This place is fairly new. We went there on a recommendation from a friend and we were looking to…read moretry something new. The owner greeted us and was extremely friendly and accommodating as we did not have reservations and all the tables were full. The food was excellent. We ordered Chicken Parm, pasta bolognese, and chicken Frances's over linguini. All 3 dishes were delicious and the portions were plentiful. The service was superb. The atmosphere was really nice despite the restaurant being on the smaller side, they managed to utilize the space in a very good way. I would recommend this place to anyone seeking really good traditional Italian and looking for something new.

We there for the first time and were pleasantly surprised. It's located in a strip mall in…read moreMarlboro, but once you walk in, you would not know the location. It is decorated like a NYC restaurant, very contemporary and bright. The owners Colleen and Joe Pisacreta were both very welcoming. The service was very professional and Ray did an excellent job explaining the specials to us. The busboy came around a few times to make sure we had everything we needed and Ray was on top of the clean silverware. We all started off with the house salad that comes with the main meal and warm bread. The salad was very fresh and cold. I ordered Shrimp Fra Diavolo over Linguine. My husband and another guest had Linguini with White Clam Sauce and other guests had Chicken and Veal Parmigiana. At the end of the meal, some of us had coffee, cappuccino and 2 desserts of Tartufo. The homemade cream served with the Tartufo was creamy and delicious. Being that we all came upon a recommendation of one of our friends, they came and gave us biscotti with their homemade cannoli filling. At the end of the meal, the owner/chef, Joe came to our table to say hello and chatted with us a bit. He wanted to make sure that we were happy with our meals and service.

Went to Clarizio's Italian Ristorante and I'm still thinking about this meal closing my eyes…read moretonight. I ordered the pork chop and I swear it melted in my mouth faster than my paycheck disappears on Amazon. Perfectly cooked, juicy, and seasoned so well I almost stood up and applauded in the middle of the restaurant. Then came dessert... the cannoli cake. Whoever invented that deserves their own national holiday. Out of this world doesn't even describe it. I took one bite and immediately started questioning every other dessert I've ever eaten in my life. The staff was awesome, the atmosphere was great, and honestly I'd probably fight a small bear for another slice of that cake.

This past Saturday night was my husband and my first time dining at this restaurant even though we…read moredo live locally. Many of our friends have recommended Clarizio's to us but every time we gave thought about coming it has been particularly difficult to get a reservation on a Saturday night. I was working late on Saturday, so I was unaware that my husband was able to make a reservation for 8:30PM. Reservations are not made through Open Table. Instead, Clarizio's website send you to another site called Resy to make a reservation. What was shocking and disappointing is that Clarizio's hold your credit card number to secure the reservation and if you don't show a $25 fee is charged. My husband was so worried that they were going to count us as a no show because we were running a little late. He even tried to call to inform them that we were running late, but no one answered the phone. Luckily, Clarizio's called us because we were about 10 min late to inquire our whereabouts and we had just turned into the restaurant parking lot. Upon arrival, the hostess took us to a table set for 2 in a crowded dining room with all other tables holding large parties. Although it was crowded it did not take away anything from our wonderful dining experience! Our waiter John P was extremely nice and helpful especially after he learned that it was our first time dining here. Unfortunately, I was unaware that it was BYOB because I was working and was unable to check the website. Our waiter John eased our minds by saying that it was okay and that we would have to rely on their food to make a good impression. That certainly was no disappointment! Our food was so terrific, that we cannot wait to return and taste so many other delicious sounding items on their menu. John also told us that unless we have huge appetites, their entree portions were large enough to share. We were glad to take John's suggestion and shared the Zuppa di Pesce which was plentiful of shellfish in a tomato broth over angel hair pasta. We have had this dish in many other Italian restaurants and this was one of the best! This entree also came with one salad and I asked for an extra salad for me since we were sharing the entree. Not to go unnoticed was the crunchy outside and soft inside delicious bread. For dessert, we shared the Tiramisu suggested by John as it was his personal favorite. It was so light and flavorful that we too could make it our personal favorite! All in all this was a fabulous dining experience and I highly recommend this restaurant! Next time though, I will remember to bring a bottle of wine.

Cozy, Warm and welcoming with outstanding, friendly service…read more Owners or other family are present and are authentically grateful for their customers business. They make you feel like visiting family for dinner. Freshly baked bread with olive oil for dipping starts your table. Appetizers are very good and very FRESH we enjoyed our house made Zucchini sticks and the Special Appetizer of Tripe Marinara. Dinner was a Double Cut Pork Chop Scarpiello and was cooked to perfection. Moist, flavorful roasted pork. Worth every penny! Cacio e Pepe was a perfect al dente proving even the simplest ingredients done right can elevate it. The biggest thing we noticed was how FRESH the ingredients were. The quality of the ingredients are also seen in their dishes. Ending with a Toffee Pudding (Housemade) rounded it out. Highly, Highly recommended this GEM of a restaurant!

The food was great, we sat outside(the only table) which was so nice as it was a beautiful night…read more The service was excellent, I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Via Sposito never disappoints! We go here all the time and the food is consistently great. This…read moretime we had the chicken parm in vodka sauce--absolutely delicious, perfectly cooked, and full of flavor. We also tried the American cheesecake for dessert, and it was the perfect sweet ending to the meal. The place is always packed, which says a lot about how good it is. You can walk in, but I'd definitely recommend calling ahead or making a reservation if you can. One of our favorite local spots--highly recommend!

What a cute lil place we found! My son is a wrestler and we had weigh ins down the street at the…read morehigh school so what better way to Celebrate him making weight than throwing down some amazing pasta! First off, the food! I had a shrimp dish that was amazing, the sauce it came with was perfect, shrimps grilled nicely, and the fresh pasta was on point! I was able to steal a slice of the margherita pie before it was devoured while my daughter wasn't looking and two thumbs up there - the crust was great with the sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil -5 just the right amount. The penne vodka was pretty good too. The location was cute as mentioned, part of a strip mall with parking. Staff was very friendly! If I am ever in the area again, I know where we're going...

Great date night!…read more My first time and my wife's second. She said we needed to go because the food was good, so we used our date night for me to try it and I'm glad we did. From the moment we walked in it was nothing but smiles from the staff. We arrived around 5:00, it got really crowded around 6:00, so ho before if you're going on a Saturday. Our waiter John was super and his support staff was amazing. Loved that they cleaned our tale after our appetizer and gave us new silverware. It's the small things that ca separate a restaurant from a 4 to a 5. The tuna crispy was really good. I had the chicken parm because that's my test of a restaurant and it was good, not great, but good. My wife had the salmon and it was excellent. We left room for the chocolate cake and it was worth leaving room for. This is a BYOB so that's a big attraction and a money saver. They do offer wines for sale, but I recommend bringing your own. It got a little noisy as it filled up with people, but it was the kind of noisy when people are having a good time so it was fine. On our way out we were asked by multiple staff if we enjoyed ourselves and I'll repeat our comment, it was great! Definitely go, make a reservation and get there early to avoid the crowds. We will be back!!

So my family took me to Sette for Mother's Day Dinner. We had 7:15 Reservations and were seated…read moreright near the door (there were 5 of us) at 7:30. I should've asked to be moved, but it would've been a long wait, so we stayed there. Not great. People standing in the small vestibule laughing and talking right near my son's arm. Not pleasant. We were greeted pretty quickly and she took our wine order. We asked for tap water as well. One of our sons ordered a mocktail. She came back with a different wine in the same price point and said what we ordered sold out. Ok. No big deal. My son's Mocktail was no where to be seen. Neither was the water. Someone brought over olive oil and salt and pepper. But we then sat there for 20 minutes with no bread and no water. The bread finally came and so did the water, but at this point I was a bit annoyed. Still no mocktail. She took our app orders. She bought two of the three. The third took another ten minutes. But the apps were really very good. She then took all of our orders. We asked about the mocktail. (They have really delicious ones) She said "oh my I forgot!" Left. Came back and said the ingredients were out and could he choose a different one. He did. When it finally showed up he tasted it. Awful! It tasted like pickles! They did take it off the bill, but our son ended up with water. Then our meals came. Both sons ordered Pastaa Carbonara. BOTH orders were runny and ice cold (Carbonara is creamy). We sent both dishes back. We asked for another bottle of the wine. That came right away. She picked up the empty bottle, but she saw someone flag her down and she left it on the table. The table was kinda crowded so this was not good either. Meanwhile the rest of us had our meals. They did make it completely fresh, and it was good when they finally got it. Took awhile for them to clear the table and then they took the empty wine bottle, but I had to ask them to. So we ordered coffee and desserts. I asked for cream and splenda. My coffee and dessert came, as did the others. No cream. No sugar or splenda. Waited. Kept waiting. Couldn't get anyone's attention. No one brought it. My husband got up and went to the back to ask for it. She apologized and brought it five minutes later. So I'm giving it 2 stars because the food was good (when it was fresh and hot), but the service not so much. I know it was Mother's Day, but shouldn't there have been more wait staff scheduled because of that? By the time we got dessert the restaurant was mostly empty. We should not have had to get up to ask for cream etc. We had been there in the past with friends, not on a holiday, and it was much better. But I was not really happy at all with the restaurant choice after this experience. I think they definitely over booked and without the staff to meet that need it fell very very short.

For my wife's birthday I surprised my wife and took her to one of her favorite restaurants in the…read morearea, La Cucina Nouveau, where they serve her favorite gnocchi. I called late morning(Saturday) and was able to get a reservation at 5pm. Upon entering we were greeted by two large birthday parties in progress; for a 100 year old woman and for a 75 year old woman. However, we were seated immediately and brought fresh crusty bread and spicy olives, and our wine was opened. Our waiter, Joe, told us the evening specials and gave us a chance to look at the menu. To my disappointment, no gnocchi amongst the regular and specials. We decided upon entrees and when Joe returned I mentioned my and my wife's disappointment at the absence of gnocchi. Joe excused himself and went into the kitchen returning shortly. He said the chef would make us an order of gnocchi even though it was not on the menu. He said the chef would prepare it any way we wanted; this in a jam packed Saturday night restaurant. Now that's service! We told him to surprise us with chef's choice and we would share the order as an appetizer. When he returned it was with a large platter of gnocchi with small potato cubes, and sweet acorn squash in a savory, slightly tomatoey, cream sauce. Each item perfectly cooked with al dente precision. Our grilled shrimp and frenched pork chop entrees also perfectly cooked. Joe also brought out complimentary Ice cream and candle to accompany our cappuccino and espresso. We both found it to be a great dinner! Thank you Joe and thank you chef!

We hadn't been back to LCN in a bit and figured it would be a good spot to meet for a cousin's…read moredinner. We had a 6:30 Saturday reservation and it served no purpose. We waited 45 minutes in a crowded vestibule along with others who also had to wait up to an hour. This did not go over well for our party of six. On to the food and service. Appetizers Burrata & prosciutto Beet salad Octopus Seared artichokes Crab cake- lots of filler, not the best Entrees NY strip steak Snapper over risotto Berkshire pork chop Rigatoni Bolognese Branzino Dessert Flourless chocolate cake w gelato- very good Blueberry tart Apple tart Blueberry lemon pound cake Only the chocolate cake was a stand out. The others fell short. The food and service are very good. In defense of the server, she did send fried zucchini on the house for our wait and it was appreciated. However, based on other reviews and our experience, I will return-but it won't be on a weekend night and be subjected to that kind of wait again. Cramming a restaurant and not honouring reservations eventually gets old.

Not my " vibe." It's tight inside. It's loud. Not comfortable…read more The food, ehh. Lot and lots of heavy cheese on everything. And the steak salty, fatty, gamey. They are not accommodating to the customer. The prices are ridiculous. Over rated to say the least.

What do you get when you put a Dunkin, a nail salon, an engineering consultant, and a NYC-vibe…read morerestaurant into a suburban strip mall? I can't speak for the first three. But the last one? One hell of a restaurant. By all accounts, a seasonally driven, high-end Italian spot taking 11pm reservations on a Saturday shouldn't exist, let alone thrive, off Route 33. But La Lupa defies the odds and delivers a full-on sucker punch to your taste buds. After finally landing a birthday reservation, my wife and I grabbed a great bottle (thank G-d for BYOB) and made the trip to a place everyone we know has been hyping. Even though our table wasn't ready, La Lupa made an immediate impression: warm welcome, offered to pour our wine while we waited, easy conversation, genuine interest. It set the tone for what might be the best hospitality I've ever experienced. Once seated at the chef's counter, our server walked us through the menu and delivered the specials with as much detail and passion as a thespian recites Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be". Here's how the meal shook out: Market Crudo (Salmon) - Not traditionally Italian, but the fatty salmon with yuzu and soy was bright, balanced, and a perfect opener. Roman Gnocchi -Heavenly. Full Stop. If Helen's face could launch 1000 ships, this single dish would send the rest of the Greek army to battle. A gnocchi made without potatoes and the perfect elevation of what originally was a peasant dish into something sublime and worthy of a James Beard award. The umami from the mushrooms and brown butter combined with the soft pillowy texture of the semolina dumpling is exquisite and I already know will be one of the best bites I will have all year and its' only April. Tonelli - Leek-forward to a fault. After the gnocchi, this fell flat. The concept is there, but the pasta skewed undercooked and the dish needed something to tie it together. Skirt Steak - A Snake River Farm piece of meat grilled over a binchotan grill...don't mind if I do. Cooked to a perfect medium rare, the chef was able to respect the protein and highlight the beautiful marbling that makes this cut so yumcious. Brussels Sprouts - Not officially a thing (yet), but these should be called Italian Kung Pao sprouts. Hazelnuts for crunch, agrodolce for sweet tang, perfectly cooked. It works. Cacio e Pepe Potatoes - Crisp at dinner but needed more sauce. Reheated, they softened but the flavor came through more. Jury's still out. Was every dish flawless? No. It ranged from good to exceptional. But the service? Bar none, one of the best I've ever had. They've nailed a rare balance: food that could hold its own in a stuffy, pretentious dining room, paired with service that feels like your favorite neighborhood bar. I dropped a napkin--before I could react, it was replaced. Wine was decanted and poured without asking. The staff matched my energy, diving as deep into food talk as I wanted, clearly as excited as we were. If the T-Birds from Grease went into hospitality, this is what it would look like. You can't fake that kind of passion. Most places you try once and return for the service. At La Lupa, you come back for both. We already booked our return visit for our anniversary.

The restaurant was very beautiful & well decorated. Make…read moresure you make a reservation to eat here. The service was excellent, our waiter, Brandon, was very helpful. The food was delicious & so much food to eat. We ordered fried Calamari, fried zucchini & stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. We ordered 2 salads, Nonna's salad & Caesar salad. Main dishes was rigatoni with vodka sauce, pasta with oil & garlic, salmon, fruiti di mare& chicken Marsala. Then we got coffee with different deserts:

I believe we came here on an off and busy night. We would certainly come back but our first…read moreexperience in a while was very drastically different. It was our anniversary and wanted to come to Nonna's for a nice American Italian meal. We have been traveling abroad during the holidays and truly just wanted an amazing dish of rigatoni! The hostess was very sweet and our waiters were very personable in the beginning. You can tell they are very kind people at heart. I felt like because a lot of other larger parties were there and because of this, we felt forgotten. For a special occasion, not ideal. We weren't asked if we wanted another glass of wine and waters were not refilled throughout the dining experience. I felt like for a long period of time both of the two waiters we had didn't come back, so we asked a female bus person if we could take our food to go. She gave us one aluminum pan to go, no bag - we had two entrees with leftovers. The beginning was a wonderful start and our waiter did check in to see if we needed anything. We started with bread, oil. The tiramisu was a pretty presentation but more mascarpone than a tiramisu filling - if you aren't a huge fan of tiramisu, I believe you will like this. I received a mug of cappuccino that was more like a latte. I've never experienced when glasses are empty, a server not coming over to refill water or ask if you'd like another beverage. During our meal, it would have been nice to have a glass of wine. When our entrees came, I felt that the food was room temperature. Both pastas were good but definitely way past al dente. We had the chicken Parmesan with spaghetti and the eggplant rollatini - each came with spaghetti and rigatoni. The spaghetti was thrown onto the plate with the chicken Parmesan. Pastas have always came in a separate bowl. Everything felt really rushed aesthetically. The bathroom had paper all of the floor and the water coming from women's bathroom only had cold water. The weather was 29 degrees today and for a finer dining experience, it would be nice to have warm running water. The men's restroom was the same. The restaurant does have valet parking that is basically insisted on when you arrive. When we came out, heaters were available but not turned on while we waited for our car. I felt this was very strange. Both valet men sitting in their car. Felt like a bit of a missed experience but again, the food was good but room for improvement.

Chicken sorrentino was fork tender. Veal Milanese was…read moreexcellent. Service was great. Waitress was very attentive on point with water

I was so excited to try this restaurant! When I arrived I parked in their lot. I walked in and was…read moregreeted. The place was nice! Gabby was our server, and she was awesome! We ordered a few dishes, and they were: fritto misto Mozzarella spiedini bianca stuffed meatball spaghetti al forno seabass cappuccino mouse NY cheesecake The food was delicious! My favorite definitely was the meatball! The risotto was a little hard, but the seabass mad up for it! It was a good experience!

So my wife and I have eaten here for a number of different events so we decided it would be the…read moreperfect place to host our 1 year old daughter's birthday party. This place is fantastic. I wish I remembered our hostess name but she was the best. She ensured all the food came out in a timely matter, any request we had she was on top of it. Truly exceptional service. As far as the food and their party package it's an amazing value. People drank and definitely left full, which all you could ask for. Highly recommend!

Meeting a friend for lunch, we decided upon this posh restaurant in the Holmdel center, where the…read moreanchor stores are Best Buy, Ulta, and Turning Point. Upon entering, we were told it was recently renovated. Being that I didn't know what it looked like before the renovation, this place looks very upscale. We were given two sets of menus. One was their regular menu, which is good for both lunch and dinner. The other menu had the lunch sandwich menu. The waitress indicated that the sandwiches come in two different types of bread: focaccia and Italian. I was not very hungry, so I ordered the Parma with focaccia bread, as my friend ordered the Cheese steak on Italian bread. We were then given a bread basket with whipped butter. My friend stated the bread was fresh and good, but she was hoping for the olive oil. Shortly after placing our orders, our sandwiches arrived. I was a little surprised as my Parma appeared more like flatbread than the thicker, fluffier focaccia I had expected. I didn't want to make a fuss in front of my friend, so I simply ate it. The sandwich was tasty, but I wished it had been warmed, as that would have better married the flavors and elevated the overall experience. My friend's cheese steak was huge, as the skirt steak was plentiful, and the cheese leaked out a bit, making it look remarkable. I inquired how it tasted, and she stated it was good. She just wished it had a bit more onions to break up the taste of the meat. We each ordered a cappuccino, and that was truly the highlight of the meal. The 6-ounce cappuccino came with 4 small biscotti, which paired well with the beverage. Neither of us used any sugar, and the cappuccino was excellent. The ratio between the espresso, steamed milk, and milk foam was perfectly rich in both taste and texture. I can't stop raving about it. Service was very good, and the food was enjoyable. The ambiance was chic. My rating is 3 1/2 stars, though I have rounded it up to 4 stars.