Stage Left

I have been to this restaurant on several occasions and today was by far one of the worst experiences I have ever had! I’m being extremely generous by even giving them two stars today. I decided to have burgers with my girlfriend and the night started with the waiter spilling water on us. Then it got even worse when our order was screwed up. We ordered our burgers Medium well and they came out rare! Now how does a place that is known for its delicious burgers mess up on that one. Then to top it off we were treated like we had the plague. I know this somewhat an upscale restaurant but it isn’t nice to treat your guest like they don’t matter especially to those customers that keep the business alive. Maybe the manager should have a talk with its employees regarding the way they want the restaurant represented.

Saturday; 2 people; 5:00pm
The kitchen didn’t open until 5:30pm, but the staff welcomed us to sit at the bar.
Staff: We ate at the bar and the bartender was extremely pleasant; he was attentive, knowledgeable, and made an excellent cocktail, The Algonquin.
Food: they are one of the only places that have wood grill inside (grandfathered in). The burger and chicken sandwich were fantastic, especially with the house made chipotle mayo. Don’t pass on the rolls they offer; they are made at the restaurant and worth the stomach space.
Atmosphere: the music was a perfect level and good mix as well.

We were running on a tight schedule and had a show to catch. Our waiter was great ! He was friendly, attentive and informed us what would take longer. The chicken sandwich was delicious ! The fries were tasty ! Due to the location the prices were higher. The sandwich was $ 20. The food and service was good. The only negative were the prices. Would I return? If I was short on time for a show. But to go out to dinner no.

Went out for a guys night out with 3 friends. Exceptional service, amazing food, excellent ambiance. If you enjoy the finer things on life and can afford them, then try Stageleft!

Pretty nice dinner tonight at Stage Left. Very different menu, service was great, had a great dinner over a casual few hours. The wine list is a book, and the decant the wine, which makes a bug difference! I started with an oyster and clam cream bisque, that was new! Had the Prosciutto appetizer, for an entrée had the three way Wagyu beef (from around the world!) served with a hit salt brick. Pretty nice dining experience! It was pricey, so be prepared if you go!

My burger was prime but I was a disappointed in the whole experience. First, We had 3 different waiters. Second, they added a $ 40 bottle of wine to my bill which I did not order. Third, when approached one of the waiter responded by saying this happens all the time, which seems like a red flag to me. Lastly, the manager did not apologize. As a rather upscale place I had much higher expectations.

This was my second time there. We started with the charcuterie and heirloom tomato salad. Both were vey good… not amazing, but very good. The two paties were described as foie gras like. They were a bit too dense for that characterization and too similar to one another for my taste. However, I had the wagyu flat iron served on a salt block. That was amazing! Great quality meat and a very nice presentation. I was also told that the salmon was great, but didn’t have it myself. Overall, I highly recommend this place.

I had the steak for two here, with heirloom tomato salads with my boyfriend for our anniversary. We received a complimentary dessert and a customized menu. It was adorable and the food was exquisite. Thank you for the great experience stage left!

Not sure why I hear a lot of raving about this place. The food was good to great but not excellent .The missing ingredient was the service. Our service was not rude but did not really go out of her way with recommendations and descriptions. She essentially gave us one word answer service. Giving the reputation of this place and the prices I expected a little more fine dining etiquette.

I was really disappointed with the service. The best word to describe this place is «pretentious» but the sad thing is they have nothing to be pretentious about. The service was poor, the food owns okay, but the wine was pretty good. What I don’t understand is that they gave us the worst table right by the kitchen doors when there was hardly anybody there on a Saturday night. It made no sense. After accommodating our request to move to a different table we had a waitress who had zero enthusiasm. All the specials she mentioned sounded mediocre based upon her delivery. Overall I was really disappointed for their lack of service and the exuberant prices. One can do much better than this place. My advice is to look elsewhere.

This place has so much potential. The kitchen was not executing well for our meal unfortunately. I ordered the porterhouse pork medium rare and due to the chop being thick, the medium was extremely rare. Kinda scary for pork to be raw in the middle. Since it was so raw, it was hard to cut thru the connective tissues. The sides came after the meal and the restaurant was nice to enough to comp the sides that due to the mix up. I ordered the potato augratin and it came in three circle lumps. I was expecting more of a casserole style for the sides. The taste was good though. Kitchen timing was off and also the cooking timing. Could have been a good meal

Our favorite New Brunswick restaurant. The food is always fresh, innovative and well presented. My wife and I have gone to them for our past anniversaries and have had great meals served by attentive staff in a serene setting. Weekend and theatre service bring a bit of a rush — suggest midweek dining for clients or dates.

Had an amazing time today for the Mother’s Day brunch. The menu was pre-​fixed and everything was scrumptious.
The service was phenomenal. Over 1000 wines and we sat in the wine dining room. The room was unbelievable! Such an awesome experience.
Everything was delicious. We had the lobster & crayfish bisque, potato cilantro soup, scallops and cured salmon as appetizers.
For the main dish, we had the salmon, The wagyu steak plate which was fantastic, and the flank steak with poached eggs. Again everything was great.
Say hi to Frances, one of the owners. He visited our table and made us feel right at home. We will be making this our LOCAL establishment.

After a lovely show at the State Theater, my friend and I decided to enjoy a fine dinner to go along with the mood. We chose Left Stage because it was right by the theater, and I always wanted to try this place! The ambiance and service were wonderful, but the taste of my meal left me dissatisfied. My friend and I were too young to order wine, but I saw that they had a pretty decent selection of wines! They had a relatively small menu, so at first, I was very excited because usually when the menu is small, the chefs really put a lot of effort in making those few dishes! You know, quality over quantify! However, that was not the case! I got the salmon dish while my friend got the chicken. My salmon was over cooked and dried, and on top of that, I don’t think the fish was too fresh because it tasted fishy!
The food wasn’t that good, but the service was great! The hostess was very friendly and welcoming, and the waiter came by very often to check on us!

5*****squared! We were lucky enough to get dinner and 2 tixx to see Harry Connick Jr. All I can say is WowWow OMG Wow!
The ambiance, our waitress Beverly, the cocktails, the wine, the appetizers and of course the dinner — were PERFECTLY presented and made for a great segue to a rockin’ show at the State theatre with Harry.
The hype I have been reading in the ‘Restaurant Guys’ emails was true — it was everything I could have dreamed of in fine dining, truly outstanding!
#BestAnniversaryDinnerEver1991.

Stuffy, snooty, unhip. The food quality was amazing, however everything else was awful. Atmosphere = country club, 1990s. Our server was effective but cold and rattled off specials quickly and dismally. Couldn’t get a smile out of the guy.
We were there on NYE and booked specifically because it appeared from their website the full, regular menu would be in force: there was no mention of a limited NYE menu with higher prices on the website OR when we made the reservation. I have no issue with paying a higher price on a holiday, but I’d like to know in advance.
I would like to give it one star, but in all fairness, the food was impeccable. Never again.

Not the most vegetarian friendly place, but the place does have a nice décor and good charm. Surprisingly their soup of the day was veggie with no chicken or beef broth. Pumpkin pappardelle was my veggie (did not see any other veggie options on the menu) choice and it was pretty good — raisins on the top were yummy, however, the pasta had a tad bit too much grease for my taste.
Serving was friendly and well-​paced. The house bread roll was really soft, fresh, warm, and yummy. They have a very extensive wine selection. The place was voted as the one having the best burgers — BUT they didn’t mean veggie burgers (*LOL* too bad).
Overall a great place for a nice group or a private celebration dinner.
Hint2Mgt: consider adding more veggie options!

I recently attended a business meeting here, and was very impressed with my entrée and the staff. The restaurant was very easy to find– the parking was not. I ended up getting a spot on the street two blocks away.
For the meeting, we were placed in a private dinning room which was nice. Menu’s were specifically printed for our meeting– and we were able to select between 4 options for an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. The selection was good, and included vegetarian options.
Homemade Bread was offered– and they had a few options. I had the dinner roll, nothing special. The bread wasn’t left on the table– instead the wait staff came around with a basket of it for you to select a roll. After everyone was done their roll and appetizer– they offered seconds.
For an appetizer I oppted for the garden salad– overall it was good. The tomatoes in the salad were a little funky– almost like they had been crushed beforehand.
For lunch I had the Wagyu Flat Iron– it was delicious! It came with asparagus and potato. The asparagus was ok– a little hard for me. But the potato was crazy good– it was sliced thin and coated in something– I could have just eaten a ton of those and been happy. The flat iron was awesome. It was very tender and had a delicious sauce on top.
I selected the chocolate molten cake for dessert. This came with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and lots of chocolate sauce. It was came out nice and hot. I loved the cake part of this dessert, but didn’t love the chocolate sauce.
The restaurant is old and has a classic feel. The staff here was great– they were very attentive to all the guests at the meeting. At the same time they were not disruptive at all. The room got a little cold– someone asked for the air to be turned off, and they did that right away.
It was a great place for a business lunch– but I am sure it was expensive for the host.

dinner at Stage Left surprised me– after reading the mixed reviews on Unilocal,it wouldn’t have been my first choice for eats in new bruswick… but luckily, i wasn’t the one picking the place. talk about being blown away by yumminess.
we skipped wine (unusual for me, especially on a thirsty thursday… but i’ve had enough bevs this week. gotta leave room for the weekend), and opted for sparkling water instead. next time will definitely attack the wine/​cocktail list.
started with the mushroom salad– it was delicious. the crisped carrots on top added a great textural component to the dish, and the flavors worked very well together.
main course was wagyu flat iron steak with polenta on the side. the steak was a fantastic cut– probably one of the best i’ve had. came seared barely-​rare and sliced, with a salt brick on the side so i could finish it to whatever doneness i wanted. the salt brick gave the steak an awesome flavor, so i didn’t even touch the sauce that came with the steak. playing with my food at dinner? always a win.
the polenta was creamy but bland, which paired well with the flavorful steak. the mushrooms were decent too. the portion size was perfect– not too much, and not enough to feel overstuffed.
the 16oz strip came out perfectly cooked to a medium, and the whipped potatoes were a good pairing. the steak was seasoned well and didn’t need a sauce to mask the taste.
desserts were crème brûlée and a mixed berry gratin. the crème brûlée was perfect, but the gratin was way too sweet for me. we split a pot of earl grey tea, which i found to be disappointing– but maybe i’m just picky with my teas.
Stage Left mostly loses points for the service– our waitress had a bit of an attitude and it felt like she was doing us a favor by telling us the specials, taking our orders, etc. The other staff were friendly though. the ambiance is pretty outdated, which is a shame– it’s a little uncomfortably stuffy. an upgrade in these areas would bump Stage Left to 5 stars.

MUST ORDER JUST FOR THE EXPERIENCE:
Stage Left Burger $ 15 and Wagyu Flat Iron with Salt Brick $ 49
An upscale and classy American restaurant. Nice atmosphere. Very relaxing environment. Somewhat romantic for dates. *hinthint*
Complimentary bread — Nicely toasted on the outside and soft in the inside. Warm from the oven! (Tip: Don’t overstuff yourself with bread!)
Wagyu Beef — Clean cut. Rather, the best cut given. Melts in your mouth! Makes me want more beef! The Salt Brick is used to cook the beef for extra taste and flavor. Unique eating experience!
Stage Left Burger — JUICY BURGER! The chef is very good with the temperature. I asked for Medium and it was perfectly timed. You can tell them what temperature and they will give you IT! It is a huge burger so be prepare to be stuffed after adding the lettuce, tomato, red onions, cheese, and bacon hehe. I usually can’t finish big burgers but I managed to do so because it was that delicious! Food Network rates it the «Best Burger in NJ»!!! I totally agree. Oh yeah, I loved the homemade Chipole sauce that came with the burger. I finished it up in seconds and left the ketchup semi-​untouched haha. (Note: $ 1.50 extra for bacon.)
Waiters/​Waitresses — Very efficient and professional staff. Very courteous. Knows exactly when to bring the dishes to our table and when to take them away. It is as if they were watching our every move but we couldn’t see them watching us lol.
On the expensive $$$ side, but good food usually has a price, right?
PS: We had free Champaign because it was Stage Left’s 21^st birthday celebration on May 26^th. Too bad we didn’t get to try the cake!
Note: Make reservation!!!