Back Forty Bar & Grill

I’m on the fence since it is no longer the Black Dog and they don’t have the same menu. I stop frequently for a beer and I will continue to. But it’s never full in the bar area. I’m not sure what specials they run if any bc they don’t post it anywhere or advertise. I had some of the food on the new menu and it was ok. But with the new menu change, nothings is a blow me away, WOW! But in all fairness, I honestly need to try a couple of dinners and then I will update my review. With that said I’m going to give my opinion on the place itself. I think they are confused on what they are trying to accomplish. Are they trying to make it big with fine dining or are they trying to make it big with being a great corner bar with great bar food. I think they are stuck somewhere in between. The location really hurts them but they will always continue to get the local crowd. So in order to get new people from outside of the area or to go out of their way to come to Back 40, they definitely need to step it up and do something. Maybe open it up into 1 large room and just make it a really cool sports bar with tons of tv’s.

A great restaurant! The steak always satisfies, as does the trout. The grilled wings are a wonderful alternative to the traditional fried style. The crème brûlée is phenomenal! However, the Mac n cheese needs help– it’s too sweet, lacking the tanginess of cheese. But if you like your savory dishes sweet, then you’ll love this. Overall a great experience! Service is consistently great too– thank you ladies! The chef is a genius. And we love the live music!

Before starting my review I would like to say it is important for ALL readers to note that the Back 40 opened on August 14, 2015. ANY REVIEWS BEFORE THAT DATE DO NOT APPLY.
I have been eating dinner at Back 40 since the day they opened. My last meal was yesterday and as all other meals there, it was delicious! Not only is the food tasty but the owners and staff are wonderful. Owners are present and on the floor checking with customers to see that all is well and the staff is just plain sweet! Stop in and try this restaurant, from the appetizers through dessert you will not be disappointed!
Personal favorites are the calamari, wings, Caesar salad with chicken, all burgers, salmon, trout and pappardelle with chicken! All desserts are excellent!

I’m not sure why theRe are Black Dig reviews in here. I guess Unilocal doesn’t close out a closed place and replace it with the new one?
We came to the Back 40 after seeing a post on social media. I was in town visiting mom and we were looking for a place to eat and remembered this was new. We will be back!
The revamped the place a bit. I like it. And they source many ingredients from local businesses. Yay!
We had some soups and apps to start. The lobster mushroom bisque was a special, and was earthy and delightful. The chili was just plain amazeballs. We also got the jalapeño Boppers app– OMG! Yum. Could have had a little more heat but smokey, bacony, deliciousness!
Most of us got burgers. You can get them with/​without buns (on lettuce), which is good for the gluten free folks. The Black n Bleu Burger was tasty and flavorful. The Smoked Jalepeno Burger had a fabulous Jalepeno flavor, although again, could have had more (some) heat. The Black Bean Burger was unique and delicious. Not dried out and lifeless like many veggie burgers tend to be. There was also a special pasta with shrimp– a flavor explosion! I just wish we had room to try their dessert!
A few downsides– I love that they use local, but local beers would also be fab. There are many in the area, from Harrisburg to Philly. The waitress we had was a bit inexperienced but did a good job. She just needs to speak up a bit, and check in on customers once in a while. But those aren’t things I would dock the place a star on, simply because you all had the wrong place. We will be back!!!

Use to love the black dog they had the best veal I ever had they are no longer open which was really upsetting they also had the best freshest coctails

We had been there before and the food was great. Which is why we went back. But, the server accidentally brought out 3 salads instead of 2, and then withheld the wonton soup my friend should have had because of this. Wow. Never have we experienced such ill, rude treatment. She should have simply mentioned the error, brought forth both soups, and would have been given an extra tip because of the extra salad. To have explained her error and then punished the customer was such a disappointment!

I’ve been here a number of times. Most recently on Christmas Eve 2013. We made reservations. The food quality is very high. The food is American. They have sushi which I haven’t tried. The service is good. It is a small restaurant and it can get pretty tight. I recommend the crab cakes and Crème Brûlée for dessert. You can tell that everything is made from scratch. They make their own dressings and sauces. Nothing is pre-​bought like at many restaurants. Another thing, if you are looking for a light meal, this isn’t the place. The sauces are very rich. I find the french onion soup to be very sweet and almost like a gravy vs. a broth with onions. This restaurant doesn’t have a website but has a Facebook page. I found this restaurant through reading an article online. Jon from Kate Plus 8 works at the restaurant. I’ve seen him there once or twice. Really it is not a reason to eat at restaurant. The location is interesting. Can be hard to find.

Food is taste less. The sushi is appalling. Drinks are meh. My wife got a Cosmo she couldn’t finish. Service is painfully slow. I would’ve had more drinks if my waitress would’ve came back when I finished my first vice 30 minutes later. My backed potato was soggy and I was told the vegetable of the day was something it was not. This is my 5^th or 6^th visit here and it’s worse every time.

Meh… Meh is pretty much the tone and facial expression that our server Angel had during our entire 2 hour stay at Black Dog Café. Before I get into her less-​than-​enthusiastic service; I will say that the décor and atmosphere of Black Dog Café left something to be desired. The tables and chairs were very old and reminded me of an old school «upscale» diner at the Jersey Shore. They didn’t have any good music playing, I’m not sure if they had music on at all…
Black Dog Café has a pretty large menu and they have a small sushi menu under the glass table toppers (classy). My friend asked Angel what the vegetarian special of the night was, her response was «ummm its usually a bunch of vegetables cooked together… you know… tomatoes… mushrooms… (silence). We all gave her a stare of disbelief. Another friend asked her about a certain fish dish on the menu, she said «uh it’s a white fish». My friend then asked her if she could ask the kitchen to compare it to the flavor/​texture of another fish. She looked annoyed and said she would be back. We never did get the answers to the fish or vegetarian special questions.
I wasn’t starving and after listening to Angel’s poor descriptions, so I decided to get the seaweed salad (my fav), the mushroom/​crab roll and the wild boar soup. She came back at least 10 minutes after we ordered and told me that they weren’t serving the seaweed salad anymore. Um, ok. So I ended up getting the curry scallop appetizer. In addition to Angel’s stumbles in the beginning, she continued to be slow and inattentive throughout our meal and she didn’t even ask if we wanted to see a dessert menu, she just brought the check. I guess our tip on a $ 200 check wasn’t important to her that night.
The soup was too salty, and I don’t think it was just the salty pork. The scallop dish was flavorful but almost too strong of a curry taste… It seemed like they just dumped a ton of curry powder into the broth and sliced 2 scallops up thin to make them appear to be more than they were. The mushroom/​crab roll was ok, nothing over the top, blow my hair back special.
Some of my friends enjoyed their meals and would return, others said it was about on par with my experience. Dine at your own risk… or just stop in to catch a glimpse of Jon Gosslin, I bet he would have been a more friendly server.

Make reservations before your visit. The atmosphere is cozy — dated but it feels…“homey”. Large menu with steaks, seafood, and pasta. Excellent prime rib, crab cakes and the BEST calamari. Daily food, drink and dessert specials. Follow them on Facebook for highlights, special events and postings from the chef. They are making sushi and the pictures on Facebook look incredible. I’ll have to give it a try next time!

My wife and I dined here for dinner tonight. First, we were seated promptly with no reservations, second, we were served promptly for our drinks from our hostess. Now, we are sitting there enjoying the atmosphere and having a nice conversation, our waitress comes out and introduces herself, and gives us no pressure to order immediately, which was nice. After a bit more conversation we order. I had the Chicken with the white wine sauce and capers, and my wife had the Calamari appetizer, which was fresh! Her calamari was not only fresh, they lightly dusted it, and fried it with green chiles and added a tomato sauce with it. She said it was the best she ever had, I have to take her word on it, I’m not a seafood fan. Then she had the salmon and crab for dinner, she said every bit was delicious, and she couldn’t eat another bite, which I agree with! My chicken was done perfectly, and it was juicy and tender, unlike the other local restaurants who decide that chicken is equivalent to tire rubber in order to serve it. The sauce, which had white wine, lemon, and garlic, was absolutely amazing, and the capers gave it enough of a taste difference to really accentuate it! It was a great dinner all around. The portions were plenty, the food was amazing, and I don’t know what other people are talking about when they give a bad Unilocal review, but this place has earned a spot in my must eat restaurant manual! I give this place 5 stars, simply because, where we live, we can’t get this quality food this local, and even if we were in an urban area, the friendly staff and the great food deserve it all on its own!

A Gem in the middle of nowhere. I’ve been going here for years. They get casual fine dining right. The menu is always changing but they have a few favorites that come around often. I especially love their duck dishes. Their sauces always are out of this world as well.
The service is great and their bartenders are knowledgeable. I’d recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

Bad soup, totally overcooked duck, unmemorable appetizers. This place gets rave reviews but it didn’t live up to the hype in my mind. Menu sounds promising, but upon arrival the food fails to impress. Wound up spending a decent amount of money on a disappointing meal.