The Canal House

One star is too many. Horrible experience. Sat for 30 mins for someone to take a drink order. After 45 mins and no one had come near us to discuss dinber, we walked out. There were 3 other tables occupied and everyone supported us walking out. So sad what has happened.

My wife and I visited the Canal House this past weekend and I really have mixed feelings about the place.
The positives…1)The place looks great, especially from the outside. There’s a big parking lot which is really convenient. The restaurant is big, plenty of room. 2) We sat at the bar and had drinks and a couple of small plates. The beer selection was great, good IPA’s on tap. The crab cake appetizer was also excellent.
The negatives…1)The bar was completely unorganized. The girl working there was not supposed to be working the bar and was clearly not happy about it. 2) As other wait staff came in to get drinks, there seemed to be either confusion or at the least uncomfortableness which the patrons at the bar could feel. 3) The small plate of steamers left much to be desired. There was no reason to add bacon to this dish.
As we were leaving, other customers mentioned how they were disappointed in the place. It’s the kind of place that you want to like, but just wasn’t this past weekend. Maybe we’ll give it another shot, but probably not.

The new chef is better than expected. Was never a big fan of the place in the past, however, the new chef brings us there once a week since we live in town. Generally, go for happy hour along with dinner so we sit at the bar. Dining room to quiet for my taste. Giant burgers so you can share cooked to perfection. Love the crab cakes, mostly crab and very little filler. Soups are made fresh and very enjoyable.

I stopped by here about 4 months ago. I was told that new Chef was in the kitchen, and I couldn’t wait to try it out.
The restaurant is large, with a banquet hall, a main dining room, bar, and smaller dining room attached to the bar. The bar seats about 40 people, I would guess. They also have Guinness on tap, which is always a great way to see if their bar’s beer lines are kept clean and treated. Here the head is near white and tastes great. A+ from me. There are tables around the bar as well. If that isn’t your scene, the main dining area is completely separate and quiet.
I sat in the main dining area with my girlfriend and had a fantastic meal. We had a sampler cheese tray brought out with 5 – 6 different cheeses. I was told the selection was curated by Rob (the Chef), and man, was it good.
Afterwards, we had some wine and waiting for our entrees. I had a 20 oz steak (I forget the cut, but I think it was a NY Strip). However, I prefer my steaks cooked a particular way that is very hard to achieve. Pittsburgh Medium-​Rare. Charred on the outside but still red on the inside. It’s a challenge to do without a char-​broiler, but the kitchen did it perfectly anyways. It was fantastic. My girlfriend tried a fish special that she loved, it was some sort of crusted flounder.
For dessert, we had Sambuca and some espresso. It was a great top off to a fantastic meal.
Overall, this was a great dining experience and we have reservations to return there this weekend. I highly recommend checking it out!

There is apparently a new chef here so my husband and I were excited to try the new food. The menu sounds amazing, but it just didn’t deliver. I don’t know if it’ll get better with time, but I can only review the experience we had. We started with French onion soup. It tasted like someone poured vinegar into it and and there was soooooo much oil that I could easily gather a spoonful of oil when showing the waitress. They were very quick to fix the issue and brought us some lentil soup in replace of the French onion– however, the lentil soup wasn’t really soup… it was more like a veggie chili consistency, which was tasty, but cold. We ordered the poutine, which came with undercooked fries :-(we also got the fried shrimp poboy special which had a total of 4 medium sized shrimp on it… the bread was yummy and so was the tarter sauce but we were basically eating just bread…
I really want to like it here. I was super bummed after our lunch today. Fingers crossed they get their act together.

I had been to the restaurant a handful of times under the previous ownership and found the staff inattentive and the food generic bar fare. Under the new owner, Chef Rob, have had 2 amazing experiences. The new menu branches out beyond bar food and offers many unique options and some of the old standbys. The chef/​owner works the room and in my experience is quick to remedy any problems. I strongly recommend the slab bacon appetizer and go on a Saturday for the short ribs. Both are amazing. The beer selection is very strong and the wine options far exceed what’s available in the area. The prices are a little higher than the old ownership, but hey, you get what you pay for.

We must have gone on an off night. Ordered wedge salad that was great but the beef sliders were terrible. Only garnish was single pickle. Dish looked lost. Sat in bar booth. Took long time for service.

Excellent beer selection and very nice staff. The entire restaurant is well lit which brings a cheerful atmosphere.

The only reasons for any stars are the wait staff and manager. They had a lot to deal with the night we were there. The new menu is limited and over priced. Food came out cold, plates are sparse. Chef came out to address problems at table next to us and handled it by yelling at the customers. Back to the only good part of the evening — wait staff and manager are pros and are hopefully treated better than the patrons… They’re worth it. It’s a shame something that wasn’t broke is getting «fixed».

Nice place. Went there for an event today. Great service and great music. Bagpipe band… Irish folk music. Awesome afternoon.

RUN… don’t walk to check out the new gourmet menu and chef! Holy moly! Manhattan food in Jersey! The aromas coming from the kitchen are enough to melt your nose! Oh yeah… don’t forget to order the Slab of Bacon App!

There is a new chef, Rib at the Canal House. He and his sous chef Nick have created a menu that is outstanding! All of the ingredients are fresh; nothing is frozen.
I have sampled several of their incredible appetizers: the calamari with hit peppers; the bacon slab; and the charcuterie tray. Each one was more delicious than the plate before.
My advice: get to the Canal House soon because once word gets out, there will be lines and/​or standing room only.

What a great change! Canal House part-​owner and Chef Rob has really brought in a great new menu and quality ingredients. Loved the fried calamari with cherry peppers, cheese board is a great upscale addition, and the Canal House burger with the fried egg and chipotle avocado mayo is tremendous. Add in sinful desserts and Lagunitas IPA and I’m down. Bartender Jennifer is great, waiter Billy brings awesome service, and the new menu and fresh food rock! My new favorite place and another great addition to the growing dining scene in Wharton.

Great food and large portions. Everyone here is so nice. The bread is really good that they serve on the table. You can tell a lot from a place by their bread. Their salads are great, potato skins.

I am lodging a complaint. Last week (January 11, 2015) I called to make a reservation for your Sunday Prime Rib Special. I was told that the Canal House ran out of Prime Ribs. I was surprised that a great restaurant would not have ordered enough for the weekend since they are running a weekend special. So figuring that today (January 18) would be a good day to try the Sunday Prime Rib Special, I called and was again informed that the Canal House RAN OUT OF PRIME RIBS for the Sunday Special. Is this anyway to run a business — I think not!
Neil S

We went to the Canal House for dinner and were presently surprised the food was excellent and service was quick and friendly… I definitely recommend going there

At first look, one wouldn’t expect much from the drive up. However, the outsoor seating looks nice and on warmer days, the new umbrellas and fun rock waterfall feature might help cool down.
Upon walking in, the whole place has a smoke smell to it. It’s a bit of a turn off, but we sat in the corner and the smell didn’t se as strong.
The menu is extensive — as we got the wings, fried zucchini, and calamari. The fried zucchini was good but extremely hot without warning! The zucchini kinda fell out of the fried shell. For our meals, the portions were of good size and really good.
The desserts are from maras in Denville so we didn’t try to stuff ourselves after the meal since we knew what they were like.
The drink menu was decent and I like how if you don’t know which beer to order, they do a sample 5oz fleet. Nice touch!
Overall, we would go back as we live in town and possibly try sitting outside. Our waitress was super friendly and very attentive.

Enjoyed our time here. We tried the fish and chips as well as a seafood dish. The fish and chips was authentic English style with nice thick fish golden fried and homemade potato chips. The seafood was with a vodka sauce over rigatoni. Fresh seafood on both dishes. Service was very friendly and attentive.
Son’t confuse this place with the prior management. This is the same ownership as The Exchange in Rockaway Boro. The menu is reasonably priced and the portions are large. Service is excellent and the interior has been refreshed.

Went here after my first choice Hot Rods had excessive wait time and I had a movie to catch. Turned out to be a mistake. What do you do when the shrimp bisque soup is served with a small black hair in it and when I informed the hostess she responded with a sacarcstic response «oh outstanding». She replaced it with a house salad with no apologies and no offer for a complimentary drink or food item.
The rest of the meal was mediocre at best. I ordered a blackened tuna entrée over rice. It was served with a some type of sauce that was splattered over the dish in a haphazard way that was visually unappetizing. The dish itself was rather flavorless. Next time I will settle for popcorn at the theater.