Backyard Grille

A few weeks ago we stopped at Tony’s Place for lunch. The weather was good snd getting a table was no problem, although we called in advance to be sure. They have a many beers on draft or in bottles. A few are promoted on banners outside at $4.00 and $5.00 a pint. We started with beers and an order of onion rings. They were ok. We both ordered Philly cheese steaks $10.95). These were excellent, probably the best we have had. The sandwiches came with lots of fries. Half of our lunches came home with us. They reheated nicely on Sunday. This is a very popular restaurant. They do special events like wine themed dinners and beer themed dinners. As I recall, these sell out quickly. Are there negatives? Very few if any. This is one of our favorites.

We had an ok lunch here, but it wasn’t good enough to go back. The BBQ Chicken Flatbread was good. The Cheesesteak was ok. But the Crab Cake sandwich had too much filler. And the Fries were overcooked. The ice tea was very weak and a second one was no better. The service was fine, but overall the food was disappointing.

Definitely worth a try. We sat in the outside bar area. Drinks were pretty good and the food was excellent. Bartenders outside were great.

Christmas Eve is our family celebration. We go to mass and then to Tony’s for dinner. Have been doing this for many years. Not to mention the many many times we have all dined there throughout the year. This is the last. Found out that they were closing early and last reservation was 5pm. I’m just going to go through a few of the highlights… haha. We were table of 10) shoved into a table in the bar section. Crackers are not served with lobster bisque soup. No dinner specials. Always had Christmas Eve specials. Well they were closing early! Turned Eagles football game off after half time. We asked to turn it back on and we’re told that the manager said no because they want people to leave and not hang out so that they can go home. Yes that is what we were told. Sorry, I can appreciate that it is Christmas Eve but you are in the hospitality business for crying out loud. We were so rushed. Never offered dessert they want to get home). We had to ask for dessert menu. It was such a terrible experience and mind you the check was over $500. If you wanted to get out early then you should have closed after lunch service and never taken dinner reservations. Thank you for ruining our family tradition of dinner at Tony’s on Christmas Eve. We will find a new place to have dinner and take our money elsewhere.

Having passed this restaurant many times, we finally stopped in for dinner on a very busy Saturday night. I was greatly impressed! They were ready for a large crowd as both indoor and outdoor dining was available and, unlike many restaurants, they had the staff to manage the MANY customers that were there. We were seated and waited on in a prompt, friendly manner, the menu was impressively large, the prices were quite reasonable and, most important, our food was very good! Highly recommend for a nice evening without breaking the bank... we will be back!