Chimney Rock Inn

19Jun2016
Coming here for 20+ years. Today was the worst meal I’ve had: Brisket was four tiny strips, and garlic potatoes were WAY overdone. For $ 16. At least the small cup of Manhattan clam chowder was very good. My children said their burgers were pretty good.
All this while 7 feet from where staff enters orders and at any given time 3 to 7 hung out, just in front of the exit from the kitchen.
The «chocolate molten explosion» is tasty but not $ 8 tasty. Even my teen said «that’s gotten really expensive.»
I knew better than to get the coffee; my father did not. Coffee can’t sit on heat — the smart move would be to use a thermal carafe. Most restaurants don’t get it. For a tiny cost and effort, no more burnt coffee.
Beer selection is pretty good.
CRI tries to be/​do it all at the expense of not really nailing anything. The value proposition just isn’t there for the higher-​end meals. The interior is worn and tired. Stick with pizza and sandwiches and you’ll be ok.

Not sure what the appeal of this place is. It’s constantly on best family restaurant in NJ lists so I’ve been looking to try it out for a while now. Finally had the opportunity to go out with my entire family and my brothers family.
On a Wednesday night at 5:30pm this place was jam-​packed! Since there were 9 of us we were seated in one of the rooms to the back with a large private party. Not really the ideal situation, us with 4 young kids, sitting with about 50 70+ year olds. Can’t really complain though because we were lucky to get a table.
The interior is very dated with wood paneling and old carpet. The food was fine but nothing memorable. Stick to the basics here. I do have to say service was excellent. Our waitress was friendly and attentive and the hostess was friendly and seated us promptly.
If you do have to wait there is a small video game arcade to the left of the entrance. The games are super old but my kids loved them!
I wouldn’t recommend driving out of your way to come here but if you’re in the area it’s an ok choice.

Heard mixed reviews about this place and decided to give it a shot. Went for lunch and sat at the bar with my fiancé. The place is a series of a few small rooms, and décor is definitely sub par at best. We sat at the bar which had 6 — 8 people seated with us included. The middle aged lady bartender didn’t say one word to us for the first 10 minutes we were seated. Not so much as a simple greeting «hello I’ll be right with you» we were ghosts for all she knew. Even worse once it was creeping up on 10 minutes a man, I guess he was a «manager» sat a chair away from us and began to stuff his face. He must have heard the colorful things my fiancé and I were saying and he sent a waitress to go behind the bar and serve us. So after 10 to 15 minutes we finally had menus in our hands. I’m not going to waste much more time on this review but to sum it up the food was unimpressive to say the least and the service was garbage. Just a very shim sham place don’t bother wasting your money and appetite here. You’d get a better meal at a Friday’s or Applebee’s. It absolutely amazes me that this place looks packed pretty consistently a few nights a week. Maybe they work better under pressure. They definitely can’t get the job done with 8 people at the bar at lunch time with a couple sitting right in front of one of the taps.

The Chimney Rock Inn 10 be a hit or miss when you don’t stick to what they do best, pizza. They make an awesome, true thin crust pizza. I haven’t had a pizza that I don’t like. However, many would agree that their margherita is their best.
There isn’t really anything else on the menu that strikes me as «wow». The bar is really good. I try to find A new craft beer every time I go. It’s always a good time at Chimney Rock.

I have been coming to this place since I was a wee little lady. I have some fond memories of eating pizza and drinking soda after long softball tournaments in the middle of the summer. I love the location: tucked up on the mountain heading away from Bound Brook right across from the quarry. I honestly cant believe the other Elite Unilocalers below gave it such a bad rating.
The food: As many others have said below, Chimney is not fine dining. Chimney IS your local go to restaurant for reliable good food, casual comfortable seating and scenery, and decent beer selection. Tons of menu selections and changes by season. Very affordable. The pizza is mighty good. Not your New York style. Comes thin crust and packed with an abundance of flavor.
Service is great as they always have many people on staff, typically young and hardworking, and very helpful.
Bar area is cool. The high booths offer privacy for some groups or you can sit at the large square bar.
Ample parking even though it always gets packed.
Chimney can do for a bit updating as they have not changed much in years.

Great food and service. We had hosted a private luncheon here and from beginning to end the staff delivered beyond my expectations. From the event planner who walked me through the package options and to show me the room set up etc. She was always available to answer all of our questions. We were very impressed with all the food and so was our guests. Assorted thin crust pizzas and tossed salad along with an entrée to choose from. Tbe portions were enough to take home for leftovers. We were able to bring in our own cake and they served it with no extra costs. Everyone enjoyed and raved about the huge sized portion of food and how good it was. The managers I dealt with were all so nice and helpful and accommodated our requests to leave the stuff needed for our party room the next day which was helpful for us and one less thing to worry about. They even made sure our room was set up the way we wanted to. The waiters who helped assist with our 35 ppl party were on top of everything we didn’t have to worry about anything. Everyone had a great time. Would definitely recommend hosting a party here. Shout outs to Cindy, Scott, Allison, Joe and Tommy. Thank you!

Noisy noisy noisy. Can not even hear people at the same table. Gave this place a second chance. Never never again. Always seated by screaming children and large families. I’m done.

The food was delicious and there was not much wait for it. It was a delightful time for us to be there.

Have been here several times, and love this place. Nice cozy atmosphere. Service has been great sometimes, but has just been ok other times. Food has always been good. I really love the wings here, and their brisket is amazing. Potato Pancakes are good. Hated the coleslaw, and they wouldn’t substitute is out. Pizza is pretty good, it’s thin crust and comes out with a bit of a smokey taste, but its a nice change from the usual jersey style pizza. Slightly on the pricey side for wings and pizza, but love it anyway.

The restaurant has a very casual family friendly feel to it. I have mostly done take-​out and the food id pretty good. Sometime there is a miss, but not too often.
Would I go back: Definitely
Would I recommend: Yes
Favorite dish: Pizza
Tips:

Hosted a company Holiday luncheon for 42 people. Event coordinator (Cindy) did a great job helping me put a package together that would satisfy the various menu requirements of my co-​workers. On the day of the event, we were greeted at the front door by an attentive staff and directed to our private room. As for the wait/​service staff, I cannot say enough, outstanding service and customer focus. Bottom line — 41 people thanked me for a wonderful luncheon and asked that we return next year.
One last comment, more than half of my co-​workers had never been to the Chimney Rock Inn prior to this luncheon — everyone said they would be back with family and friends. Go there and enjoy the food and atmosphere.

Chimney rock has a nice family atmosphere and the food is decently good. They have a number of gluten free options including my favorite, the Rosa Margherita pizza. They are very safe about preparing the gluten free items, so it’s safe for people with celiac, and they cater to other allergies as well– just ask!
While certainly not fine dining or even the best pizza or burger I’ve had, it’s a nice place to go with the family. They also have a bar that seems to always be full and the place is always backed on the weekends, so be prepared to wait if you really want to go. Otherwise they’re great with takeout.

While this place is in no way — fine dining — it is solid. We have been coming here for years when we realize it’s time to eat and we don’t feel like cooking — or we have been running around all day and when we know we don’t have to dress up to impress anyone. As a rule, we always grab a seat at the bar and 9 times out of 10 we order a pizza. And let me say that this is really not where you should go for pizza because any real italian, or anyone married to a real italian would tell you — that ain’t real pizza! It’s a cracker crust — paper thin and minimal toppings but for this pub/​bar — it really is perfect.
We tried the «artisanal» pizza tonight — something new since we have been here last — and it was more of an actual dough — but again — very thin. For our tastes — it wasn’t done so we did send it back for a second go round under the fire. I think that i will stick with the standard margarita pizza on the menu but my husband liked it.
They have stepped up the beer menu –added some pretty decent craft brews to the tap — and for this regular crowd — i was somewhat surprised — but impressed.
Its a great place to bring the family, its loud, low key, kids running around, always a wait to get in so they are truly doing something right.
I appreciate the fact that the same management that we have seen for several years are still busting their hump sitting diners, keeping on the waitstaff and bustling in the kitchen to get the orders out.

I have been here many times over the years and today I slight disappointed. The pizza was good and the wings were good along with even the pasta and salad. I decided to order a burger today and I was very disappointed. The burger was cold and lacked taste. I won’t be ordering a burger here again. The service is always great the waitresses are always friendly and somewhat attentive.

Literally have no idea how people like this place. I’m from New York and I know good pizza… and this is far from it. There’s a layer of grease at the bottom of each slice. The crust is thin and buttery/​oily. The sauce and cheese are subpar at best (they literally have no flavor). The only reason this place isn’t a 1 star is because the wait staff were decently friendly and somewhat fast.
I’d definitely skip this place.

I have been to Chimney Rock for many lunches and work outings. I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to come here for a meal but it is a solid lunch spot. Note that the pizzas here are thin crust.
Items on the menu are a hit or miss for me. Here are some of the biggest «hits» from the menu that are my regular go-to’s: potato pancakes, rock chop salad (one of my faves!), buffalo chicken pizza, the artisan pizza, three alarm pizza (no longer on the menu but you can ask for it), bailey’s cheesecake (green cheesecake served during St Pattys Day menu) and the chimney tracks ice cream (delicious!).
Onto the «misses»: I am not a big fan of their margherita pizza, as I feel it is lacking in flavor and basil. I’ve also tried their pizzas with the rosa sauce and wasn’t impressed. One of the biggest disappointments I’ve had is their Rockin Tacos which were served on cheap quality hard tacos with barely any filling and flavors. I’ve also had their quesadilla and wasn’t impressed. I’ve tried their ziti, which was good but nothing spectacular for the price paid.
Chimney Rock tries their best in having a variety of items on the menu to suit every guest. There is a great selection of food (along with plenty of gluten free & vegetarian options). They do an excellent job with changing their specials for the season/​holidays. Note that this place gets packed during the Christmas season due to work outings and kids being out of school.
I stick to what I know when I come to Chimney Rock and only order what I’ve previously enjoyed. There are multiple rooms to dine in and can get quite loud when it’s packed. They do well to accommodate to large parties and work functions. Plenty of parking outside the restaurant as there is also a second tier to their parking lot.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while now, and I was finally able to try it yesterday with my girlfriend. We arrived at around 7pm on a Monday night, and we were seated immediately. The restaurant was far from empty. It just seemed like they had the ability to accommodate a very large amount of people in general. The booth we sat in was very tall, and I actually liked how it made me feel like I was in a semi-​private environment. Our waitress was nice, and we gave her our full order once she returned with our drinks because we were so hungry. We ordered the french onion soup, chimney rack ribs, and the chipotle pasta with chicken (which came with a salad).
We didn’t have to wait long at all for the soup and salad to arrive. I immediately noticed two things that I didn’t like about the french onion soup: there was not nearly enough cheese at the top, and parts of the bread that were sticking out of the soup were really burnt. By really burnt, I actually mean that it literally looked black in those spots of the bread. The burnt parts were obviously inedible, so I ended up ripping it off and putting it aside. I didn’t at all expect the french onion soup to come out perfect, but I was a little annoyed that they decided to serve it with such a blatant and unappealing visual defect. Besides that, the rest of the soup tasted fine. I didn’t try the salad, but I will say that it looked comically small.
Eventually, we received our entrees. I tried the ribs, and I thought they were only okay. Most of the meat did fall off the bones. but some of the bites I took of the ribs tasted very dry and bland. The fries that came with the ribs were very good. They had a nice crisp and weren’t overcooked at all. The coleslaw that came with the ribs tasted a little weird to me. It had a strange vinegar-​y flavor that I wasn’t a fan of. I didn’t bother eating much of that. The chipotle pasta was a bit disappointing. Any flavor that I tasted from the pasta seemed to be immediately erased by the spicy aftertaste. I also felt like the scallions didn’t belong on this dish, but I guess I’m pretty picky about scallions in general. I’ll admit that I probably had my hopes set way too high for the chipotle pasta because of the pictures I saw in advance.
Overall, the price seemed way too high for the quality of food that we received. The service was excellent, but that alone wasn’t enough for me to consider my experience here enjoyable. I probably won’t be returning to this restaurant for a second visit.

Ordered pick up and drove from my hotel to get my order. 3 pizzas and 4 salads. The place was packed, which was a good sign.
Got back to my hotel… no salad dressing, even though I confirmed the dressing twice when paying. Also the pizza was cold. I was only 1 mile away.
Would’ve had a higher rating if the pizza was warm and they actually put the salad dressing in with our order

The food took much too long to arrive, and my flounder sandwich was mostly lettuce and a sad, fragmented piece of battered fish with no seasoning on it between two supermarket hamburger buns. Thankfully the crisp fries and tartar sauce saved the day. Now I need some legit fish and chips to satisfy my craving.

This is my second visit with my coworkers and both experiences very positive. Very warm atmosphere and lots of wood .
The menu looks like a newspaper which was very interesting but overall has an antique feel.
I ordered the beef brisket with BBQ which as advertised was very tender and delicious. I’m a southern boy so I’m very particular with my brisket lol. The service was very high quality which I experienced both times I’ve visited with my coworkers. My waitress was very attentive and food came out fast.
Overall, very positive experience and I would recommend to friends & family. I’m trying the gluten free pizza next time.