Redstone’s American Grill, 400 Commons Way, Bridgewater, NJ
Last visit December 31, 2019
Because other plans fell through on New Year’s Eve, two friends and I decided to grab a nice meal and figure out the rest afterwards. I had been to Redstone’s once before when they had opened and was interested in comparing them then and now. We made a reservation on New Year’s Eve at about 2 pm and surprisingly they had an opening at just the time we were planning. The restaurant is located on the route 202-206 side of Bridgewater Mall between Macy’s and Lord and Taylor. The entrance to the restaurant is warm and cozy with a double sided hearth blazing with a warm fire and over overstuffed pillows on the seats in the waiting area. As we approached the reception desk about ten minutes before our reserved time of 8:45, we noticed that the place was busy but not jammed. “Good for us”, I thought. The hostess looked at us, we gave our names, and she grabbed the menus and headed into the dining room. Strangely she didn’t say much of anything. So we followed and were seated in a roomy booth. As we were perusing the menu our waiter came over and quickly introduced himself and took our drink orders. I knew I was getting the end cut prime rib, if they had it and I wanted crispy fries. One of the other people ordered a NY strip steak with a loaded baked potato and the third person ordered a pasta dish with chicken and creamy red sauce. We also decided to share a combo calamari and shrimp appetizer.
The appetizer was piping hot. Both the calamari and the shrimp were fried perfectly. The sauce, instead of spicy tomato sauce was a garlic aioli which was a good match. As the appetizer plates were cleared, our meals followed shortly after. Each plate has a healthy portion of food and the prime rib was, surprisingly for an end cut, medium cooked. The NY streak was cooked exactly as ordered and the pasta, well it’s pasta. The past had a fair amount of chicken. The portion of pasta seemed a little light in my opinion, but my dining companions didn’t think so.
Overall the food was good. Each of us thought that we got exactly what we ordered. As we wrapped up our meal our waiter came over and told us that a couple of the fresh made desserts were already sold out, but he recommended the banana cream pie. Thinking we were each getting a slice of pie, two of the three of us ordered the banana cream pie. When the dessert came, each bowl contained a dissembled banana cream pie including a whole banana and banana pudding piled on a bed of graham cracker crumbs. It was a creative way to serve a classic dessert.
But it was so much. It was large enough to share among four, I thought. So, what was wrong you ask? It’s a good thing you asked. Although we never felt rushed, we all independently felt that the service was mediocre. From the manner in which we were seated, by the hostess that didn’t speak to us, to our waiter who seemed like we were a stop over on his way to another destination. Our waiter was hurried and seemed to take the minimal amount of time required to attend us. This, in my opinion, was the only negative, but a negative nonetheless. A negative that, if different, could have made the good meal great. My dining companions were making excuses like maybe he didn’t want to be there on the 31st to maybe they were getting close to closing. When our food arrived, another employee, whom I presume was the manager, came over and asked how our steaks were, which I thought was a nice touch.
Good food, great atmosphere, happening, busy eatery with a posh ambiance with good, albeit strained service is a sum up of Redstone’s. It is a good place to meet friends or to celebrate an occasion.
The pasta eater rated his meal 😋😋😋😋😋. The NY steak eater rated his meal 😋😋😋😋😋 as well. I rated my meal 😋😋😋😋😋 but overall we rated Redstone’s 😋😋😋😋 because of my hang up about great customer service. Have you eaten there? What is your opinion?