I will have to say I was there last night and the guy sitting next to me ordered the chicken dish and it smelled really good.

I only had appetizers up until now and wasn't crazy about them. But I definitely want to go back and check out some entrees after getting a sniff of his dish!

alright, finally went last night. the place is fine, service at the bar was adaquit and the small plates we ordered came out promptly. did't go crazy, but enjoyed the chips the brocoli raub/sausage (raub was cooked perfectly) and the cheapo chicken tenders which were about as good as you could ask tenders to be (subtle coconut flavor, nice dipping sauce and super moist meat). Everything else I saw served while there looked and smelled great.

No doubt I will go back again... and again and again and again.

oh, and the tall mug of Fullers ruuuuuuuuuuulez

Agreed with Justiceiro. The place is tastefull decorated and it has a great ambiance. The wait for the food after we placed our order was unacceptably long - close to 45 minutes. I had a terrible stomach ache after eating there - perhaps due to the poor choice of food combinations I ordered. Maybe gazpacho and mac& cheese don't go together even if the food is made well.

i ate there on friday and the food is great! the place was a little crowded but the food can't be beat.

We went on Friday night. Decent food, decent prices, and decent wine pours. There are some things t be worked out, but it is certainly not a bad place to eat. We had the empanada trio, steak salad, and chorizo salad. There were a couple things that weren't perfect, but nothing earth shattering. It all tasted pretty delicious.

Bottom line:With some attention to detail and quality control, its a good place that will definitely get better.

Went on Friday night fully bracing myself for a long wait because of the negative reviews on this board. We were pleasantly surprised to have a very normal dining experience with respect to wait time, and the food was excellent! Seems like they have worked out some of the kinks... no complaints here at all and we can't wait to go back and try lots more on the menu!

I checked it out on Saturday for the first time. I really like the vibe, the food was solid, and $5 for a Fullers is a pretty good deal. It p*sses me off to read all of the negative buzz on this place. I would have put up with a lot worse than I received to support a decent bar on Newark.

This is my 5th or 6th time in SK since opened and each time had good food, great service and good time.

Cheers to the bartenders, Tim, Ryan, Marie, Kim who I've met or already knew and to Maggie as well. I haven't intereacted with the waiters and Will but they look efficient from my POV.

I saw someone I haven't seen in years this afternoon while watching my NY Giants kick butt and the obnoxious drunk who was in before was again discreetly dispatched.

A fine place with good people and good food!

PS: Maggie continues to support the community with donations for the upcoming Embankment Celebration! event on Sat, Oct 13th from Noon to 4PM

i've been there a few times since they've been open...all i gotta say is HORRIBLE SERVICE!
the food, in my opinion, fabulous :)
mac 'n cheese...better than marco and pepe's
duck confit ravioli...YUM!
pork chop, ribs, cod, ceviche...all of it was delicious!
service sucked
music sucked
nothing but a glorified sports bar trying to rob you for a good meal with diner clad morons.
and i wouldn't recommend order a bottle of wine there...you never know how long it's been open for!?
do they have ANYONE in there that has worked in the service industry before!?

I was following this thread but it's getting too long. I just want to throw my 2 cents in for Maggies place. I had dinner there a week ago with 2 friends, food was great, service was sketchy....in kind of a growing pain way. The beautiful dirty blond waitress with the glasses stepped in eventually to help out and remembered we were from the 'old place'...that helped. Place was packed...thursday night.

Went back this week for lunch when the place was thin. Great spinach salad and pleasant conversation with the bar keep. Smiles from maggie of course. I'll be heading back for sure. Probably the nicest dacor of any place downtown. The guy who ruined the HA House has probably been SL's best furtune. Cant wait till he leaves. Just no hope there. Good luck Maggie.

I've been to Skinner's three or four times now and pass by it quite often....it was packed every time I happened to be in there and looked pretty busy when I peeked in when walking by. I think Maggie's new place is probably working out just fine. Any new restaurant has to "tweak" things a little in the beginning. My meals were really good and my friends also enjoyed what they ordered. The service was just allright...neither good nor bad. Quite frankly, I cant really think of a restaurant here in downtown that offers exceptional service. Does anyone know of any?

I have been to Skinner's Loft twice since it opened. Each time I was fortunate to have experienced very attentive wait staff. On my first visit I had a distinctive Belgian beer and spring rolls which where were pretty good. On my second visit I took my date and we were really impressed by both the excellent service and our meal. The place is decorated and furnished well. I found it to be a warm atmosphere and I look forward to sitting near the fire place in the winter and having drinks on the outside deck in warmer weather. Again Maggie has provided Jersey City with another winner.

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I'm thinking its possible. Male, brown hair, 30somethingish, front, top section, underneath the big green painting?

forgot to post that i went there last week for dinner. i ate at the bar and it wasn't that crowded so the service was fast, but the bartender did seem a little inexperienced. had an OSH, first time, which i loved and the burger, which was good, but not great. there was a bunch of stuff on the menu i'd like to try so i'll definitely be going back at some point.

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Three of us went to Skinner?s Loft last night to eat at approximately at 7:30 P.M.


A few cold beers first and then headed upstairs.

Maggie was working ; she recognized us as regulars from her Hamilton Pub days and greeted us quite warmly.



We had a tall male waiter with dark complexion . He was pretty slow and looked a bit overwhelmed. Luckily , a former waitress from the Hamilton Ale House recognized us and expedited our service.

Maggie your wine list is pretty good !!!!


We had the Cod , Pork Chops and the Hagger (?) Steak The food was good and I really enjoyed the Pork Chops.



On the way out Maggie mention that her annual Christmas Party will take place in December just like at the Hamilton Ale House.


I will return for the food, the beer and the Hot Chicks at the Bar.


DTG

Madbernal, Ian, maybe the three of us all got the same crappy waiter? If so, it's a shame that one idiot is generating so much bad press. I can't wait to go back, but man, I guess I'll keep an eye on who serves us this time.

My friends and I decided to try out Skinner's last night. Once we were seated, we were ignored completely. A waiter finally approached and asked us, "Have you been helped?" and then walked off. We were hopeful, since we thought he forgot a pen, or his pad of paper.
Well, he walked off to take the orders of, and serve, no less than two other tables. We sat for a few more moments, watching waiters mill around and ignore us, and then we walked out and went to Sawadee, where we were greeted with amazing service.

The beer list was impressive.
The menu was interesting.
It's just a shame we were only given the opportunity to drink water.

It'll take a lot for me to give Skinner's another chance. This restaurant was no busier than Marco & Pepe on a packed night. Yes, Skinner's is fairly new, but the wait staff should be acclimated enough by now to at least acknowledge a new table and take a drink order.

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Thanks again, you saved our night!

ha - just so happens my wife and i were the ones sitting next to this unlucky table - their waiter was clueless. funny scene indeed...

Four of us ate there last night. We got there at 8pm, waited about 2 minutes for a table, and were seated. We got water and menus promptly, then waited about 10 minutes for drink orders. That's when the fun began. It was about another half hour before our drinks came, which is unfortunate, because if I'm hungry and waiting for food, at the very least I want to be drunk.

The waiter did not take our food orders when he brought the drinks. Finally we got a bread bucket. The table next to us had a different waitress, and their starters arrived promptly as we sat gawking at them. The woman next to us asked if we wanted her waitress to take our order, and then kindly informed our waitress no one had taken our order, despite our menus sitting there closed for the last 45 minutes.

Finally, our neighbor's waitress took our order at 9:05. Ten minutes or so later, our original waiter returned, asked if I wanted another beer-- yes, I did-- and asked if wanted to order anything. At that point we told him we just ordered with the waitress. A few minutes later our starters arrived-- crab hushpuppies and the tofu tostada, both very good. We finished those and our waiter reappeared with my beer, then asked us if we wanted dessert. We informed him we still had real food coming, which eventually did come.

We ended up with an extra order of crab hushpuppies (sorry if someone else never got their order last night). We had between us, the Cod, the Calamari salad, a burger, the baked macaroni, and the coconut chicken.

The Cod was delicious, though the rice underneath not so much. The burger seemed about average, the salad fresh and filling. The baked macaroni was good, but not the best. Much better than the Iron Monkey baked macaroni, not as good as Marco and Pepe's Mac and Cheese. The chicken was spot on, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. The dipping sauce was not to my liking, but we had some extra hushpuppy sauce which was good to dip.

We finally wrapped the meal around 10:15, at which point we met a half dozen other folks for drinks downstairs. The Cucumber infused gin seemed to be a big hit, and I wish I had tried it.

went for dinner last night around 8:30 place was full but no wait for tables.....the little hot rolls were excellent (more of those less of the harder crusty bread please!) we split a mac and cheese appetizer (nice, I liked the french onion soup-esque melted cheese layer on the top and the herbs), he got the ribs (I only had a taste but he seems to really like them), I did the prawns (I liked that the waitress warned they would be served with the head and she could have them removed if I liked (yes please!), wasn't as happy that the risotto that went with it wasn't piping hot, as she got me all excited for it....still very good but I was a little cold myself and looking forward to something that would warm me up)
since I am a dessert lover dinner was saved by the warm chocolate cake though.....but how can I not love someone that serves me chocolate filled with chocolate?
I loved the atmosphere -- if that doorway original upstairs? does it slide to make a private "party" room? I also was really excited to see a fire place but unfortunately no real fire yet (though I guess its still a little warm out and its my fault for still wearing my "summer" clothes)

they were very accommodating (shut all the front windows cause I was cold) and the bus staff was great with the water.....I love when my glass is always full and its one thing that often gets neglected even at very nice places
our waitress could have been a little better but the table next to us had a guy that seemed great so I guess its the luck of the draw (then again that seems to be a common issue in JC), we did have a little issue (the risotto) and she never did the 3-5 min after you get your plates is everything ok check which would have solved the issue right away (she did comp dessert though which was nice)

I will definitely be back though and I think its a great little place! excited to try some of the other stuff --- the salads and pasta dished looked great! also I like that they are open for lunch....

Thanks all for your very "helpful comments and reviews". It's a swell joint with 5$ beers a nice menu, great looks and good food from what I had. You can do better? Chill and enjoy.

ate and drank there tonight - good vibe - a HUGE improvement to newark ave's "restaurant row" - lots of people in and out - decent food selection - good beer - love the open doors - brick walls, tin roof, cool artwork - friendly bartenders and waitresses - enjoy this welcome addition to the neighborHOOD

or we could talk about MELT some more......cricket...

According to their beer menu La Couffe is indeed 8 bucks a pint. it's well worth it though. Besides like like 8% alcohol so it's almost like 2 beers anyway

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well more than one person has said the food is tasteless so there is probably enough of a trend to say that they might have a point.
As to the beer not being served cold enough, I had ice forming in mine so perhaps they have taken note of other comments here. BTW somebody ordered the wrong keg so for the time being they are serving Old Speckled Hen instead of ESB

Went with some friends to pay respect to Maggie yesterday, and to the food too

The duck-sweet potatoe ravioli was perfect, pasta slighly undercooked as any self-respecting amateur would expect, and a great sauce. I had a taste of their filet mignon, absolutely awsome, literally melting in my mouth. Nice beers and St Emilion Cheval Noir to wrap the meal, we were very pleased. On the waiter side there is still some little forgetfullness from what I have read but frankly, I will return even for that, they were friendly to us The decor is very nice, Maggie really brought back some of the atmospher from Hamilton Park Ale, even if it's on two levels now.

Bravo Maggie, we shall be back soon. A bientot !

My friends and I had drinks and appetizers on a very buisy Sat and it was great. Food was great, people were nice. Happy to have them in the nieghborhood.

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+1 here. I actually considered my review to be positive, in the main. The problems that they have are soluble. Their food is fantastic, when it is cooked, as I am sure it will be in the future. I will emphatically recommend it to my friends, in about two weeks.

Also, if you watn all your beer ice cold, then you aren't respecting your beer. Corona? as cold as possible. Porter? No way.

mmm pint of fullers and a pork chop sounds good for dinner.


I had the pulled pork sandwich for lunch. At about $9.80 for lunch it was a little $$ but it was a pretty good sandwich.

We tried to go for lunch on Saturday but the kitchen didn't open 'til 4PM. Maybe we'll try again in a couple of weeks.