This place is absolutely fantastic…read more The octopus is some of the best I've ever had. So delicious. They got it crispy on the outside without overcooking the inside. The bread they bring you before meal was fresh out of the oven. I was like oh no. I don't want to fill up on this but it is amazing. Warm and fluffy and cut into fingers. We got a Cesar salad as a starter to share too. That was very good. For my meal I got the tuna steak medium rare. They cooked it perfectly. The orange sauce they put over it too was amazing. I don't know how to describe it. Some sort of tomato base. Which I wouldn't think of for tuna. Then I finished the night with a cappuccino. I was too full for desert but we weren't in a rush. That hit the spot. This was a business meeting and they moved us to a larger table to give us more space which was super cool of them. We got to sit in the tented area where it was easy to talk to one another without yelling.

Excellent date night restaurant or a nice lunch out…read more BYOB, nice dim lighting and a nicer atmosphere for a parents night out or something. Housemade pastas, perfectly cooked octopus, and great service. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE their sandwiches during lunch time, mostly because of their housemade focaccia bread. My fave is the mortadella. You can pick them up to go too.

Found this place for a birthday celebration. From outside we could not find the main entrance but…read moreonce inside we had a great experience from the service provided by Juan to the delicious food. We were a party of 8 and ordered from the family style menu (5 appetizers, salad, 2 pastas, 1 beef, 1 chicken, 1 fish, dessert). Everything was tasty especially the balsamic calamari and the anise mussels. We loved the 3 cheese gnocchi and the penne carbonara. There is a great selection to choose from. It was plentiful and we could not finish it all. Will definitely be back!

Okay, I'll be honest: this place needs a serious overhaul. Robert Irvine, please help them out! We…read morewaited at the hostess stand while three men rushed around, taking orders, bringing food, clearing tables, and resetting them. It was clear they were severely understaffed, and we were largely ignored until one of them finally said, "I will check on your table." The food was okay. The bread? Their stock answer was humorous after hearing it recites by all three servers: "It's in the oven" I guess practice makes perfect. Standard salad with balsamic, same as every mid pizza/food place I have been before. Red snapper special was way tough on the outside, like chewing leather that you never would really want to eat?! Best thing here was the pork chop, sweet spicy peppers, with onions yummy brown sauce, although the pork was a tad overdone. Overall, this place is a pass.

Don't let the location and building itself fool you, this is a classy Jersey Italian spot through…read moreand through. My aunt and uncle always rave about this place for family meals. Go for their Sunday morning pasta delays, a great reminder why living in New Jersey is top tier. We gotta try their larger area next door for our next family gathering

We had a nice experience on a Sunday evening. Parking lot behind makes it easy and service was…read morelovely. Around 7ish it started to get very packed, they can accommodate larger tables as well. I would recommend a resy. We tried a few salads and calamari. Very good. We then ordered mains- I had Chicken Francese and my husband the Ravioli with bolognese. He really liked it! We then shared the warm brownie and tiramisu. Overall a good experience!

This restaurant came highly recommended by a great friend, so when I was thinking of a place to…read moretake my amazing daughter for her birthday, this was my first choice and I'm happy to report it did not disappoint. Service was tied with the food for first place! Starting with the friendly and helpful hostess, every single employee offered a greeting and a smile. Our server was Elijah, he was wonderful! Warm, friendly and professional. He was attentive and perceptive. He didn't hover but anytime we needed he re-appeared. We were greeted by two out of the three managers, 10 out of 10. Now for the food! We ordered the rice balls, maple wings a Pepper pig pizza and for my cocktail I had the blue Hawaiian. Every thing was delicious hot and freshly made. The outside and inside are visually appealing. I would describe it as modern meets industrial with a nice dose or rustic, very nice.

Very excited about my visit here while staying in Woodbridge at the Residence Inn…read more Arrived just past happy hour (darn!) which ended at 5pm. Impressive discounts on food and beverages....next time! It wasn't busy so I was quickly seated. Fresh house made sourdough bread was delivered and delicious. The red sangria was a yummy blend and was a nice touch with my vegan pie. I ordered the pizza sans cheese and really enjoyed the eggplant, garlic, basil toppings. The house salad was a nice size and the fried onion topping added a flavorful crunch. I didn't care for the dressing though. Service was prompt and friendly, my water glass was never empty. Deducted a star as my cocktail, salad , and pizza all arrived at the same time which is a pet peeve. The server took the salad back but it was not refrigerated so she redelivery a room temp salad, blah. Sweet server just needs more training on timing. Or maybe that is the norm there. Next time, I will order 1 step at a time to avoid that issue. Private parking with an upper and lower area which was a bit confusing, will know for my next visit. Bread was so good that I purchased a loaf to bring home for my hubby in Atlanta!

Just had a great lunch to celebrate a friends birthday. The menu has new and old Italian items …read more The specials are also fun with new interpretations of classics. I enjoyed the baby lamb chops over white bean salad w/lemon vinaigrette after sharing calamari with a spicy mango sauce . My friends enjoyed the grouper and the lobster salad ; all were good sized portions cooked perfectly. We shared profiteroles and carrot cake and everyone was pleased . Service for a large group was attentive and restaurant allowed you to bring your own bottle so the final bill was more manageable . Parking is available out front.

03/30/2026 Came to gather with my wife, my sisters and…read morebrother in law. We'd had a birthday gathering at their Fresco restaurant and went home very full and happy. We were brought downstairs to a large room full of tables and were the only ones in there. We wondered if we'd insulted someone, or if one of us might be 'offensive', (no one was) but as it turns out, it was a 'Godsend'. We're all in our 70's and hearing/speaking can be challenging in a crowded/noisy dining room. We remained the only ones there for almost the entire 2 hours we were there and really enjoyed ourselves without having to yell or ask "WHAT!?" We shared a couple of salads (Greek and Arugula) and calamari, all very good. My wife had the seafood capellini and one sister the seafood fra diavolo, which they both enjoyed. My other sister had a seafood salad and my BIL went for the double cut pork chops, which he too enjoyed. I opted for the Halibut / risotto. Halibut is not an easy fish to make 'moist or juicy'. I make it at home and it comes out 'pretty good' (at least my wife says so) but here, this portion was fantastic! So light an flaky and tasty. Definitely give it a try if you enjoy Halibut. We all shared a couple of desserts... a home made carrot cake and a chocolate cake from 'outside'. Both good, but the carrot cake was served warm, which was a first for all of us... and it was terrific! Without a doubt the best carrot cake we'd ever had, so save a little room for their carrot cake if/when go. Our servers, Alyssa and Dagmar provided excellent service as well as some humorous dialogue while we were there. Made our meal just that much better!. Yes... it's a BYOB!

I was so excited to come here for a small Christmas party. There is a nice amount of parking in the…read moreback of the building and you are able to enter from there as well which is very convenient especially in the winter chill. The dining rooms have a nice amount of space so you don't feel cramped and on top of one another. Very traditional Italian restaurant in looks. There were a few challenges with getting a wrong dish and having an extra dessert on the bill. When the extra item was found on the bill there was a bit of a dispute and back and forth but they fixed it in the end. The wrong dish was a compromise on our party's part, one of our friends accepted the plate even though it was not what she ordered, there was no move to fix it on the restaurant's part. As far as the food, it was not my top Italian choice in the area, especially when factoring in price. I felt the food was not as flavorful as some of the competitors nearby, especially the appetizers.

Villa Gennaro is an excellent spot for dinner. It is a medium sized restaurant but can feel small…read more I enjoyed the somewhat open kitchen concept and the speedy service. I had the carbonara which was excellent and they gave a large portion. I want to try their pizza and their desserts next time. They have several cakes that you can order for dessert.

Everything we had was absolutely incredible. The service was incredible, the quality of the food…read morewas superior, and the ambience was welcoming and made us which we were in Italy. We will absolutely be coming back if we're in the area.

April 2025 Update: The original owner, Dario, has returned & the food is better than ever!…read more During my last visit, I swore I would never return after the experience with the new owners. But as soon as I heard that Dario was back, my entire family made it a point to stop by and see if the rumors were true. Thankfully they were, and the same amazing food we knew & fell in love with is back in Metuchen! Everything we had this time around was a complete 180 from the previous visit. My favorite pasta, the Fettucine Mare, (vodka sauce pasta with crab, scallops and shrimp) was back on the menu and oh how we have missed it!! Other favorites of the night were the bruschetta, shrimp fra diavolo, and salmon. It's amazing how different food can be when you have ownership that truly cares about the sourcing of ingredients. The seafood tasted fresher than ever, produce was of the highest quality. I could go on and on about how good this meal was, but you definitely need to try it yourself to understand. Five stars!

I got a grandma slice and a vodka slice. It was so good & I know good pizza. Service was good too…read more Definitely come here if ur in the area.

Francesco's is my family's go-to for an easy night in. When life is *lifin'* and we just need a…read morebreak from cooking, their food is always delicious. I especially love the chicken parm... it's five-finger-lickin' delicious! Ordering is easy peasy on their website, which recently got a great upgrade. Having food photos on the menu now is a huge plus. Definitely give them a try!

Such good food. I liked the baked ziti. Pizza looked good too. Mozzarella sticks were good…read more Everything is awesome. This is real jersey pizza with yumminess. If you are in Metuchen you should come here.

Sorry to say,I just got take out,and the meal tasted like perfume. The sauce was tasteless, except…read morefor the perfume and the spaghetti was overcooked.

Delicious! Went here…read morefor lunch and loved it. We started with a shareable Greek salad which was great and not too hard to share. Sometimes trying that with a salad can be complicated. I got the salmon burger. It was not breaded. The burger fell apart as you were eating it. That's how you know it was good. They didn't use a bunch of egg or breast to glue it together like some places do. The patty was all fish. Does make it a little harder to eat. It wasn't the best choice for a business meeting. It came which fried and I forgot to ask for no salt. However they really didn't taste salty. Seemed like they seasoned it with something else. Something green. It was very chill for lunch. Their seats are super comfortable. Everything is white. I was actually afraid of making a mess. I will be back for dinner.

Look at the comment from the owner. Stood true to his values. Commenting on the review of a person…read morewho is a regular restaurant reviewer and has traveled to 40+ countries. This restaurant will close soon. The owner is a sick character who doesn't want to hear anything negative about his restaurant. I ended up with a terrible stomach ache after eating uncooked, stale food. When I complained to him about the quality of food, he asked me to go to a hospital. Apparently he can't stand insult and anything against his restaurant. For your health's safety DON'T go there. I've been to several Greek restaurants and this place can easily win the worst restaurant award. The food was horrible. Left very bad after taste. We had ordered calamari for appetizer and cold spread. Calamari was partially cooked and charred for the other part. If you prefer lemonade, they get you a bottled lemon drink that's like a soda. Chicken soup was bland, no salt, no taste of any sort. For main course, swordfish was so hard and terrible to eat, it tasted like a bitter medicine. You can't have more than a bite or two and look at the price that you pay. Even the cold spread, just the bread was soft but the spread were tasteless and awful. Definitely avoid visiting if you don't want to get sick! The dessert was a disaster as well, bitter tasting dessert. Excess of cocoa powder used, hard ice cream that won't melt even after 15 min. When the server asked for feedback, I gave her the frank feedback and she left saying that it was just my taste. For two people, amount was $165 minus drinks. All the emphasis was on the decor!