West Chester Restaurants
Side Bar & Restaurant
Local Reviews
Address:
10 E Gay St
West Chester PA 19380
West Chester PA 19380
- Phone: (610) 429-8297
- Website: www.sidebarandrestaurant.com
About Side Bar & Restaurant
From the Side Bar website:
Side Bar and Restaurant is a casual restaurant and bar focusing on excellent and affordable food and spirits. We cater to the young professional, the established business professional and families. Our restaurant and bar has a neighborhood feel and strives to make it a place where a complete stranger will feel like a “Regular” in our Restaurant.
This place still hasn’t found its niche. The menu is all over the place. They try to follow the new american cuisine but fall short of being a restaurant or just a college bar. They cover it up by a lot of managers/owners working all the time. You need to make a decision on who’s in charge in the kitchen. Two chefs – two styles of cooking = one bad menu.
Great food, but service is really spotty (wait staff taking a long time because there socialing with friends, not particularly professional in general). If they could get that part together it would be A ++
Very bad experience. Bartender @ sidebar was not professional, very rude and could not take constructive feedback. Female, long brown hair, bad attitude. Very poor service; I do not suggest you visit.
jl.. My name is Adam and I am one of the owners of Side Bar. I am very sorry and concerned that you had such a bad experience on your recent visit. I would like to hear about what happened and try and handle the situation. Please feel free to email me and leave me your contact information, so i may discuss this with you. adamw@sidebarandrestaurant.com
I’m so impressed that you monitor your comments as the owner! So nice that you want to fix an issue. Nice job!
stopped by tonight for a drink and some apps ……the sweet potato tater tots were yummy …the hushpuppies were sublime
My sister and I had lunch at Sidebar on December 10, 2011. We both enjoyed our meals immensely. The french fries were to die for! The waitress was very friendly and professional. One of the owners came to our table to apologize for a very minor issue and gave us a discount and he was cute too ;.)
It was our first time there but we plan to go back.
The only thing I didn’t like was the TV’s blaring in the background – however, I asked the waitress if the volume could be lowered and she immediately turned it down.
Friends and I went last night, 3/22/11. The mussels and humus were excellent, the beef tips and hush puppies were mediocre. The waiter was terrible to the point of being rude. The service was incredibly slow. The restaurant ran out of the pasta for their main dish. I would not recommend this restaurant. There are much better place to go in West Chester.
We were saved by Adam and his team at Side bar! We0 originally planned a post wedding party at a location other than side bar (but still on gay st) and learned the week before the party that the current location was just not fully equipped to host the event.
So needed a great place with great space and the best in food and drinks. In stepped adam, who put our minds totally at ease and helped us easily finalize a menu catered to our styles
The food and service were excellent,especially considering the short notice given. Oh and guys all raved about the beer selection . Many partygoers have already visited again, or are planning to when it warms up. Thanks again to the great Side Bar team!
I have been to Sidebar several times and it is the best in town. Love dinner and I couldn't think of a better place to have lunch in town. I brought a friend who was visiting this past week and he couldn't believe he was having such great food in town!!! The citrus pasta salad was the best. I can't wait to go this week! Keep up the good work Adam and company!
Ate at Side Bar this past Saturday after WC graduation. Even though it seemed busy – service was attentive – the menu was a good range of choices – and everyone's meal was great. I had one of the burgers – and it was done just right. Overall – it was a great meal – will definitely be back.
My family and I celebrated Mother's Day at Side Bar on Sunday. The food was amazing – I had the special french toast with pears. My parents had the savory french toast – which is topped with mozzarella and sausage. It is a crazy combination but I have to say it really worked together. We all enjoyed everything – best brunch in West Chester. Thanks Side Bar for making my mom's Mother's day so special!
You gotta give props to the Side Bar for being one of the few restaurants to troop through and stay open during all those awful winter storms we had. We attended a private birthday party for one of the first storms, and we had quite a nice time at the upstairs bar, and the food was well-presented.I did try it again during the daylight hours, when I took my friend and our kids for lunch. I was a little worried that they may not be kid-friendly, but they certainly were inviting, and have a KIDS menu with great choices. They even have "Mocktails" for the kids, if you're into that sort of thing.Our food came out in good time, and I had the Fresh Roasted Turkey Sandwich (romaine hearts, apple wood bacon, grilled asian pear, brie, cranberry spread, ). Something seemed "off" – maybe the turkey? – so I only ate half. Everyone else enjoyed their meals.I'd give it one more chance – it's nice to see a non-franchise in a small town with good drink choices and also kid-friendly!
I live in NY and was visiting friends in West Chester last week. We had dinner here, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was really good (Try the crab cakes and the sauvignon blanc.) and the staff was very pleasant. Adam, who I think is the owner, was so nice and kept on top of everything that was going on – the sign of a professional operation. The next day we went back for brunch – great omelets!
Ate there last night with friends- enjoyed ourselves and had a great meal- my husband had the jerk pork tenderloin and perogies which he said were the best- I enjoyed the salmon special of the evening with capers and angel hair pasta- my meal arrived a few minutes after the rest of the table which was not a big deal but the manager came out to apologize and then they comped a drink.
Would go back- it is a bit loud upstairs but it did not bother us.
Good food, very nice staff, great brunch, good prices.
3 really nice bar areas. A great place to watch any game.
Had dinner after a movie. Sat at a table by the bar very pleasant. Had the Jerk Pork Tenderloin sauce was wonderful perogis were wonderful pork seemed too soft and marinated. Risotta was delicious. Martinis were good. Will surely try this restaurant again
I ate here last night with two of my friends for the first time. I was not impressed by the menu, I was definitely expecting more especially after I had heard rave reviews for the lobster mac and cheese. The menu was lackluster at best. Our waitress was great, very attentive, but alas our drink order was the wrong thing. Appetizers were good, I had the plaintain chips, which while different raised my expectations for a great dinner or ast least something differet. We waited 40 minutes for s salad and soup, a sandwich, and the chicken with potato hash. My chicken was a little salty and my potatoes were undercooked. Needless to say I was definitely disappointed. The waitress asked about my dinner and I was honest about it. We did not stay for dessert as we were disappointed overall. I would suggest this place for a drink, which I have had good experiences with, but definitely not for dinner.
I've been to Side Bar a few times to drink and wasn't that impressed. I was excited to try someplace new but was kind of disappointed. The layout is insane (very choppy) and they only have 1 ladies bathroom downstairs! I ate there for the first time a few weeks ago and although my meal was decent I had to wait 45 minutes! I also thought the menu was very limited.
Had lunch at the Sidebar & Restaurant the other day and was somewhat disappointed. The bartender was unattentive at best and did not know anything about the beers on tap (which was rather surprising considering it's a decent selection of beers that aren't that common and you would think the bartenders would be able to describe each beer in a few words at least). The food was somewhat bland and understated (Lamb Stew was on special – while the lamb was tender and cooked well, the dish in general was fairly bland and seemed to lack much flavor). Will probably not return to the Sidebar.
I ate at Side Bar & Restaurant for the first time on Saturday. Even though it was clearly an extremely busy night for the bar and restaurant, I still had a great experience and will definitely return. I had the shrimp / special salad with the citrus dressing and the Risotto – both of which I recommend. I also had the Twinki Tiramisu for dessert, which was fantastic.
We sat upstairs in the dining room – which offered a great view and is one of the best dining rooms in West Chester. Lastly, two of the owners stopped by our table to introduce themselves and check on us – which was much appreciated. I am so happy to have another great place to not only enjoy a drink but to also have a great meal in town – keep up the good work Side Bar!
I have been to the side bar on multiple occasions and I have been very impressed. West Chester has a lot of dining options and I think that when it comes to food and service they are one of the best. I have had great service every time that I have dined there and all 3 owners have introduced themselves and have gone out of their way to provide great service.
The asian mary mussels were a great appetizer with multiple layers of flavor and the bone in chicken is one of the best dishes in West Chester. I am a huge fan of their wine list and even though I am not a beer guy, it seems like they have a great tap and bottle selection.
This newcomber to West Chester is a great place to come alone and sit at the bar or to have a quiet meal with your family. Keep up the good work.
I have been to the side bar on multiple occasions and I have been very impressed. West Chester has a lot of dining options and I think that when it comes to food and service they are one of the best. I have had great service every time that I have dined there and all 3 ownders have introduced themselves and have gone out of their way to provide great service.
The asian mary mussels were a great appetizer with multiple layers of flavor and the bone in chicken is one of the best dishes in West Chester. I am a huge fan of their wine list and even though I am not a beer guy, it seems like they have a great tap and bottle selection.
This newcomber to West Chester is a great place to come alone and sit at the bar and have a quiet meal with your family. Keep up the good work.
We were looking forward to eating here since the menu looked really good online. We were definately disappointed. First, we were seated at a table pretty much on top of the bar. The staff was very accomodating and moved us to a table upstairs. We then waiting 45 minutes before anyone even came over to our table to introduce themselves as our server or ask us if we needed anything. We finally said something and a manager came over (Kelly, who was very nice), and took our order. The owner (we think) also come over and apologized for our wait. At this point, we still hadn't seen our actual server. We got our food, which was good, but not worth the long wait. By the time we were finished our food and got our bill, it was a good two hours later. Unfortunately, they charged us for two additional items that we did not order. We will probably be back to drink at the bar, I doubt we will ever come back for a meal.
Wow, WHERE to start…OTHER than the crappy service, the periodic arctic breeze upstairs, the late/cold/boring food, and the incorrect check (more than once), this place was a slam dunk. here's a tip for you, side bar employee (can't say the name of the waitress, b/c at least 5 different people "helped" us) – start looking for a new job since this place won't be open in 4 months. at least it's a good time to file for unemployment…
PS to the owner – next time you stop by my table and you know your staff is doing a really crappy job, make some effort and throw a comp my way…
so now they have been open a year since your review …..thoughts ?