Anchor Tavern, Belmar, NJ: A Restaurant Review
713 Main St
Belmar, NJ 07719
732-280-2266
Website
Restaurant Highlights
Fare: American Tavern
Price: Moderate to Expensive
Food Quality: 2 Stars
Service: 1 1/2 Stars
Decor: 3 Stars
Overall Rating: 2 Stars
Note: Four star Rating System from 1/2 Star = poor to Four stars = Best in Class
A vibrant, attractive industrial chic setting.
Value: Good
Noise Level: Moderate to excessively loud
Dress: Casual
Recommended For: For dinners who enjoy a good tavern menu in a trendy industrial chic setting with a vibrant bar scene and live entertainment.
Not Recommended For: For dinners who enjoy a low key BYOB restaurant serving gourmet, eclectic dishes.
Recommended dishes: When available, Thursday nights Prime Rib Dinner, The Wood Fired Rotisserie cooked Bell and Evans Chicken; and the Baby Back Ribs.
Liquor: Good selection of reasonably priced beers, wines and specialty cocktails. Bar scene is vibrant.
Restaurant Review
The Anchor Tavern, located at the site of the former Connolly Station, is popular with diners who come for a vibrant bar scene, a popular Happy Hour, and for their live entertainment on Friday & Saturday evenings. A good place to meet up with friends, for drinks and decent American Tavern style food.
The restaurant is now under management of the Chefs International restaurant group who also owns Jack Baker's Wharfside, The Lobster Shanty, in Point Pleasant Beach, Baker's Water Street Bar & Grille in Toms River, Moore's Tavern and Escondido in Freehold, and The 9th Avenue pier and The Marina Grille in Belmar.
Since acquiring the property, the restaurant has undergone extensive remodeling providing an attractive industrial chic ambiance with dark wood surroundings, open ceilings, and seating in booths, regular & tall table tops. . The venue offers a huge bar with large display TV's for sports fans, an enlarged heated, outdoor sidewalk patio with an outdoor bar, and huge garage doors that open in the warmer months to bring the outdoors inside.
The menu offers a good selection of tavern favorites. Don't expect gourmet food, though their Wood Fired Rotisserie produces some excellent flavorful dishes including their Bell and Evans Chicken with no antibiotics and no growth hormones, and their special Thursday night Prime Rib slow roasted dinner.
Be prepared for excessively loud noise, especially on evenings when the bands are playing.
Service is friendly and attentive, though on busy evenings it tends to be spotty and slows down.
Anchor Tavern is open seven days/week from 11:30 am - 2:00 am. Happy Hour in effect Monday - Friday, 11:30AM - 6PM, and Saturday & Sunday, 11:30AM - 5PM
(updated May, 2017)
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