Cardinal Bistro

Delicious farm to table fresh food with interesting flavor and combinations of vegetables and sauces. Highly recommend the restaurant. Wait staff friendly and knowledgeable about dishes.

Chef Michael sure knows what he’s doing! Went for brunch, had eggs Benedict with bacon and my wife had eggs Benedict with crab. Everything was fresh, hot, and very tasteful. Service was outstanding, we were treated like we were family.Great job Cardinal Bistro!

Food was delicious. High quality and creative menu. Now one of our favorites.

The owner was friendly as well as the staff! The dishes were creative with excellent results!

Chef Brennan never fails to present beautifully prepared, fresh and tasty food. Highly recommended.

Really special byob bistro. The chef is extremely talented and creative. Menu is relatively small which is comforting, respected and desirable in a smaller establishment. Highly recommend the excellent value of the tasting menus:Farm,Sea and Vegetarian. Service was friendly and attentive, the owner is personable. The owners Dad and Chef are also very community oriented and seem to be leaders in local social giving with other thoughtful restauranteurs.

Absolutely wonderful food and lovely service

I was dying to try the restaurant all summer, but didn’t make it until the late fall. I’m happy to have come at a time when the shore scene was more quiet because it allowed us to enjoy the ambiance and have a personalized experience with the staff. The food was impeccable, every dish was a work of art and it was clear that the chef has been classically trained. The menu was elegant and every bite was delicious. The highlights were the Halibut and the Give me Liberty is a must try dessert for chocolate lovers. BYOB was a definite plus and I felt that all of the prices were reasonable for the quality provided. Can’t wait to return again later this year when the town is still quiet.

We can’t say enough good things about our experience at cardinal bistro, the restaurant itself is beautiful and clean, the food was not only delicious but insanely creative and the service blew us away, Quay and Greyson were friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely accommodating (I have a dairy allergy), they truly made for an unforgettable experience. The owner Tom also went out of his way to make every aspect of the meal as perfect as we could imagine we will 100% be going back again and highly highly recommend it!

My sister and her husband were in town from Richland, Washington. I wanted to treat them to a wonderful experience with amazing food and Cardinal Bistro was my restaurant of choice. We had a 7 PM reservation and were graciously welcomed into the restaurant, shown to our seat, and Sage came by to introduce herself and explain the specials. We made our selections and my sister and her husband were totally focused on their choices and dug right in to enjoy themselves ! Throughout the meal, comments were, "This is the best dinner I've had here this week", "Delicious", "The Halibut is fantastic !" My brother-in-law ordered the pork chop and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw that size of the pork chop ! But, he managed to get every single morsel of meat off the bone with a big smile on his face.

Thank you, Michael, for a wonderful evening with my sister and brother-in-law. We don't see each other too often, and they are going home with a delicious memory of our night at Cardinal Bistro ! Adding to the most enjoyable evening, was the attentiveness of your father, checking on us to make sure we were enjoying our meals. Both your father and Sage complimented our experience at Cardinal Bistro !

Creative, well executed menu with attentive, friendly service! A favorite at the shore.

passion about food that goes for kitchen to wait staff. superb flavors and creative dishes

Food was good but very overpriced. Service was spotty

Every meal we have had at Cardinal Bistro has been outstanding. The food preparation is unique, with combinations of items and spices that always has me thinking that I could never make this meal at home. The pace of the meal and friendly professional service are also strengths of Cardinal Bistro. These are the reasons my wife and I always enjoy this restaurant.

Excellent! We booked this restaurant completely based on the reviews. We were on a friends weekend and we like to eat at BYOB spots which are rare in Atlantic City. Cardinal Bistro surpassed our expectations. This is a must try - the tasting menu . each course was a surprise and a delight. Only criticism is we wished they explained what was in the dish. This was very "TOP CHEF" artistic plating. This place is small and we were a bit rowdy after 4 bottles of wine. Great for date night, intimate occasion

This was our first time dining here.
The menu was presented with an extensive explanation of all the items!
All the servers were hands on and very pleasant we felt very cared for!
Now to the food ..... delicious
The brussels sprouts were cooked crispy
We also had foie gras that was outstanding
Seafood bouillabaisse and organic Chicken
We will be returning
Thanks for an exceptional meal

A great meal and service

An absolutely great surprise. Recommended by a friend. Would highly recommend to anyone. The food is creative and the sauuces are the best ever. The serrvice was extremely friendly and attentive
Cant wait to go back.

Fantastic service
Exciting menu
We had a business dinner for ten people .
The experience was unique and all of my clients loved it .
Thanks for a great night .

The best meal I've had in a very, very long time, with service to match. This restaurant would be quite successful even in a major foodie city (NY, SF, LA) and has a great brunch as well. It truly is a hidden gem amongst the beach-city restaurants in the immediate area.

I was looking forward to eating here for sometime. While it was good I was expecting something special. Ho-hum tomatoe soup, The Brussel sprouts were very good, as was the Bouillabaisse. My guests chicken and salads were nothing special.

We went after mixed reviews from friends and were quite disappointed. The apps came out quickly but the escargot had no taste. We waited for our main dishes and they came after the couple next to us who had been seated after us. The risotto with crab looked like a corn soup and the replacement gnocchi was not much better. Sorry, one and done.

Food was good but pricy. Escargot was tasteless. Presented nicely but just warmed escargot over a unique celery root cake. Sous vide filet mignon was done well. (NOT OVERCOOKED. Prepared perfectly.) Gem lettuce salad was romaine lettuce with a bland dressing.
Gnocchi app was very good, nicely sauced. Crab risotto had small shreds of crab, no jumbo lumps and was barely warm. Our waitress was helpful, knowledgeable, and overworked. A busy Friday and only one waitress and one busboy. I'll go back but I'll wait for the seasonal menu to change.

The food was exceptional... Small menu but you can't go wrong with the offering you have.

Wonderful, personable service and top-notch cuisine!

Amazing restaurant. Never ever disappoints!!! Extremely talented chef.

Amazing service and even better food. Will be back.

Always consistent, high-end selections. Sophisticated preparations, with beautiful presentations. One of the best at the shore and worth a special trip. Skip the casino restaurants and come here.

Absolutely wonderful! The food was delicious and the service excellent. We will become “regulars”!

Delicious, fresh, modern cuisine... enjoyed every bite...wanted to try everything on the menu...BYOB...better food than expensive casino restaurants just a short Uber ride away...Just do it!

Thoroughly enjoy a special evening
Every detail is taken care of by the entire staff
They really care about you
Food is absolutely delicious

excellent food and service. We were there on a humid night and they definitely needed more air and/or fans. Other than that, great dinner.

Great food!!

This was our first time at Cardinal. The service was excellent (shout out to Grayson). The menu is not extensive but it was easy to find options we both liked. We were wishing there were more fish choices. I had the halibut and it was very fresh and cooked perfectly. Great selection of appetizers. Their signature dish, Cioppino, was pricey at over $50 as was the venison special at $65. The rest of the entrees were in the $30-35 range. We would definitely go back. Nice meal.

This is the 3rd time I've been to Cardinal and still very impressed with the food and the service. They forgot to give us bread or popcorn while waiting for dinner. I don't care but my guests may have. No one is perfect but this place comes pretty darn close.

A bit pricey and not enough choices

My wife and I love this place and bring family and friends at every opportunity. Always special. Never disappoints.

We love to sit outside at this quaint and always delicious bistro. Food is always spectacular, and all of the staff is friendly and attentive.

I ordered lamb chops that cost $55.00
The chops had very little meat and were fatty. There was a small vegetable with it. Very overpriced and some of the worst chops I ever had. Very average restaurant

Overall, pretty good. Food, especially the Brussels sprouts app and the pork, was excellent. Service, though, rubbed us the wrong way. This sounds like sour grapes, but the owner was over-friendly and did not bother to “read” us (e.g. we wanted more alone time).