Scotty’s Bar & Grill
Restaurant Review
By: Kathleen A. Hart, Esq.
Scotty’s Bar & Grill:
172 Piermont Road, Cresskill, NJ 07626
(201) 222-1100
As many know, my husband would rather eat something between two pieces of bread than a fancy meal. As we tend to go to the same places, when I heard there was a new restaurant in Cresskill, I knew we had to head over to Scotty’s Bar & Grill.
Scotty’s is located in a small strip mall in downtown Cresskill. It is owned by Scott Roberts, a former Marine, who does what he can to give back to the community. There is a parking lot for Scotty’s and the other tenants of the strip mall. Street parking is available and there are tables for outside dining, which will be nice in the warm weather.
When you enter Scotty’s there are two distinct sides. To the right of the hostess stand is the front of the restaurant, which is clearly the sports bar area. There are at least 10 televisions along the walls, two pool tables, and dart boards, all surrounded by dining tables and windows. The room is on the dark side and somewhat reminded me of being in a friend’s basement.
We opted to sit in the bar area. There are televisions on the wall, but the room had a nice vibe with a cattycornered bar and walls adorned with a light wood shiplap. There were about twelve high top tables and a number of seats at the bar. We were seated and our server brought menus and took our drink orders.
The menu is not extensive. It is pub grub with some nice entrees beside the sandwiches. We started with chips and salsa ($7.00). The chips were nothing out of the ordinary, but the salsa was wonderful. I could not place what was in the salsa, but I enjoyed it. Other appetizers include fried calamari ($12.00), a variety of wings ($15.00) and a large Bavarian pretzel served with a beer cheese ($14.00). We were told the pretzels are imported from Germany and will try it the next time we dine at Scotty’s.
For the main course, my husband ordered the Philly cheesesteak ($15.00). This was a good size roll stuffed with tender steak, cheese and perfectly cooked peppers and onions. The dish came with French fries, which were awesome. I opted for the fish tacos ($20.00). These were three perfectly grilled corn tortillas full of tender fish, a delicious cabbage slaw and pico de gallo. The tacos were good but a little too big for me to finish. Other main dishes include a beef, turkey, veggie or salmon burger ($16.00), a lobster roll ($28.00), grilled chicken sandwich ($15.00) and chicken pot pie ($16.00). All sandwiches come with fries.
We did not order dessert and I did not see a menu. The portions of the meals were good and not huge, as some other places serve. Scotty’s gets its bread from Rockland Bakery and the quality was evident in the sandwich.
Our server was attentive, and our glasses were never empty. The one downside is the acoustics in the room. The bar area gets loud. We dined early, so it wasn’t a big issue but if you come later in the evening, you may have difficulty hearing. The other room was much quieter.
Overall, we had a good meal, although I would have liked more of a choice in the entrees. Scotty’s is a sports bar and grill, so be prepared for sports on all the tv’s in both rooms. The owner came by our table and introduced himself. We observed him greeting all the diners, which is good customer service. We will be back to Scotty’s. I give it two and a half forks.
