River Road Tavern

$2.75 for a very cold draft works, but the dive atmosphere lacks teeth, literally.

I really like the River Road Tavern's cheap beer, good food and friendly service.  I worked for nearly a decade in the area and I'm pretty unhappy that I didn't find this place until the last year.  

The RRT is a great dive bar, a relatively small place with a few guys smoking outside the door, a bar that nearly fills the room, and every head turns to look at you when you walk in.  Uh oh.. but no worries, everyone was friendly.  This is definitely a place where the tradesmen hang out at the end of the day.  It was nearly all guys, most in t-shirts and work boots.  We were the ones a bit overdressed in khakis and collared shirts but they didn't hold it against us. Sometimes it was quiet, sometimes Credence  played loud, just perfect for a low-key beer  after work.

A pitcher of Stella Artois was only $10.50!  Plate of buffalo chicken fingers was just $5!  Huge quesadilla plate was $7!  The food took a while but was great, fresh and hot. We were told the cook makes the chicken fingers himself, not just bought from some supplier and they were excellent.  The service was a tad slow because just one lady bartender was taking care of the whole place but she was very friendly.  

We're going back next week for wings and garlic bread!

I've decided to up the RRT a star after going a few more times--I've since been there later in the evening, with friends and alone, once after a Rutgers football game got out, and yes, it gets rowdy, in that middle-aged-crowd rowdy way.  Fun, but I started to feel very much misplaced as the kid (comparatively) at the end of the bar!

But the real reason I want to update my review is that their food has improved a great deal since I first went there a year ago, in some small ways, and a few big ones.  For example, small way: krinkle fries are no more, now they have shoestring, and they seem fresher.  But furthermore the cook is trying very hard to please, and doing a pretty good job of it, mixing up the menu, getting creative.  I had a friend who didn't want fries; the bartender said "Let me talk to the cook," and came back to inform us that he was going to make a rice dish.  Turned out to be rice with vegetables, well seasoned, a pleasant surprise for a place like this.  Another time one of the regulars had been fishing and brought his catch over; the cook fried them up and passed them around the bar for free, to see how people liked it.  I've had a lot of fried fish in my day and he did a very good job of it.  Definitely becoming my preferred neighborhood spot, though I remain a bit younger than the average demographic.

Finally, the drinks are inexpensive compared to places over in New Brunswick.  If Yuengling is the standard not-light beer in this region, then here's the math: $3 a pint, and $1.50 during happy hour, compared with around $5 elsewhere.