The Trap Rock Restaurant & Brewery

Great beer selection with okay food. I went here for a party recently with a fixed menu selection. I ate the salmon which was not bad. I tried a few of the beers that they brew and was pretty impressed. There is a party room in the back and a nice outdoor patio attached to it. They didn’t have high chairs which was slightly disappointing but it is what it is. Probably not a place to bring babies. Overall descent experience.

It was our first time. Food was fine. Service was off.

I used to work there but the place is fantastic. From the beer to the local menu, you can’t go wrong at trap rock. Summer time great patio or a roaring fire in the garden during the winter. Place is great and recommend to anyone

Great Bar/​Café.
Many original dishes.
Good beers and drinks.
Great atmosphere!
High quality food and service!
You can’t go wrong here!

Great place with always consistent food and atmosphere. My biggest issue with this place is how popular it has become & the awful way they handle valet parking.
If you can get in, it is a great dining experience.

Having been here in the past, I expected better. I took my mother here for Mother’s Day (5÷8÷2016). There was unnecessary valet parking; cones blocked the first dozen or so spots. Our server pushed the more expensive food when we asked what was she recommenced. My mother told me there was sand in the clams, and one of my dishes was over salted that it was painful to eat. Our server credited us for the over-​salted appetizer, which I thought was the right thing to do. We couldn’t wait to get out of there. I used to like this place, but I’m certain I won’t be patronizing them again.

I’ve now been here three times and yet to write a review and for that I apologize! The décor reminds me a warm and welcoming ski lodge — lots of wooden details but it isn’t dark at the same time. Trap Rock has delicious fresh brewed beers and a menu that will surprise you. The first time coming here I expected the typical bar grub — deep fried and lackluster but I was wrong! The Trap Rock has a menu that is closer in line with fine dining than what one would expect from a brewery/​restaurant. Each time I’ve dined I’ve been with a different crowd (girls night, lunch with my dad, dinner with my boyfriend) and everyone has loved this place.
The Trap Rock exceeds my expectations each time I go — great food and friendly staff. I will highly recommend coming here. Be sure to get the house made chips with the creamy blue cheese sauce… sooo good! Also if they still have the Paradise Wheat beer I highly recommend it as well.

If you are coming here for the craft beer, ignore this review. Valet parking, not sure why. Reservations strongly suggested, they seemed flustered when we walked in around 6pm on Sat and the place was ½ empty. The main entrée selection was limited and about 33% more costly than most other places. The food was moderate, though the seafood was very fresh. Service was good. Overall, not my thing since I wasn’t drinking that night.

I was expecting a more casual place — and when I say that I mean more about the food than the dress — and what I experienced was a pretty deep menu. The main course was a Pan Seared Atlantic Halibut with a Classic Caesar Salad to start. They commented that the menus are printed everyday and thus there is no ‘special’ menu.
The service was great and the bonus was the brewed on the spot crafts of which I sampled two different ones — the Polar Vortex and the Citrus Wit and was very happy with both.
In summary this place was a huge surprise on the quality of food and the depth of adventure on the menu where when I know on a return visit I will be having something completely different.

What a fantastic experience, hanging out at the bar. Riley was incredible, personable, and welcoming. His recommendations were A+ and his demeanor even better.
It didn’t hurt that the beer, all in-​house brews, and the food was equally wonderful. While the Wagu was a tad salty, it was still delicious. The Salmon was heavenly.
Tried seven of the beers, thanks to the sampler flight. Standouts include the Barley Wine, the Desperado IPA, which I rate as the second best I’ve ever had, and the amazing Emily Rose ESB, which transported me instantly to a London pub.
We will definitely be back here, and it’s a place worth visiting to try, genuinely.

I’m gonna be real with you: this was the best restaurant experience I’ve ever had in my life. Period.
I’ve never felt so taken care of at a restaurant before.
The beers are out of this world good and I had the burger and fries that honestly changed my life. That burger was cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was seasoned excellently. The fries? C’mon. Insane. Just insanely good.
The service was impeccable. Our waitress, Izzy, might be my new best friend. She gave me great recommendations on the beer and checked in on us to make sure we were A-​OK. But she was just downright friendly as hell.
The manager came over to our table twice and we had a nice conversation with her. I learned some more information about the chef and where other locations are popping up in the area.
Finally, as we were leaving, a bus boy started talking to us and he said, «I just started working here two weeks ago and I’m so excited ’cause I love this place!»
All the waitstaff were just so genuinely excited and happy to be working here. And it didn’t seem fake or staged. It seemed so real.
Overall: awesome food, awesome service, awesome atmosphere. I’ll be back sooner than later!

Fantastic upscale brewpub nestled away off the beaten path. The first thing you notice as you walk in is the warm and inviting environment with rustic wood and antique style light fixtures– it reminds me of an old country cottage.
You’ll notice in the front corner of the restaurant is their brewing equipment– I believe other than a cider, they make all of their own beers. I had the Double IPA which had s lot of deep flavors to it, but preferred their Red Ale which was a red beer in style, but had a nice deep tone, some great flavors going on, and just the right level of alcohol. The beers are reasonably priced, and they do fill growlers with most of the beers that they sell.
As far as the food menu, I’m told it changes daily. I started with the Caesar salad, which is big enough for two to share, only complaint with that is they skimped on the croutons, giving a single thin slice of French bread with some Parmesan cheese melted on. I would have liked to have three of them with the size of the salad. For my main, I did the shrimp étouffée, which was actually the first time I’d ever had that dish. The shrimp they used in the dish were HUGE and well trimmed that there was barely any of the tail to take off. The broth was nice, rice was a little crunchy though. Wish they would have given more of the broth though. It was quite heavy on the shrimp, which I’m guessing warranted the $ 26 price tag.
Speaking of prices, that’s really the only downside to this place. They are about $ 5 more per plate that I usually spend, so I wouldn’t necessarily come here all the time. But I do understand why restaurants do that– it creates a certain feeling of classiness with sharp dressed waitstaff, linen napkins and table cloths, and the like.
One recommendation– call ahead to make a reservation and confirm hours. On the Friday night I went, they were scheduled to be open until 11, but ended up closing an hour early, with the wait/​bus/​valet staff stating to come around 9:45 and remove things from the table and nudge us out.

My boyfriend and I have been thinking about coming here for months so we finally made it a few weeks ago. It’s a nice addition to this area. The beer selection is of course excellent. The standard flight lets you try most of them with a good sized sampling of each. The place overall is kind of an upscale pub. If you’ve ever been to the Black Horse Tavern in Mendham, it has that kind of feel. The food isn’t too fancy where it turns off your steak and potatoes boyfriend, but it’s refined enough that it pleases your Chardonnay girlfriend too.
My boyfriend and I both had the fried chicken and biscuits, which was pretty great, but I don’t think I’d repeat it. It’s of course a very heavy dish, obviously, but something to brighten and freshen it up a bit would’ve been welcome. While the chicken was crazy tender and juicy, it made the breading not stick at all, which meant you kind of ate them separately. The biscuits were very dense. Not bad, as we both cleaned our plates, but not good enough to recommend. I’d definitely come back to check out the rest of the menu.

I’ve been to Trap Rock maybe 5 times in the years since it opened, and it’s never disappointed. I’d go more often, but I don’t find myself in the area very often. We went this weekend, and enjoyed our potato chip/​blue cheese appetizer. I had a Niman Ranch pork tenderloin sandwich, and the g/​f the cheeseburger. Both were properly cooked-​my quibble is that my sandwich was so tall I had to eat it with a knife and fork. My beer flight was terrific value at $ 10. With the hosts encouragement we grabbed a couple of terrific apples from a basket on the way out. What I don’t like, though, is the way you interact with the staff. I prefer one waiter through the meal, and we had a gal take our drink orders, then a fellow comes by to take our meal order. Yet another gent delivers the meals. But overall I’m a fan.

My fiancé and I ate here as we heard it was good. It was much fancier and expensive than we thought, but with that being said everything we ordered was very good and justified the price. We both split a couple appetizers, pork spring rolls, caesar salad, mac and cheese. I had a burger entrée and she had halibut which she adored. The service was very fast and knowledgeable it felt like they were really trained heavily and really on point. They also asked what brought us in (my fiancé said we were hungry and just has our engagement photos taken) and they wrote us a card congratulating us which made us smile. Super nice thing to do. Would come back soon for a special occasion.

Popped by here again. Handicapped bathroom on the first floor, open coat check by the entry, free valet parking, and bathrooms and a large dining room upstairs.
First, the sample flight — 6 beers in 5 – 6 oz. servings, just right to sample the first 6 beers on the list they have. All are brewed in-​house. I liked best their Ghost Pony and Oktoberfest beers. The others were either too bitter or no major flavor popping out for me.
Menu rotates daily, so seasonal fare is served. The caesar salad — a touch too salty for me. Appetizers — the calamari in tomato sauce was excellent, though, and the bleu cheese melted on house chips was ok. The spring rolls with brisket was so-​so, the moistness of the brisket wasn’t evident. The wings were good, though small.
Scallops — Point Pleasant, with mashed sweet potatoes and caramelized Brussel sprouts w/​bacon, the sprouts won the dish handily. The scallops (4 large ones) were okay, but lacked much flavor. Mashed sweet potatoes… well, consistent texture at least. Mac & cheese was ok as a side, but not as rich or cheesy as I wanted tonight.
Dessert was a lovely butter pecan gelato. That was clean and refreshing.
Service, on top of us constantly, though I think the one senior guy hovering over the new staffer and constantly running her over was a bit too overbearing for my taste. Still, the nine of us had a good dinner chat and while dim, was just fine for conversations. Somehow, still managed to miss getting me another iced tea I requested towards the end. Not sure if the waitstaff just missed it, but left me feeling a bit thirsty on the way out.
Most dishes between $ 5 – 15 for apps, $ 8 – 12 for salad, and $ 19 – 34 for mains. Overall a nice place to come to on a work dinner, but I’d probably only come for the beer otherwise.

Breakfast stout was amazing. If you love coffee, I highly recommend it. Great place to celebrate. They even have a small area you can rent out for a private event. They gave us champagne and a sweet cookie dish after dinner. The filet mignon dinner was delicious. The rustic décor was cool. Valet parking for their lot. A little fancier than a regular brewery though. When they are really busy, like last night, service can be slightly slow but it’s worth the wait. Overall a great experience! I’d go back!

I’ll go sequential this time to get the full experience.
1) parking on a Tuesday was tricky so I can only imagine it would be insane if there were people here. Maybe that’s the norm but in jersey I kinda expect parking. Someone tell me what I’m missing.
2) the place itself it a bit hard to find from the street but the Parking lot is a giveaway. There is indoor seating for ~60 and outdoor for ~30. Very relaxed ambiance and fairly quiet when I was there.
3) Drinks were good but nothing special. Definitely playing it safe here so expect to find drinks with a small twist and standard strength.
4) appetizers look quite good on the menu. The variety is wide but I have to say the execution is leaning towards well played bar food. Again — this isn’t bad but just around par.
5) mains are fairly diverse as well. The seafood actually looked pretty solid and if I’m back I will probably try it but I went with surf and turf tacos as you get a little of everything. The lobster was ⁴⁄₁₀ and the beef was ⁷⁄₁₀.
6) service was a bit slow but overall decent and nothing too crazy. Full disclosure — we were a group over 10 so a few little mistakes but nothing that wasn’t quickly corrected.
Nice spot with lots of opportunity to grow. Might come back and check them out to see if their dishes mature into proper plates.

The Trap Rock Restaurant and Brewery is one wonderful dining experience!
There is indoor and outdoor seating.
Since it was lovely Saturday afternoon, I decided to sit out doors. All of the outdoor tables have umbrellas. I had a lovely view of flowers, greenery and a freshwater creek.
For my beverage, I enjoyed a delicious blood orange lemonade ($ 3.95).
The drink was extremely refreshing for a very hot day. A copper container of petite cheddar biscuits were brought to the table. The cheddar biscuits were totally scrumptious. Of course, when the server asked if I wanted more biscuits, I just broke out with a big smile and said Yes!
My entrée was definitely an excellent choice. Enjoyed a Gulf Shrimp Salad ($ 19.95).
The Gulf Shrimp were HUGE! The shrimp surrounded thinly sliced kale, grated pecorino tartufo, golden raisin, benne seeds, walnut and lemon-​pepper vinaigrette.
Last course, but not least, Ahh! a Luscious Passion Parfait Dessert ($ 7.95).
This off the charts dessert had lime pound cake, sorbet and a thick but light Hazelnut Cream adorned the top. The dessert left me longing for more. Ahh :)
Overall service was impeccable from start to finish.
Just some restaurant extras:
–Of course alcohol is available!
–Conveniently located on the main drag on Springfield Ave. (Berkeley Heights) so you can’t miss it!
–Parking is plentiful!
Highly recommend you try the Trap Rock!

Okay, so I didn’t try the beer, but I sure loved everything else, especially the hard cider! I had it before at Tabor Road Tavern and just had to have it again– this time– warmer, more buttery, more rummy. Then a super smooth glass of Col Dorato prosecco kept me going.
For eating, we started with Pretzel Crusted Crispy Calamari which came with 3 sauces but accompanied by the tangy lemon dijon aoli, it was a bonafide flavor bomb. Hello! Then to eat some more, the Butternut Ravioli was a real winner– little pillows bursting with butternut filling atop bourbon creamed spinach (yes!), sage, mushrooms, and shaved parm. For dessert, I had Pecan Pie of pecans, slightly sticky goodness, and spices hanging out together in a rich, complex, slightly chocolately crust that tasted quite like the perfect linzertorte. A great finish to a great winter meal.