Barnacle Bill’s

Great burgers and onion rings .Didn’t expect the burgers would be that good being I thought it was a seafood place. But heard through word-​of-​mouth that the burgers are awesome so I had to give it a try. Was not disappointed.

This is one of the few places in the area that serves steamed clams. The clams are pricey but always properly cooked and served. Since I am not rich enough to order enough clams for a meal I usually get a burger which has always been tasty. There is usually a wait to get in but the river view while waiting is nice and there are complimentary peanuts to eat and everyone just throws the shells on the floor!

This place really has the best burger in New Jersey. I’m sure all of the other food is wonderful as well, but I always find myself coming back to the burger and steak fries. The view from the restaurant is incredible and the service is always great. Highly recommended.

The moment you walk into Barnacle Bill’s, you feel as if you’re in a seafarer’s paradise, a place where these historical people finally rested after a long day on the seas. Barnacle Bill’s is one of my family’s favorite restaurants (I guess you could call us seafarers? We live in the shore area) and we mainly stop by for celebrations. I can say with confidence, after trying many great burgers across the state, that their burgers are my favorite in New Jersey! It might even be the best burger I’ve ever had anywhere! The last burger I had here (with the cheddar cheese sauce!) had a thick patty, oozing with juice. It was the burger of my dreams. I can’t wait for the next time I come back to Barnacle Bill’s for their perfect burgers.

I have been going to barnacle bills since I was a little kid and they used to have peanuts that you could just throw on the ground but regardless it is still great and their burgers are still awesome! They are still doing burgers on the same grill behind the bar that they always have since as long as I can remember. They usually have live music and it is right on the river with some great views. The service is always good and the food matches. A bit pricey but you get what you pay for especially with things like the burger or steak!

A typical local restaurant/​bar on the Navesink River. We liked although it can get a bit noisy at times. The food is as can be expected.

Always good. Cool place. Authentic atmosphere. Best burgers. Menu and special food is always good.

Classic always and forever ! The best!

This is still my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. The food is delicious and inexpensive. It USED to come with unlimited peanuts, which was amazing, and a salad, with the most amazing house dressing, with your meals but now they charge you for that. Overall, the food is delicious but things have changed since the Wong’s involvement. Hoping all the bad changes are done and this can continue being number 1

Not a bad meal in the place. The blacken fish is the best I have ever had. I go with the Grouper pan «Barnacle blacken». You can also get it grilled. But the pan blacken comes out perfect.
French Onion soup another hi light. Burgers and large, juicy and cooked to perfection. House salad dressing very tasty. I can go on.
Awesome atmosphere. Friendly servers. Hostess been there forever is a sweetheart.
5 stars.

I have been coming to Barnacles since I was little. Since then, the owners have changed and the peanut shells that used to litter the floors have been swept up.
Barnacles can be pricey especially for their specials and I don’t think the quality matches the price.
It is our go to place for a burger and LIT. We always start with a house salad with their homemade dressing which has hard-​boiled egg in it and is fantastic.
Very busy and there is always a wait. Definitely a local haunt.

Great food, nice servers, low key. My only complaint is I wish the place was larger. It feels very tight in there for family dining!

Good restaurant, like the atmosphere. The burger is fantastic. Mussels and Linguini was okay. Good mussels but linguini was bland. Baked scallops didn’t have much flavor. Crab cake was a bit salty.

My girlfriend and I just left this disgusting establishment and I cannot believe that this place got 4 stars on Unilocal.I will say that it was packed and had a nice feel to it, but that’s as far as the positives about the place go.
Now, I’ll tell you about why it’s disgusting. We found 2 seats at the end of the bar, and upon sitting down, the first thing I noticed is that there is a grill behind the bar. Ok, no problem there so far. Interesting concept. However, the person making all these «great, juicy burgers» (forming the raw meat patties with his bare hands) is the same person that is collecting your money and pouring your drinks. Yes, the bartender. After touching the meat, I noticed he did not wash his hands one time. NOT ONCE! He would go from forming the patties, to throwing them on the grill, to grabbing a handful of potato chips from a bucket onto your dinner plate, to collecting patrons money back to the grill to put cheese on your burger, all with the same unwashed hands. It doesn’t end there. Once the burger is on the plate, it sits on the end of the bar waiting to be picked up by the server to bring to the table. There were people sitting directly in front of where the burgers were waiting, touching their hair, leaning over the food, talking, probably sneezing at some point or coughing. Then these same burgers get brought to customers at a table somewhere in this s – t hole. I was honestly getting angry watching all this happen. I think it is irresponsible of the owner to allow this to be the way his food is handled. I can go on and on some more about how grossed out I was during my short visit here, but I think you all should get the point. Please never order food or a drink other than bottled beer from this place. It’s for your own safety.

If you are a snob. Don’t come here. It’s so chill and everyone is nice. Far from fancy but SUCH GOOD FOOD. We ordered the linguine and clam sauce & French dip. Delicious! Sangria was on point. Finally somewhere that makes it without adding tons of sweet crap. Will definitely be back. The view is to die for.

I was recommended to visit this place whenever I get chance. The establishment has an amazing window view of the Navesink river with a bar and an outside waiting deck, before you can get seated. It looks likes this places get packed real fast, so try to get here before the dinner rush. I was fortunate enough to have a table for 2 under 15 mins, where a group of 4 had to wait up to an hour.
With the amazing view of the Navesink river, the setting of the restaurant is very nautical with all of these old boat equipment on the walls. Mostly the walls had these mirrors one usually see on boats. Some of them have secret compartment, where some other customers before us place notes and condiments in the space as a small gift. Honestly that made my day in the restaurant. Beside the setting of the place, the food we purchased was delicious, but it didn’t hold up to my expectations of this places.
My boyfriend and I order 3 dishes: we ordered the stuffed mushrooms as the appetizer, he ordered the linguine with white clam sauce, and I ordered the tilefish francese with linguine. The mushrooms were great, but I was expecting a little more quantity instead of a few pieces for the price of it. However, the quantity from the entrees we ordered, made up for the quantity of the appetizers. I will have to said the seafood here was very fresh. the clams my boyfriend had and the fish I had were very tendered and flavorful. Unfortunately, I thought the pasta they served us with the seafood was a tad overcooked and it was a little difficult to hold with the fork without breaking. Ultimately the reason for the 4 stars, because the seafood was delicious and the view and the setting of this place was very appealing to me and the pasta was the only downside I had here.

I was in town for another restaurant that I really wanted to go to for a long time… But they were closed when I arrived, but it was lunch time, so what do you do when you don’t have food but need a good place to go? Yup, Unilocal it is.
What really sold me was the buffalo wing picture, hahaha, I have been craving buffalo wings for a really long while now, but wasn’t really sure where to go in the city… Anyways, now that I have the chance and opportunity… oh why not.
We got in, the hostess was pretty nice, gave us a table right where the AC was blowing; we asked to change sheets. So, we were place at the table right next to it, little did I realize, the grill was close, we were on the end of the bar were you can watch the bartender (? I assume) grill burgers and whatnot. That was pretty exciting for a while, until, I realize my hair is soaking up all the burger fumes and grease… Ahhh, well, this is what vacations are right?
So I ordered the Buffalo Wings as I had planned to, and my friend ordered the salmon burger, then we got the manhattan clam chowder to share. The chowder wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either, the clams were pretty fresh, so there isn’t much you can go wrong; I’d say it’s a pretty safe choice.
Then I got my wings, before they came, I looked around (sorry for snooping, but that’s what I do.) the restaurant and seems like everyone had a set on their table. So I had my expectations; When the wings came, all I can say is, it didn’t quite meet my expectations, but it wasn’t all bad. I was expecting it to be much spicier, maybe because when I was younger I remembered it to be über spicy. So in that aspect, that didn’t quite reach what I wanted. It was also a little sweeter than I would’ve liked. But other than that it wasn’t too bad. I think they also put cheese cubes on the bottom of the dip (?) I am not that certain but it is what it seemed like… Oh, I almost forgot, the wings were fried before they’re sauced. I knew that, but for some reason I forgot about it when I ordered my wings. So when I took my first bite, you’d probably guess my sadness as a person who hates fried food…
My friend’s burger on the other hand was also pretty alright. He devoured it really fast. But I don’t think he enjoyed the fries at all. Instead, I don’t really think he touched his fries. So I would suggest people who gives this place a try to stay away. The fries are pretty lightly fried, they weren’t that crispy on the outside, but very potato-​y on the inside. So unless this is your forte for fries, I would say, try some other side.
Overall, I wouldn’t say this was a bad experience. But next time I will definitely double/​triple check the hours of that other restaurant that I originally planned on going to. I’d probably come here for seafood, cause that seems more fresh here.

Love this place for the atmosphere — it’s on the Navesink River and the bar and the people. Great steamers, fried oysters and everything else. The house salad dressing is Italian with chopped egg and DELICIOUS!!!

I just don’t get it, other than if you have a window view. The food is seriously average at best. I had the hamburger and it has cheese whiz on it, nothing else, oh yeah a pickle and some chips probably bulk purchased from Costco.
I almost want to leave a stellar review just so people go here and don’t cause long lines at other joints that deserve to have lines.
I seriously may not ever go back not worth the hard earned $$.
Disappointed to say the least.

*3.5 Stars*
A pub located in one of the most expensive area’s in NJ. Seriously Bön Jovi and Bruce live in this town.
It’s a no frills restaurant known for their burgers and inexpensive seafood.
I must say the staff was super nice which is surprising in these places.
Starters: Fried Zucchini (fresh cut, deep fried with Horseradish Sauce). It was very good and you can tell they used quality ingredients. Plus it was not over salted.
New England Clam Chowder which was disappointing. Just lacked flavor.
Meals: Mrs — Shrimp Scampi Baked in Garlic. She enjoyed it. Shrimp was de-​veined thankfully. Me — Cheeseburger with scolding hot cheddar sauce. It was alright. Not the best nor the worst. Sis — Open Face Reuben– Corned Beef, Sauerkraut & Russian Dressing with French Fries. It was a large portion and she liked it.
Dessert — Toll House Pie Ala Mode which was good but you can tell it was the frozen variety.
Prices — moderate.
Service — Attentive and super quick. They definitely want to turn tables!
Overall a pleasant experience. Wait time can get nasty (1 hour off peak, 2 hours peak).
Enjoy!