McLoone's Boathouse — Restaurant in West Orange

I am very disappointed in my experience in McLoons Boathouse. We go to the McLoons in Long Branch all the time and love it there. We always wanted to visit McLoon's Boathouse but never had a chance to. My aunt and uncle got married today in a very small and intimate ceremony and asked for dinner reccomendarions from us. We decided to go to McLoon's Boathouse because we love the one in Long Branch and wanted to treat my aunt and uncle especially since they don't usually go out and it was their special day since they just got married this afternoon. I should have looked at the reviews before so that's on me because they don't look too great :( I asked in my notes when I made the recommendation that they seat us in a nice and intimate location as we (6 of us) are celebrating a wedding ceremony. We get seated first table by the entrance. So cold!. I politely ask if they could move us somewhere more intimate and lady says this is where they put parties but she will see what she can do. Well, she never came back to us to even tell us "tough luck". Then I saw her seat other party larger then ours, where we wanted to sit. And we made our reservation over a week in advance so we gave them ample time. Clearly no one cared. This was the kicker. We ordered a seafood platter. 6 pieces of raw oysters and clams and 3 cooked jumbo shrimp. Everything was ok until my husband took the last claim. He put it in his mouth, gagged and spat it out. It was bad! As soon as he spat it out I smelled it. It smelled like bad raw meat. Are they not supposed to check their clams for the smell and quality before they bring to the table. They other ones seemed find thankfully because we already ate them all. The manager came in apologetic and took it off our bill, but they should have a a process of checking raw seafood before it's plated. This, to me, was unacceptable. The food took for EVER to get to us. They put the serving tray by our table at leas st 10 minutes before the food came out, I assume to make it look like it's coming out any time. It was about 45 min before it came out from when we ordered. This would normally not be a big deal to me if a single incident, but to add to this, I asked for broccoli Rabe with my meal, I got sautéed spinach. I told the waitress to surprise my aunt and uncle with a slice of carrot cake at the end. I specifically expected a cake I pointed out to her. Three layer, looks pretty, etc. They bring out something that looks completely different. I asked the waitress what it is. She said banana cake. I'm like what? She corrects herself and said it's carrot cake and that it's brand new and fresh just made by chef. Looked absolutely nothing like the cake I ordered. It was a slice of a sheet cake with some frosting on top. Asked for 2 cappuccinos and a tea and expressio. Brought out one cappuccino and forgot about the second one. Had to wait another 10 minutes for that. At the end some manager lady came over and asked how everything was. I said well, it was alright, and I sounded disappointed. She blew it off said "ok it was alright, that's good" and thanked us and walked away. Forgot about this one! So my aunt ordered salmon. It was alright but she kept pulling out pieces of something thar resembles a dry overcooked piece pasta, which had no place in her meal. I asked the waitress what that is. She said she will ask the chef. The chef comes out and says "someone here had a problem with the food?" I'm very taken aback but let him know why and he said it's a piece of lemon grass. I cook with lemongrass and not once did it look like that to me, but oh well. Wasn't arguing.

I regret bringing my aunt and uncle there. It was a disappointing dining experience and knowing how awesome Long Branch is, I really expected more. I was terrified by the oyster situation. If you enjoy Long Branch McLoons, do not assume the one in West Orange will be the same..service was mediocre and food was not spectacular at all. I was embarrassed this was my recco for my aunt and uncle. Hope the...

As someone with over 10 years in the restaurant industry, both as a server and manager, I always approach dining with empathy. I even spoke kindly with our server at the end of the night to offer feedback directly, and following our heartfelt conversation perhaps will try again requesting this same server as a chance at redemption.

That said, while the atmosphere and setting of this restaurant are truly beautiful, the experience left my group frustrated and, for some, genuinely shaken.

Service was consistently poor throughout the night. After placing our order, food took a while to arrive—but when it did, we had no silverware. We requested utensils multiple times, waited, requested again....

Ultimately I had to get up from the table to ask another staff member for them, only to be told our server had just gone to retrieve them. I returned to the table, waited again, and silverware finally arrived—by then, our appetizers were long cold, and the awkwardness of staring so long at food you can't eat has settled in with everyone.

We also requested shareable plates five times with no follow-through, including one of those times being getting up from the table with a different staff member. On the 5th request this time with the server at the table plates arrived.

Additional concerns:

Our bottle of wine came with dirty glasses. No water refills were offered during the meal. A drink was spilled on a guest, and fingers (long artificial nails) went into the beverage without an offer to replace it triggering hygiene concerns in the group discussion. We had only one check-in during our 1–1.5 hour stay. Each time we wanted something else, we had to flag down a different staff member who couldn't help directly and went to find the server. After some time our group started pointing out more attentive service at other tables, which sadly led to speculation about whether the majority of the groups ethnicity played a role. I tried to reassure them, but the comparison conversations were upsetting and a distraction from what should’ve been a joyful evening.

The night ended on an especially sour note when the server approached a member of our party about the tip in a way that felt aggressive and confrontational. (My understanding the original tip was between 12-15% due to everyone feeling the service ruined the experience).

I attempted the de-escalate this moment with a $20 cash gesture, the server took this and left abruptly, further unsettling the group. Some felt this action reinforced a stereotype and left them feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome. As a server in the past I can sympathize with and understand a poor tip, but truly we also bussed our own table once due to no space to put dishes and no service.

To the staffs credit, they allowed us to salvage the evening by staying on the porch for some time after closing and one staff member, Mike, was kind and helpful during cleanup, and I appreciated his effort to show hospitality when it mattered most.

While I know restaurants can have off nights—and I recognize possible factors like staffing or an unexpectedly busy Sunday—the number of issues we encountered made it impossible to enjoy our evening. The setting is wonderful, but service needs to grow to match the potential.

It's been a full day later, and I am still struggling to shake the feelings of embarrassment and disappointment related to a rather expensive night out which ended up being so difficult. This review is not to bring any one person down, but in hopes that someone would read it and perhaps improve training, additional staff hours or whatever is necessary to not result in the above experience in the future as I love this restraunt and...

Although a beautiful establishment, DO NOT GO HERE FOR DINING!

Price - average | service - below average | management - below average | cleanliness - above average | interior - fancy, upscale, higher end cabin / lakehouse | parking - lot, plenty space

Ordered Spring Cavatelli, Pork Chop and Short Rib entrees totaling around ~$110. Now, it pains me to write this because the visuals and ambience of this establishment is absolutely amazing sitting near a reservoir giving lakehouse vibes and situated in an upscale neighborhood showing off the beauty and charms of NJ as many are not aware of. HOWEVER, this rating is for a restaurant not a park...that said, Mcloone's Boathouse missed on many points. Part of any restaurant, the most important factor should be service. You can argue that it should be the taste of the food, but good service goes a long way and I haven't experienced any form of it from the front of house to the manager.

Let me explain...I called twice prior to arrival in asking about reservations. I called back after the first time for a closer to arrival time about 30 minutes prior to arrival asking if making a reservation would be necessary compared to walk in to avoid wait times. The lady on the phone told me reservation would not be necessary and we would have no issue with a table upon arrival. I arrived with my party to find out nonetheless that we would have to wait whether for an outdoor or indoor dining. The expression of the lady at the front was distasteful as I kept asking how much longer given the fact I called prior to arrival about reservations. She should've sympathized that the incorrect information was given to me and done beyond efforts to make this right yet alone giving me an expression that was unnecessary. About 40-45 minutes later...we finally sit down.

Then, I shared my experience with the manager for no other reason than for them to improve their processes for their benefits. This manager taps me on my arm like I'm a little kid and says "okay okay" while providing no offers of remediation or even sympathy. Again, I was not looking for remediation, but a restaurant with good service would've gone beyond their way to make this experience better, especially, for someone like a manager. This restaurant is lucky that I was in a very peaceful mood this day and accepted everything peacefully. In short, the food was below average for the price and type of place this was. Spring Cavatelli cream sauce was lackluster and dry for a cream sauce, pork chops was nothing better than an average homemade BBQ, and short ribs was far too salty for the reduced wine sauce with nothing more than a slab of short ribs on mashed potatoes. If you're charging over $30+ per meal in suburbs, the expectations should be more than what can be cooked at home.

In hindsight, I am realizing the outrageousness of this situation. We were literally the only party waiting as others trickle in with no issues. Granted there was a large private party, but all others seem to have sat down while we were the only ones waiting. I don't try to play the race card but now I'm thinking there may have been some sort of discrimination against being literally the only Asian American group yet alone ONLY group waiting at all. AVOID this beautiful establishment at all costs for the food and condescending service! Instead, skip the restaurant all together and go enjoy a walk near the...