Hmmm...this place was recommended to us by two different folks and we thought we would love it. Maybe we caught them on an off night? Got a small booth inside since it seemed the hostess had nothing left outside and the room that abuts the street had some tables but maybe those were 4 or 6 tops and they wanted to make good use of space. The booth was very cramped - and I'm only 5 foot and 120 pounds! The mojito was good, my husband just got a beer. We ordered and the food came out quickly but I honestly wasn't impressed. My husband's burger was good but dry. My fish and chips were greasy. We opted to close out and get out. Don't think I'll go back there unless it's just for drinks at the bar. read more

We have been coming here for years and always found this place to be 4 stars... until this year. Clearly something has changed. Most burgers are up to $15 and don't even include fries. It's fine if it's an awesome burger, however mine was served as if it sat under a heating lamp for a little while. Also, there was no way in the world it was a 10 ounce burger. Moving on, the lobster rolls this year we're just ok and my Cape May IPA was far from ice cold. The outdoor tables and chairs seemed a bit tattered too. I just wouldn't run to go back. It was disappointing. Especially when I can go to a byob restaurant within walking distance and have a far superior meal for the same price. read more

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Fun place in a really cute area! Went specifically for their "Ocean Burger" and left full for two days afterwards! Great burger topped with their signature imperial shrimp salad and two fat slices of melted white cheddar! Impossible not to keep eating it!! Sounds a bit strange, but it is a beautiful pairing!! read more

Ugly Mug - Ugly Mug Ocean Burger! - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Cape May, New Jersey

One of my favorite spots, Cajun burger was on point. It's a must whenever I'm down in Cape May.

Stopped here for a quick dinner after a day on the beach. Expecting the usual pub fare I ordered the baby back ribs. They were actually really good they give you a nice full rack that are fall off the bone tender and juicy. The BBQ sauce had a nice tang and it came with two sides of your choice I got the cole slaw and a side salad both were good read more

Meh. Food was alright, but not great. We had the crab cakes. More of a burger place maybe. The service was good. And at 5:30 there was no wait, which is what we were looking for. Only one complaint. This place is called the ugly mug. There are mugs used for decor. But our drinks were served in plastic cups with straws! Please be less wasteful and consider using reusable glasses instead, or those ugly mugs! And give customers the option to refuse a straw. read more

Had a horrible experience at this restaurant today. the manager Lauretta was very condescending and rude. Sat down to have dinner with my family and we ordered some drinks. My son and his fiancé are both 22 years old and have valid drivers licenses to show that. our waitress asked if she could see their ID's again and then brought them to the manager. The manager didn't believe they were real which isn't my issue, a restaurant has every right to question the validity of an ID, but it was how the manager went about it that upset us. She held the IDs for over 10 minutes and was showing every employee in the bar. I saw a group of 5 employees hovered over the ids looking at them. finally my wife and I went over to the manager to question why she still had them and she explained why she thought they weren't real, again no issue with that. if you were a professional person you should have come over to us and explained the situation, not create all this drama around the ids and show them to all of your employees. how do we know someone didn't write down or take a picture of any of their info? After speaking with Lauretta we were so turned off by the experience that we left and went to another restaurant and who walks in and goes to talk with the manager? it was Lauretta she literally left her restaurant to see where we would go to tell that restaurant about the ids. We have nothing to hide. these ids are real and they are both above the legal drinking age but Lauretta had to prove some sort of point. I'm sure the food at the Ugly Mug is good but because of unprofessional people like Lauretta I would not recommend ever going there. Again this has nothing to do with not accepting the ids but has everything to do with how a manager treats customers when there is an issue. Ugly Mug get better managers! read more

Loved it. Crab cake was to die for. Very accommodating for special diets. Service was quick And friendly. We sat outside and enjoyed people watching as we ate. read more

Do not eat here if you are looking for an environment with standards for cleanliness. My family ate here today , and we were surprised it is still open. No sanitary measures have been taken. Tables are closer than 6 feet apart. Menus are shared among all (instead of single use paper) , and are not cleaned between customers. In fact,they are left outside for all passerbys to touch. Waiters with gloves, contaminating everything as they are not changing them. No single use condiments!!! All are there and shared. The hand sanitizer at the front register was not used at all by the staff- good thing because it was cloudy with God only knows what. As far as the food , the hamburgers and onion rings we ordered were good. It was too bad we could not enjoy the food since we were worried about the poor sanitation practices and lack of social distancing at this restaurant. Do yourself a favor and eat at home!! read more

Let's start off with the positives. Excellent Bloody Mary with housemade mix. It's definitely in my top 5 Bloody Marys now. My mom, grandmother and I came for the lobster rolls. Oh my word, they did not disappoint. Chunks of fresh lobster, side of drawn butter, and pretty tasty french fries. So here we are, enjoying our delightful lunch outside when seagulls DIVEBOMB our table, and specifically, my plate. Butter flying everywhere, splattering on my mom and grandmother's clothing. They made off with some French fries, but at this point, I'm not touching the remaining lobster roll, because ugh sea rats. The waitress helps to shoo them away and remarks that she dealt with them yesterday. Wait, what? So you know this is an unprotected table where seagulls could attack, but still sit people here? So the waitress offers to bring me another lobster roll, as there was still quite a bit left on my plate, but I'm so put off by the seagulls that I decline. We figure that she'll just comp my meal. She brings the check and remarks that she took 5% off for the inconvenience. That discount was less than the tax on our meal, so did not feel like a genuine gesture of apology for the univited sea gulls at our table, considering that this has happened before. Avoid the outside seating area at all costs. read more

First, I'm a local. Although Cape May is known for fine dining, I was in the mood for good bar food. My husband and I had a mojito and a margarita, respectively. They didn't put the sugar syrup into the mojito, and both drinks were served in regular small bar glasses. The cost was $9 a piece (Drink prices are not stated on the menu). Additionally, I ordered a Miller Lite...It was another small bar glass at a price of $4.50. All of the appetizers and the entrees came out at the same time. We ordered three appetizers for the kids' dinner: old bay-type fries, popcorn shrimp and calamari. The fries were covered in some kind of wet sauce and old bay. The popcorn shrimp was sweet and sour shrimp (minus sweet and sour sauce) straight from a freezer bag. The calamari was, hands-down, the worst calamari ever...think if you bought a bag of calamari from the freezer section at Dollar Tree. My burger was decent, and it was huge, but it was $15. I want a wow burger for $15. My husband had prime rib, and honestly, it was fine. The service was mediocre. The atmosphere was fine. I'm really disappointed. At a total bill of $110 (before tip), I could have eaten a much nicer meal in Cape May. For the locals, I was looking for a Harpoon Henry's experience food-wise and drink-wise. While Harpoon Henry's is definitely touristy, a little over priced (but with a kick-ass view), I've never begrudged them the prices or the wait because the food is good and the beer is cold. If it's summer, go to Harpoon Henry's...Ugly Mug is a waste of time and money. read more

Located along the pedestrian street in Cape May, Ugly Mug seems to position itself as a beer bar, although from what I could tell, their draft and bottle list was pretty pedestrian. As for the food.. large portions and poor quality. My wife and I made the mistake of ordering two appetizers and splitting an entree. It was way too much food.Unfortunately, that wasn't a good thing. Everything we ordered was greasy, heavy, and just not that good. Bar grub at it's most standard. In fact, overall the menu wasn't impressive, with a bunch of fried apps, some burgers, sandwiches, and salads, while the few entrees on the menu seemed pretty overpriced. (starting at $20+ for bar food) I could see stopping in for a beer and maybe an app to do some people watching on a summer day, but don't waste a dinner in Cape May here. read more

Its in a cool spot and it's nice to sit outside with a beer (they have pretty good beers) and people watch...but the food is kinda..ehh not so much..I had a grilled chicken wrap which, while not horrible, was def not enjoyable..the burger was just OK too..I don't think Id be back for food, but for drinks I would. read more

Womp, womp. No, that's not a N64 SuperMario rockfiend sound effect. It is my audible disappointment. Then again, shame on me, because I basically could have written this review before I even went here. I could just TELL. We were looking for a budget-friendly option for dinner in the off season, and based on the recommendation of my parents we came here. Please note that they rarely lead me astray, but this one was a fail. Thanks a lot guys! A little smelly. A lot overpriced. Standard house salad. Tasty fish & chips. A mediocre burger. And drinks in plastic cups. Are you excited yet? Service was good to really good. Maybe it's better in the summer when you can sit outside. ...Maybe. read more

With family living in Cape May, over the years I've been to The Ugly Mug more times than I can number. Sure there have been a lot of these, "Oh we're just runnin to Acme," type maneuvers around the holidays or during family gatherings. We say that we need to pick up this or that from the store real quick, fast-forward and we're drinking beer-brand-beers at the bar instead. For the most part I really steer clear of the mug during the Summer. Most of my nostalgia feelings are attached to memories of warming up in there on a cold, grey Winter day in the seaside ghost town. Ahhh the warm glow of bar... Beer and chilli and a side of fries...possibly a few shots along the way to "take the chill off." This is how I think of The Ugly Mug. And I think of the named mugs on the ceiling. Summer's a-comin and it's gonna be packed. That's cool but see you after The Lima Bean Festival, Mug. read more

Loved this place. Live music and excellent food together in Washington St. What more can you ask for! Service was friendly and quick. -1 star for serving a bag of chips with a burger... Only 5'th graders eat their meals with a freaking bag of chips... come on now read more

We had dinner at Ugly Mug last night. Our waitress, Liberty, was super friendly & efficient. Great bar atmosphere & I don't think one bad song played during our dinner. Calamari appetizer was delicious (breaded w/ a slight kick). Caesar salad was good & included a hard boiled egg. Lobster roll entree was phenomenal on toasted bread w/ crispy seasoned fries. The coleslaw was just the way I like it, not too saucy or sweet. read more

I can't comment on the food at the Ugly Mug in Cape May, but the service was horrible. We went on Saturday night 11/02 around 5pm. When we were seated, we were sat next (literally two feet away) from a table of about 3-4 servers, sitting and chatting. My husband and I looked at the menu and waited a few minutes. After five minutes, we were getting frustrated. Not only did no one ask if we've been helped, the servers were all just goofing off next to us... servers who clearly saw us being sat earlier. I hear one of them say "who's table is that" and they all answered "i don't know but it's not mine"... so I told my husband, lets sit for a couple more minutes. The servers continued their conversations and none of them bothered to help us get started or find out who our server was. I see that other customers are experiencing poor service as well. We got up, left and went to Pilot House (down the block). Much better service. It's a shame because we love the Ugly Mug in Washington Dc. read more

Rename it the Bugly Mug. I'm guessing the lights are low to hide the numerous tiny flies. That's not pepper in your salad. Probably a cool place to have some beers but for food, although you can get seated right away, you're much better off putting your name on the waiting list for somewhere nicer. read more

I really liked the idea of the Ugly Mug - all those mugs that face towards the sea, the haunted aspect...but the crowd sucks. I frequent Cape May in both the high summer, around halloween, and the DEAD of winter, so I've seen it all, and I've gotta say that in the summer time I make sure to steer clear of this place. It's hard to get a table or a place at the bar, and the worst part is the late twenty-something year old crowd who've come down to drink as hard as they can at the 'shore.' Cape May is far from the Jersey Shore crowd stereotype even though it's geographically part of it, but it seems that this older party lot has taken over and is steering what used to be a really great bar straight into the ground. read more

We literally got up and walked out because the bartender was incredibly rude. We sat there with zero acknowledgment for about 15 mins and two women walk up to the bar and are immediately helped. He finally looks our way and we wave so he knows when he is done to come back but instead of just nodding he says to the women "oh these people think they are more important" I said it's not like that we have just been waiting he says "well I haven't just been standing here". I was shocked we were in no way rude we didn't holler so we actually walked out. I called the manager who apologized and said he would talk to him but honestly I'll never go back anyway, no need to treat customers who were patiently waiting with such rudeness and disrespect! read more

I am kind of stuck between giving this place a two or a three. On the food front, it's definitely at least a three for me. My husband and I each got the special for the day when we stopped in for lunch. The special was a burrito and not only was it huge, but it was really delicious as well. I ordered the steak option and was worried that the steak would be tough, but they cut it all up into very small cubes before putting it in the burrito, so it worked out perfectly and didn't get in the way. We also got to sit outside under the awning and didn't have to wait for a seat even though it seemed busy both inside and out -- this place is huge. Where the Ugly Mug fell short for me was service and the restrooms. Our server seemed to forget our beer order and showed up after quite a while with beers, apologizing that he had forgotten. To make matters worse (and we didn't say anything about this, just drank what we received), we were fairly certain that the beers we received were not the beers we had ordered. After that, someone else brought our food and our server didn't show up very frequently after that at all. We asked for the check the next time we saw him to keep things moving along. It seemed like we were the only table in our area on which he was waiting, so it might be an operations problem more than an issue with that particular guy. Still, it was a little annoying. Finally, the ladies' restroom. Ugh. I ended up waiting in a line of 4 women in a very cramped hall with servers and bussers going by the whole time. This appeared to be the only bathroom (if it's not, I'm puzzled as to why one of the half dozen employees who walked by didn't redirect us). It had two old, cramped stalls and was just generally old and run down in appearance. It was also notably warm -- just kind of gross. And given the line, you were waiting for gross. Just not ideal at all. read more

So I've been coming here for literally 10 years to drink and 15 years simply as a patron. The food mediocre at best and the service leaves much to be desired but for the local watering hole, and generally the ONLY bar open year round, people just accept this. We went the the Mug last weekend, "we" meaning my crew of 30 something's who've also been coming here forever. We all got carded-yay! But of course two people forgot ID's and the bartender wouldn't serve any of us and prepared to give a lecture about how he could lose his job, blah blah. Ok that's fair. Whatever. But then he said it didn't matter and asked us what we wanted. Huh?? Aside from the preachy not-so-law-abiding bartenders, they did have a sweet DJ and we met a local Olympian. read more

When guests walk into your restaurant, try to seat them at a table versus pointing them to go look for hostess. And if you're not the person who seats the guests, greet them and tell them to kindly wait while you go find the hostess! You certainly don't have them walk around the entire restaurant looking for someone to seat them. The food? Meh read more

1. We ordered the Spinach. Apple, Walnut Salad. The kitchen forgot to put on the apple. When we told the server she asked her manager if she could do anything and the manager said no. 2. Our server forgot about us for about 20 minutes after our meal. When she finally passed by her mouth was full of food and I had to stop her and ask her for the bill. Then we waited another 10 minutes for her to come back and pick up the bill. She never did. We went to the front and asked the doorman to find her so we could pay. He couldn't. About 5 minutes later he said she was in the bathroom. When he finally found her we paid the bill and she left again so we couldn't giver the receipt. We got so frustrated we handed our receipt the the doorman and left. 3. We felt disposable and like the restaurant could care less if we gave them our business or not. We will never come back here again. read more

Good bar food and very attentive service. We had the crab cake special and it was excellent. We stopped in without reservations and were very happy with the food and service. read more

Staff seems friendly, food came out relatively quick cooked well. Fries here are a definite must. The booth seating was slightly uncomfortable. Reasonably priced as well. read more

Ugly Mug is one of my family's favorite bar restaurants in Cape May. I always get the crab cake sandwich and coleslaw. Service is consistently great. We prefer to sit outside, but sitting inside is an experience in itself with the cool collection of mugs hanging on the ceiling. read more

Ugly Mug - Crab cake sandwich with coleslaw - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Cape May, New Jersey

The Ugly Mug has been a Cape May staple for me since I was in a high chair (probably before that). However, it changed drastically in the past year or two since I was there last. The prices have about doubled. I was eating with my parents and I had to order an appetizer because I felt bad ordering a $20 burger. The food was still delicious and the atmosphere was still the same ol', same ol', but I'm not sure if we can make this a staple anymore because the prices have become so out of control. Verdict: Great food, great place, horrible prices. read more

This place was fantastic and the Lobster Role was phenomenal! I would come back here any day. Wife had the turkey apple and brie Panini and says it was very good as well. read more

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I would leave zero stars if I could. The best part of my meal was the beer. How do you screw up a burger? The lobster roll was equally as lousy. When you are sitting in a place and can smell the restrooms from across the room, that's nasty. I wouldn't go here again. read more

My favorite menu item is the burger with crabmeat. Otherwise it's your typical local bar fare. If you're shopping and you want a quick bite or beer it's worth stopping in. read more

I think the food here is pretty standard when it comes to bar fare, but the history of this place is what draws me in. Bar patrons who frequent the Ugly Mug have their very own porcelain mug hanging from the ceiling. They can literally take it down and get their drinks put in it. Most of the mugs face west, but the ones that face east (towards the sea) are for members who have since passed away. The place is supposedly haunted, but I've never experienced any paranormal activity here. Also, at the end of the summer, they do their annual "Froth Blowing Contest" across the bar counter. It's a fun event and pictures of it are strewn about the walls. I really do like this place, but I have one complaint: where are the local beers?! I'd love to try some Cape May Brewing Company stuff on draft! Hopefully I'll be able to get something from the area when I stop in next time. read more