The Red Hen

Had a nice lunch on an almost spring Saturday afternoon. The menu will suit many. We started w/​the sundried tomato soup which was good. My husband ordered & thoroughly enjoyed his short rib sandwich and house salad. My grilled veggie wrap was mediocre — large hard to bite pieces of kale and broccoli made it difficult to eat. Service was slow but still pleasant.

This is my second time coming here, so I did give this restaurant a second chance, which it definitely didn’t deserve.
Let’s start out and say that a group of us, including me, got takeout. So maybe the dining in experience is different…
I ordered the Red Hen Plate, which was suppose to consist of grilled vegetables, goat cheese, hummus, tzatziki, and focaccia with a side of steamed broccoli. I asked for no goat cheese on my dish.
It was only when we got to the restaurant to pick up our order that they decided to tell us that the one order (for someone else in the group) was unavailable, after that person had already made a change from the call-​in order (there’s been a bunch of issues with this place not having things that are on their menu). So this person of my group decided to get the same thing as me with a side of broccoli as well… He ended up getting steamed broccoli with the goat cheese plopped on top, a side of hummus, tzatziki and focaccia (really messed that order up).
So. Back to MY order. Grilled veggies were mushy and watery and had goat cheese on every surface of my veggies. Anyways, already one issue. The bread was stale and greasy and the only thing that tasted alright was the hummus and steamed broccoli. Tzatziki tasted too much like ranch dressing. After eating part of my food, my stomach felt a bit odd, but I waved that away.
Fast forward a few hours later (around mid-​night) and I wake up with awful stomach cramps and before you know it, I’m spending a large portion of the night with my head in the toilet from dinner. Turns out I got food poisoning and almost ended up in the hospital.
Needless to say, never coming back here.
0 out of 5 if I could.

Came here with friends, great place! Fun vibe, awesome décor and great food! The chicken and waffles did not disappoint, my pineapple Cosmo was made perfectly and the carne asada tacos were great too! The brownie sundae was a perfect way to end the meal!

It’s very exciting to see some new dining options in the sleepy area of Swedesboro; I’d say the Red Hen is worth a solid 4 stars.
My family and I had a nice time. Food was pretty good and I love, love the décor – it’s colorful and eclectic, but still keeps to a touch of class and modernity. It reminds me of some of the trendy restaurants you see around Philly.
The menu is slightly hit-​or-​miss. While my soup and crab cakes were delicious, our table’s appetizers – pretzel bites and chicken & waffles – were nothing memorable.
Though I rarely return to restaurants twice, I do recommend this place to friends looking for something local.

Honestly, I like the beer menu but the food left a lot to be desired. My boyfriend ordered 3 beers from the menu before they had even one he chose in stock.
We had apps and sandwiches, and everything tasted prefrozen. The wings tasted like they came from a frozen bag, and the calamari tasted like frozen fish sticks. You could tell specifically the calamari was frozen because they were all perfectly shaped rings. Like it was ground down calamari frozen until rings then fried. The Cubano sandwich was frankly kind of gross. It tasted only like pickles and mustard. The pork was old and dry, and their was no cheese on it. His burger was sub par and undercooked. The best part was the fries which clearly also came from a frozen bag.
Worst part, tons of flys and fruit flies. And one landed in my beer. In the middle of October no where near the door. We have an arrangement whoever picks dinner, if it sucks, they have to pay for it. That was $ 75 I regret!

To be honest, this was a first time experience for myself and I was underwhelmed. The dishes we had included apps and full dinners. We started with the chicken and waffles app and the chicken was extremely tough, dry and honestly we could tell it was frozen. The waffle was pretty flimsy and basic. It came in a small little basic with your typical «side of syrup». According to my father the soup he had was quiet good, and that’s where the apps stopped. Finally the dinners. Starting with the good, my mother loved the shrimp risotto. Creamy and well made. Now on the the bad. Two pork burritos for my father and girlfriend. Both claim as I sit and write this review that they are trying not to think about it. The pork had an awful aftertaste and was wrapped in a cold tortilla sitting on a plate of salsa. The meat not only tasted bad but also had a unpleasant texture to it that made it hard to chew for myself. I had the crab cake which was extremely tasteless and was on a bun far to large for its actual size. Fries were good, but that’s about where things stopped. In short, we won’t be returning.
Lastly, I would like to point out that the décor was great and the atmosphere of the Red Hen is pretty cool looking. Outside seating and the window view tables are pretty comfortable and fun. We were treated great by our server and he was always on top of things.

Nice spot in heart of Swedesboro. We stopped in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon and sat outside. They have nice tables and umbrellas for outside seating. Good draft beer list and craft beet list. The Red Hen has a full bar too.
I had the cheeseburger and it was pretty darn good. It had a nice grill taste and a fresh bun. The fries it came with were decent also. Our food came out fast but getting our check was a bit slow.
Nice option when in the deep south of Jersey.

Despite not being the biggest fan of Tavro 13, I wanted to like the Red Hen. I went into the meal with an open mind — laughing at the eclectic, flashy décor and the ridiculous sign above the bathrooms. In the end, though, I’d have to say that the RH just missed the mark. I won’t rush back, but I won’t entirely write them off either.
This place opened earlier in the year, and I waited to visit until last month to give them time to work out any issues. Upon entering on a cold November night, there was one big issue — and I think they knew it too: it was WAY too cold in the restaurant. I didn’t want to take my bulky coat off, which is certainly a problem when you’re eating! Of course, the building itself is old as heck, so it must be incredibly tough to heat it. I do hope they can work on that, though. It would be more comfortable to be warm.
Now. Onto the food.
We started with the warm pretzel bites, and they apparently wished to compensate for the temp in the restaurant because those things seemed to want to scald my mouth shut. Wheeeew. Pro-​tip: Cut into ‘em and give them a few minutes to cool down. The beer cheese that came with them was very tangy and almost reminded me of something that would go better with nachos, but I did like the mustard. The pretzels, once a bit cooler, were also good.
For the main meal, I opted to have the chicken and waffles after our server explained how big of a portion they were — and it was so true. I took most of them home. I have to say that I enjoyed the waffle portion much more than the chicken though, and saying as much is probably an insult to the RH.
I had my dining companion try the chicken because they were reminding me of a chain’s chicken and I couldn’t pinpoint which one’s. She figured it out for me: They are JUST like Friendly’s chicken fingers. So, if you like those, you’ll likely enjoy these bites. I would just not get them again. I also utilized the pretzel’s mustard for t