Food was delicious. Service was great. Sitting arrangements outside were not great considering the current COVID-19 rules. We were under an umbrella and the sun was burning our backs. Couldn't focus on eating. Next time we will see if we can request seating under the canopy, but would love to come back when they have inside dining. Hopefully by Winter. read more

We were sat and 15+ minutes went by without anyone coming to our table. Obviously we left and will not return.

Stopped here for lunch on the way down to AC. Six dollar lunch menu! Some of the best clam chowder I have ever had! Will be back!

Easter Sunday 2022, late afternoon it really wasn't busy, a few people at the bar, a few scattered in the bar table area, as for the dining area I don't know. I ordered 1 item from the Easter menu to go which was the only menu you could order from, so it's a limited menu probably 1/4 of their daily menu. The bartender was inattentive at first talking to the other few people at the bar, I asked about the menu and was informed that the Easter menu was all that was offered and selected a dinner to go. After 45 minutes and after I paid for the meal and a drink I told the bartender that I had to leave. And I did leave without my order. His response was that the kitchen is backed up. I understand that but he could have said that 30 minutes ago, he could have been attentive to my order and my wait time. He could have walked back to the kitchen and asked, but he did none of this, I left him a tip and said he could have my dinner that I already paid for. That was it, no extra effort, no apologies just an OK. So I am a local and I am done with Lefty's. That's my story. read more

1st time here. Had the Pork chop and Peaches excellent, my new favorite dinner. Mary was a excellent waitress. Great appetizers, great atmosphere. read more

Lefty's Tavern - Bars Near Me - Barnegat, New Jersey

I have been to Lefty's 4 times, and last night was the 5th. Is it possible to go to a restaurant and each time you go it gets better? YES it is. The food is amazing. Everything is homemade and the servings are very generous. Calamari fresh, as is all their seafood .Their lemon dill flounder delish 5 stars our favorite. We chose the dining room with linen tablecloths, easy to carry on a conversation. They have a bar with booths. Your choice. The wait staff are all so accommodating and. pleasant. I enjoy cooking, so when I go out I'm looking for a great homemade meal. This is the place. You MUST try it! I wouldn't change a thing. read more

Food is Good! Service was horrific! 9 of us sat for over thirty minutes with EMPTY glasses! Our waitress, Heidi, never bothered to check on us. It took a 1/2 before our order was taken, an hour for appetizers to come out, another 1/2 hour for soup/salad, then we sat another HOUR for our dinners! I'm sorry seated at 5pm and never record food until almost 7:51 is unbelievable. I have recommended Lefty's to many many friends but never again after tonight! Who wants to pay well over $400 empty glasses and cold potatoes! read more

I'm am a 10 year old my pregnant mother and elderly grandma and I went there ,they made use wait an hour and 10 minutes and almost made me cry because I got scared of the owner yelling at my mom me and grandma and said that "I was try my best" and he owed $50 and we still don't have the money I really don't recommend that you go and you are here this from a 10 year old. read more

Made two visits. The first visit was pleasant and the turkey dinner was very good. Second visit the turkey wasn't good. My wife took two bites of hers and admittedly, I ate a little more than half of mine. When I mentioned to the waiter I was disappointed with the food he looked at my plate and quipped, I see it didn't stop you from eating it. Needless to say, it wasn't only the food that left a bad taste in our mouths. read more

In a few words, this is some Horrible TV Dinners-- Sysco food reheat...this a local bar, for local pineys. Go to shop rite and cook your own dinner. read more

Good food, great service, the early bird portion was perfect for me as I hate getting overly full. It's nice and bright now that's it's renovated. read more

We came for the comedy on a Friday night and were *blown away* by the menu! I had the wasabi scallops on seaweed salad and it was 1000% better than I would have ever expected. The salmon and fit burger that my dining companions had were also way beyond expectations. And now... COMEDY! AMENDED So, we came for the comedy, to see a comic that we loved, Chris Monty. We had invited friends from all over New Jersey, hyping the show and ensuring that they would have a blast and laugh till they cried. At about 3 pm, I had gone to Lefty's website to check the address and how long it would take us to get there. I noticed on the calendar that Chris Monty's name was no longer on it. I called the restaurant, and asked why, to make sure that we were going to see Chris when we got there. The young woman who answered the phone ASSURED me that yes, Chris Monty would be performing. So we arrived at 6 pm, had a DELICIOUS dinner and then proceeded into the show space. We sat down at the table and were told, NOT by the management, but by some other people who were sitting at the table, that in fact CHRIS MONTY HAD CANCELLED. I was then approached by the organizer of the show "Joel", who said that Chris had been booked to film a "TV show" (actually a netflix show) and cancelled. I was told that if I were truly a fan, I would be happy for Chris's career success. While I do support Chris's career, in my mind, when you book a show, make a commitment to show up, YOU SHOW UP! Or you notify your audience in advance, or at least have the person who answers the phone at your venue know wtf is going on! Joel assured us that he had gotten a "headliner" from Atlantic City to fill in for Chris. The first guy who came on probably would have been funny if not faced with an audience made up of hostile Chris Monty fans and very senior citizens who don't like "vulgar" humor. From there the show descended into "open mic night at the nursing home". And the "headliner" from Atlantic City was a freaking puppet show, with some animal torture (will be calling the ASPCA about that) and open flame that had me in fear for my life, in that tiny crowded venue filled with seniors. All in all, we dropped over $200 in the belief that we would be seeing someone we very specifically wanted to see, and saw, instead, something that I will never be able to forget, no matter how hard I try. All in all a HUGE disappointment. read more

Just moved to the neighborhood. This tavern is walking distance from my front door. Bar tenders were awesome and made great cocktails. Made recommendations and were spot on with our likings. I seen mixed reviews so had to try it for ourselves. Glad we did. Their BBQ wings were pretty awesome. Their sauce was very tasty. Nachos were a great appetizer as well as their chili. We will definitely be going back in the future. Kind of under renovations in parts. The bar area can be updated but other than that food and beverages were great. read more

We absolutely LOVE it at Lefty's. We dine there at least 2-3 times a month & we have NEVER had a bad meal. The kids' menu is very large with great options & there is tons to choose from on the regular menu. We even had Thanksgiving dinner there & it was super! I highly recommend Lefty's! read more

I'm torn here between a 3 and 4 star rating....so I think I will give Lefty's the benefit of the doubt. I had a previous experience here when Lefty's first opened and swore I would never come back. Well that brings two things to light; 1) Never swear and 2) Everyone deserves a second chance. Last nights meal put them back on my "To visit" list. The food has vastly improved as has the service. Their home style meals are very good and nicely priced. Great selection of apps which by the way go half price every night at 8pm. Decent selection of tap beers but I think for a "tavern" there should be a few more. Had a cheese steak which was packed with meat and what looked like a pound of provolone cheese. Very good. Desserts are exceptional. Oh, the Mrs. says try the Salmon BLT. See you there. read more

I have been here twice now and the food is good but I am not sure about the strange atmosphere. Its just hard to explain. At least the food is good and the prices are fair but they need to figure out what is missing. I cant put my finger on it. read more

This was our first time here. We made reservations and were seated in the Tavern area. The room had great energy. We ordered the avocado appetizer special which was absolutely delicious. For entrees we ordered 3 of the specials which came with a salad. We also ordered the Horseradish Salmon which could have used a little more horseradish flavoring. We finished off with a spumoni dessert. All in all the food was spectacular. It was fresh and the portions were generous. Our waitress Ti***** was outstanding! She kept the meal flowing, always made sure our drinks were full and kept us posted on our meals. My only con would be that the bill was pricey for a restaurant at the shore but the food and the outstanding service made the visit worth it! read more

I almost fell over when I didn't see 5 stars for this restaurant. I have been coming here for over 10 years, and I never had a bad meal, and service has always been great. I usually ask for Tiffany, she is an amazing server. Good prices, good food... what else could you ask for? read more

I used to love this place! It's local and the food was always spot on...and then it wasn't! I ordered the stuffed salmon & a baked potato. When I cut into the potato the entire inside was black! The "stuffed" salmon was a piece of salmon with a tiny sliver of crab cake placed directly on top and the remainder of the cake on the side. The waitress saw the potato and took it away and returned within 30 secs. There was no time to cook another potato or even heat one up. She walked to the back and walked right out-the door barely closed she was so fast. I don't know if they have them sitting under a heat lamp or if it was someone else's but it most certainly wasn't fresh and unfortunately it tasted that way! When I was able to get her attention again, I told her that I was extremely disappointed about the "stuffed" salmon. I expected it to be "STUFFED" like the menu describes. I also tried to explain to her that I didn't want a fried crab cake or I would have ordered one. I was expecting a taste, when something is stuffed the flavors are together, it is one item and it creates a different taste then two items cooked separately that you eat basically separate. Even putting them on my fork at the same time is not the desired taste and I shouldn't be expected to do that when I am ordering a stuffed dish! It's not unreasonable. The menu was misleading and I was really dissatisfied not to mention that my second potato was not fresh! She did not apologize nor offer any other choice. She proceeded to tell me that every place that SHE has ever had stuffed salmon that's how it's done and then was just shocked that the potato wasn't fresh. She actually shrugged as if to say "I don't know what to tell you" then she just looked at me. I just looked at her for a moment as well in shock that there was nothing else coming out to rectify this! So I was at a checkmate and asked for the bill. She gave me a coupon for a half off app for my NEXT visit but why would I spend more money just to get half off when I left having to pay for an ENTIRE meal that I left right on the table!?! I didn't eat a BITE of it! I called the next day to speak to the owner. She was surprisingly rude & very defensive. I patron this restaurant FREQUENTLY and really I just would have liked an apology, then some kind of accountability for my experience and some courtesy that I was valued as a loyal customer. If I felt any of those things, that would have been enough but I received NONE! It's not the first time I have had bad food and these experiences are all recent! I had bad clams and mussels on two separate occasions and they happen to be my favorite dish there! The clams were taking forever to come out and the bartender had told me that "they had a bad batch" so that was the hold up. Well when she sat them down, you could SMELL them and you knew!!!! I explained this story as well to the manager in hopes to let her know that "hey this isn't the first time, however, I support locally and this is just one time too many". Well she went ballistic! She actually cut me off to ask someone in the background "if they ever had bad clams". So now I'm a liar!!??!! For what to get a free meal on a place I patron every week!! Lets be honest here!?! Then she proceeded to say that the bartender should have been fired for telling me that! Well that did it for me! I told her, I would get a lawyer for her myself! All she did was relay a msg from the kitchen and she TOLD THE TRUTH! The clams were bad and it's best to be honest then send me to the hospital, I would think!!!!!! It wasn't until then that she started to say very irritated "you already said you weren't returning so what would you like me to do". People, I wanted to cry! What I wanted her to do was in paragraph 2 lol! Since that ship had sailed...I said, "don't fire that bartender for telling the truth!" read more

Never a bad time in the bar or restaurant. The bartender Mike is one of the best in the area (he knows his drinks).Food is great and they have have good entertainment some nights. read more

Went to dinner here with a large group. The food was decent, but service was slow and waters were rarely refilled. There is a wide variety to the food, from pasta, to seafood, to burgers and sandwiches...seems a little overextended to me read more

Went here a couple times, with each time the food was just a tad less in taste and quality. I think the chef left or they changed chefs. I also was hoping when they took over after carriage house they would open the bar to full rectangle for more seats, but it's small. The portions are really big, the service is fine...it's like that other review said, something about the atmosphere I can't put my finger on...maybe it's an identity thing. It feels old, still feels like Carriage House, the old place that used to be here when I first moved. In order for me to go back, I would love to see a a revamping of dishes -- people these days expect more now from restaurant food-- fresh ingredients, creative dishes, presentation -- and I don't mind paying for it! Good luck to Lefty's, I do wish the best for you! read more

Called for a booth in the tavern area for dinner at 6:30 pm. Was told there was a 40 minute wait for a party of 2. That was okay as we were a 20 minute drive away. Arrived 20 minutes early. Noticed live music by one singer with his guitar was very loud and not that good. Asked for a seat in their dining room and was seated immediately. Order food and was served house salad quickly. Then waited an hour for entry. Only after complaining we received our meals that had signs of sitting under a heat lamp for an extraordinary amount of time. We were satisfied from 3 prior visits but will not return based on this latest meal. read more

Ordered the prime rib special rare and after waiting a long time the food came out cold, not even warm. Sent it back and in the meantime I ate the side vegs and sweet potato. When the prime rib finally came out after some time it was well done. I picked it up and gave it to someone to bring back to the kitchen and said what happened and didn't want anything else. When the bill came (we were with another couple), they didn't charge me for the prime rib but had the gall to charge me the full price for the soup $4 ($2 upcharge with the meal) and $6.50 for the side vegs and sweet potato. When I questioned it, their response was " did you eat it" and "that's our policy". Just as a side note, another couple walked out of the place after waiting about 20 minutes and no one came over to their table. After they left another couple with a young boy sat down at that same table and they waited about 15 minutes before someone acknowledged them. In all fairness, our waitress was very nice and friendly and still gave her 18% tip, but I don't know what's going on in the kitchen and the owners need to review how to take care of customers with their management team. Living in an adult community nearby, my wife and I eat out a lot and in this case will NEVER go back to Lefty's. read more

We have been a regular customer of Leftys for the last 11 years . We use to go for dinner or for there Sunday specials at least 3 to 4 times a month.We just were told that the Sunday all day specials were no longer which was a attraction for us and many of the Senior Citizens living in Barnegat.Today was our first time returning since Covid 19. Made a reservation in a advance like we always have done. We arrived and a sign at the door said "use hand sanitizer before entering" well it was empty. I told the Host and she said I think I have some down here if you like to use it which really didn't sound like it was a requirement before entering. We had a reservation and had to wait 20 min before we were seated which has happened before bot not on a Sunday when the parking lot was only half filled. We were finally seated and eventually greeted by a waitress who we remembered from pre covid which we though was a good thing. She took our drink order and it took a exceptionally long time before our drinks arrive. We also never got our table bread till after the drinks were served. We now are given this laminated menu with all there selections of food , like you would find in a diner or fast food establishment, not a fancy booklet of dinners like we use to get. We were also given a paper "Specials" menu which had seen better days. To our disappointment there was no longer one of our favorites " prime rib" no where to be found. Then we noticed that soup or salad are now extra charge which they were not in the past. We placed our order and saw this seasoned waitress fumbling with this new had held device to enter our order and definitely did not look happy and actually took longer to place our order. Dinner finally arrived and everything was fine till I cut into my baked potato and found it to be bad on the inside which is something you can't tell till its cut into and i wasn't upset . We couldn't find our waitress so we asked another person walking around if they could get us another baked potato and she was happy to assist us. She came back 2 minutes later and told us the kitchen is very business and we would have to wait!! Now I'm upset because my streak is getting cold and I have to wait while other people are getting their food. My wife finally got out of her chair and track down our waitress who said she would look into it! It took about five minutes and I finally got my hot baked potato that I could eat with my cold steak, you would think the waitress would offer to warm up my meal but again she was nowhere to be found so I had my hot potato within my cold $26.00 steak, I was not happy!.My wife asked for water and she brought my wife a glass of water instead of bringing a pitcher of water for everyone like always happened in the past. So were now down to dessert which which we thought couldn't go bad , wrong ! My wife and I always order vanilla ice with chocolate syrup .Well guess what, they were out of vanilla ice cream which never happened to us in 11 years. Now its time to pay our ck so we were handed this paper cash register type printout that came out of this handheld device that the waitress wasn't happy using. Then you hand over a credit card and she scans it and has you sign it while she stands there and waits, No more black credit card folder with a receipt that you can review , discuss the tip and not have someone standing over you waiting .We had a bill of over 80.00 which use to be 55'00 with there Sunday specials, this no longer affordable for all us Senior Citizens on limited incomes and suspect 75% of there regular customers are retired Seniors. I never ,never thought I would have write a negative review about our favorite restaurant and this really hurts but I guess all good things come to a end . Tonight I spoke to a friend who we know goes to Leftys quite often and said they had a similar experience last week and are now looking for a new go to Restruant which is affordable and great customer service like Leftys was in the past. We understand that after a year of Covid there is a lot of money for restaurants to make up but this is not the way of going about it, you have already lost two regular customers who recommended you to hundreds of people.Now reluctantly we have to find a new go to place. New Years Eve was always something that myself and lots of friends looked forward to every year, it was like family night for us seniors that have made another year! The bottom line is higher prices, customer service is not like it use to be and the little town Restruant is not a quaint gathering place for senior citizens that enjoyed great food and atmosphere . read more

Went there this evening with my family. The food was good! We had: Clams Casino and Nachos for apps, both were tasty. I had the french dip and seasoned fries (with old bay..mmmm)-- so good! :) Our waitress Jennifer was super nice. I'd go back again soon! read more

Valerie was an awesome waitress. Leftys is a very friendly and sports orientated environment. Great local bar/restaurant.

Food is always amazing and service has never been less then great. Always packed when I'm there, but the wait is never bad. Everyone is very friendly. My parents and I love going there for a great meal. Definitely worth a try. read more

Great atmosphere, friendly and accommodating staff and amazing food. Early Bird dinners offer great value and good food. Come here whenever I'm in the area! read more

This was the first time my family went to Lefty's Tavern. The food was exceptional. BUT the waitress we had was not. There was 4 adults and 2 children. We ordered a lot of food which was really good. After dinner we were going to get desert and the waitress walked over and handed me the bill and said I will take this when your ready. First the 2 children never got their desert which they were supposed to get according to the children's menu and the adults wanted coffee and dessert which we never got. The waitress seems like she was over whelmed with too many tables. Its ashamed this happened because it spoiled a great dinner. read more

As having no good food places in this town, Lefty's is about the only place to go for a some what home cooked meal. The prices are just a bit on the high side for this area. I usually do not have a bad review for this place . Probably because i usually only get the same dish. Last night i tried something different, But the sauce that was used for my dinner was the same sauce used for a another entree. So either the cook was to lazy to make the right sauce, or he/she did not know the difference. But foodies know the difference. My other observation is that when the assistant server came to give us refills she picked up my glass with her fingers holding the rim where one would drink from, after i had observed her cleaning tables with a rag and filling other glasses. My other observation is that when she came to take our uneaten portions that we wanted to take home she stacked all the plates she had collected in her travels on top of one another having the bottoms of the plates touching the food of the plate under it. That was a bit sceevy to me. My last expectation is the vegetable medly i was served were frozen then blanched and smothered with the same sauce.. For a plate of $16.99 i would have preferred fresh over frozen. I do not even eat frozen at home, so when i go out i expect fresh. I usually would give this place a 3 or 4 only because there are no other places to eat here, but for these reasons i would have to lower to at highest a 2. Once again lesson learned to eat good food with the proper ingredients for that recipe cook it yourself at home. read more

Never had a bad meal. Chef produces gourmet quality dishes. I have been a loyal customer for years. Highly recommend.

Great Happy Hour bar bites.Sunday is Happy Hour all day. As Joe N says, hands down the best food in barnegat. Clams casino are excellent. Not rushed at all but barmaid could be a little quicker (she does all the dining room drinks also,need someone to jump in & help with that) read more

Enjoyed a great lunch here on Fathers Day, with our cousins Bob and Alice who live in Forked River, with whom Jean and I were visiting. The restaurant was packed, and they had a steel drum band playing outside (too hot outside for us) on the patio. They seated us within 5 minutes and the server came right over, introduced herself and took our drink order. What a pleasant surprise considering how busy the place was. After serving our beverages, she took our food order. The food we ordered came out in a reasonable amount of time, with everything cooked perfect and tasted exceptionally good. Everyone in our party was pleased, and we plan to return here again on our next visit. read more

My family and I love Lefty's. We always choose to eat in the Tavern and have always had great servers. The drinks are good and my favorite meal there is the schnitzel and spatzle (it has bacon it it - so delicious). I really have never had a bad meal there and we eat there at least every 2 months. My only complaint is that they are stingy about early bird specials - many times you have to ask for the menu specifically. read more

I would give it 4 starts for food, but overall it's 3 stars because the service was soooooo slow! The food was good. It's noisy because of the bar, but in general it's a good place to grab a bite to eat. read more

Food has gone downhill. Use to be our favorite place to eat! I want going to post i anything and all I wanted was an apology for the food not being good. I wasnt looking for a free meal but it's ridiculous when you pay a lot for a meal and are disappointed. It was late and we had to wait awhile and we were starving. I never send food back cause we have heard nightmares what people can do it the kitchen so we ate. I sent an email and my reply back was we were the only ones that complain and they stand by there food and basically called me a liar. All that person had to do is say sorry and I would of been happy. Never going back and they lost us as a customer as well as some friends. read more

Oh where do I start?? I haven't been to Lefty's in years so we decided to try it again. Bad choice. When we arrived we were unaware that you were supposed to have reservations. I asked if there was room because if there wasn't we would leave. We were given the choice of a table by the garbage cans or right out by the road. Against my better judgement and because we were all hungry, we opted for the table by the road. Now mind you, we had to walk through a tent that had several empty tables to get to our roadside table. The traffic was so loud that I couldn't hear my husband or my daughter. When we asked for menus we were told they don't have them to look up the menu on our phones? What??? I realize with Covid everyone is being extra careful, but you can't give your customers paper menus that can be thrown away? Every restaurant we have dined at since Covid began has given us paper menus. Instead we can touch our dirty phones before we eat? Great! We ordered calamari which arrived at our table very under cooked and rubbery. My husband's grilled tuna wrap was over cooked and my grilled chicken sandwich was sub par at best. After dropping over $130 for sandwiches and a few drinks I left very disappointed. This place is what we like to call "a one and doner". We will never be back. The best part about the entire experience was our server. Very nice kid, not his fault at all we had a terrible experience. read more

A must try is the "Salmon BLt" absolutely mouth watering.

Went the other day for happy hour wings and when we arrived there were none of the 4 tables in the bar area open and we were sat on the opposite side of the bar and was offered the early bird specials instead. It's a nice alternative but was looking for happy hour priced wings. read more