Deer Park Tavern - American restaurant in Newark - 108 W Main St, USA

The place is great, and the food is awesome. We were a group of 7 people, and the pizza and French fries they served tasted good. For dessert, we had an ice cream sandwich with cookies that was the best I've had in Newark. Although we didn't opt for beer, others in our group were quite satisfied with the beer and snacks. The most attractive aspect of the restaurant is the decoration, including a roaster they've placed in a display box. We were served well and taken care of. I recommend this place.

I'd like to start off by saying our waitress was awesome, the food tasted great, and the atmosphere was as I remember it - typical old time bar type. I've gotta say, though, it puts a bad taste in my mouth when an establishment charges $1.00 for cheese? Did I read the menu correctly? For real? My gut tells me most people want cheese on their burgers and you'd come off as less petty if you just included the cheese in the price you charge. It kind of overshadowed the rest of the food. The pretzels were excellent and the mustard awesome. The burgers were good, as were the French fries. The French onion soup was good. Would I go back? Maybe sometime.

Deer Park Tavern is an historical spot that not many people appreciate. It was once one of the best hotels on the East Coast and rumor has it was part of the Underground Railroad. American icons like Edgar Allan Poe and George Washington have darkened these doors. The outside is a testament to the Greek Revival style. The interior still hints at its age with beautiful wood work evident in the bar and with the tables. There are historical vestiges all around if you know where to look. We came in on a Saturday night when the tavern turns into a college hot spot for students at UD. They have a great beer selection although our bartender didn't know the difference between a lager and a pale ale. Better training by management will fix that. Beer doesn't always sell itself.

July 2022 Old building from the 1800s, as the original building from the 1700s burned down, and it’s a classic tavern atmosphere with lots of brick and wood. Great menu with plenty of sandwiches and burgers. $5 off burgers on Tuesday so I tried the classic with provolone and fried onions, and it was really good, and the steak sandwich on ciabatta was excellent. Great service and fair prices.

Something was wrong with every part of our order. Ordered a frozen drink and got it on the rocks. Asked for guacamole on the one burger, didn’t get it. Ordered raw onion on another burger, didn’t receive it. The fries were cold and soggy. Was told that something would be taken off of the bill for all of the mistakes but it never happened. Was told that she couldn’t find the manager. We will never come back.

So, Deer Park Tavern has tator tots and bloody marys...which is pretty much why we went. They do a bloody mary bar where they bring you your choice of alcohol and then you doll it up with your choices for mixers, hot sauces, spices, etc. We didn't do that - but it looks like they had a bunch of stuff! We had the monte cristo and the ranch-style eggs (I forgot the name). Tots were perfect. Bloody mary was good. Monte cristo was the right ratio of sweet to savory, but way too much loaf ham meat. Ranch eggs came in a fried tortilla taco bowl - it was just too big and weird. But the eggs weren't bad. The hardest part of this trip was waiting for the wait staff, Ali. She was training someone new, and I understand that you might be busy with that. But her and her trainee were just hanging out seemingly chatting in the back. Then noticed us, came out and got our order (we already knew since we had been sitting there waiting on them), and we didn't see them again until we and another table went looking for her so we could pay our bills. She couldn't even be bothered to bring out our food or ask how it was. Then on the way out, while I was walking through the doorway, another member of the staff darted through the door at the same time...like, why? I guess she was in a super hurry? Anyways, it seemed really rude. The staff were all probably in their early 20s, in college, trying to make it - but a little more politeness or customer service might help their time go by quicker on their shifts and make them a little more money!

I went to Deer Park earlier today and I will not be returning. I ordered a Beyond burger and it came with a bite taken out of it. It took 10+ minutes to find our server and when I found someone to take it back, they didn’t believe me. My server asked me several times if I had eaten the burger, and insinuated since I had already eaten my fries that I must’ve eaten my burger. I believe a manager approached our table and asked about my meal, when I told them about it they were rude and didn’t offer any apology, neither did my server. It took 20 more minutes to get my burger remade. I am absolutely astonished by the amount of disrespect that is normalized here. I’ve been a server for 2 years now, so I am normally understanding in these situations, but I was treated like I was a liar. At the end of the meal our server said her manager said that it was “impossible” for this to have happened, as if I lied about my experience. What would I have to gain from lying about this? I do not recommend you eat here as obviously they do not treat their customers with respect.

We went with my son while on a college visit. My wife has fond memories from her college days. Everything was good, except two out of three entrees were served almost cold. I ate some of my Chili because sending it back is a worse experience for everybody. My son did the same with his seafood mac without saying anything.