Cloverleaf Tavern

Cloverleaf TavernCloverleaf Tavern
Cloverleaf TavernCloverleaf Tavern
Bar, Eatery

395 Bloomfield Ave
Caldwell, New Jersey, 07006-4908
United States

(973) 226-9812 | map
cloverleaftavern.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.33
Reviews:
51
Ratings:
96
pDev:
9.93%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Alissa2579:
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Rated by Alissa2579 from New Jersey

5/5  rDev +15.5%

Oct 07, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by paulish from New York

Apr 20, 2020
 
Rated: 5 by Polska_Polska from New Jersey

Jul 20, 2019
 
Rated: 3.73 by Jsalz21 from New Jersey

Jan 21, 2018
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Rated by chamilton2392 from New Jersey

4.95/5  rDev +14.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
Must complete the Cloverleaf Tavern MBA (Master of Beer Appreciation) and PhD programs!
Dec 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4.79 by SebastianMandeville from New Jersey

Feb 20, 2017
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Rated by Bill312 from New Jersey

4.83/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.25
I am very lucky that this is my local go to. It would still be my spot if i had to travel
Jan 31, 2017
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Reviewed by MacMalt from New Jersey

4.23/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4
This is a classic bar and grill that has served craft beer before it became all the rage. It has a great atmosphere, serves good pub food, and always has a great selection of crafts on draught. Any bar that inspires a Carton Dubvariant has to be a special place!
Jun 04, 2016
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Reviewed by Guppy314 from District of Columbia

4.58/5  rDev +5.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4
For its wide variety of beers, the Cloverleaf Tavern is pretty much be best in the area. It is always busy. Attracts families, couples, singles, and hosts groups. We've gone for years. One fun thing they offer is the opportunity to earn your MBA degree (Master of Beer Appreciation). As you drink your way through the syllabus, you'll learn about all varieties of beer from around the world. OK, it's really just a "loyalty program", but a lot of my buddies love to talk about their MBAs and PhDs from the place ... it's fun.
May 14, 2016
 
Rated: 4.31 by Jsonta from New Jersey

May 09, 2016
 
Rated: 4.21 by Mikexw from New York

Apr 21, 2016
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Reviewed by BanditoJunkie from New Jersey

4.48/5  rDev +3.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
Service was outstanding, our waitress was very helpful in reference to our choices. Food was good, all of the staff were very courteous. Had a great night. Will definitely return...
Apr 17, 2016
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Reviewed by Rifugium from North Dakota

4.1/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25
Attended the Kane tap takeover. Basic old-school Irish pub vibe, very small bar area, with seats for maybe 10-12 people. Plenty of tables. I'm not sure what they normally keep on tap, but they seem to have a good capacity...there were 25 Kane taps for the event, and also fridges full of bottles. Service was good, especially considering how busy the event was. I managed to belly up to a bar seat, so I have no complaints. The food was good too. I had the Granny turkey sandwich, and everything else that I saw people getting looked really good. Prices were reasonable.

Really cool place overall. Way out of the way for me, so I wouldn't normally go there, but it was worth it for all the great stuff they had on for the Kane takeover.
Feb 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4.18 by kristan831 from New Jersey

Sep 05, 2015
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Reviewed by mikeburd1128 from New Jersey

3.54/5  rDev -18.2%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
Ok. Let's get the restaurant portion of the review out of the way first. They recently revamped their food menu, and the food seems good, but prices are a little out of whack. It's good food though. Service ranges from alright to pretty good. The vibe is alright - it's a pretty old bar so it has some character. However, it's such a mainstay in the town that it gets VERY busy at times. And the bar area is full of tables so it's not too much of a "bar" if you know what I mean - and they like it this way.

Now, onto the beer. First and foremost, the Leaf has these beer drinking programs where you get your MBA (Master of Beer Apprectiation) and your PHD (Professor of Hops and Drafts) by drinking off of a predetermined list for MBA and a seasonal list for the PHD. Why is this important to mention in a review, you might ask? Because these PHD beers clog up draft lines. The leaf has about 25 taps. 10 of these 25 NEVER change. Allagash White, 90 Minute, Guiness, Yuengling, Coors Lite, Boston Lager, Carton's 077-07006, Kane's Head High... Now I'm not complaining about always being able to drink these last two beers, but come on guys. 3 more taps are devoted to their PHD list which changes every 3 months. So 12 of the 25 taps are ALWAYS the same. Leaving 13 truly rotating taps. Ehhh. Average.

Now believe me, the Leaf gets every damn keg they want because they seem to dance whatever dance the distributor wants. They also have some pretty insane events, but on your average day, the Leaf is easily one of the most overrated beer bars on the planet. They could do sooo much better. And quite frankly, I think they're quickly getting passed by other bars in the North Jersey beer scene. They seem to survive primarily off of their reputation in the area as a restaurant.

Edit: Oh, and they use those thick bottomed faux pint glasses.
Aug 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.55 by markgugs from New Jersey

Aug 08, 2015
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Reviewed by inkman15 from New Jersey

4.9/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
My favorite beer bar. I'm here at least once a week because of their consistently excellent beer selection. The owner, Ryan, is genuinely passionate about beer and knows his patrons very well. Taps rotate daily and they are always getting the rarest beers in the area. If there's a weird release/variant that distributes to NJ, you can pretty much count on Cloverleaf having it.

Additionally, their MBA/PHD beer programs are an awesome way for people to get started with craft beer as you have to try 45 and 60 different beers, respectively, to graduate.

Food is always high quality - especially their weekly burger specials. Don't go in expecting gourmet - this is a pub - but you will always get fresh, homemade food and they have recently started introducing more eclectic menu items too.

If you're in the area, you can't go wrong here.
Aug 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.01 by MattDiGug

Jul 08, 2015
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Rated by jgido759 from New Jersey

4.55/5  rDev +5.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.5
First time there and enjoyed it very much. Wait staff and manager on duty were friendly and knowledgeable.
Jun 18, 2015
 
Rated: 4.01 by blassor from New Jersey

May 19, 2015
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Rated by njcraftguy from New Jersey

4.81/5  rDev +11.1%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 5 | food: 4.75
Excellent Tavern. Huge selection of craft beers that is always changing. Great food at fair prices. Fun crowd, good bartenders. Highly recommend.
May 18, 2015
 
Rated: 4.85 by chupacabrablanco from New Jersey

May 12, 2015
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Reviewed by J-Rye from New Jersey

4.65/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
Great place. They always have some incredible beers on tap that you wouldn't expect to find. Some examples have included Clown Shoes' Ride the Lion, Firestone Walker's Opal, Brooklyn Brewery's Collaboration beer Wild Horse Porter, etc. The burger of the week is always exceptional, and I mean exceptional. The atmosphere is a little bland, generally, but they've had a cigar roller come in and do his thing at the outdoor patio. I mean, really, how much more can you ask for. I recommend this place, even if you need to make a day trip.
Apr 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.76 by madmick104 from New Jersey

Apr 12, 2015
 
Rated: 4.75 by stepherrs09 from Florida

Apr 02, 2015
 
Rated: 4.48 by starshockey9 from New Jersey

Mar 31, 2015
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Rated by Sad_Larry from New Jersey

4.93/5  rDev +13.9%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
Excellent beer selection, great service, and pretty darn good food, too. One of my favorite spots!
Mar 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4.73 by johnpalisi from New Jersey

Mar 19, 2015
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Reviewed by dank203 from New Jersey

4.36/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
have been here a few times recently and can't wait to go back. great selection and service and good food. the only issue is having to wait to be seated, but the bar area is pretty efficient even at the busiest hours.
Feb 26, 2015
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Reviewed by Jacobier10 from New Jersey

4.48/5  rDev +3.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Went to Cloverleaf Tavern on a Thursday night with coworkers. It was my second time here, the first being about 5 years before. I found street parking right across the street (metered parking which runs til 6pm). We snagged a high-top table near the bar just before it started getting crowded. While not the largest you will ever see, the beer list is well curated and up to date, which I appreciate much more than having a copious amount of taps. Between 20-25 taps total, almost all American craft. They even have preset flights that rotate daily. I went with a Carton Orange Swisher first, followed by the "new beer" flight which consisted of a Founders Red's Rye IPA, Ramstein Imperial Pilsner, Stone Old Guardian Extra Hoppy, and Flying Fish Exit 3 Blueberry Braggot. Awesome! Our waitress was excellent, offering small tastes of any beer we wanted to try and even offered to replace one of the beers in any of preset flights if I didn't want one of them, which was very nice. The food was great as well. Betweent three of us, we ordered monterrey sticks, sliders, a black bean burger, and a salad. Everyone enjoyed what they had. Overall, this is one of, if not the best, beer bars in the area. They always get great stuff on tap and you're likely to find something there that you're not going to find anywhere else. Highly recommended!
Feb 24, 2015
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Reviewed by crenegar from New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -16.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
I've been visiting this place for about 15 years, well before it became a "good beer bar". Was in yesterday for a couple beers and a light bite. As is common these days, even in the supposed good beer bars it seems too often the selection is dictated by the distributors and so you see a lot of the same beers at many different establishments. Cloverleaf has a decent selection that is heavy on the craft beers with a couple imports sprinkled in (nothing from Germany though, which always boggles my mind). Also a little heavy on the IPAs and high gravity stuff which really limits my choices since I don't like IPAs and had to drive. 20 taps is plenty of selection I just wish they were better thought out and a little more diversified. With all the beers around the $6-$7 mark prices are a little on the high side, food was pretty good as usual. The place is definitely worth a stop if you're in the area but it doesn't crack the list of NJ's top beer bars.
Feb 17, 2015
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Reviewed by TheBrewo from New York

4.11/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
We had the opportunity to visit Cloverleaf Tavern twice in the recent past, both of which while visiting some good friends who reside in Montclair, New Jersey. Said friends, who are well aware of our penchant for good brews, had suggested this bar as a meeting place for us all to catch up at, while enjoying some new craft offerings. After researching Cloverleaf, we were excited to learn they had been rated the Northeast’s #1 beer bar the last two years in a row!!

After finding a parking space (parking is either on the street or in public lots), we approached Cloverleaf. The outside sports shaker shingles and a large green and white striped awning. A green and yellow sign uses old-timey font to clearly inform visitors that they are in the right place. Upon entering the establishment, we turned right, and were immediately greeted by a warm and welcoming bar area. The interior has an older tavern feel and is decorated almost entirely in a warm dark wood. Stained-glass chandeliers and recessed lighting create a cozy and glowing atmosphere. A large walnut bar sits against the right wall, and contains beautifully carved shelves filled with many top-shelf liquors. The seating space against the bar itself is large enough to accommodate at least twenty bar seats. The rest of the bar area is filled with a mixture of high top and regular tables, packed relatively close together. It’s a cozy atmosphere, which at times does feel a bit difficult to navigate because of the close proximity of the tables, but there is plenty of seating. We found seating during both visits without a wait; once at the bar and once at a table. On both occasions we stayed primarily in the bar area, however, there is a larger, more formal dining area wrapping towards the back of the restaurant.

The beer menu was perhaps on the smaller side when comparing to other beer bars we have been to. They had roughly twenty taps, and forty to fifty bottles and cans. This is to no detriment, however, as nearly every single tap is of immense quality and rarity. Offerings do vary in origin and style, but during both visits we were able to find something excellent, exciting, and new to us. In addition to supplying a terrific selection, it is a requirement that all members of the wait staff be certified cicerones, making nearly everyone you encounter knowledgeable and interesting to chat with. They are serious about customer “beerducation” as well, and offer a “beer MBA program”. The program is a free card on which approximately forty-five beers are listed. As you sample various selections from the card you earn “credits” toward your MBA. Forty-five credits earns your name on a plaque, free t-shirt, and a 20oz. pour for the price of 16oz. There are varying levels of degrees, ranging up to PhD. Once completed, they ring a large bell in the bar area, announcing your graduation loudly for all to admire. If you find yourself “studying” up an appetite, fairly standard bar food is available. We ordered the Monterey jack fried cheese sticks, sliders, and a chipotle black bean burger, and were satisfied with our selections.

Overall, this was a great find on a great recommendation!! We were able to relax and have some great beers in a warm, relatively quiet, and homey atmosphere, chat with knowledgeable staff, and enjoy some delicious bar food. I believe it is safe to say that this will become a regular meeting place for future trips to visit friends in New Jersey.
Feb 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Toasty from New Jersey

Dec 17, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by njcraft07 from New Jersey

Dec 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by ArkyVaughan from New Jersey

Dec 03, 2014
 
 
Rated: 3 by Antc2382 from New Jersey

Nov 20, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by JackNip from Delaware

Oct 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by Vivs85 from New York

Oct 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4.8 by rzanders

Oct 10, 2014
Cloverleaf Tavern in Caldwell, NJ
Place rating: 4.33 out of 5 with 96 ratings