!!!UNBELIEVABLY SHAMEFUL!!!
For four years I have been going to PJs on and off simply because their cheap drinks.
I'm forced to give this one star because of some outrageously disgraceful staff members.
Here are only some of the experiences  that I have had at P J Whelihan's, Medford:
During the years I have personally been told to "F##K OFF" by a bar maid, simply because I ordered 6 drinks during a busy time.
Only last night I was informed that their bouncer instantly called a friend of mine an "A-HOLE" because he complained that his ID was valid and not fake (My friend was 25). The bouncer also screamed at a 20 year old women who had just come through the door even though she broke no policy rules (She just wanted to eat with her friends). The bouncer on shift was nothing less then a bully.
The young women went home crying.
Another night the bar staff closed early because they claimed that people were not tipping them enough. Our group was the largest and I can tell you for a fact that we were averagely tipping 15-25%. Other customers their also claimed that they were tipping well.
Almost every time I have gone in I have witnessed a certain brunette barmaid say to others that there are customers that she would like to physically attack. She said this loud so that both staff and customers could hear her.
Both management and senior staff have apologised for these instances and yet this hostel work ethic persists at PJs for these certain staff members.
I would also like to point out that there are staff members at PJs that work hard and have impressive customer service skills. Sadly these are out shinned by just a few outrageously rude members of their team.
PJ's is not known for it's stellar food. Â It's bar food. Â There is nothing more to it than that. Â Frozen, pre-packaged bar food that some in the company have acknowledged isn't the best, but anything tastes great after a few beers to some people. Â That being said, the atmosphere is very nice. Â The drinks flow, the staff is sweet, and it's a great place to come with a group of people.
If you've never visited before, BE AWARE that Medford Lakes police patrol the parking lot and the streets around this bar heavily. Â DRINK RESPONSIBLY EVERY DAY, but make sure that if you come to this bar, you have no out tail lights, and you obey traffic signs and posted speeds. Â Drinking and driving is serious, and so are the Medford Lakes police.
First of all, the parking lot sucks. You are partially taking your life into your own hands while trying to navigate the parking lot, or trying to find a spot anywhere close to the front entrance.
Secondly, customer service is non-existent. If you're seated in the dining area, make sure you order EVERYTHING that you may need during the meal when your waiter/waitress takes your order because chances are high that you won't be seeing him/her again for a LOOOOONG time. I'm not sure where they all disappear to, but checking back with their customers isn't high on their To-Do list. Trying to track down your personal waitstaff by asking one of the other waitstaff seems to do nothing at all, either. So good luck if you ever need a refill!!
Thirdly, the only reason I really go there is because I do enjoy most of their food, and they have some good drink specials... and the location is super convenient for me. I also play Bar Trivia there on Wednesdays, where all I do is sit at the bar and don't have to deal with the horrible waiters. The bartenders are much more attentive, or at least I am able to get their attention since they're stuck behind the bar and can't run away to wherever the waitstaff escapes to.
I'd probably give this place 2 stars if not for the fact I do come here based on location convenience.
I live in Medford, so I come here fairly often as I enjoy a nice pint of beer once in a while and we don't have many options for that in town. It's basically PJ's or Ott's (I don't count Braddock's as their bar is tiny and selection small).
The experience you will get is highly dependent on when you go there. I pretty much avoid the place on weekend evenings, when it tends to get crowded and the parking lot fills up. Weekend afternoons and weekday nights are usually ok.
The decor is sports bar meets hunting lodge (to reflect the log cabin vibe of Medford Lakes). The building is big with lots of tables. It can get noisy in there when crowded. During dinner time, it is not unusual to see a lot of families with kids eating there. The outside seating is nice when the weather is pleasant and you don't mind hanging out with the smokers.
I'm not adventurous when it comes to food and I pretty much always get the same thing: the buffalo chicken salad. I get it with mild sauce, and I replace the default ranch dressing with bleu cheese. The dressing is excellent, with big chunks of bleu cheese in it. The salad comes with crispy chicken nuggets that have been dipped in the sauce of your choice. I always enjoy it, except for once when I went there late on an uncrowded Sunday night, and the nuggets came out all dried up. You could tell they were just sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long. But that was only one time, all the other times (and they've been many) the salad was good. My wife likes the nachos there. I've gotten the buffalo chicken sliders a couple of times and I loved them. They are promoting their wings by buying into the Wing Bowl, but I find them to be ordinary. Not bad, but nothing remarkable. If you really want good wings, pass by PJs and drive the 10 miles to the Pic-A-Lilli on Route 206 instead. I've got the crab cake sandwich once, which was ok, but the fact that I never ordered it again says something. The prices are typical for a sports bar type place.
I wouldn't call this a beer bar really, but the selection isn't bad. Plenty of choices of macrobrews, craft beers and imports with seasonal selections. They have a house brew (copper lager) which is ok, but I usually get something more flavorful, like a Flying Fish.
The service is hit-or-miss. When I go with my wife, we usually sit at a table. Last time we went, we had an excellent waitress. She was hustling between her tables, very attentive and got nothing wrong. But we've been there other times when it's been very slow and once we had a waitress that just messed everything up. But I'd say usually our experience is in between these two extremes. I suspect that filling out the PJ's t-shirt is a more of a requirement for that job than serving ability.
Once in a while when my wife is out of town, I'll go by myself and sit at the bar for dinner. There is a guy bartender who works a lot of the weekday nights who I might as well be invisible to. I often have to flag him down to place an order even if I'm sitting there with an empty glass in front of me. But I never have a problem with the girls who tend bar there, who are always cheerful and attentive. I'd think that maybe that guy only pays attention to female customers, but my wife says she's been ignored by him also when she's been there with her girlfriends.
I wouldn't go out of my way to eat or drink here if I didn't live near it. But if you live or are visiting in the Medford/Medford Lakes area, and have a hankering for pub grub and a craft beer, then this is a good choice.
I have a soft spot for businesses in Medford Lakes because the area is so damn gorgeous. A log cabin bar?? Yes, please!
This PJ's is big and rustic and open. I love the outside seating, but unfortunately, we came for business lunch on a rainy day. The first thing I noticed was that at 12:30 on a weekday, the place was dead. Little disconcerting, but I have to give the benefit of the doubt and attribute this to the sleepy-town vibe of Medford Lakes.
Nice bar area and killer drink specials for happy hour. $5 creative cocktails in mason jars. I will definitely have to finagle some of my coworkers to come here for happy hour.
Our group of five ordered a mix of salads, burgers, and sandwiches. I had the Mediterranean Chicken salad: grilled chicken, romaine, tomato, kalamata olives, peppers, feta, chick peas, and....string beans? Seemed like an odd inclusion, but the salad was yummy and satisfying. I found only one lone kalamata olive, but I'm not a huge fan of those anyway so no big deal. The red wine vinaigrette was tasty. For the $9 price point, there could have been a bit more chicken, or at least larger pieces of chicken. I love when I don't have to pay for my own food. Everyone else enjoyed their meals, however our lunchtime benefactor felt her salad (chicken caesar) was a bit too garlicky.
Not an inventive menu by any means, but definitely a cool place to check out in ML, especially since the only other bar for miles on this road is Braddock's Tavern. Apparently, PJ's are the officials wings of the Wing Bowl, and they have 7 different "signature" sauces for them. The Chipotle Lime BBQ and Drunken BBQ sauces sound great, but are loaded with sugar, for sure.
I would definitely come back for outside drinking, but not sure how long I would stay given the purported boredom of Medford police and its' distance from my house.
The family and I came here tonight for a fundraiser. The initial vibe of the place was cool but oh my gosh, parking was a nightmare! Â
The wait staff wasn't all that interested in serving us and it took them awhile to replenish the food. On top of that, we were never told the drink specials that came along with our fundraiser ticket!
I didn't try the food at this location (outside of chips), but everything looked beyond greasy. No thanks.
Doubt I'll return. The CH location was much better.
I went here on a date and I have to say I was not thrilled with the service or the food. The atmosphere is pretty neat, it has that sports bar/rustic log cabin feel to it. The food is your standard American grub. I tried the turkey burger.It tasted too fatty and the salad that it came with wasn't anything special. My date ordered broccoli cheddar soup and french fries and both were cold. He tried to get the waitresses attention to bring it back but she went MIA. She was nice and apologetic when we finally got her attention, though. Overall, I wish we had tried a different place and most likely won't come back here unless it's to grab a drink at the bar if I happen to be in Medford.
Review Source:I've been to almost all the P.J.'s locations, and this is horrible. After you fight for a spot in the parking lot, of which there are far too few, don't expect a happy hostess. Ours told us "45 minutes," despite there being only three other guys waiting, and then disappeared. When she finally came back, we were seated in a room that was crowded but empty, if that makes sense. Some tables were uber close together, others were miles apart. Unfortunately for me - I'm positive I attract crazy people - the party of 14 behind us decided to stop friends walking by to chat with them. We were so close, however, I had one man's 500-pound heiney on my shoulder as I tried to eat dinner. That is, the dinner the kitchen got wrong and was cold. Our server was lovely, and very on her game. She apologized profusely and brought us new food, which was great.
The people behind me then decided to sit with their friends after 30 minutes, and now they were basically on my lap. Great. I was carrying a very expensive purse that I like to keep in my sight line, so I had it settled on the empty chair next to me. They asked to take both our extra chairs, and the man went so far as to touch my purse and attempt to move it until I gave him the good old stink eye and told him off. He huffed and puffed but didn't blow us down and then went around the entire dining room taking chairs and carrying them over annoyed diners' heads to seat the new people, making it an annoying party of eleventybillion.
The music was so loud we could barely talk, and a band was setting up as we left - yikes! Also as we were leaving, we saw there was now a $10 cover charge to get in, even to eat, just due to some mediocre band. Don't waste your money, and go to a different P.J.'s since they're all over Jersey.
The greeters on this particular night all seemed like they wanted to go home. We were given a table right away. Our server came to our table and was pleasant. 10 minutes into our drinks, the staff started pushing tables around right next to us. They were obviously trying to accommodate a large party of adults and 2 infants. But instead of picking up the tables and chairs, they proceeded to drag everything across the bare floor. The loud scraping sounds were quite a distraction. This place is large and has an echo. The food was good and the beer selection was good. Would I go back? Not if I plan to have conversation.
Review Source:We went to this "rustic sports bar" on a lovely summer day with family - not realizing that it is a chain. Â The food was surprisingly good - Potstickers (though frozen, very tasty) and Cobb Salad (nice FRESH romaine) among them.
The outdoor seating is fun - but we opted ti sit indoors in the a/c.
Service by Sarah our server was great and friendly.
If we are in Medford lakes again we would return for lunch - but I bet dinner and happy hour are crowded and noisy. Â Lunch is nice & quiet.
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