The Publick House

Went there last night, by far one of the best restaurants in the area!!! The salmon was INCREDIBLE– take that red lobster. My boyfriend had the skirt steak — almost had to fight him for some of that too! Literally cooked to perfection, and soo juicy! Had a drink called the Italian Stallion off of the seasonal drink menu– not only was it tasty but it was so adorable in the little copper cup. The service here was great too! So friendly and accommodating. The live music made for a pleasant atmosphere. Definitely will be returning– with friends AND family.

Went here for lunch on a Saturday. Started with a Caesar salad and it was pretty traditional. Atmosphere was upbeat and the place was busy. For my main dish I got half a rack of ribs. I can tell you one thing; they did not skimp on the portion size. The rack was hefty and the ribs were tender with plenty of meat on the bones. The bbq sauce was sweet and zesty. Overall, I was impressed with this place and will definitely stop in to try the pizza next time (it look very good!).

I had the crab cake when I went there and it was absolutely exquisite! Along with the rigatoni bolognese which was also delicious. The server there was so nice and very professional. I highly recommend this restaurant.

My wife has come here for her birthday since she was a little girl growing up in Califon. Granted its been 5 years since she has dined here. She said «we could go any where as long as it was the public house.» Below is a detailed accurate review of our meal starting worst to best. Each meal ranked 0 – 10
Crab Cake–
Score– 0
It was rancid, spoiled and will get people sick. My wife smelled the funk as it was being handed to her and bravely tried a bite, choked it down and refused to eat another bite.(I walked into the bathroom after her later. WOOF, one bite really made her sick) I tried a bite, ended up spitting it into a napkin. This crab was clearly both from a can, and spoiled. They are going to get people sick serving food like this. We told the server it was awful and we couldn’t eat it… yeah, we still paid for it.
Chicken Parm–
Score– 5
When I walked in I thought, boy this place doesn’t look good. Struck me as the place a grandfather takes the whole family, because its not too expensive, serves alcohol, has a roof and serves edible food fast with free rolls. Some might liken place this is an old person magnate on account of the reasonable price and free rolls and fast service. Early bird specials? Chicken Palm was edible. Sauce was a quickly made tomato sauce, instead of love effort fresh seasonings they killed it with salt. Sauce should be dark red not light pink. Chicken was a little crispy and well seasoned. I got what I expected.
Kiddie noodles–
Score-​5
It was a large portion for 10 dollars. daughter liked it fine. They never brought us the Gelato that comes with…
Pear Salad Goat Cheese–
Score-​7
not a ton of flavor, more oil than dressing. Looked very pretty. I thought it was the best of the entrees.
Service– too fast. We ordered and minutes ate they handed us food. You cant make fresh food that fast. You could tell a lot of this food was either pre cooked, or pre prepared.
Rolls–
Score 10–
I wish I just got these. They were amazing. Crispy, soft, yeasty yummers. Maybe this is the only hold out from my wifes childhood.
Waiter– Nice enough kid. Didn’t read us the specials, or do much more than write down what we ordered and bring it to us. His service matched the restaurant.
I would recommended this place to a hindu looking for a fun night of fasting.

Just finished dinner here. This places serves «glorified» pub food.
We had:
–arugula salad which was tasty.
— sole with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. — the sole was ok, the vegetables were over cooked and the potatoes were blah.
The presentation of the dish left much to be desired.
I wouldn’t go back here for food but might come back to check out the band and grab a drink.

Ugh! Server brought the food to the wrong guest. When we asked if that was our food someone else was eating, she admitted it was. Good thing she obviously didn’t care. I was worried she might have taken it too seriously. I ordered the meatballs off the app menu. SUCKED!!! They were supposed to be parm style, which means they warmed them up in the over (aka burnt), then poured sauce in the bottom of the dish and add the store bought meatballs on top. Oh, and parm style here means no cheese… WHAT???

We just moved to the area and have been here twice so far. Both times were phenomenal. On our first visit our waitress was Trudy who was courteous and attentive without being hovery. She was excellent! Our waitress the second time was also good. I cannot recall her name at this time.
We tried a few things so far to get a feel for the menu. We have had 2 kinds of pizza, steak, eggplant parm, lasagna and short ribs; for apps we have tried french onion soup, calamari, beet salad, and my little one loves the meatballs. The food is delicious and well seasoned – nothing over-​wrought. It’s just what we like in a local restaurant coming from a foodie town. The wine and draft beer selection is limited but decent.
Overall we like the atmosphere and service. We dined on a slow Tuesday evening and a peak Saturday night and were impressed both times. The only thing that could use improvement was making sure the entrees all come out at once.

Came here on a Sunday with my family for lunch. The wait was approximately 15 – 20 minutes for 6 of us. We waited at the bar and it went fast. The homemade pizza was delicious and freshly made from a brick oven. The service was a little slow and some of my family was waiting for their food for a while after the rest of us had ours. Overall it was a nice spot.

We always sit in the hi-​top chairs in the bar and order the thin crust pizza and crisp salads. Our favorite server is Victoria M. who is exceptional at customer service. Don’t tell too many people — we like the fact it’s not crowded!

My husband and I went here for an early dinner on Halloween. We weren’t there for any Halloween festivities (we weren’t dressed up) and were there before anything really got going. We sat at the bar and had great service and a nice bartender-​ess. The food was really yummy, we had the sicilian deep dish pizza with peppers and the BBQ buffalo wings which were AWESOME! I thought they had a pretty decent beer selection and they had nice décor. I didn’t really see the inn part of it as we weren’t staying but everyone was friendly and nice. Plenty of parking too.

I really was excited to step out with friends for dinner this past Saturday night. It had been a hellish week, actually a hellish month and we needed the break. Our friends suggested some place close to where I work, instead, I suggested a 45 minute drive to The Publik House.
My husband called for reservations at noon. We asked for 7pm, for four, in the back dining room near the fireplace if possible. The young lady on the phone assured my husband it would be «no problem» to accommodate that.
We arrived at 6:50. We checked in and were told we’d have to wait since they didn’t have a table ready yet. We had to give our name twice. Then the host walks us to a table in the bar, in front of the band! Our friends were actually waiting at the bar, so we mentioned to the host about our request so we could chat and not have to scream at each other. He said «no problem». After getting a drink and standing at the bar for 20 minutes my husband asked again about our table, we were then told that even though we had reservations they «had people cone in so we gave up your table»… I went and asked the host another 20 minutes later and he had forgotten about us! Finally, an hour after our reservation, we were seated. I ordered a bottle of wine, Coppola cab, very nice. Waiter obviously knew how to serve wine properly to the person who orders first for tasting, bonus points there. Hubby ordered the skirt steak, our friends ordered the sole and short ribs, I went for the ribs as well. We ordered soups (two of us; black bean and french onion) and two salads (a house/​garden and a field greens, with goat cheese, roasted pears and candies walnuts). One soup and two salads arrived and we waited and waited and waited. …finally the onion soup arrived, the waiter had to inquire if my husband needed his soup warmed so we could eat. *sigh* same thing for entries.
The food itself was good. We both thought the short ribs were good, lots of flavor and nice and tender. The skirt steak was very good, cooked perfectly, although a nice mashed or rice would benefit the reputation a bit more than the standard fries.
No dessert as we wanted an early evening and still had a good drive home, the delayed us an hour so we passed on the sweets.
Overall, the food, was good but the service was terrible. Really wish they’d offered to make it up to us somehow, that ignorance of front of the house savvy really was the let down of the night.

About as bad as you can get. Ordered food, four other tables around that arrived in various stages after us all received their food before us. After the second table, we complained. After fourth table and 45 minutes had gone by we asked to see the manager. Manager NEVER came to see us, even though the waitress and head waitress said he would be out soon on numerous occasions. My food was over cooked, my wifes was cold. Bottom line, I will never eat there again and urge any reader to think hard before you do.

Holy Hell! If you are in the Chester area, please do yourself a favor and DO NOT go here!
My family and I were in the area this afternoon and decided to stop there for lunch. When they told us that there was an hour and a half wait-​time, that’s when we honestly should’ve just turned around and went somewhere else. But we had no other plans, so we decided to just make a reservation for two hours later while we walked around and browsed the nearby shops. Well, two hours and ten minutes passed and our table still wasn’t ready. Finally, we were seated after first being directed to the wrong table, but it took our server forever to approach us. Even once she finally got our drink orders, it took her close to twenty minutes to get them to us. We didn’t even order anything fancy (just pizzas, burgers, and salads), but nearly an hour after we were seated we still had none of our food. Every single time we called on our waitress, she couldn’t give us a straight answer as to what was taking so long. Ultimately, we just got up and decided to look for another restaurant. We even called on the «manager» to let him know of our experience, and he never bothered to apologize or even check on the kitchen to see what was going on.
Completely unprofessional and just flat-​out unorganized on all levels. The only food that seemed to be coming out was pizza, and the nearby table that came in after us was served first. An absolute disaster from beginning to end. The only reason this gets one star is because zero stars isn’t an option.
BONUS: When my step-​mom asked the waitress if their iced tea was made fresh or it came from a soda gun, her response literally was «It comes from a pitcher.» I’m still laughing about that more than five hours later.

This place is wonderful must stop at when your in the Chester Area. The town is so quaint, the restaurant was newly redone, beautiful décor, great ambiance, wonderful food. You feel like your in a fancy posh restaurant in NYC but your in a beautiful town countryside.

Have been here a few times after bike rides and apple/​pumpkin picking in the area. This past time was not as enjoyable as the others. In the past, we’ve enjoyed the pizza and appetizers — they were great. This time, we tried entrees such as pastas and steaks. They were ok, nothing wonderful. And the one person who ordered a sandwich had to wait 15 extra minutes before getting it. The server read back the whole order to us so I don’t know what happened in the kitchen, but its not acceptable. Also, the server started out great, but then disappeared a few times. We had to wait a long time for extra bread and additional drinks. I think we’ll try other restaurants in the area next time.

Great staff, comfortable setting, simple menu, good burger & ribs.
Best of all, the pints of Guinness was served at the perfect temperature, in the perfect glass with a Shamrock in the foam!

Perfect ambiance for a date night! My husband and I stopped in on a chilly fall night. The inside is dark and cozy. I had the Atlantic Salmon and he enjoyed the NY Strip. Everything was fresh, seasoned well, and cooked perfectly! We both really enjoyed our meals and our drinks. It got a bit loud later in the night when they had a live band playing some cover songs. I would definitely like to go back to try the woodfired pizza! And the gelato!

For me, a snobby pizza-​worshipping NYer, the wood fired pizza here is the best I’ve had in northwest New Jersey. Inventive toppings, cooked perfectly and you’re going to get an IPA with the pie, right?

I don’t want to say this because I always lobby for the PH when deciding where to go w the family but service was awful. Was not busy though.
Slow. In attentive (not rude) writing this w hopes to improve because I want to keep coming back. Love the pizza, salad. Great pub on a great town.

This review is for the restaurant only. We used a living social coupon. Service was confusing at first, as we were asked by two different waiters what our drink order was. Once that cleared up, we had no problems with our service. I hate waiting for the check when I’m finished with my meal, and our waiter was attentive and prompt.
The food and ambiance on a beautiful spring day were very nice. We ate outside and enjoyed our day date in Chester. I ate a burger and the fries were crispy and tasty!
Another table ordered buffalo wings and they smelled delicious.
Minor complaints-​my husband asked for his ny strip rare, but it came out medium… and when the waiter brought our drinks out he put a bread basket down on the table, but took it with him when he left?
Overall, we enjoyed our first visit.

Nice place, small bar, lots of tables… service a little slow… and not a gigantic beer selection… but it’s in a great location… and has a real old age feel
Dinner entrees look good and nice salad selection, they also have pizza and a good burger!!!

An update after another stay at the Inn. There have been improvements in the rooms. The bathrooms are better. But still things seem sparsely furnished and inconsistent. Room service available but poorly organized. Desk clerk brought it to the room with fingers all over the plates.
We also had a business meeting on site and it was just ok. The room was too cold and in spite of requests, there was no correction. the service and catering in the room was weak. Had to ask for silverware. we were given paper bathroom towels rather than cloth. Unacceptable.
What is really strange is that in the morning there seems to be no one there other than guests. I walked around and could not find staff of any kind.
I hope this place can improve and survive. Right now it has a level of service that simply does not measure up

Went to Publick House for lunch with a group of 4. We were all happy with our meals, service and atmosphere! The service was excellent and we all really liked the décor and vibe of the place.
I had the chicken salad wrap, which was really good. Others in our party had the buffalo wings, steak and lemon chicken. Everyone was really happy with what they ordered. I am a big carb-​a-​holic and the bread before our meals were served was excellent!
We aren’t often in Chester but I would definitely return to Publick House again!

If you’re looking for a relaxing afternoon to walk around town looking at antique shops and settle into a comfy place for lunch than look no further than Publick House in Chester, NJ. There was also a 4H fair in town which I’m sure attracted a lot of families but there’s enough to do to spend a few hours strolling around.
As for the restaurant we had an Arugula Salad along with a Beet and Endive Salad. Both were large enough to split or have for a main course. For our lunch entrée we split a pepperoni pizza and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t expect a brick oven pizza, I guess I didn’t ready enough reviews before hand.