We arrived to The Homestead Rest after a quick search of reviews and checking of hours of operation. Â It was 10 pm Friday evening and based upon information found on the web and the hours listed on the door they are open till 11pm. Â
We walked in to an odd reception. The bar was full. Â Several tables were full. Â At least one looked like it had just received it's food. There were a couple of open tables available. Â
3 different ladies looked at us. Â I had to wonder if my makeup had smeared in the excitement of the tricky tray that we had just left. Â After a couple of minutes, one acknowledged us by saying she will be with us in a moment after a couple of minutes. Â 2 seconds later we were told by another young lady that the kitchen was closed. Â They had "shut everything off". Â
We left hungry and frustrated. Â My boyfriends comment says it all: Â "If I wasn't so aggravated, I would have told them that this would have been our first time here but it will definitely be our last".
When we got to the car, we all considered eating the seeds in the gardening basket we had won but finally decided upon a diner north on route 23 in Wantage. Â I have to say, they were much nicer and their food was yummy.
I live nearby and go occasionally in a pinch. The menu reflects a style of good old American pub food with hamburgers, ribs and sandwiches being at the forefront of their specialties. Recently they have been smoking many of their meat and chicken dishes which has added more flavor to their entrees. The meals still aren't anything special and they have a tendency to provide you with more carbs then one needs in the form of a overabundance of French fries which are good or in the form of oversized rolls. Is this to compensate for nothing else really standing out? They could benefit from improving their beer selection as it is limited to mostly bland major brewery offerings. Wish it could be more of a go to place since I live so close.
Review Source:We had a great steak here, cooked exactly as it should be.  It was  BBQ Wednesday so we also had the ribs..  They were nicely smoked, a bit to much sauce for my taste.  Sauce was good though.  Really good hand cut fries, the onion rings had a cornmeal crust yum.  I am planning to make this one of my go to places.  Can't wait to try the burger!
Review Source:Was disappointed. Â Not as good as I remember from years ago. Â Went on a Tuesday night hoping to get ribs. Â No ribs. Â Got the NY strip steak. Â Asked for rare, came to table medium well. Â Though place was nearly empty, service was very slow. Â Wanted to get dessert but, by the time waitress got to our table, we were tired of waiting. Â $100 bill for 4 people. Â Not worth it.
Review Source:I like rare burgers. I know, I've heard all the supposed horror stories, but I've been eating rare burgers for something like fifty years now with no ill effects. My yardstick for a restaurant that serves burgers is how they do with an order of rare. The Homestead does it exactly right. I had the Homestead burger, which is topped with bacon, onions, mushrooms and American cheese (I substituted cheddar). It was a great, large burger, properly rare. My friend had the potato pancakes (on the "Oktoberfest" menu) and they were excellent as well. The burgers come with outstanding homemade chips. You can substitute regular fries or sweet potato fries for fifty cents or a dollar respectively, but why bother when the chips are so good? We both recommend The Homestead highly!
Review Source:I've been going here for years and have been happy with the service and food almost every time. BUT I just recently went again with my girlfriend who had never been and some family. Our appetizer came out and was fine. Our entree took an unusually long time to come out. We started eating and we were not happy with the quality of the meals. The only person who was marginally satisfied was my brother and he ordered a burger. Just after we started eating the bartender comes over and tells us that she has to turn on the air conditioner which was directly over our heads. She said "sorry that this will be loud but you'll just have to live with it". She turns it on and it blows black dust all over us. Meals were ruined. What did they do to make it up to us? Nothing. We didn't pay for the ruined food and got out of there as quickly as possible. Like I said earlier I've been going there for years but I will never waste my time again. Â My girlfriend thought that we were on a hidden camera show since the odd series of events were almost comical.
Review Source:It's kind of hard to rate this place since I came here for a rehearsal dinner. My friends wanted everyone to just sit back and relax with some good food - so here we landed. Being that it was a buffet, I only tried the rib and pulled pork. Everything was extremely good - moist and packed with flavor. I usually don't like pulled pork and I actually went for seconds. Oh and I had the apple carmel pie with ice cream on top for dessert. It was okay - not the best but not the worst.
Review Source:Although almost all of the reviews talk about the delicious burgers, and indeed my husband had a thick and juicy burger grilled perfectly, I opted for one of their dinner specials- lamb chops. I asked for it to be medium rare and it was cooked to perfection. It was served with mint jelly, a good portion of roasted potatoes & a medley of perfectly prepared vegetables. Dinner also came with a choice of salad or soup. They also have a nice variety of beers on tap. We were impressed by their variety of different potatoes as well as home made chips. There was also a very tempting tray of desserts to choose from though by the time we had finished we couldn't eat another thing and I had to wrap up the rest of my dinner to enjoy tomorrow! Besides good food, the staff is friendly, helpful and the ambience is wonderful.
Review Source:Stopped by here with the NJSAR crew for dinner after training.
Food
Had the Pulled Pork Sandwich which tasted homemade and was quite good. The sandwich bun was small however and the pulled pork did not overflow the bun. This was served with a few pickle slices (why not a whole pickle?), small cup of coleslaw, and choice of house chips (included), regular fries (50 cents extra), or sweet potato fries (75 cents extra, they were out of them). Instead I got a baked potato w/o butter or sour cream as substitute with no extra charge, yay! The cost was 9.95$.
Drinks
They have a highly restricted beer menu catering to fake American swill (ie, Bud Light, Coors, etc all owned by foreign entities). Dont expect a nice IPA or Stout with your ribs or pulled pork, because you wont find it here. Had water instead and it was served in mason jars, which was pretty neat. I just wish they had been attentive at filling it up, which they were not.
Location
Definitely has that farmhouse feel and is quite homey inside. Plenty of parking out back.
Summary
If they had good beer, I would have given them 4 stars.
We have been going here for about 10 years.
The first couple of times it was ok and reasonably priced.
But over the years the quaility has turned into a surprise,meaning the last time you had wonderful onion rings.The next time you order the onion rings ,HOLY SHIT,they were greasy and cold. And just recently,I ordered the cement onion rings.Very strange!
Same goes with everything.OH did I mention,the prices have doubled!
Just ate there for lunch with 2 friends .They asked, would I please  consider other places to take them next time they visit..
I have ordered there burger most of the time to be safe,but sure enough, The cook or someone in the kitchen figured out how to screw up even the burger.
DON'T EVER ORDER ANY OF THE SPECIALS, PLEASE FOR YOUR SAFTEY.
SEE YOU AT MAXES ON NEWTONSPARTA ROAD.
Try their strip steak.
Forget the whole restaurant thing, this is a rare place in America today. It is true to it's north Jersey roots, sincere in it's lack of pretention and authentic.
Past two trips I got the bruschetta to start. I love this stuff and it is the one oddball stand out on the menu since the setting is so cowboy. In particular the sweetness of their take on it is unique. It isn't nearly as heavy as a lot of bruschetta can be. A tip, it comes pre-loaded on french bread. Ask to have these toasted well. Otherwise the bread will sog. Throws the texture.
A burger is mandatory here. The Pale Rider has been my lock of late. Sauted onion and guerrier cheese with watercress. I put nothing on this, no ketchup, no steak sauce...nothing. The flavor is mellow, not heavy, but very grounded. Get the homemade chips. They come hot/warm. Hit with some salt, pepper or even A1 and they compliment this particular hamburger well.
I've been going to the Homestead for years and it never gets old. The food is consistently good. The burgers are the main draw for me. Oh and that salad with fresh cut French fries on it, what a sick demented delicious invention that is. There always seems to be a wait, so plan ahead. My boyfriend thought you couldn't get a decent meal in Sussex county but this place shut him up.
Review Source:My roommate grew up just down the road from the Homestead-- Â from the first time I went I loved it. Â In fact at times we will drive all the way up (45 min) for a burger-- oh the burgers are amazing by the way. Â Wait staff are always really ice and very friendly. Â There is occasionally a wait, but the food is always worth it. Â My family (from Ohio) were there once, and they loved it, now when they come out this way they want to go for dinner-- what can I say, my family likes good, simple food. Great place to eat!
Review Source:The atmosphere is slightly odd with a bar and dinning room filled with locals and pictures of horses. I suppose that is to be expected at a place called the Homestead Rest that looks like a barn. The place is a bit off the beaten path and as a result can get quite busy. When I was there the busy dinning slowed the wait staff to a crawl and the wait for two burgers came to about 35 minutes and this was on a weekday so I can only imagine the wait on a weekend. The burgers were delicious and far from ordinary. They offer a variety of different burgers that are surprisingly unique for Sussex County, NJ. I had a burger with brie cheese and water cress, The burger was quite good, not the best ever but serviceable burger none the less. The french fries were a little disappointing, they were small and overcooked. and the beer (a Yuengling) tasted a bit flat. Over all the Homestead Rest has some tasty and unique food if your willing to wait a little bit.
Review Source:I love this place. Â It's really good! Â It's kinda the only game in town up there in the country, and there's always a little bit of a wait. Â Well, actually, that might not be accurate. Â I have only been there on weekends, so I can't speak for weekdays. Â
It's very country which is kinda fun. Â Drinks served in mason jars, pictures of horses everywhere (well, everywhere except the menu! ) Â Huge bowls of chilli served in metal crocs that remind me of what life must have been like for those on the Oregon Trail (and not just the computer game - child of the 80's reference, just ignore it).
I like the headings and descriptions of the food. Â For example on the plain burger it reads "Nothin' but steer"
You would think a place called Homestead would only be good for steaks. Â Not true at all. Â I have had salads, sandwiches, chicken entrees with rice. Â All excellent. Â They even have an Outback Bloomin Onion and other awesome apps.
I am kinda partial to the burgers here, they have a few differnet kinds, they are perfect size, taste great, and just generally make me very happy. Â I came here on Sunday for Mother's day and i had one with alot of cheese and an onion ring on it, and i think a lil spicy chipotle mayo. Â I would def consider this a top burger place. Â Ohhh side though, a few years ago I think we had a loaded nachos app and it was RIDIC...
yeah, so I kinda like this place....cool decor and the staff is very nice. Â It's one of those places that you wish you could have more food and not fill up cuz everything is so good. Â The Homestead is really the reason I visit my Mom many times..
Ohh, and the prices are very reasonable. Â Good deal. Â Enjoy your day.
I love that this place looks like a barn. Its close to the Sussex County Fair grounds so it fits in well. The service was terrfic. We ate at the bar and everyone was friendly and attentive.
The sandwhiches we got were great too. The chef even came out to see if everything was up to par.
Yee Haw, this place was great! I would return.
Ok. The place looks like a barn but so what. The food is tasty, cheap and served with a smile. The wings are awesome and the beer is available in a wide variety. Burgers are delicious and the steaks cooked correctly. They also have an outdoor smoker for ribs.
My friend had the french onion soup and he loved it. He also had the sliders, but he didn't seem to thrilled with that. My other friend had the "Outlaw Josey Wales" and loved how the burger tastes. Â I had the Buffalo Bill Chicken Sandwich, it was very good and so were the sweet potato fries.
Have fun there and eat up.
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