Great service by an attentive and cheerful server. Good pour of bourbon and a good sandwich. Oddly, the entertainment was relegated to the back room - behind a pillar. If I didn't catch a glimpse of him I'd have thought it was recorded mystic. read more

We came to Surf City Bistro for their trivia night after dinner elsewhere. It was a little confusing how the whole thing would work at first, but the Emcee/Host explained it all. We started off with some 'doubles' for our drinks as we got settled and ordered a couple of other rounds during the trivia contest...so the bill added up quickly, but we had a blast with the trivia and ended up winning. I know this place has mixed reviews but we had a great time. read more

Surf City Bistro - American Near Me - Surf City, New Jersey

I attended the bistro with family members and ALL of our food was disgusting. Nacho app was burnt chips with some ground meat and burnt cheese. Philly cheesesteak had two pieces of meat and scant cheese. Clam chowder had shaved brown clam (unrecognizable) and laced any taste. Skip the food. Just go for drinks. read more

i wish the food was better. it has always been terrible. i want to love it. i have been on the island for 45 years and this is such a disappointment. read more

We visited Surf City Bistro several times over the past two weeks, and each experience reminded us why it has been a go-to spot for our family since the mid '90s. Whether we were dining with a group of 9, an extended party of 16, or just enjoying a casual dinner at the bar, the service was consistently excellent. The staff handled everything with ease and professionalism - especially impressive given that our groups included anywhere from 3 to 6 children. They made sure the kids' meals came out quickly (a huge plus for us), and their attention to detail was excellent, even with the larger parties. The food was solid and well priced across the board. We tried everything from burgers and sushi to flatbreads, chicken, and the raw bar, and everything was fresh and prepared well. Drinks were also a strong point - reasonably priced, delivered promptly, and followed up on without us ever needing to ask. A nice touch during our visits was the live music - it kept the kids entertained and added to the laid-back, fun atmosphere. Even our evening at the bar stood out - we enjoyed the same great service and were able to take advantage of their happy hour specials. The updates that have been made here have only enhanced what was already a reliable, welcoming spot. Surf City Bistro continues to be one of the most family-friendly and consistently enjoyable dining options right in the heart of Surf City. We will be back again soon. read more

Wide selection of food options. Very friendly waitress. Fair prices. Loved the live music after dinner.

Visited here for the first time for the first ever music bingo and it was a decent time! This place on the outside needs a serious update, since the outside is sort of run down and dated. However I was shocked at the inside of this place, its very large, has an outdoor patio and a larger bar area in the back and its fully remodled and updated and the bar area is actually pretty nice. Not sure why the outside looks so deterioated and slummy which probably throws off a lot of customers to this place since it looks like it would be dark and dated inside. The staff here is friendly and fast and the cocktails were creative and tasty.. We ordered the sweet corn dip and it was pretty good. The music bingo was a hit and pretty fun and a nice touch! I would come back here for a bite to eat. read more

The service is extremely friendly! They have a variety of seating from in indoor bar and outdoor, patio seating, outdoor seating and handicap seating. The menu is like an other LBI place . A bit of everything! The sushi I didn't care for, way to much spicy mayo and mushy. The clam chowder was very good a bit of a smoked taste. My husband loved the margarite pizza and my son's chicken Napoleon sandwich was great. The buffalo shrimp I definitely wouldn't recommend it was extremely greasy with Cajun spices. I would definitely go back but I have a better idea what to get now. read more

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If you're looking to go out and have a good time, this is not the place to go. They don't like you laughing. They don't like you having fun. Best thing goes somewhere else. read more

Food is not that good and they rip you off with the prices and alcohol. I could do without the horrible musicians outside under the tent. My cat has more harmony when I accidentally step on his tail read more

We ordered just appetizers and drinks, the atmosphere was so good and it's really convenient because it's so close to the beach. The oysters, and the New England claw chowder were really fresh and tasty but the fried calamari wasn't the best. Too many tentacles and not enough calamari rings. The piña colada was too sweet and didn't have enough alcohol. It taste like a virgin piña colada. Service was excellent. Specially Christine she was down to earth polite and fast plus courteous read more

Surf City Bistro - Piña colada, fried calamari, oysters and New England claws chowder. - American Near Me - Surf City, New Jersey

My first night at the beach & I wanted some seafood. I ordered the crab cake sandwich (with no bun). I was really looking forward to it since the waitress raved about it! The size was large! I was glad to break into it to see no fillers except, what was this? Medium pieces of red onion, large pieces of corn & pimento pieces! What? I assumed that was their filler. I didn't like their add ins. I just wanted a crab cake! The meat was good & the size of it. Disappointed. read more

It is a pretty neat place! The food was really yummy and the atmosphere is neat. Good mix of tourist and locals go to the place! The hotel that is joined To it is really nice too. read more

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Email to Sandy, who booked our reservation: "Wow! What a huge disappointment! We arrived for our reservation at 7:25m (this is exact, as I snapped a photo as soon as we were seated). Thereafter, for the next 35 MINUTES, we went UNACKNOWLEDGED! No server, no bus person, no host, no "hey, sorry we are backed up," nothing!!! The person appeared to be the server, made eye contact with me several times, and kept moving about her business. My husband gave it 30minutes, then we get up and leave. That was promptly at 7:55pm. We got up and i went inside, and asked for a manager-that person disappeared and never resurfaced. A bus boy asked me what i was looking for, and I stated that we were blatantly ignored for the past 1/2 hour, & that I wanted to share that with a manager.(we def would not have stayed anyway), his response was "listen lady, I'm not a server". Wow! It was as if the staff was ignoring us on purpose, so that they could go home earlier or something. There were plenty of other seated tables still too. We had checked out the menu online earlier in the day, and were really excited about the selections, and looking forward to dining there (esp since we haven't in a few years and a few owners ago), and were doubly excited when we arrived and saw how pretty the outdoor setup was! What a major letdown! I wanted to stay at that 30 minute mark, just to see how much longer it would take to be acknowledged, out of curiosity, but my husband was half way to the car by then! Thankfully the Arlington was still serving, do ee went there. We were promptly seated without a reservation, the service was excellent, as was the outdoor ambiance and live music-not to mention the food-delectable!! So unfortunate for your restaurant. If this is not your department, my apologies, but you're the "face" To these accommodations. Please oass this on to the business owner for review, and maybe take a look at your vetting process for front of the house employees! " Sincerely, Meri read more

The owner needs to talk to his staff and reevaluate the menu. Don't let the ambiance fool you. It took 30 minutes to get water, no acknowledgement or apologies for ignoring us as we waited patiently. Food was terrible. white wine sauce looked like brown dirty dish washer and tasted as such literally where was the garlic and white wine? , the calamari was good, Buffalo shrimp was ok, scallop and shrimp dijonaisse entree came out extremely fishy, the smell was terrible, the sauce tasted like curdled two week old milk, and he almost threw up. read more

Food was delicious!! Brussel sprout app a must try. All of our entrees were so tasty. Server was friendly & efficient. Great experience !! My husband is still talking about the cheesecake. A must try when your in LBI. read more

We actually sat in the Clan Bar section which is a separate bar off the Bistro. There's also another large bar in the back but was hosting a private party. Very comfortable bar and bartender Christine was very nice. Also on the main drag so the shuttle can drop you off. Also played great music not that dance or hip hop crap. read more

Surf City Bistro - American Near Me - Surf City, New Jersey

Best fries I've ever had. Didn't add salt which I typical do. Must be homemade. Oysters were amazing too. Cool atmosphere. Nice servers and management seem to be on top of things. Impressed. read more

Surf City Bistro - American Near Me - Surf City, New Jersey

They can not take and properly hold a reservation. Three times in the past 2 months we made reservations only to show up and be told we weren't on the reservation list despite receiving text confirmations prior to our arrival. Staff could not care less and never once apologized. read more

Ignored by one of the new owners as we waited for a table in a less than half empty restaurant. We waited patiently as he proudly paid attention to other diners. Never acknowledged we ultimately left hungry after not being seated. Really saddened as a Surf City resident I really wanted to support this place. It was also funny to watch people walk away from the empty back bar area as there was a cover charge set up for what seemed to be an evening with no visible entertainment. Peak summer I am sure this place will be packed but with new ownership there seems to be no noticeable improvements. read more

Have yet to have a meal here, which I plan on doing but have been during "club" hours and surf city hotel is the place to be!! Great service at the bars, great bands and the security staff have been nothing but kind and courteous. Always something going on at this hotel and we always have a great time. read more

My family and I went here for our last night on LBI. It is definitely underwhelming. We chose this restaurant due to it being so close to our rental. The food was ok, not bad but not the best we've had. The service staff was young and a little inexperienced. They did not have any specialty drinks or an extensive drink menu. The atmosphere was nice and the decor was clean and beachy. We may visit the bar again but I doubt we will return to eat. The coconut ship special was standard. The potato kegs lacked flavor. The penne al la vodka needed salt and the chicken was dry The veal parm was good and the serving was huge. The burger was great and their fries are very tasty. read more

I mailed this letter a week ago to the hotel hoping for some kind of response, a week later nothing. So I will post here "Friday night my husband and I ate dinner in your restaurant. I had the linguine with clams, he had the steak. We shared the Cesar salad. I had a glass of sauvingon blanc. The staff was great. That was the best part. I expected the pasta to be great, I am at the beach, your business name is clam bar. But it was very disappointing. I know how to make this dish, its not hard. There was NO garlic, nothing green, like a bit of parsley. No salt, NO WINE. The pasta was barely cooked, not al dente, barely cooked I added my wine, and salt and there was still no flavor. Husbands steak was not seasoned. The sauce on top masked the flavorless steak. The baked potato was at least 45 minutes over baked. Shriveled, brown on the inside. The salad was acceptable, not wonderful no extra shake of parm, no fresh pepper. And, I know this is minor, but WHY serve white wine at 40 degrees, it is WAY to cold. What was most disappointing was the Saturday night "banquet". As a former catering sales person, I would have NEVER sold a party like that. And as a chef, I would be embarrassed to present the food offered. Technically I was confused. Its a nice room, I can see the improvements made in the past year. But the table was set with a fork and a cloth napkin. That's it, no knife. No spoon. And you use cheap, CHEAP plastic cups. You have real glassware all over the restaurant, why offer those cheap bathroom cups at a banquet service. The buffet, there was NO signage as to what the food was. So many people have sensitivities to food. There was a salad, which looked fresh, but then a brown sauce. No signage. Balsamic? Pasta with some kind of "creamy sauce" then a stretch of fried things. Being a food person, some were recognizable, others, nope. Most were so overcooked, over browned, over breaded. This looked like a bad buffet at Golden Corral. And again NO signage, Was it chicken or fish in those pans. After that 4 bowls of stuff, who knows. I chose the pink, hoping it was a spicy mayo, it was not. Lastly, the hard, cookies from a box. Is that really the best that you can provide. I don't know what you sold this party for, but we paid 36 per person. You should be embarrassed for serving such bad food. It is not typical of your restaurant, or of current trends. $36 PP isn't a lot of money, but you could have served a decent salad and a choice of pizza with cheap red wine and it would better received read more

2018: Went back last weekend. Food was as good as I remember from first visit. Shrimp Franchese and Red Snapper were both delicious. Friend had the steak and lobster specials which both looked great. Apps and salad were excellent. Wine list was good with reasonable prices. The back bar has been fully renovated and looked like a great place to stay for the late night band. Will be back again! 2017: Went last weekend with wife to see friends at new restaurant. Had a great dinner. Oysters were fresh and delicious. Coconut shrimp appetizer was good size and very tasty. For entree, I had an amazing pork chop with hot peppers in delicious brown sauce. One of the best all summer! My wife had the stuffed shrimp which were moist and really good. The place had lots of seating areas for dinner as well as a few bar areas for drinks. Real nice crowd with good mix of family and friends, locals and tourists. After 10pm, the back bar had classic rock band that made for a fun night! Will definitely be coming back again! Congrats to the new owners who have clearly made great improvements while maintaining the original ambience. read more

This place is a travesty!! The only good thing about it was the waitress we had "Stacey"! We had to wait 38 mins due to the fact that the kitchen could not keep up (that was per the hostess stand) Not to mention there were 15 empty tables open for fares! I almost asked for the manager or owner but thought if they can't tell that their kitchen staff can't keep up on a Friday night from the end of night tickets then they have no business being in this business! 3 burgers all were far from up to par! Chicken Cesar - so so! Oh the drinks were good! Won't ever come back!!! Get it together or you are going under SCBC! Tony B. read more

This is my first yelp review in my 4 years as a customer. The atmosphere was pleasant and the staff was also friendly, but they really dropped the ball on the food. All 3 burgers at the table were charred and "hard to get down", the grilled chicken was dry, and the flatbread tasted like a quesadilla. Won't be coming back here read more

My husband and I had dinner two weekends ago. I had the salmon and he had the burger. Both were really good. They've remodeled and are under new ownership. The staff is young, which is refreshing and needed. Our waitress Chapin was kind enough to let us ask her three times how her name was spelled/pronounced. We would definitely go back. read more

Happy hour review only. After some confusion as to whether HH can be served at the tables in the bar area (as a large bday party had a table and then took over half of the bar), it was determined that HH is served in entire bar area and you await a server. Server was attentive. Menu selection is good (posting photo of menu since I couldn't find it online). Don't know what time HH ends though?! 6/7? Ordered shrimp- fine and large portion. Beef tacos which were large BUT served with beef with kidney beans. (Odd?). Wings good/spicey. Hand wipes needed (though no provided- isn't that a given). The "housemade guac" didn't look to be special and couple out next to us indicated as such. Note:mozzarella sticks aren't a HH price. Same for the pies. Prices are slightly off from what menu says when you get bill, but not worth "drama." Four stars only for the fact this large bday party should've been seated in one of the other rooms and clearly weren't going to fit at a 12 person table, but I'm sure this is rare. read more

Surf City Bistro - American Near Me - Surf City, New Jersey

This restaurant is just okay - food, service, ambiance. Nothing special. Or noteworthy. Wouldn't go back.

The place is nice inside, a little cold. Was told the waitress couldn't get to us but she'd be there shortly. She came, we order all of our drinks, appetizers and food hoping that the it would come quickly. We waited 30 minutes for the appetizer and an hour and 15 minutes for the food. Luckily only 1 dish was incorrect. However when we sent it back it took over 10 minutes to come; at this point the rest of the party was almost done. It was probably the worst burger I have ever had. They looked like they had 2 waitresses available (it was lunch time on a Saturday) so we weren't checked on often even thought the owner or manger (I assume) was walking all around. We were told the wait 'wouldn't be that long' I would have understood if they told us it would be a long wait for food but they did not. I assume this place would be great if only we were told there would be over an hour wait. The waitress was nice and the wait and everything was not her fault. I would have gotten better food at Wawa. read more

Just had dinner at the Surf City Bistro on July 31, 2018. We called for a party of eight 3 hours ahead but they don't take reservations for less than 10 . No worries, they took our name and noted we would be there. We arrived at 7PM to a packed house and were told it would be a while but we expected that. They did manage to seat us quickly but kept us informed that it would take a while for our meals. Again, all is well. Our service was great and drinks came quickly. Unfortunately the bread was dry and not worth eating. We ordered calamari which was excellent. Good sauce and well cooked with a large portion. For my meal I ordered the thin cut short ribs and that is what I got. Thin cut through the bone. They tasted ok but I had to try to carve them off small pieces of bone. I don't get it. Why not just give me the full rib and make it easy for me. This sucked. It came with mashed potatoes which sucked and a small whole corn which was cold with no flavor. My meal was a big zero. I looked over at my son who ordered a burger at half the price and I was jealous! Some of the seafood/pasta looked good but overall very basic. We eat here every year and always come back but for the price and the quality of food, I will have to reconsider next year. Our waitress was excellent and wish I got her name. No reason to pay this much for mediocre food though. read more