Proving Ground Waterfront Dining

Really nice atmosphere...Food and service was great!

Went for restaurant week. Good food and ambiance. Loved the beer selection.

My food was good, my husbands was as well. Service was slow and we had a 1/2 hr wait to pay. I will try it again but if you are in a rush don't do it.

Great atmosphere, nice menu options and attentive service. Very nice experience!

The brunch was very disappointing. I ordered the toad in the hole was pretty sad and had zero flavor.

This was a second visit to the Proving Ground for dinner following an initial visit for drinks and appetizers in the afternoon. Given that we very much enjoyed our first visit during the lunch service, we looked forward to dinner, assuming that the menu would be enhanced for dinner service. Unfortunately, it really wasn't. While there were the usual crabcakes and filet options, nothing really stood out that made us want to order from that side of the menu, so we stayed with appetizers, salads and sandwiches. All were food to very good (try the pretzel with beer cheese and mustard), but I guess we went in expecting more for dinner. We had a terrific table near the window and a very energetic, pleasant and helpful server, but she could not control the kitchen on a very busy night and our second courses came out while we were barely halfway through the first. Not good. The topper to a not so good visit though, was the Octoberfest band playing in the next room over. They were so loud that we could not hear each other at our table and ended up moving outside at the end of our meal. Others were leaving the room where they were playing and requesting other tables for the same reason. All in all: beautiful location on the water, very good drinks, need more creativity on the menu and, while the place had great and fun energy, need to consider noise level. Will certainly go back; just maybe not for dinner.

Beautiful setting on the waterfront. Excellent service and food.

First time here. Definitely will eat here again. Food was good. View was great.

With all my complaints I would run out of space . The only good thing was our Server Dan. Aka Sushi guy. He was called in to do serving and he was the best , he is an asset to that restaurant. So as I have learned previously the new owner doesn’t care about customers he just wants you in and out . To bad it was sold from Windansea, so much of a better place

This is a local place that I have frequented since they opened, and normally I would not make a reservation, but since I had family in town I did so we would not have to wait when we got off the ferry from a day trip to NYC.
They have done a terrific job in creating an environment that not only has great food, but great entertainment. It can get loud with the music when you are outside, or loud inside if there are big parties, however, it's not a negative unless what you're after is a romantic experience in which case you might want to just go earlier when it's more quiet.
In terms of the food, I had the chicken parmigiana and it was sublime. The pasta was not just cooked perfectly but had flavor to it. I would rank this in my top three of all time for this dish, that is how good it is. The rest of the dining party loved their food as well. The peach sangria was excellent, I will have it again next time.

My negatives. The server must have been at the end of a long day because he never asked us if we wanted a drink before he asked "are you ready to order". I understand at diners where you are there just to eat that this is what's expected, but at a full service restaurant with a bar, it's supposed to be the first thing you ask when people are seated. He came over promptly to make sure we had water in the glass but didn't take that opportunity to ask us about a drink. When he returned a few minutes later he only asked if we were ready to order and then I had to ask him if we could get a drink first. The other was that the entrees came out before anyone came to the table to clear our appetizers. If the plate from my appetizer is still in front of me when you're prepared to put my dinner plate down and there's no room to move it, does it go on the floor? The server could have taken away the plates even if that wasn't his job.

I will definitely be back and I highly recommend this place. Hopefully the negatives are worked out as those can be addressed.

Disappointed with the front hostess. It was a really nice night - a Tuesday and the place was busy but not packed (back to school week) - arrived and asked about outdoor seating and was told 35 minute wait. I could see from the upstairs that there were open tables so I went back downstairs to re-request. Nope. "just sat someone there" - would not go out and check the other tables to actually SEE what was happening - just a "nope" - no effort. So we sat upstairs watching at least 4 open outdoor tables for the next 40 minutes. No effort to say "hey something opened up" - really spoiled what could have been a great experience and excellent customer service. Like they didn't care. On the positive side our waitress Desiree was great.

Our server was excellent and the food and drinks were equally good! Beautiful views of the waterfront.

We had the perfect perch to enjoy an early dinner on a cool, crisp Summer Saturday. We truly enjoyed our dinner from start to finish...steamers, oysters, lobster bisque (as it was a little chilly by the water), fish tacos and homemade soft pretzels with crab dip. Our waitress Tara was sweet and attentive adding to our lovely evening. We will be back for more very soon.

The server was nice but overwhelmed. Busy. My husbands burger was missing it’s bacon. My brew burger had a stale bun - not the pretzel bun that the other 2 people at my table got.

I had heard about this place through my family. Since we were celebrating a birthday we figured to try it. The service was very good; especially when it came to my meal. I ordered a chicken parmigiana, a typical meal that I order when going out. For some reason, this one was unexpectedly spicy. I had my father try some, to make sure it wasn’t just me. He also tasted something spicy and said it was most likely in the sauce. When I brought it to the waitresss’ attention she immediately went and asked the chef about it. They said that there shouldn’t be anything to make it spicy like it was. They offered to bring me a new meal if I wanted. The manager also discounted the meal since I didn’t even eat it; which was great customer service. Overall, the Proving Ground was a nice place to eat with a nice view of the sunset over Sandy Hook .

Great atmosphere excellent service

The waitress was wonderful and friendly. The view was beautiful and the food was on point

Our first time. Pleasantly surprised. Had the stuffed flounder--really good.

Love both indoor and outdoor experiences

Place is beautiful, food was great. We ordered the lobster bisque, 4 of each type of oyster offered, my husband got the tuna and I got seafood risotto. We enjoyed all items. My one small, minor note that I thought was odd is that we weren’t offered ground pepper or grated cheese as I feel most places do, but like I said minor! Would return.

I love everything about Proving Ground. I just wish the menu offered more options for this that don’t eat seafood.

From reception downstairs to getting seated and served, the staff made you feeled welcome. Our server was the right mix and we enjoyed having her. Food exceeded our expectations. The renovation truly has made it a place you can enjoy dining or hanging around the ground level. We’ll be coming back.

Great for a summer evening. Even on a Monday they had live music until 10! Could have used some table lighting but overall it was great, food and service.

Food arrived 75 minutes after we ordered. The explanation: our kitchen is too small.

Burgers, appetizers and service were all great. Great job on the renovations and cannot wait for football season to make this our Sunday home.

Great food, good value. Nice find.

Great place—very accommodating too! Only complaint is the chairs are very difficult to move —the rubber pads STICK to the floor.

Sunday Brunch outside.... just perfect! Staff was more than accommodating.... even shading our table with three umbrellas. Gorgeous spot!

Great food and service-lovely evening by the water.

Wonderful atmosphere, nice view. Food was good as expected.

Great service, food and ambience. Back 3 times since in a month!

This is really a bar with a view. Bar food. We waited over 30 mins for a burger and seared tuna with sesame noodles. When they finally came, the kitchen got the order wrong and both dishes looked so unappealing we decided we couldn’t eat either one. They comp’d our drinks and we left. There was a large bridal shower on one side, but that’s no reason for such shoddy food and service. Uggghhh.

The view is beautiful! Our server, Christian, was very attentive. Everyone enjoyed the food, especially the pan seared crab cakes.

Excellent food and drink specials at the happy hour time frame

Great seafood! Service was very attentive. And you just can’t beat that view!

The food was amazing. All the happy hour dishes were superb. The drinks were delicious and refreshing. I think we had everything on the menu. Best Lobster Mac n Cheese. I don't usually order it out at restaurants but heard it was a must try and it was amazing. Great waterfront dining.
We just were waiting for the live music but they didn't start on time and we had to go.

Service very slow. Food mediocre

Mediocre food music was very loud for 11 am
Nothing was special except the view
There was no personality or character

Great view! Service was very good. The server kept checking on us. I went on a Sunday for breakfast. I don't eat eggs so I ordered a grilled cheese with bacon and home fries which came from the kids menu. I would go for dinner next time.

Good food, ambiance and crowd. This is not my first time dining, having cocktails and enjoying the band here but I brought friends this time and they loved it as well.