Bobby Simone’s Restaurant and Bar

Closed for good. To be replaced by another local business.

So Bobby Simone has 2 spots, the restaurant/​bar for the dining experience and the more casual bar across the alley. This visit I was jamming in the casual bar (aka Rob’s Place) on a Friday night with some girlfriends. The bar is small and cozy and has nice interior décor. It was completely remodeled about 4 years ago. There is also a lovely room upstairs with beautiful architectural features, that can be rented for private parties.
The great thing about Rob’s Place is that there is almost always live music on weekends, and this night it was the Mango Men band. The music was good and the ladies and I were living it up on the dance floor. There is also some good people watching as the night goes on. If you are single and in your 40s-​50s, this may be a good spot for you (wink, wink).
As far as drinks go, if you are particular about your wine, as I am, I suggest sticking to mixed drinks or beer. If you’re not particular, go ahead and order a glass of wine because they give huge pours! If you are hungry, you can order off Bobby Simone’s restaurant menu. My friend and I shared the roasted artichoke appetizer and it was really tasty and very fresh. It seems they are frequently changing chefs at the restaurant and subsequently, the menu, so don’t get too attached. Currently, there is not a separate bar menu, so if you’re looking for a burger and fries or casual bites, you won’t find it here… but that could change, so don’t write it off.
I haven’t dined at the restaurant across the alley in a couple of years, so I won’t be reviewing that now. The hubs and I have a gift card, so we plan on having dinner there soon and then I’ll update my review with the deets. Stay tuned…

Gross… the spinach salad had basically raw bacon. If that wasn’t bad enough… the salad dressing was what I think was tomato paste… not balsamic tomato as listed. My hamburger was ordered medium well and was presented rare. Never again.

The health inspectors report is not meaningless. The chef is not Safe certified I would not risk my health. The burgers at lunch have usually been fairly good, but other menu items keep changing due to the turn stile of chefs. I am a local and this place has gone down hill. Beware

I don’t know where the last poor reviewer ate but it wasn’t here! This place was a find! We had the black and blu burger along with the amazing artichoke soup, delicious sirracha dumplings, and perfect sweet potato tart an amazing meal! Nathan our host/​server was pleasant and very helpful with meal choices. And the moral to the story is… Don’t always believe the poor review ratings.

6 health code violations!!!
no soap in employees bathroom!!!
yuck!!!

Returned today after staying away. What a pleasant surprise. The roast beef was excellent and the cobb salad was prepared as requested, which was slightly different that the menu. The new chef is doing an excellent job. Saw our favorite bartender Lisa! So glad she is back. We were so happy to see her! We will be back and we will tell all our friends to go back! Great improvement over our last visit a year ago. We will be regulars again!

Byob or wine saved us a bunch. Ordered the special app and entre, a sweet shrimp with grits app and monk fish with broccoli rabe. Both a creole style dish, excellent sauces with them. Wife ordered a salmon entre, v good flavor, cedar plank cooked I think. Great value. One of the highest quality restaurants in Doylestown.

I frequently visit Bobby Simone’s they always have an excellent menu, varies at times which I like, but the favorable entrées are always available.

Horrible. The food had no taste, very bland. Service was also poor. Waiter spoke as if he had marbles in his mouth or was completely trashed. Lastly, paid $ 17 for my son’s burger and they missed adding the bacon. The outside is such a nice location but NEVER again. Too many other good options in Dtown

Had the salad of fruits for $ 12.
Very small. Too much vinegar in dressing.
Lots of fruit but hardly any walnuts.
Salad was so small, I had to order another enter
Ordered the Fish & Chips. Fish wonderful, the chips (French fries) were so salty, I could not eat them.

Service was slow but friendly. Food was decent, we the asparagus app. which was tasty. My wife had the Greek pasta and I had the Filet. Pasta was good and steak had a nice flavor but was overcooked. Biggest issue was everything was extremely over priced for the quality, atmosphere etc. The bartender at least poured nice servings of wine but again too expensive for this type of place.

Saturday night, ⁴⁄₁₈ — we (and by we, I mean there were 4 of us) arrived around 6:30 for dinner. No reservations. We had about ½ hour wait. When we finally were seated, we ordered apps and our entrees at the same time. We waited. And we waited. We were not the only ones. Everyone sat waiting and waiting. Our apps arrived. Slowly. Spaced far apart. The 4 people sitting next to us had arrived earlier than us and waited even longer than we did. A long lull between apps and our dinner. We ordered salmon, gnocchi, steak (medium) and pork chop. At 8:30, I grabbed the waitress and explained that our guests had a train to catch. Within two minutes, the salmon and gnochhi arrived. The gnocchi dish was the worst excuse for gnocchi I’d ever had. The ‘gnocchi’ all 4 of them, resembled burnt scrambled eggs. The chicken in the dish were rubbery nuggets. I sent it back, and because 2 people in our party STILL were waiting for food the people who had arrived before us still hadn’t received ANY food, I declined to order anything else. After 10 minutes, the pork chop arrived. It was dry and overcooked. 10 minutes after that, the steak arrived. It looked like a Swanson Frozen dinner piece of meat and it included, what we all thought was a biscuit, but turned out to be mashed potatoes that didn’t taste like either potato OR biscuit. I watched diner after diner approach their waitresses and complain. Long after we received our meals, the people (who had arrived prior to us) received their meals (2 of which were also steaks).
My gnocchi was comped at well as a round of drinks — still — my worst meal at TGIF like establishments were far better than our experience at Bobby Simones. This was by far, the worst experience I’ve ever had. Luckily, we were with people who were fun and made the most of the night.

Was so disappointed in our experience at Bobbys last night. Worst service in town.
I had been there years ago and loved it but last night it seemed like a completely different restaurant. First no one was at the hostess stand to greet/​seat us. We had to go into the bar to ask to be seated outside. Then sat down without menus and waited for 15 minutes. The waiter Denis finally came over and asked for our drinks, but we hadn’t been given a drink menu. Another 15 min goes by and we finally get the menus… the night continued in this manner.
We were there for more than 2 hours because our waiter was no where to be found. Other tables were just as angry, some leaving after waiting 20 minutes for drinks.
We also were brought the wrong food and drinks more than once. We would have left but had already ordered.
It’s a shame.

I’ve always enjoyed this place. I always sit at the bar and get something to eat. The burgers are really delicious. the bartenders are attentive and pleasant. I like the «down the alley» location, and the fact that it is near my favorite theater, the county. however, your cholesterol will jump a few after their burgers!

AWFUL EXPERIENCE!
We have eaten here many times and have had a pleasant in-​person experience when it came to the food and service. We ordered take-​out one night and it was awful to say the least. When we opened it at home, we realized the food wasn’t packed properly (therefore, soggy) and the fish that was part of our fish taco order was undercooked and not even fresh!
When I called to speak with a Manager, I politely asked to be refunded for the cost of the one (out of two) item we ordered since the fish tacos were inedible — that was my only request. He told me that he would ask the bookkeeper on Monday to see if the charge on our card would be reversed and would be sure to call me back but he couldn’t process it himself, even though they had just run the charge through only 15 mins ago (have they never heard of voiding a transaction?). He didn’t call me back as promised.
I waited until Wednesday to call back, called the main line and after almost 20 rings, Mr. Bobby Simone himself picked up since the line was forwarded to his cell phone.
I explained the situation for him and let him politely know that all I would like is a refund for the one item that was not edible and I would be happy. I did mention it put a bad taste in my mouth that his Manager never bothered to call me back to address the incident and apply the refund.
He apologized, said he would immediately refund us the money for the one item, then insisted that we come in to eat, compliments of him, as an apology since the Manager never called me back or handled the refund. Mr. Simone then gave me his personal cell phone and asked me to call him back the next day to make a reservation so he could make sure to let staff know we would be dining without being charged.
When I called him the next day to make the reservation, he asked me what I thought would be a «fair price» for the meal he invited us to come in for because when we ordered take-​out, it was less than $ 40 worth of food and he wanted to make sure we wouldn’t come in and order «filet mignon and wine» while he’s paying for it.
I was highly insulted! I NEVER asked to have a meal at his restaurant for free — HE offered it as an apology for their lack of customer service and serving us bad food. All I asked for was an $ 18 refund on one item of bad food we paid for an could not eat, which I think is very reasonable. We NEVER GOT THE REFUND and in the end, decided not to take Mr. Simone up on his insulting offer.
What a terrible way to do business, especially in a small local market where patronage is so important. They wouldn’t have lost our business with a simple take– out mistake (I understand mistakes happen) but the fact that they refused to ever process a simple refund (that they agreed to) and then insulted me by insinuating that I would have taken advantage of a free meal (that I didn’t ask for) is just flat out tacky.
I will NEVER eat here again and would never recommend this establishment to anyone!

I ordered the turkey club and it was good. They didn’t have enough employees working. Our server was also the bartender, and we barely saw her. My dad got the roast beef and fries, and it was awful. The roast beef was dry and the fries were cold. He asked two people for hot fries and never got them. The seafood bisque tasted like salt and cream. I will never eat here again.

For the $$, keep waking past this place.
Was surprised that we didn’t need a reservation on a beautiful Saturday evening.
I know why.
Don’t eat here if you have high blood pressure, so much salt that I could t finish my Cowboy pork chop or my wife’s chicken soup, I mean chicken penne. Very disappointed.

I’ve been here many times for various reasons; lunch, dinner, drinks on a weekend and I have enjoyed every visit. There is a lot of atmospheric variety for an alley restaurant, which is good. They have the full restaurant side with a full bar and a really nice dining room. The food is always excellent. I most recently had the hot roast pork with rapini and provolone on a crispy/​chewy baguette. It was perfect, I housed it! You can’t go wrong with many of their selections.
The bar on the other side of the alley is nice, although it can get crowded in there so it’s nice when they open the upstairs bar as well. There is always live music when I am there and it’s always good stuff. It’s a staple in by Doylestown bar/​restaurant rotation and I continue to bring family and friends there. There are many great places to choose from when in town, but this is one of the highlights!

I had a delightful time at Bobby Simone’s. Tucked away down an elegant alley, entrance to the restaurant is a bit confusing. Once inside, however, the ceiling opened up a bit and a soft-​spoken hostess greeted my brother & me.
We were a bit under-​dressed compared to the average mid-​life wifers and suburban couples who seemed to be regular clientele. The young staff never seemed to mind and treated us just as politely.
I had a glass of wine at a standard $ 8/​glass. And then arrived my marvelous burger. Honestly, I cannot remember a better burger. The flavors in this perfectly cooked to order (medium rare) burger were insane. My mouth is watering at the memory. I ordered mine with provolone and sauted onions. I can’t even explain the marriage of tastes that took place on my tongue. Flavors = phenomenal.
Alongside, I had the house salad, which I was pleased with. Instead of something banal and devoid of any substantial elements like most house salads, the Bobby house salad includes red pepper and sunflower seeds with cucumber and mixed greens.
We ate deliriously, received our bill promptly, and were on our way in a dreamy stomach-​happy haze. To be sure, I will be back!