@Oshingurl I sent you a direct message via this site as I’m not on Facebook…if you haven’t yet seen it, there should be a green circle on the upper right corner of the page with a number 1 in it that you can click on (near your name/photo).
Curlz
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We will probably be in Asbury Park every other weekend this summer, and no trip to the boardwalk would be complete without a solid hour or two at a Langosta, et al. When I see you, I will say hello from Coldbeer, which is a, btw, Springsteen line about “cold beer at a reasonable price”. Some may remember that. Anyhoo…the food isn’t so much the issue. Yours is not a chef driven vehicle, which is what the snobs on this board seek out. Well, that, and nostalgia. (RIP WYB). Look at the accolades given to the Grand Tavern, a mere 5 miles from you, it is a chef driven enterprise, and there are maybe 12 different items from apps to dessert to chose from. You probably have 50. So it’s not a fair comparison, as far as that goes. We’re not there for the food, per se. It doesn’t suck, but it just seems like there is a constant air of crisis management that drags the comfort level down. We will always be patrons, out of respect for your part in bringing our city of ruins into a top destination, but the folks on this board, and apologies for speaking for anyone other than Equal Mark (heh) are not your target audience. These folks seize up when they see a Sysco truck. So, if I say hi from Coldbeer, and you punch me, my name is Curlz.
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HA!
(and since the site won’t let me post just that) I have to agree with much of what @coldbeer70 wrote.
Look forward to introducing my true chef self!
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Lol, good memories of that cold beer line from the '98 reunion shows. He kind of lost me when he got overtly political in his concerts but I’ll look back on the old days fondly.
Haven’t been to any of the AP restaurants, but the new WYB is close to home. I’ll have to give it a shot, good on @Oshingurl for asking for, and responding to, criticism.
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Please follow the conversation here under a new thread for the new name/concept. (@seal it ok I’ll do the heavy lifting)
In researching some past reviews of my experiences at Langosta / Pop’s I visited Chow to search some of my reviews. I’ll be perfectly honest @coldbeer70 I thought you were being a little rough on @Oshingurl, and personally I thought you might have had an ax to grind with her. Interestingly I found these posts, one by MGZ (@MZ where the hell are you buddy???) who in general was a big fan of Langosta, pretty much verifying everything you are claiming about Marilyn and Langosta. There was an entire thread dedicated to the “elitist” attitude of the restaurant and staff. Mind you both of these are from 2009, so it seems this has been a long standing issue (copy pasted from Chow)
MGZ Apr 23, 2009 10:35 AM
I intended to illustrate the hypocrisy emerging at Langosta in the hopes that it can be remedied. My encounters with Marilyn, Scott, and those who appear to be close to them, suggest that they would be dismayed to learn that Langosta was becoming elitist. It is, however, one of the few places where I think bringing attention to the issue might help.
I am probably one of the last people who should raise this issue. I have never received anything but excellent to special attention at any of the Schlossbach establishments. Believe me, I could’ve had Seal’s table by 8 o’clock . . . I will get my tequila refilled before the bartender bothers to pour your first glass of wine . . . (Get it? Yes, Virginia there is a secret local handshake!). It doesn’t make it right.
Above, I noted that such practices are engaged in everywhere; I too have been guilty of it. Given the quality of the food, Labrador Lounge is one of the most egalitarian places I know. I confess, however, laughing about the bennies with our waitress. Face it, at one time or another each of you was prejudged and pigeonholed.
Part of this< I am certain, is because in the course of waiting on someone for an hour (or two) it’s easy to treat them as the most immediately recognizable cliché. Maybe you really are comfortable as the cliché and therefore don’t mind – fine, it’s still not right. When the fat lady asks for extra butter, the staff laughs! And don’t think that your mispronunciations go unnoticed simply because they were not corrected.
I know this rant has digressed into too broad a point, I am just hopeful that Langosta can stay cool and that perhaps by pointing out this peril they will be aware. After all, sooner or later, you gotta let Barney try!
BTW – “Cousin Eddie”? Why do I waste such good stuff on you people?? 
Langosta Lounge: really full of itself
jerseyeats | Oct 11, 2009 09:27 AM
So finally my partner and I try LL for dinner. Had been there for drinks once–v. good margaritas and fun atmosphere. Tried to go for dinner last week. Called for a reservation around noon but host practically laughed out loud at the idea of us thinking we could actually get a Sat. nite reservation “that late.” Made a reservation this week, on Friday, for Sat nite.
So partly it’s all the hype and build up, but boy was I disappointed. Table for two was tiny and we sat about a foot away from the next two-top. Then our waitress…my question was, could we get her to crack a smile? Nope. I had narrowed my choice down to 2 entrees and asked for a recc. I don’t eat shellfish, so I don’t know, was her first reply. Then I asked which was more popular. No joy there, either. I figured she hates people and/or her job and just ignored her after that, noting also that our neighbors got exactly the same treatment. But when neighbors left and fashionable couple replaced them, the woman self-importantly ordering a bottle of wine, the waitress transformed: chatting, joking, and–yes–making menu recommendations. I sat there slack-jawed, watching this. I guess she wrote us and first neighbors off as nobodies. After this–though it was check and tip-calculating time–we didn’t see her much. She was too enthralled with new neighbors and I guess other, cooler people. But my favorite moment of all was, when she came to take the check, I tried to tell her, “we don’t need change” but she just snatched it out of my hand and wouldn’t even make eye contact. Wow.
My dish was problem #2. Can’t remember the name but thai-inspired with green and red curry, over black rice, and I chose shrimp. Well, the shrimp was “bait shrimp” or, if you can picture this, much like the shrimp you buy in a little bag at shop rite for $5 and make shrimp salad sandwiches with. I couldn’t believe it. The sauce was EXTREMELY heavy and rich…I swear there was a full can of coconut milk in there and I don’t know what else. I couldn’t finish it and, as I said to my partner, when Ieave rice and potatoes on the plate, you know something’s wrong. At the risk of TMIing you, my stomach was in a state of shock and awe all night. My partner was happy with her salad (arugula, goat cheese), and sushi roll, but I tried them and they weren’t special in any way.
At some point–maybe in warm weather when we can sit outside–I might go back and try the lobster enchiladas. But really a big let-down.
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We have a bad opinion of you because all your restaurants serve indifferent, if not bad, food at inflated prices, and the only decent service is to be obtained at the bar.
We’re it not for the geography you occupy, tourism, indiscriminate palates and your various liquor licenses we sincerely doubt you would stay in business.
But then there is the Jersey shore restaurant corollary:
Indifferent food + Liquor license = “Successful” restaurant.
Never once have I had a meal I enjoyed at any of your establishments, nor have they ever been recommended to me by others (unless it was some mention of drink specials).
I’m glad for you that your business is successful.
But I find it detrimental that the Monmouth county restaurant scene is dominated by the labrador whelps, mcclones, tummy’s coal fired and other mediocre chains where your main business skill set consists of buying liquor licenses.
Woof Woof indeed !!!
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You may, but your serving staff does not, and since you run the place that is your fault.
Again, woof !
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Not true in my case, I am anything but a snob. Actually more of a triple d palate.
Here is an example of what refer to from a Schlossbach menu:
POP’S ENCHILADA – Choice of shredded chicken, fish, shrimp, lobster, or veggies smothered with cheese & served with ruby rice and beans- choice of red, verde, diablo, or mole traditional Veggie… Nineteen Dollars or Chicken… Twenty-Two Dollars or Fish… Twenty-Five Dollars or Lobster or Shrimp… Twenty-Six Dollars
$ 26 FOR A GRINGOSCISED ENCHILADA ??
You can get a whole puerto nuevo style lobster in Rosarito for that.
(Served on a menu with sushi and “Irish” short ribs ??? Any time I see sushi and Mexican on a menu my bowels usually warn me to beat a hasty retreat.)
If I’m in the mood for enchiladas it’s off to La Valentina or El Oaxqueno in LB, which are not fancy are authentic, and cost like $ 8.
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First time in a while and VJ was spitting hot fire!!!
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Damn right! Would you expect anything less? Lol
Good to see you back viking.
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Good thing we didn’t float him out to sea while shooting flaming arrows at him like you wanted to CJ.
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I did apologize in advance for speaking for anyone other than myself regarding the “snob” qualifier, but I still hoped someone would bite. Thank God you did…gives me renewed faith in the vibrancy of this board!
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As a local foodie/drinkie, I have the same general opinion as coldbeer70 and others about Schlossbach restos having tried most at least once. I haven’t visited Russell & Bette’s yet but I plan to, probably in the fall. I enjoy having a drink at the bars, but I don’t choose them as dining destinations because I wasn’t overwhelmed by the food quality/price ratio. As for Pop’s Garage, too much $ for bland Tex Mex when we have a plethora of authentic Mexican choices for far less $.
And now for a little peace and love:
I’ve attended three fundraising events for our local NPR radio station for which Marilyn closed Langosta Lounge and donated the space, her staff to prep, cook, serve, and clean up; and the food. I believe that she’s done this more than those three times. We all know how rare it is to find decent food at an event buffet. At each of these events, the food was very good. The staff hustled to keep the food in good supply. Each was a lovely, intimate musical evening that left me feeling good about humanity.
.
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It’s been well over a week since I sent @oshingirl a direct message, as I wanted to give her the courtesy of not jumping online to complain. I haven’t received any sort of reply, so I’m going to share what happened to us at Langosta Lounge over Memorial Day weekend.
The facts:
-I made a reservation for 6 people a couple of weeks ahead of time and specified we were celebrating a big birthday and going for dinner and to watch the band playing that night.
-I called the restaurant 1-2 days later to bump the reservation to 8 people.
-I called back the Friday before to ask if only 6 could make it for dinner and the last 2 for drinks/dessert if we needed to change the reservation and was told no.
-All 8 of us were there on time and had drinks/apps/entrees
-The band started and 1-2 songs in, we were told we had to give up the table as they had another reservation coming in. THIS HADN’T BEEN COMMUNICATED TO US UNTIL THAT MOMENT.
-I strongly objected, and now a guy came over and said the same thing. I told him we’d made the reservation far in advance AND that we hadn’t yet had dessert. He screamed that it’s common courtesy to give up a table when asked. I screamed back that it’s common courtesy to let customers know if there’s a time restriction.
Since this site is for discussions about restaurants and Marilyn chimed in wanting to know what we have issues with, there you go…as an experience, this was all, ALL, wrong. I’ve blocked out any positive things I might have said about anything else because it was so obvious that management doesn’t care about customers. Marilyn may care and care a LOT, but if that’s not reflected by the actions of her teams, it’s on her to hire folks who DO know what hospitality is.
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I wish I were surprised; I’m not.
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Regardless of charitable intent, the operations and food at the Schlossbach venues leave much to be desired.
If only we could get good food and reasonable service at the non charitable events.
You mention nothing of the food, but my expectation is that this was mediocre Mexican at best. Would you really have wanted to stay for dessert?
Unfortunately, @CurlzNJ your experience is all too typical of my experience at the various labrador kennels.
“Woof ! Woof ! Woof !” I say.
That’s exactly my point…from what I know having lived down here <2 years, Marilyn is extremely community-minded, something I think is fantastic. But her restaurants don’t seem to reflect a passion for consistency in food, service, or management, which are the keys to success in the industry, imo.
