It's about time that not only the folks over at Library III hear this, but future patrons as well...
Southern Jersey is inundated with franchised food establishments, thus Library III served as my go-to cozy, low-key, no-frills restaurant. The lounge serves its purpose with basic bar food, at a reasonable price. DO NOT eat in their main seafood/steak dining room if you have a refined pallet--it will surely disappoint.
This review is primarily based on the lounge--the main dining room is not even a consideration because the food is THAT bad, and the prices match those of Stephen Starr restaurants, sans edible quality.
The Bar/Lounge:
Do not, I repeat, do not sit down in that lounge if you are sincerely hungry. The food takes forever, and the service is almost nonexistent. BUT when you do get your food it is consistently hot and delicious. This is the ONLY reason I have returned to this restaurant more than once. I know that the ex-ballerina waitress is going to be a b*tch. I know that the meek older waitress will barely say two words, and that I have to be aggressive in getting her to take my order (and with having her come back to my table).
We do not typically drink alcohol, so we usually order water. They started charging $2 for water. The owner explained this is because people would come watch the musicians, occupy a waitresses table, and order only water. Fair. I get that, you can't make money and it's not fair to the servers, to have people taking up space. BUT do you have to charge patrons who actually order food? That's completely illogical. The most recent time, my guest ordered a soda, and I ordered an iced-tea. We were charged for each refill, the waitress never told us that they charged for refills, thus I was confused when I saw how much money we spent "drinking." I asked our waitress how the drinks came to that price and she screamed at me! I was only trying to understand, since I usually just got water. I had no idea. Most reputable restaurants offer free refills (especially bars/lounges). Anyway, I then consulted with the owner, expressing concern over being charged $2 for water, but also that I was unaware that they would charge for refills of soda. He persisted to tell me that EVERY restaurant he knows of charges for refills, and that they're 20 oz. glasses. You can't tell me that I drank 40 oz. of iced-tea in an hour (because an hour is how long it took to order, make, and eat a chicken sandwich and fries... it and takes EXTRA long when they're not busy, ironic).
You know, it's just unfortunate. I like the Library III, I think they would be very successful if they just put in that extra, but necessary, effort. They just don't care. The owner. The waitstaff. The cooks. It doesn't work. The bar food is good. The bar prices are good. The atmosphere is cozy. But when you have a defensive owner, matched with a miserable and unforgiving waitstaff... waiting an hour for a reasonably priced, and yummy chicken sandwich hardly seems worth it... and of course, your $2 water.
I want to make it known that I raised these concerns and issues to the owner of the restaurant, who kindly heard me out, though with no apologetic or sympathetic revere. Now, I, myself, am a business owner in the service industry. The way in which he disregarded my concerns only validated the stagnant nature of this restaurant. The restaurant will die with its most loyal patrons.
Have been a customer of Library for 30 years. This visit found an old and tired location with a definite decrease in food quality and detail. For a steakhouse I was very disappointed in the grade of steak that I received(tbone). The service was subpar with little to no attention paid by our server even though there was an average crowd. Had we not been prior customers we would not have known the ordering procedure and salad bar location. Â This location appears to need some new energy.
Review Source:It's the place to go if you want a truely excellent steak that you order directly from the Chef. Â It's formal but, they'll let you in with casual attire and their always open late. Â For years I always ordered and loved their Filet M but, a couple years ago on a whim I tried their Prime Rib. I'm glad I did because now I always get the Prime Rib with a side of BOTH Horseradish and Horseradish Sauce. I like it hot. I really want to give this place 5 stars because it's my VERY favorite Steak House but, I hit the 4 star button for fairness.
Review Source:I am seriously ambivalent about giving Library two stars, but all things considered, I think it's appropriate to go with 2 instead of 3...maybe 2.5.
Boyfriend and I made a trip over to EHT last night around 7, hungry for some nice rare steaks. I know this place is jamming on weekends, and I expected we'd be waiting about an hour for a table. The place certainly was packed; we stood by the bar and hawked a table as soon as one of the couples sitting down got up. We put our names on the list and were told it would be an hour wait. Not a problem, as there was a live band, which I really enjoyed, and $7 glasses of pinot grigio. It's dark and cozy in here; I'd have had no problem eating right where we were seated by the bar (if the tables weren't so low.) A glass and a half later, we were shown to our seats, upstairs. Ugh. I HATE sitting upstairs. I don't feel you get the full Library experience upstairs, as you order from the server, not the chef. Also, the last time I came here I sat upstairs as well, and the waitress literally forgot about us. I noticed this mentioned in another review...seriously unacceptable.
We started out with the crabcake appetizer, and I ordered a 10oz filet, rare, as an entree, with steak fries as my side. Boyfriend ordered the rare London broil with rice as his side. We also ordered a side of creamed spinach. Both meals came with the salad bar, so up we went.
I didn't bother with the bread, which apparently is a big attraction of the salad bar. It didn't really look like anything special. The lettuce was crisp and chilled; I added chick peas, a slice of cucumber, some bacon bits, and ranch dressing. I should note that I was pretty tipsy by this point, but I know my limits when drinking, and I never drink so much that I throw up. Okay, I mean I have back in the day, but not for a couple years. Again, I digress. I wasn't smashed, and I certainly didn't drink enough to get sick. Anyway, the salad tasted awesome; I finally see why people make such a big deal about it. The ranch dressing was creamy and thick and very tasty. I didn't even finish all of my salad because I was super excited for my filet, but about 15 minutes after the salad, I started to feel a little...not right. Oh, and let me just say-- we waited an hour for a table, got seated around 8:20, and our appetizer didn't come out until 9:02. Yes, that's an exact time. Sorry but 40 minutes for ONE crabcake is ridiculous. It finally comes out, and it's delicious. Jumbo lump crab meat, and plenty of it. Not a lot of filler at all, and served with a dipping sauce comprised of mayonnaise, mustard, and horse radish. Seriously tasty. I think $11 for one crabcake is pretty steep; it wasn't gargantuan. About the size of the base of a wine glass. Whatever, I only took 2 bites anyway because now I'm progressively feeling worse and worse.
Another 15 minutes later, out come the steaks. I cut through mine like it's warm butter, and it's perfectly rare. It actually mooed at me. I only started eating steak about 2 years ago, and I couldn't have any from July until January, so trust and believe if I'm going, I'm going hard. I take a bite and...no flavor. The grill flavor is there, but literally nothing else. Look, I understand the purist philosophy that you don't need to do anything to a good cut of meat, but you actually do need to. Everybody knows you need to at least salt it a bit to bring out the natural flavor. It's a shame that the filet was the least flavorful thing I ate all night. Boyfriend was "ooh"-ing and "ahh"-ing over his broil, so that explains that. The steak fries that came as a side with my filet were actually excellent. Thick, not greasy, and loads of potato-ey flavor. The creamed spinach also had a great flavor and was not too salty, as many versions can be. Unfortunately, though, I only got to take 2 bites of my filet and half of a steak fry, because now I was feeling really ill. I stopped eating and tried so hard to figure out what was wrong with me...did I eat too much? No, I barely ate at all. Did I drink too much? Please. I took 2 small sips of water. When boyfriend hesitatingly asked "Are you going to throw up?" I literally went downstairs and into the ladies room as fast as I could, and tied my hair back just in time. I didn't throw up any actual food, thankfully. Not the filet, not the crabcake, not the salad. I threw up the salad dressing, as strange as that sounds. I mean, that's my guess, since that's the only thing I was tasting when it came back up. I felt instantly better. Why that ranch dressing did not agree with me, I have no idea.
Just as a side note, the bacon-wrapped scallop appetizer here is BOMB. So juicy.
Our bill came to $69 before tip, for 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and 1 side dish, which is reasonable. Atmosphere is super cool; service is pretty atrocious, food ranges from OK to awesome. I can't say I'll be in a rush to get back, but I haven't written it off completely.
It's called the library because it looks like one inside. Â The upstairs has dark wood panels and book cases, filled with dark colored hard copy books. Â Downstairs is also dim and dark wood decor, with live music sometimes.
The steaks are delicious and reasonably priced. Â For Filets and Strip steaks, you order by the ounce, and they bring out a custom filet that's just the right size. Â My medium rare filet was perfectly done. Â The sides are simple - fries, baked potatoes. Â Fine by me... leaves more room for my steak!
I love the Library III. I really have not eaten at any other place quite like it. Usually I hate loud noise and dim lighting, but here it really gives the place more character.
Seating is usually prompt, with very short waits on weekends. The bar is ALWAYS hoping, and there is usually live music from local bands. The walls are lined with vintage books which you can actually take out and read if you want.
The steaks are really the best thing to get here. They have multiple chops to choose from, and since you go up to the kitchen window to order, you can see the cut they are giving you to make sure it is to your liking. Steaks charged based on the exact ounce they are weighed at, so all steaks are not the same price. There is a fantastic salad bar also, with gourmet toppings and many different types of salad dressing.
They place has great food and is a South Jersey tradition, I would highly recommend it.
This South Jersey institution is the best steak house in the region. Â The Voorhees location has the best salad bar and the Buena location has the worst decor and the other one is the other one, but The Library is The Library, and no matter which one you pick, the food is always great and well worth the price.
After several dinners at all of the locations, I've narrowed Eating At The Library down to a science:
1. Â DO have a few drinks at the bar before dinner. Â The bar at every location is very cozy and the one in EHT has a nice fireplace (but a weirdly slanted bar). Â You should have a few drinks at the bar first because the wine list is atrocious. Â Unless you like Robert Mondavi.
2. Â DO get the prime rib (served with au jus and a wonderful horseradish sauce) or the lamb chops (if you order them rare, they'll just warm them up, and you will like it), or the Porterhouse (which is three or four inches thick).
3. Â DO NOT order an entree featuring seafood. Â The lobster tails are always salty, the crab cakes are pretty okay, but not noteworthy.
4. Â DO order shrimp cocktail and crab stuffed mushrooms as appetizers.
5. Â DO NOT order a baked potato. Â They'll come around, two servers at a time, with a silver tower filled with sour cream and chives and bacon bits, obsequiously spooning the silver tower's contents over your potato, but no baked potato is worth an ala carte price and you'll not be able to eat it, anyway.
6. Â DO save room for dessert, and order the chocolate mousse pie or the plain cheesecake.
7.  DO order a dessert wine.  Their dinner wines are absolute crap, but  The Library features a vast array of locally produced fruit wines from the Tomasello winery.  A shared bottle of Tomasello's cranberry wine with dessert will fill your mouth with tangy almost sweetness and fill your belly with warmth.
This steakhouse was next to the hospital I was working at.
I saw that the parking lot was always relatively full so i decided to give it a try. It's kind of a nice place to go on a date. With 3 other guys - I guess it's not so bad either :p
There are no windows to this place and right when you walk in, there is a huge bar area - and then you can walk back into the restaurant area. all the walls are giant bookshelves with candle lighting so it gives an interesting feel. Reminds me of the library of bourbon and branch in SF.. but with more light and dinner tables.
To order food, you actually walk back to the kitchen and place your order directly to the chef. There is a big handwritten menu on the wall of just cuts of meat along with appetizers that are available. There is a large salad bar that has plenty of fresh options that is included with any meal i think.
Interesting approach. The thing is.. the waitress takes your drink orders while you sit down.. she might as well take your food order too? I dunno.. whatever... It didn't bother me. Different is cool sometimes.
Anyway, the steaks were pretty good . The cut was not amazing - but i wasn't expecting anything like that. I noticed there was also a slight inconsistency in how well they are cooked (my coworker and i both ordered the rare prime rib and his was medium rare) - But i suppose with prime rib this is a little difficult depending on what is available.
Not a bad place at all! The best steak place in this area i think.
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