Night quiet cave with good breakfast and well made drinks, great going into or out of Journal Square. We go back any time we are feeling like pancakes, French Toast (My favorite) or just want a nice sit down meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Nez B.
I hate to break it to everyone, but going by the "Retail Space For Lease" sign posted at the entrance, Emma's looks like it is closed for good.It's kind of sad to see a relatively new restaurant in the Journal Square neighborhood last just under 2 years. However, the prices were kind of jacked up for a simple American diner.I believe they were betting on tenants from all the new luxury apartments nearby to come and they didn't.I'm crossing my fingers for some more modern restaurants and or fancy bars to come back to the area, but I won't hold my breath.
Service: 4
Sarah Ellis
The food was AWESOME!!! all the brunch options are delicious- i don’t think you could pick the wrong thing! Was busy on a Saturday (and i get it!) so the service was not lightening fast- but that is a-OK for me, as this is not an IHOP/Denny’s, and it gives you more time to sit down and relax and chat with your table! My brother had a few of their cocktails and they were delicious! Will be returning!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
R Fitz
Nothing special here. We didn’t have high expectations as we entered the place and that’s pretty much what we got - the experience and the food were mediocre! Ordered buffalo wings and a caesar salad.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Micha Jacobs
If you are going for a drink, don’t. They will make you wait for over 30 minutes while the pony tailed bartender makes smalltalk with everyone around the bar, before he thinks it’s time to fix you a drink… Lovely server though, nothing she could do about it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Mario
While I did have many things to say. The youth of America is neither corrupt nor corruptible, it’s basically indifferent. Through non political conversation and daring. ii try to change things and bring a magic garden in the transformation. I found one bartender extremely unforgiving and unchanging, for something else said someone said about him. He never lifted the curse and I was banned so be it.If you can’t handle your drinking when bad things happen in your life death of baby momma or death of childhood friends and loss of job. DONOT come here. If have a boring life and want some drinks and food please comeThe women bartenders are lovely.
Not gonna lie, I first went to this place when it was called PJ Ryan's. They changed it to Emma and I had food here at once and it was a bit underwhelming.I went back today and the food was a lot better. They've always had pretty good bartenders and servers, and it's a great location right next to the trains. It'll probably only get better since the neighborhood is about to go crazy.I'll be back. Might become a regular if the food quality keeps up.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
kai maitai
I was here last during the afternoon after a grueling work day at the J3 JSQ Tower. I've been coming here for 5 years on and off. I'm also an alumni from SPU/UMDNJ. What I heard and saw last night from them "students" who felt like they were being targeted by the gentleman at the bar is NOT true. I came in at around 2:30 p.m. i saw what was happening, and the conversation between two gentleman sitting at the bar. They were actually,(i counted), 50 feet away these "students", were seated, and while the two gentleman at the bar were talking about, life, traveling, work, and their current day this group of student felt that because one of the men talking was a bit loud that the conversation was about them or being directed towards them, which is NOT true! The bartender never spoke word about these students, and she was approached by three of these students before, and after one of the gentleman left. If you are this group reading this review I seriously have doubts on how you'll live threw life, considering, your finals is not a pass that gives you the right to complain. You may be stressed, but your NOT prepared for the working life yet. Your NOT important, but you'll soon learn when you get a job. No one will tolerate your grievances especially when you hear what you want and NOT what was said. You could all have approached him and said your piece BUT you didn't! How true is cowardice!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Valerie Becker
Delicious food, great, helpful and very friendly service. A student from Brodway who was able to charm all the guests with her charm. Thank you ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Sebastien Crespel
If you're looking for a quiet place to have dinner, take care. There may be live music or karaoke at Emma's.The food was really good, the service kind and efficient.The ambiance in the restaurant is calm and restful, as long as there is no live music.You should give it a try, you'll come back.
I had both a dine in and a take out. The take out I got for my husband was bad. The lady that took our orders was a mess. Very uncouth and rude to everyone and the man with beards was very ready to fight people.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Lenny F.
The chocolate chip bread pudding here is out of this world. It's an excellent combination that is very well executed. The pastry chef here clearly knows what she/ he is doing. It has now become my go-to order
Karinah S.
Mixed reviews because the food is good. Our server Colleen was super nice, I will say that. She tried her best as the only server at this time. There should be more servers for lunch. We had a reservation for 7 people at 1pm for our office holiday lunch. Once we arrived the busser sat us but the table was not ready. There were no cups or small plates out nor were there knives/forks. It took about 10 mins to get our menus. Once we ordered, we got our appetizers about 40 minutes later. It's now 1:52. Once the apps came, we still didn't have small plates or cutlery. We asked for cutlery and an extra straw, those took a while to come back. We expected a sense of urgency considering this is a business district and we are all on limited lunch breaks. Two people ordered soups and did not get them with the appetizers. Who wants soup w their entree? I also would have appreciated someone checking on us and seeing how we were doing and maybe apologize for the delay. Other tables who came after us are getting their food before us. It's now 2:23 and we have to be back at the office by 3. Our entrees are still not here. The artichoke dip is pretty good, mac and cheese is pretty good too. Wings were ok, the breading got a little soggy. Entrees arrived at 2:37. No manager on site.
Alicia W.
Emma's is always the quick place to go and grab a bite and drinks after a crazy final BUT this is the second time I've gone to this location and had a terrible terrible time ! They have a bartender that works in the day shift Yt lady with long blond hair and everytime my classmates and I go there she always gives off such a nasty and mean attitude it's really unbecoming . While I was there today a classmate had to leave and only tipped 3$ on a 10$ dish the bartender who was also our server came to us and told us she didn't tip and we said np we will cover her once we paid our bill, she then goes and tell another customer a red neck yt man what's happening and he became very aggressive to us. Shouting across the room telling us he will cover our tip because we are too cheap to tip. All the time we still were eating and actually did not pay our bill yet. I pulled the waitress to the side and ask her what's the matter because now I was getting scared and she pretended she didn't know what was happening . I said he's screaming across the room how can you not see what's happening . Long story short Emma's needs to get rid of this woman if they want to keep the business of the HCCC student body . And btw we tipped 60$ on a 147$ bill and all she said was mhm thanks and walked away. Terrible customer service twice now NEVER AGAIN
Sam Z
Cindy the bartender deserves a raise,! She is the life of the party! A gorgeous young lady who treats her customers like friends. It is nice to see a young woman so dedicated and going the extra mile to make us feel valued! The food served here is also really tasty.
Night quiet cave with good breakfast and well made drinks, great going into or out of Journal Square. We go back any time we are feeling like pancakes, French Toast (My favorite) or just want a nice sit down meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
I hate to break it to everyone, but going by the "Retail Space For Lease" sign posted at the entrance, Emma's looks like it is closed for good.It's kind of sad to see a relatively new restaurant in the Journal Square neighborhood last just under 2 years. However, the prices were kind of jacked up for a simple American diner.I believe they were betting on tenants from all the new luxury apartments nearby to come and they didn't.I'm crossing my fingers for some more modern restaurants and or fancy bars to come back to the area, but I won't hold my breath.
Service: 4
The food was AWESOME!!! all the brunch options are delicious- i don’t think you could pick the wrong thing! Was busy on a Saturday (and i get it!) so the service was not lightening fast- but that is a-OK for me, as this is not an IHOP/Denny’s, and it gives you more time to sit down and relax and chat with your table! My brother had a few of their cocktails and they were delicious! Will be returning!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nothing special here. We didn’t have high expectations as we entered the place and that’s pretty much what we got - the experience and the food were mediocre! Ordered buffalo wings and a caesar salad.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
If you are going for a drink, don’t. They will make you wait for over 30 minutes while the pony tailed bartender makes smalltalk with everyone around the bar, before he thinks it’s time to fix you a drink… Lovely server though, nothing she could do about it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
While I did have many things to say. The youth of America is neither corrupt nor corruptible, it’s basically indifferent. Through non political conversation and daring. ii try to change things and bring a magic garden in the transformation. I found one bartender extremely unforgiving and unchanging, for something else said someone said about him. He never lifted the curse and I was banned so be it.If you can’t handle your drinking when bad things happen in your life death of baby momma or death of childhood friends and loss of job. DONOT come here. If have a boring life and want some drinks and food please comeThe women bartenders are lovely.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Journal Square Burger, Brisket Sandwich, Crispy Fried Calamari
Not gonna lie, I first went to this place when it was called PJ Ryan's. They changed it to Emma and I had food here at once and it was a bit underwhelming.I went back today and the food was a lot better. They've always had pretty good bartenders and servers, and it's a great location right next to the trains. It'll probably only get better since the neighborhood is about to go crazy.I'll be back. Might become a regular if the food quality keeps up.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I was here last during the afternoon after a grueling work day at the J3 JSQ Tower. I've been coming here for 5 years on and off. I'm also an alumni from SPU/UMDNJ. What I heard and saw last night from them "students" who felt like they were being targeted by the gentleman at the bar is NOT true. I came in at around 2:30 p.m. i saw what was happening, and the conversation between two gentleman sitting at the bar. They were actually,(i counted), 50 feet away these "students", were seated, and while the two gentleman at the bar were talking about, life, traveling, work, and their current day this group of student felt that because one of the men talking was a bit loud that the conversation was about them or being directed towards them, which is NOT true! The bartender never spoke word about these students, and she was approached by three of these students before, and after one of the gentleman left. If you are this group reading this review I seriously have doubts on how you'll live threw life, considering, your finals is not a pass that gives you the right to complain. You may be stressed, but your NOT prepared for the working life yet. Your NOT important, but you'll soon learn when you get a job. No one will tolerate your grievances especially when you hear what you want and NOT what was said. You could all have approached him and said your piece BUT you didn't! How true is cowardice!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious food, great, helpful and very friendly service. A student from Brodway who was able to charm all the guests with her charm. Thank you ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
If you're looking for a quiet place to have dinner, take care. There may be live music or karaoke at Emma's.The food was really good, the service kind and efficient.The ambiance in the restaurant is calm and restful, as long as there is no live music.You should give it a try, you'll come back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I had both a dine in and a take out. The take out I got for my husband was bad. The lady that took our orders was a mess. Very uncouth and rude to everyone and the man with beards was very ready to fight people.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
The chocolate chip bread pudding here is out of this world. It's an excellent combination that is very well executed. The pastry chef here clearly knows what she/ he is doing. It has now become my go-to order
Mixed reviews because the food is good. Our server Colleen was super nice, I will say that. She tried her best as the only server at this time. There should be more servers for lunch. We had a reservation for 7 people at 1pm for our office holiday lunch. Once we arrived the busser sat us but the table was not ready. There were no cups or small plates out nor were there knives/forks. It took about 10 mins to get our menus. Once we ordered, we got our appetizers about 40 minutes later. It's now 1:52. Once the apps came, we still didn't have small plates or cutlery. We asked for cutlery and an extra straw, those took a while to come back. We expected a sense of urgency considering this is a business district and we are all on limited lunch breaks. Two people ordered soups and did not get them with the appetizers. Who wants soup w their entree? I also would have appreciated someone checking on us and seeing how we were doing and maybe apologize for the delay. Other tables who came after us are getting their food before us. It's now 2:23 and we have to be back at the office by 3. Our entrees are still not here. The artichoke dip is pretty good, mac and cheese is pretty good too. Wings were ok, the breading got a little soggy. Entrees arrived at 2:37. No manager on site.
Emma's is always the quick place to go and grab a bite and drinks after a crazy final BUT this is the second time I've gone to this location and had a terrible terrible time ! They have a bartender that works in the day shift Yt lady with long blond hair and everytime my classmates and I go there she always gives off such a nasty and mean attitude it's really unbecoming . While I was there today a classmate had to leave and only tipped 3$ on a 10$ dish the bartender who was also our server came to us and told us she didn't tip and we said np we will cover her once we paid our bill, she then goes and tell another customer a red neck yt man what's happening and he became very aggressive to us. Shouting across the room telling us he will cover our tip because we are too cheap to tip. All the time we still were eating and actually did not pay our bill yet. I pulled the waitress to the side and ask her what's the matter because now I was getting scared and she pretended she didn't know what was happening . I said he's screaming across the room how can you not see what's happening . Long story short Emma's needs to get rid of this woman if they want to keep the business of the HCCC student body . And btw we tipped 60$ on a 147$ bill and all she said was mhm thanks and walked away. Terrible customer service twice now NEVER AGAIN
Cindy the bartender deserves a raise,! She is the life of the party! A gorgeous young lady who treats her customers like friends. It is nice to see a young woman so dedicated and going the extra mile to make us feel valued! The food served here is also really tasty.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5