Nutley Restaurant Guide

Absolutely sinful. Atrocious. Every year, my aunt, a couple friends, and I would precede our tree trimming Christmas party with a dinner at Scuttlebutts. Last year, I believe I had mussels with a wine-butter sauce, braised duck legs, and orange sorbet served in a frozen orange. Whoa! This year -- just yesterday, in fact -- we returned only to find new management and a very limited menu that contained nothing more than (and I'm not kidding) hot dogs, chicken noodle soup, hamburgers, and tuna sandwiches. This place went from a culinarily creative pub to a homeless shelter. Avoid, avoid, avoid! They even removed the partition that separated the bar from the dining area. So, now the dull, uninspired menu matches the seedy atmosphere. My party left the restaraunt without ordering, and found a more appetizing place to eat and mingle. I want the old Scuttlebutts back!

Scuttlebutts Pub in Nutley "had" fabulous food which is why my husband and I went there late Saturday afternoon craving some creatively prepared seafood and/or a yummy steak. After ordering we were informed that Scuttlebutt's has a new owner and would be moving from Centre St. to Franklin Ave. (next to the Green Jade) in the near future. Since the menu looked pretty much the same we didn't anticipate any major changes in the food quality. Boy were we wrong! The meal was truly disappointing. My "Herb Roasted Salmon over Mixed Vegetables" was overcooked and tasted and looked like shoe leather (veggies were tasty though). My husband's 16 oz. boneless sirloin steak ordered "medium" came out well done and dried out and was literally inedible. We were the only patrons in the restaurant (aside from a couple of people at the bar) so there was no excuse for leaving the food too long in the oven. The management kindly made restitution for the unacceptable meals however this is a warning that Scuttlebutts is no longer Scuttlebutts. So when you see a new restaurant open up next to the Green Jade beware of the food unless you are told that they have a new and improved chef.