Fairfield Tavern

This place is owned and operated by the same bunch that run the dinosaur The Cornerstone in Hillsdale. Having had extensive interaction with one particular owner in the past, I can’t imagine why this venue would be any better. No wonder the original place, Fairfield Tavern failed. They’re not restaurant people, they’re purely in it for whatever monies that can shake you down for. Same awful, sub-​par food. Same clueless, vapid bar staff and the same untrained management.

An American Tavern… Well, our experience started out OK. Hubby and I got some bar space on a Friday, happy hour (plus). 1 bartender, packed bar (minus) — but she was working her butt off and taking care of everybody as best as possible (plus). Even the regulars seemed surprised that it was such a packed bar (about 3 months ago, they had renovated and reopened as An American Tavern after Fairfield Tavern closed down). We ordered drinks (‘eh’ on the craft beer selection — not too impressed) and then food. Beer and food was OK, nothing to rave about (we both order the ‘shaved steak’ sandwich with fresh mozz and roasted peppers — it was tasty, but the steak was more like a ¹⁄₈ inch slice with more fat than necessary). We finished our 1^st round of beers and I asked a different bartender (starting the shift change) what the Great Lakes Beer was like. She said «ohhhhh, I think it’s from Ohio». Hmmmmmmmm… I don’t know what «ohio» is supposed to taste like, so I asked to taste it. It was «OK» — kind of flat and flavorless… I went with something different. At this point (about 6:30) there were 3 more bartenders in addition to the 1 from the day shift (but I think she was closing out her register for the night). Hubby finished his beer (about 6:45) and wanted another one before we were going to close out our tab. Waiting until a little after 7:00 before any of the 3 (4 if you count the day shift bartender) acknowledged us. Meanwhile, hubby sat with an empty glass in front of him for over 15 minutes, while 2 (what seemed like) managers kept coming and going from the kitchen area directly in front of us. Made eye contact a couple times, but no motion towards us or the empty glass. Just kept chit-​chatting with the staff and drinking their D&D coffee. One of the managers bought the guy next to me a drink since the customer knew the manager’s father. Hmmmmmm… Finally, a bartender asked if we wanted another drink (about 7:10) — nope, just the check. (they brought that pretty quickly) I put money up on the bar, and then we waited. Another 5 minutes…10… 15 … I was just about to take our money and walk out, when hubby, who had had enough, jumped up and went over to the manager. After speaking with him and telling of our now-​less-​than-​enjoyable experience, the manager came over, whispered something to the bartender in front of us, who was cleaning glasses (but made no motion at this point to take our money), which caused the bartender to grab our money and close us out. At that point the manager didn’t say anything, turned and walked away, and then came back and said «it’s a little too little too late, but can I buy you a round?» — we said «NO» and he said ‘ok, sorry’ and walked away (but yes, we still had to pay the full bill, no comp or discount — I guess you need to know the manager’s father to receive any comps, huh). With the competition in the area, I can adamantly state that we will not go back to An American Tavern…

Great place to come and relax. The bartenders are really friendly and chill. The cooks even came out to chat for awhile. Very laid back joint to have a couple of drinks.
The ranch dressing here is awesome!
Casual atmosphere.
Ok drink specials on Thur, Fri, Sat.

The first time we came here we noticed it was basically Charlie Brown’s under a different name. But when we got the food we thought it was pretty good and were actually quite happy with the meal. We then went back a few months later this time bringing our son, he was less than impressed. However, he was 4 so we figured it just wasn’t his thing.
My husband and I couldn’t figure out where to go the other night and ended up back here. It seems in the last few months it was from an ok meal to just kind of edible. The salad bar was ok, everything there looked to be fresh.
My husband got steak and he said it was lacking flavor and not very tender. He said last time they made a good steak, this time it wasn’t good.
I had ribs, they tasted ok but really didn’t sit well with me. It came with fries and I got the sweet potato ones. I have a bag of sweet potato fries in my freezer too, but I don’t try to feed them to people in a restaurant. They also weren’t cooked very well, some were soggy and others crunchy. It also came with what I called the worst cornbread ever. It was like they got it on sale at shoprite 3 days ago. Dry and tasteless.
The place had potential but it’s lacking a lot. Between just being a renamed Charlie Brown’s and the bad food no wonder there were only a handful of tables with people.

What a great place! I was there two weeks ago and I was quite surprised with what use to be Charlie Browns. The food is good… but not exceptional, but I only had some apps and a sandwhich which both my girlfriend and I shared. It has a great atmosphere as far as the bar goes, but needs to not look like CB. The beer selection is phenomenal and that is what I look for as far as local spots go. The $ 5 app really does the trick!!! Our server, Mike, gave us the rundown on specials as well as the different selection of craft brews and we couldn’t have been happier! Definitely will be back to the Fairfield Tavern

Place will be going down hill! Read my notes. Just lacks what it takes for customer needs in service And food. Totally lost in the way things function. Sorry but don’t waste your time

I was actually trying to go to Merchant tavern which was closed for lunch on Saturday so I ended up here as it’s close and I had seen it. So to start off the salad bar isn’t as bad as some of the other reviews indicated. I have this feeling they have tried improving It was actually decent and they were constantly checking on it. I mean there were canned things but they’re things that unless it’s a high end place not many places would have fresh (beets, chickpeas).
The wings were actually pretty good. Not dry, tasty. The children’s menu included a chicken tenders which actually were golden brown and crispy although lacking in salt. (good for a kid’s meal I guess).
The pasta with chicken and lemon is where things went bad. The chicken was DRY and the lemon had a off taste. I’m not sure if the lemon was bad or what but I couldn’t finish it. The pulled pork sandwich was decent not great.
All in all, I would not go back as the food is just too inconsistent. If you’re there for basic bar type food then it’s good but otherwise try some other place.

Awful. Awful décor, awful food, awful air conditioning. Skip this place entirely!

I would have rated this many NEGATIVE stars if that option were available, but since it’s not, it will have to be a One Star rating, and that’s only because it won’t let me post this review with NO STARS!
I went into this restaurant with my husband for lunch and it’s been a very long time since I have been somewhere that Customer Service means nothing at all!
There was an issue with what I ordered, and the waitress went to the manager (who I later found out was also the owner) and he couldn’t even show his face to our table personally and discuss the issue. In the long run, all I had was a soda.
When we were finished, he was no where to be found. No business card out either. We looked in the bar area, in the restaurant area and even asked for him. We were told he wasn’t available. Imagine that! Guess he knew he was wrong and it was easier for him to run away from the issue than to handle it face to face. Some business man he is! Can you say Customer Service… NOT!!!
In the long run, we had ordered one sandwich with fries and two sodas. We opted to not order my lunch after this whole fiasco, and the bill was still over $ 16.00.
All in all, I’d say go to the McDonalds right next store. At least you know what you’re getting, what you’re in for and it won’t break your wallet!
The prices are outrageous. The customer service doesn’t exist. There are so many places to enjoy a meal and support the local merchant that care about their customers… those are the ones we should be supporting!

This was a Charlie Brown’s that closed and reopened as this tavern.
Atmosphere: Same layout and décor as before. Spacious, cozy/​intimate restaurant aide, warm old bar feel on bar side. I love the big bar area that’s separate from the restaurant. They have a lot of beers on tap now (even more than before) approx 20+ on tap now and the bartenders are friendly and can make a great drink.
Food/​drink: bar has Good dirty martinis, cucumber martini, and others (they know their stuff). Food is good: wings great steak sandwich awesome, flank steak good, brisket sandwich good.
Service: bar is very good. Rest waiters a little slow but still attentive, checked on us, and OK service (a little clueless but OK). Water was horrible water stuck to wine and beer. Clean and cozy.
Overall I like this place and want to love it for the bar alone. Lots of TVs too. Food is good and would try it again. The salad bar is clean and they take care to clean stock and cover food. The steak and steak sandwiches were my fab, I can’t wait to try the burgers.
This place delivers as billed very well. Not fine dining but good food and drink at reasonable prices. Great selection of beer. I’ll be back.

I find it VERY SUSPICIOUS that the ONLY POSITIVE REVIEWS of this restaurant are from Unilocal!MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOT REVIEWED ANY OTHER RESTAURANTS and have no connections on Unilocal! (have a look at the numbers beside their user names). It also seems strange that so many of these «reviewers» (read: friends/​family/​employees) all happened to order the salmon, crabcakes, wings and margaritas. Maybe these are the most profitable things on the menu? Some of these «reviews» read like advertisements. Pathetic move on the restaurant’s part.
One visit was one visit too many. This PLACE IS TERRIBLE!
The Fairfield Tavern seems like a restaurant that’s trying hard to be a chain. Why a restaurant would want to be like a chain is beyond me.
The soup was clearly from a can (although the waitress sold it as homemade), the burger tasted as if flavored with something like «liquid smoke» to give the impression of being cooked on a grill. The blue-​cheese burger topping was, albeit a thick dressing, clearly salad dressing and not blue cheese crumble (though it was sold on the menu as «melted blue cheese»).
Overall this place is a failure. It has no genuine atmosphere and there’s nothing special in the food. If you’re looking for a poor immitation of a TGIF or Charlie Brown’s then by all means visit the Fairfield Tavern. Otherwise, move on.

To me it is the same exact thing that closed down (Charlie Brown’s) with a Different sign in front.
The Music that was playing was from the 80’s and almost put me to sleep.
The Food and drink selection was ok, but nothing that I thought it would be.

I was back here exactly a month from my first review because I wanted to give this place a fair shot at making amends for its mistakes during its first week.
My boyfriend & I both ordered the salad bar. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers and mozzarella with balsamic dressing. I asked our server if they had any other options besides white bread (which they seemed to think was a great suggestion a month ago) and she said no. I ordered anyway, thinking I would just toss the bread aside. But upon my visit to the salad bar, I realized they have pumpernickel bread on hand. When my entrée came, I simply switched out the white bread for the pumpernickel. My question though, is why didn’t the server think to do this or at least offer it up as an option? On a positive note, my grilled chicken this time was half way edible. Although once I took it out of the bun it had a disturbing pinkish tint to it– looked as though maybe it had been cooked the day before and reheated or even worse, a piece of processed chicken with fake grill markings on it.
My boyfriend had the mushroom burger. Nothing special though it was cooked to the correct temperature. Still no sweet potato fries– another idea they seemed open to a month ago.
Since we were seated by the salad bar, we noticed that everything being replaced was coming out of containers that appeared to be from a supermarket. Perhaps that’s why the salad bar is the only food worth paying for. I did enjoy the salad bar again and it would be the only reason I might return in the future. I think it was $ 8.99 if you just order it as an entrée.
A suggestion to the owner: If you’re going to buy a restaurant and try to make it a classier version of what it used to be, put some money into updating the bathrooms as well. The restaurant has this warm feel to it– like you’re eating in someone’s personal library– and then you walk into the restroom and it’s like you’ve stepped back in time to 1970.
Our total was $ 34.75 for two entrees, two salad bars and two sodas. I can think of better ways to spend that, like two burgers off the dollar menu at the McDonald’s behind the Fairfield Tavern and then a mani/​pedi with the leftover money. You’d enjoy your meal more and have money leftover for a splurge!

Oh, I hate to do this and I hope the management reads these reviews and improves.
I came here twice before giving it a rating. We came opening night and I thought it would be unfair to judge them on the first day.
The first time we were there, the bar wasn’t fully stocked yet and not all of the items on the menu were available. Ok, we’ll understand. I also got an orange wedge in my iced tea instead of a lemon wedge. That’s kind of funny.
Second visit. I was in the mood for a burger and you can’t really mess that up. The bun was stale and burnt. The «steak burger» was huge and a little on the dry side. Very small amount of fries but they weren’t raw like another reviewer. My boyfriend got the pork chop which he enjoyed but it took a while to get and it came cold. The salad bar is a plus. Another weird incident was that the server took our glasses which were almost empty but before we got the check, instead of offering refills. They really wanted us out of there over a half hour before closing and shut off the music early too.
I live close by and would like to see this place improve but until then I don’t think I’ll be back for a while except maybe for a drink at the bar. Cricket Hill and other good beers on tap.

Dropped in here not too long ago while out visiting clients. Used to be a place called Charlie Brown’s which was kind of like a pub /​restaurant /​diner concoction. It’s basically a step below a diner, but a little better than fast food. Not much has changed as I had eaten here in the past, and it looks like they just changed the name and had new menu’s printed. Unfortunately, the sub-​par quality did not change along with the name.
Menu consists of basic pub food, diner, and comfort food options. Had a grilled chicken sandwich on this visit that was topped with mozzarella, roasted peppers, arugula, and balsamic dressing on a long roll. Not a bad sandwich, but nothing I could not have whipped up at home even better. Came with shoestring fries which were badly under cooked. I HATE when a place does not prepare french fries correctly. Is it that hard to cook fries golden brown and crispy?
Service seemed a little slow and a bit confused on this visit. Perhaps they are still getting acclimated to the new name. Who knows. I guess if you work close by it’s worth a quick stop for lunch, or if passing by like myself and don’t want to eat a fast food meal. Hopefully, this new spot will get up to speed for my next visit.