Prickly Pear

Excellent meal at the Prickly Pear
This is a nice restaurant with an elegant yet casual atmosphere.
Salads are a nice portion and very flavorful. The stuffed lobster tail special was fantastic as was the wasabi encrusted salmon. Eating the salmon with the fried sticky rice added a nice dimension to the flavor.
Finished with the toasted pound cake with blueberries and ice cream. Yum!

Had a really nice meal here. I’ve heard mixed reviews but I have not had a bad meal here. Very nice menu. Reasonable prices especially with the price fixed menu during the week. Warm and inviting décor, good food
Grab a bottle or two of wine and give it a try.

Just exquisite food!
Not inexpensive (dishes $ 23 – 29), but BYOB. Exceptionally prepared and delicious
Shrimp and okra appetizer was very large, so be sure to share, serves 3 – 4. Both the tuna and beef wellington were fabulous.
Great service as well.

I’m giving this four stars because of the excellent service. Our waitress was at our table constantly asking if we needed anything.
Appetizers: my husband had the jumbo shrimp cocktail which came with 4 shrimp that were not overcooked. I had the stuffed apple slices which were delicious. They had a crunch and there was a sweetness from the apricot which balanced everything out. I would definitely order this again.
Entres: my husband ordered the pork chop which had a char from the grill which was a little burned. The pork chop wasn’t dry but it also wasn’t the juiciest. I had the stuffed chicken with prosciutto and fontina cheese. I did enjoy the chicken. The chicken wasn’t dry and the capers in the sauce gave it the saltiness it needed. It was a good dish.
The prices were not bad. You are going to pay more than diner prices but less than fine dining prices. We would definitely go back.

I had the blackened salmon with sriracha mayo. It was delicious. Only wish that they would provide more gluten free options, but they do have a nice assortment of salads!

Love this place…
We love the calamari with jalapeño as a starter. I always get a seafood dish, and my husband loves the steaks and chops. Always too full for dessert! Bonus: It’s a BYOB.

***NOTE: Somehow I duplicated my account and wrote this review already, dated 5/​16/​2015.***
I don’t understand why there are such good reviews of this place. Because of those reviews, I tried it out with my family for graduation weekend. It was BAD. The beet salad had canned beets. The romaine on another salad was pale, pale, pale and the dress was pure vinegar. I ordered the filet mignon appetizer and it was drowned in some weird brown sauce on top of a potato pancake that was not a potato pancake. Not sure what it was and I didn’t eat more than a bite. The filet mignon part was good, the whole bite and a half — literally. Definitely not going back there again. We had wanted to get dessert, but decided against it, worrying that it would be as bad as our salads and appetizers. Also, the white bread they served when we sat down was stale.

My husband and I had dinner there this past weekend. We ordered a hot antipasto app which was absolutely delicious. The two of us split our entrees… We got a mesclun salad w grilled chicken and paella. The salad was yummy and the chicken was grilled to perfection. We didn’t enjoy our paella as much; it lacked flavor. Our waitress wasn’t attentive and seemed preoccupied with her conversations with her coworkers since the beginning of our visit. Once we asked for our check, we waited for about 15 minutes before she came back.

The best meal I’ve had in months. This pork shank was better than the one I had in Berlin and that one was great.

One of my favorite restaurants. We love coming in an asking for Patty, who is an amazing waitress, will treat you like family. Food is second to none. NEVER had a bad experience here and NEVER had a bad dish. I always leave here with a smile on my face

I came here for dinner YEARS ago, but last night attended a cooking class with 2 of my girlfriends. This review is solely based on the cooking class.
We had an absolute blast! The food was delicious and the chef was mildly entertaining, without being corny. We came in about 20 minutes before it started and the room was already packed. The 2 of us on end could barely see what he was doing in the mirror, which was unfortunate. I was the first person on the reservation list, maybe the seating should go by when you book the reservation, to be fair. The menu seemed to have no theme to it and was slightly random, but the food was good and I guess that is all that matters! BYOB was great, especially with ShopRite Liquors right down the way.
I thought $ 45 was a little pricey for the amount of food that we received, but the experience was good and it was something different and fun to do. They were quick with the service, very accommodating, and I really liked that you paid upon entrance so you could leave as soon as you were finished.

We visited on December 23, 2014 to celebrate a new job certification. We were pleasantly surprised that they offered a $ 22 meal plan on that night. I had steak and lobster and both were cooked perfectly. The meal came with a great salad as well. We visited again in January and the restaurant still had the $ 22 meal deal but it no longer included steak. Our second dining experience and the food was not as memorable as our first experience but we will be back. We like the atmosphere and are thankful that Hackettstown has this little gem of a restaurant. BYOB, which we like.

This is a small restaurant located in a strip mall, pleasant interior, nothing hugely memorable. Dined there recently on a Thursday night around 7:30, and it was almost empty. The meal started off promising, with the chopped rare tuna nachos, calamari and arugula salad shared by our party of 4. The tuna nachos were superb, the salad fresh and very tasty, and the calamari good but not great. We waited a bit for our entrees and during that time the remaining diners left, leaving us as the last table. Perhaps the kitchen staff was in the process of leaving… but for some inexplicable reason our entrees were brought out and my salmon was cold. Even colder was my boyfriends grilled lamb sirloin… cold and well done despite his request for medium rare. Our friends said they enjoyed their hangar steak and paella, although I tried the paella and it was just okay. With only one table in the restaurant getting the dishes timed should have been very simple, but it clearly was not. I am being generous by giving 3 stars, but the appetizers and pleasant server bumped it up from a two, as well as our friends praise for their entrees. I will say I have no plans to return, to serve that lamb in its cold, overlooked state is indicative of a place that doesn’t care much, IMO.

Nice quiet place to dine with a friend or on a date. They have a variety specials during the week which I really like. It’s nice for the area but don’t expect fine dining. I did get a brie fruit pizza once and it was unpleasantly burnt. Would go back if a friend wanted to but probably not if I had the option.

Is eat here just about once a week. The food and service are excellent. Homemade desserts make sure we leave on a high note. Staple dishes: Crispy Calamari salad and Hanger steak, YUM!

Was here for dinner with my sister. I ordered the braised short ribs in the «natural jus», and am 99% positive I was served two slices of corned beef in gravy master. One of the worst meals I’ve had in a while, and certainly not a good impression.
My sister had the Paella. The dish was missing the shrimp, and as far as the «filet mignon» goes, I think not. While the taste of this dish was okay, it failed to even remotely meet expectations.
We only sampled these two lousy dishes, and spend about $ 60 on dinner worth no more than $ 10.
While I cannot speak for the other offerings on the menu, the dishes we had hardly resembled the description on the menu. In general I’d imagine the «chef’s» substitute lousy low grade ingredients into all of the meals to cut costs, as was evident in the dishes we tried.
The shopping plaza location should have given away the obvious, but the dishes Prickly Pear serves are hardly worth the plates they are served on. If you’re in the area, think twice, and visit the Quick Check a few doors down, as you’ll certainly find yourself more satisfied.

This place is awesome! If your ever in H’town your going to want to eat here. I used to go here pretty often and had not been in awhile. What a mistake! I went with my girlfriend last weekend and the food was even better than I remembered. We have not stopped talking about it since, and will be back very soon!

I usually wait for a 2^nd or 3^rd visit to give a place 5 stars, but this place is a 5 and they know just what they’re doing. Owners/​chef came to out table and showered their genuine interest on us. Décor formal yet relaxing feel. Service was on point. 3 course meal was phenomenal: Tuna Flatbread, Arugula Salad, and Seared Salmon. Salmon was cooked to perfection, and the tuna flatbread! what an amazing dish to be had. Come here…

BOB in a shopping plaza
Had dinner here last night. It started off slow but ended very well.
Does not take reservations but you can call in advance 15 minutes or so before you arrive to be put on waiting list. Nice décor and very nice service.
Seafood stuffed zucchini flowers were a bit too doughy. Bread was unremarkable.
The beat and arugula salad with goat cheese was wonderful.
All the main courses were very good.
–Sea Bass with shrimp and risotto
— Hanger steak with smashed potatoes
— sea scallops with corn risotto
I had a vanilla ice cream and green watermelon parfait that was really good.

Great Food and Even Better Staff.
The Food was amazing. My Family and I have gone here a couple times, and each time all of us have been more than satisfied with our meals. The Restaurant is BYO, and there is a shop rite liquor conveniently located Next Door which is perfect, you can pick up a bottle of wine right when you go to the restaurant.
When we went the Chef actually came out and greeted us and talked about our meal and how it was prepared. This is such a simple task, yet it left such a great impression with me. It’s been a while since the Chef himself came out to talk to me at a restaurant, so I truly felt like I was an important guest.
The food was very good and flavorful, the service really stood out as being top notch.