuse me to get her attention, she came over and says with an attitude my name is( omit her name). I asked her did she tell me her name initially, so that I can refer to her by it, she says "no I don't really do that." I said well as a server/bartender who wants to be referred by their name, I think it would be a good idea to tell people. I was trying to get her attention about placing an order for shrimp, however was concerned due to the person next to me shrimp coming out burned, however it was only after a couple on the right side of me order of shrimp came out and they were golden. I then asked the server if I placed an order of shrimp will they come out burnt or like the couple next to mines. She responds " I don't know, I don't work in the kitchen." This was it for me, however I had to wait there as I had another friend on her way. I refused to place any orders for the rest of the night. My friend messaged the owner to advise him of our experience. He was currently at the establishment; however did not come over to us to acknowledge what was going on, but we observed him talking to someone and looking in our direction while talking. He was more occupied with getting social media content, then greeting his customers.

There were also fruit flies flying all around that we had to keep swatting. The couple next to me order jerk chicken rasta pasta, because my friend had it. When their order came out they were jerk wings and not the chicken quarter. He then called the bar tender/server over to say that was not what he wanted. She takes his food and returns saying the kitchen ran out of leg quarters, which is why he got wings. He expressed that he should've been told him that prior to placing the order. She said she would return it. He was upset and they left.

This was my second time at Crabbae, the first time was at the location in Kenilworth, which was bad customer service as well, which resulted in my friend and I leaving before even being seated. I hoped this location would've been better, however it wasn't. The staff appears to be girls just walking around with attitudes. If you don't have the personality to deal with people, then you should find another job; and as an owner of an establishment, he minimized the incident with the staff at the Kenilworth location.

I would definitely never patronize this...

I visited Crabbae last Friday and brought friends from New York specifically because they wanted to support a Black-owned business. Unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing due to poor management of an unsafe situation.

When we first arrived, we ordered drinks at a bar table but eventually moved to the bar for more seating. That’s when things went downhill. A very intoxicated white woman immediately sat between us. It was clear she was extremely drunk, and I notified the bartender, Partima, who acknowledged me with a head nod but did not address the situation.

From there, the guest continued to harass us the entire night. She attempted to take our drinks multiple times and actually succeeded in drinking mine. The bartender replaced it, but the woman then tried the same thing with my friends’ drinks. When our food arrived, one of my friends couldn’t even enjoy her burger and fries because the woman kept touching her, rubbing her arms, and attempting to eat her food.

This woman was never a paying customer. She sat there from about 9 PM until closing without ordering anything, harassing guests and causing multiple people to leave without eating or drinking. At one point, she even attempted to hit me for no reason until my friend pushed her away. Despite me reporting the issue to more than three different staff members, no one took action.

To make matters worse, she attempted to charge two tequila shots to my tab, and the bartender almost served them without my permission. Not only was that completely inappropriate, but as a bartender, serving someone that visibly intoxicated is a serious violation.

Throughout the night, I overheard other customers saying they wanted to call the police but decided against it because they wanted to support a Black-owned business. Instead, many of us agreed that this establishment desperately needs proper security.

While the food was good, the service and safety were unacceptable. Our party did not receive any form of discount or compensation for the harassment and ruined experience. This could have easily been avoided if the staff had acted...