The Bistro At Grove Square

I had a nightmare today. We were having dinner. The waiter kindly refreshed our plates, which was nice. But my friend found that her plate had chewing gum on the rim at the bottom. CHEWING GUM!!! How a hell could this happen??? That’s the most disgusting thing to see around the dinner table. Whose was that!!! Oh no I don’t want to know that. What’s worst was that we didn’t know whose plate was the one under her plate, the one had contact with the gum on the surface where we had our meal. I almost threw up, or I should have, maybe. This is totally unacceptable.

Easily one of the worst places in jersey city. Very unsanitary, the management treats people (both employees and customers) like garbage, and the food and prices are just plain bad. Expect a problem if you come here. If you’re from Hoboken this place will seem A-​ok. But if you’re older than 19 and don’t want to be insulted and fed burnt/​over cooked/​over salted/​overpriced food, then go ANYWHERE else. Btw the owner will hit on your sister/​gf/​mom/​wife/​grandma while you’re in the bathroom. He’s an old bald guy. This place has bouncers. Before places like this came to JC, nobody had bouncers. This place has bouncers because it’s marketed to trash. This place is a festering sore. Better wear your blazer and cologne.

If you don’t mind bad food, this place is great. Great location and service, food is lousy

I got the Bistro Burger. I ordered Med-​Rare and I get Med to Med-​Well… The burger was mediocre. The service was worst then I get at a diner. I most certainly would not come back on my own free will. I sat at the bar and the bartender asked me what I wanted to drink and gave me a menu, but after that was too busy talking to co-​workers instead of attending to the 3 other customers aside from myself. This was just a horrible experience.

Open in the middle of a blizzard! Everything I’ve had here, food or drink – croque-​monsieur, French onion soup, mimosas, old fashioneds – is good, but the lamb shank is incredible, don’t miss it.

I’ve avoided this place since it opened because I took issues with the way the place looks/​behaves. So no doubt I went in here with preconceived notions when a friend picked the spot.
To backtrack, my feelings are that this place has PRIME real estate in downtown JC and they should behave that way. Having tacky neon scrolling signs akin to a pawn shop is a turnoff (and a zoning violation, but that’s up to the City to handle). It is in poor taste, and the place gives off a Jersey Shore «guido» air.
The owner (manager? not sure.) seats us in a disinterested though not rude way.
So, I went in for lunch and the place was generally slow. Waiter and owner/​manger guy seem uncertain who is in charge of our table, as both come by to take orders. Ordered ½ calzone and soup. Waiter advises me that they’re out of one type of soup so I order another. Then, I order calzone, and from out of the background steps owner/​manager, with an expression that makes me assume he is vying for Grumpy Cat’s heir apparent, shouts out that there are no calzones today.
Ooooook.
So I change my order entirely to Chicken Parm. It’s just ok. Chicken is barely if at all breaded. Sauce is decent. Chicken is cut into little pieces rather than a cutlet. Potatoes on the side were just ok.
All in all the service was below par (based on manager; waiter was acceptably average), food was slightly below average, and general preparedness (meaning having food on hand that was actually listed on the menu) was a big fail. Price was right at $ 24 for 2 (no drinks), but I’d rather pay more and leave happy.

I’ve only been here once, so — grain of salt. But:
Star#1: 11:30pm on a Wednesday night, their kitchen was open & they were happy to cook for me. Oddly a rarity in this neighborhood I’m visiting for 2 weeks. They were the 5^th place I tried.
Star#2: Great service, super friendly.
Star#3: Good solid food & drink. I didn’t get anything fancy on the food front, but the Bistro Burger was exactly what I was craving after a long day, the fries were great, and the beer selection was totally solid — a good range, from the regulars to some nice craft drafts.
Star#4: Great people watching.
It is definitely not a quiet spot, and it’s not a hipster retreat. It’s a place where people go to have a good time, drink some drink and eat some food. I think they’re also fine with you getting a slice at the adjacent /​connected pizza spot & eating at the bar — at least I saw lots of folks doing that.

The food and service is just fabulous! I come here often and they are very consistent in every way. Beer is fresh and the booze isn’t watered down. I’ll be back again next week as usual.

We went to the Bistro for a pleasant Saturday brunch and it was in every way possible, a terrible experience.
We waited over 20 minutes to get someone to take our order even though we were seated right by the hosts station. When the waiter finally came to take our order he acted as if he was doing us a favor. Our food came separately rather than together and despite arriving tens of minutes apart, was still cold. The hash browns tasted *bad*, as if the potatoes has been boiled in dishwater and our omelets were more or less tasteless.
On top of the slow service and bad food, rather than all three of us getting what we ordered they sent 2 orders of of one person’s order and when we pointed out the error, our waiter came to our table and argued with us in a loud, hostile fashion. He finally agreed to correct the order, again phrased as a favor. «I’ll fix it for you this time but I’m telling you ordered the same dish as that guy.» Despite the fact that everyone at the table heard our friend clearly order his dish.
Then, Even after agreeing to fix our order, it turns out the waiter sat on it. By the time he actually put the corrected order everyone else at the table had finished eating so one of our party essentially was never servers at all.
Finally (yes there is more!), two of the staff, our waiter and someone from the kitchen, got in a fist fight right in front of the bar. The manager had to break it up the fight and the kitchen guy was yelling that he was going to stab the waiter. (I can understand the sentiment but wow.)
No one attempted to do anything to make our experience better and it was just horrible. I will never eat there again and I encourage anyone considering the bistro to think twice. Two thumbs down.

My family and I always come here for a wonderful dinner.
The breadsticks dressed in basil, mozz, and tomatoes appetizer is delicious :) it’s complementary.
We’ve ordered appetizers and they were okay.
My personal favorites here used to be the spaghetti and meatballs until they started get tipi ng too busy to make quality spaghetti and meatballs. Also, I think they changed chefs. Now, we always order the linguine with clams and the fish with sweet potatoes and green beans.
Not so stellar choices — the steak salad is delicious but I’m not such a big fan of salad so I don’t order it anymore.
Outdoor seating looks amazing. Or sit near the outside when the windows are opened during warmer days. The bar area also looks nice.
Also, i always get the rigatoni and eggplant takeout ($ 8). It’s the best option out of the takeout!

1 star for Great vibe, best atmosphere and 1 star for interesting and nice bartenders and great music. Sadly this should’ve been the business place in this area. However it’s not and for good reason.
It was 45 degrees and windy and my first time in the area, so I settled on the best looking restaurant instead of checking Unilocal first. Half the food was left by 2 customers and I had to go eat after dinner at a second restaurant.
The bartenders/​staff clearly don’t sample the food as 2 either don’t eat out ever to know good food, Or never ate in this place. One said the calamari was good, the other said it was bad. Neither was aware of the menu items to suggest the best dish or most ordered plate. So I went with my gut as did the gentleman next to me.
The salmon tartare was a large portion but was full of fruit salad. It’s better to make a small dish and add the fish. If you want to keep the fruit the. Put it on the other side of the plate. However, the chips were to fit for. They should be a side dish.
The crab cakes weren’t bad however they were burnt. Even though that did not take away from the taste, the looking was unappetizing. Suggestion– have the chips from the salmon tartar with the crab cake.
The turkey bolognese I thought was a safe bet. The meat portion was perfect and the rigatoni al dente, but the sauce had a touch of something that made it taste, lets just say, non Italian. Pass the salt.
Moving on, the pork chop has some tenderness/​moisture but burnt. The breading was so burnt it flaked off and killed what ever flavor in the non existent seasoning. Change the cooking grease and pass the salt.
Lastly, in an establishment like this and in a knowledge hungry world, how do you not list your wines? Not for nothing, invest in a copywriter. Cab, merlot, Pinot … But no names to give value to the wines, is just lazy. It’s not a trendy menu it’s a disservice.

I’d recommend this place for after work drinks and apps, their dinner options were not so appetizing. We got here about 15 minutes before happy hour ended at 7pm which was a nice surprise. Being able to enjoy $ 6 wines and $ 4 drafts was great along with some half price appetizers. We ordered dinner and while we were waiting we enjoyed some complementary bruschetta which was good. I ordered the vegetable soup and I’m not sure how they can even call it that since it looked like mush with no distinct vegetables. Burgers were ok but the fries were layered with salt. We had excellent service and felt very welcomed. I would return for drinks but have food elsewhere.

Location is great and the PBRs are $ 2. I also met the cutest Saint Bernard dog there but other than that, this place is not a destination. First off, the food is mediocre and horribly overpriced. You are better off grabbing a bite to eat frankly anywhere and heading there for drinks.

Happy hour until 7 — $ 4 drafts and $ 6 wines, half off (some) appetizers. There aren’t a lot of options to choose from though. We wanted to try the baked eggplant rollatini, but they ran out. The meatballs aren’t bad but they aren’t great either. You can probably make better ones on your own. The mozzarella sticks are your typical chain-​restaurant-​tasting mozzarella sticks. Nothing special but it was exactly what I expected it to be. But the mussels (PEI mussels, garlic, wine, marinara) were pretty good. They give you a big bowl of it, so it’s definitely worth it during happy hour (only $ 6!)
The Bistro is located right across from the Grove Street path station, so it’s not a bad option to grab a drink and/​or quick snack before heading home.

This is a nice restaurant RIGHT outside the Grove street path station with indoor and outdoor seating.
We were seated by a extremely nice hostess who then took out orders.
We ordered the Mac and cheese as an appetizer and WOW… it tasted like Crack. The texture, the flavor and the integrity put into this dish was all way better than par. It was one of the best Mac and cheese dishes I’ve had
For dinner, I ordered the grass fed burger and my girlfriend ordered the personal pizza. Both of which were standard pubish bar food. Nothing amazing or spectacular.
The pizza was surprisingly decent for a bar pie… I actually would highly recommend it.
This issue with this place is the service. This one hostess was handling the seating and waiting of all outdoor patrons… The area was too big for one person to handle. Management really needs to figure this aspect out because im seeing it in multiple reviews.
In conclusion, my experience was bittersweet. The appetizer was one of the best I’ve had. The entrees were Mediocre and still decent for the price, no complaints here. The service needs to be worked around a little more, management needs to hire more servers.
I would check this place out, the location is prime and the atmosphere is great

Came here Sunday afternoon for beers. Very meh. The décor is not great. Doesn’t really make me wanna stay and chill there – tables are spread out in a weird way with random big spaces. Beer prices are decent. 1 TV. Mac n cheese was mediocre at best and really didn’t need to cost $ 9. Would not come back.

Stopped in today for the first time for happy hour. Overall the place was quiet at first and picked up around 5… the place has a train station feel with antiques mirrors and frames all around. The bar area was decent, but chairs didn’t have backs on the high tops — so was hard to hang your coat/​purse, but not a deal breaker.
The server had multiple rolls — serving and hosting, but I never felt unattended to.
I had the white pizza. It was fairly large and quite delicious. Thin crust with fresh melted cheese, tomatoes and basil — how can you go wrong.
It was a pretty good place for happy hour, but definitely can get really loud and crowded closer to the 5 mark. Food was good, location is decent — not much parking around.

You can’t beat the location but you can beat the service easy.
Décor: Really nice feel with some modern antique touches. Love the hommage to the old prices of some classic drinks on the wall.
Service: I generally come here for drinks and honestly haven’t had great service. Either the bartenders ignore you and you can barely get a drink becuase they are too busy talking to someone else, OR they butt into your conversation and voice their unwelcome opinions. There is one or two bartenders here are who are attentive and respectful but guessing this place has a high turnover so I haven’t seen them around lately.
Drinks: They only had one red or one white to order by the glass. Considering there is a wine bar attached to them and part of their restaurant group you figured they might offer more. Maybe I should just go there instead.
The location is great and the music is too. Just think they could try a bit more considering I’d rather walk down Newark to get a drink.

2 stars = «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
That sums it up right there. We went there for brunch because we didn’t want to wait an hour+ at other places (we had a large party, and it was New Year’s Day). The food took forever to come out, and there were people dining at maybe two other tables. So the place was, at most, a quarter full? No bueno. Maybe they were short-​staffed because it was New Year’s Day? I don’t know, but we were starving. I drank three cups of coffee because I was so hungry and it was something to fill my stomach.
The general consensus was the food was just OK — not BAD, but not great either. I didn’t mind my pasta with white clam sauce though. My only gripe was I was still hungry afterward… after eating a pasta dish. The plate certainly looked full because of all the in-​shell clams (having lots of clams was great!), but once I removed all the shells, there wasn’t much pasta there.
Apparently the grilled cheese sandwich was horrible. It was on thick sourdough bread and very little cheese, so the ratio was way off. My friend ate only half her sandwich because she didn’t like it at all. :(
Our server was sweet though.
As many reviewers have stated, it has so much potential! Fantastic location and nice ambience/​décor. They could be awesome if they stepped up the food game.
I don’t live in JC anymore, so if I’m coming into JC to eat, I want something better. Sorry, Bistro.

Wow, I had a completely different experience from many Unilocalers. My buddies and I had an outstanding time here, which is odd considering we’d been pre-​gaming at Barcade and Pint for about four hours beforehand.
In my imagination, we were well behaved and pleasant, but I’m sure in reality we were a bit loud and sloppy. However, we were served efficiently and graciously. I had a great steak frites and everyone else enjoyed their plates as well. Granted, perhaps our palates were not at full sail due to the volume of beer we’d consumed but it seemed delicious at the time. I didn’t like my special mojito (or maybe margarita?) that was made with blackberry or something.
But otherwise everything was tasty, friendly and fun.