The restaurant has a nice airy feel. Contemporary decor. I like the light fixtures. The food is delicious and comes out of the kitchen nicely timed. Our server even asked us if it was ok to start the dinners. Staff (including the General Manager) come around regularly to re-fill waters. Outside and bar seating available. read more

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Hello again everyone, back again with another review. This time me and momma dukes went to a restaurant I have wanted to try for a long time and everything was perfectly pretty damn good. Being that it was on a Thursday barely anybody was inside and that was fine with me. I seen they had a pear drink and it was great and I had 2 of them. By the way pears are my favorite fruit of all time. For appetizer we had to get the calamari and it was delicious. For dinner for me I had pork cheeks and it was so fucking food and buttery tender. It came on top of creamy polenta and they were delicious. For dessert I had I had to the pb&j cannolis. That's the name reason I wanted to try this restaurant. I plan on going back real soon for the same thing but try a dessert for research purposes. Peace out . read more

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With a show-stopping corner location on Jefferson Avenue in the heart of downtown Westwood, this establishment has been on my bucket list. The reservation was easily made with Resy. Upon arrival at Osteria Crescendo to celebrate my milestone birthday as first-timers, my partner and I were greeted by the staff. The space was split in two: one side is a bar, and the other is its pristine dining room filled with details such as white marble tabletops and glasses reminiscent of Italian craftsmanship. We were led to a table by the window with a wide range of music playing, evoking a vibe that was posh and modern yet still had its callbacks to the old country. Their menu adopts a more traditional Italian approach with antipasti, primi, secondi, per la tavola ("for the table," for sharing), and dolci. Sampling cocktails and nibbling from their bar menu takes us back to Venice, which, inspired by the Italian tradition of cicchetti (snacks), offered small plates, such as fried calamari and house-cured salumi, meant to be enjoyed with a glass of wine or a cocktail. As an appetizer to share, we opted for the Burrata. For our main meal, we decided on the Lancaster Amish Chicken and Spinach Girelle. We even saved some room for dessert and got their Apple Pie Sundae with vanilla gelato accompanied by a lit candle. Complimentary bread with oil started our meal. The food was delicious, presented well, and generous portions from a well-thought-out menu with a complete balance of flavors. Not only were the noodles freshly made in-house, but they're also perfectly cooked, wonderfully firm to the bite. The entire staff was exceptionally friendly and attentive, especially our server Chanelle, who made the experience even better. We can recommend it to anyone looking for a memorable meal! read more

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I made a 7:45 reservation for 2 at Osteria Crescendo to celebrate 6 months with my girlfriend. Booking the reservation was smooth through Resy. We lucked out getting parking so we were able to show up about 10 minutes early and we were still seated right away. The place has a bright and modern look to it. Service was very friendly and attentive. To start we both ordered drinks and they came out fairly quickly. At $17 each I would probably skip them next time. I'm not much of a drinker anyway. For appetizers we settled on the burrata ($22) and calamari ($18). Both tasted good but the portions were pretty small. The calamari was fried well, not too crunchy but not underdone either. And I really enjoyed the lemon butter it was served with. The burrata on the other hand was just ok. I LOVE burrata, but the carrots, pecans, and raisins didn't really add much for me. It did not taste bad by any means, but I kind of felt like I had burrata surrounded by baby food. For $22, it was a bit of a let down. For the entrees we ordered Paradiso Ravioli ($26), Berkshire Pork Chop ($44), and Wagyu Short Rib ($69). All of the entrees tasted great but for the price, I was expecting to be a little more 'wow'-ed and I wasn't. The ravioli admittedly was pretty different from any ravioli I've had before and I really liked it. It had subtle hits of lemon in it that somehow just worked with the cheese and everything else. You get 7 ravioli pieces and I just wish there were more. The two meat entrees were good, but they didn't feel too special. The short rib was really tender and flavorful, but I don't think it benefited much from being Wagyu. I imagine it'd be 95% as good if they used good beef in lieu of Wagyu. The pork chop was my least favorite of the entrees but it was still good. It was a really good pork chop, but reading the ingredients I thought I'd get more of the flavors. I definitely tasted the honey glaze but I wasn't getting too much of the alleged lemon vinaigrette flavor. The menu also lists "zabaglione" as an ingredient which I assume refers to the sauce it was in. The sauce was kind of bland to be honest and it didn't add too much for me. If the prices were a little cheaper this would probably be a 4-star review for me. It felt like upscale dining in NYC but you're in the heart of Westwood, NJ. I'm not rushing to go back but I did enjoy the food so perhaps if I'm looking to splurge I'd return. read more

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I have found a delightful gem in Westwood and enjoyed a memorable meal. The restaurant has a two hour time limit parking lot a few steps away and beautiful outdoor seating. Every single aspect of this meal was extraordinary. Chanelle, our Server, gave outstanding recommendations and I had most of my meal trusting those great choices. We started with two well crafted drinks that we've never had before: Avo-Colada (rum, coconut, pineapple, avocado, chartreuse). I cannot give enough kudos to this drink. It was sweet, smooth, and had a hint of creamy. Please, order this and enjoy. The other drink was Amoxicillin (tequila, ginger, agave, limone). This drink came with a syringe, which had additional liquor...a great touch and the drink was just a good as the genius, that named this drink. We started with the Strawberry Insalata (arugula, poppy seed vinaigrette, walnut brittle, ricotta salata). Every ingredient of this salad was so refreshing, deliciously combined bitter and sweet, and is the perfect appetizer. The exquisite entrees were: Pork Mezzaluna (charred corn, scallions, red onion marmalade). This was another Chanelle recommendation and it was fabulous. I enjoyed the sweetness of the red onion marmalade and the textures of the half-moon ravioli, shredded pork, and creaminess of the corn. The next entree was the Paradiso Ravioli (formaggio, Sicilian oregano, un filo d'olio Calabria, liomne). This dish was creamy, cheesy, and the sauce was delectable. The third entree was the Lancaster Amish Chicken (primavera alla bosco, onion crema, fregola, porcini). This chicken had A LOT of meat and was beyond juicy. There was sufficient sauce for every forkful and all three of these entrees are highly recommended. The dessert and coffee were just as enjoyable as the rest of the meal. I had the Fior Di Latte Panna Cotta (peaches, amaretti, honeycomb). I loved how the amaretti crumble complemented each bite of the Panna Cotta. The Espresso topped off the meal with complete satisfaction and a desire to relive what I just experienced. read more

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As we were just driving around lookin' for a place to eat, coming from a wake and somehow we managed to 'sneak' in at 5pm (last table) for dinner. Now we love all of Robbie Felice's restaurants, so when we finally thought of OC, it was a no brainer. Food is (as always) just the best. We started with the Gnudi (amazing) shared a perfectly done (m/r) porterhouse steak with potato and brussel sprout fritti. Oh, and also a side of creamy/cheesy polenta. The service (thank you Devin) was fantastic and engaging. We still had a little Chianti Classico left, so decided to have something chocolate to pair with it and had the Olive oil cake, which also was amazing. We live 'right around the corner' from Viaggio, so we're going to have to make an effort to come by here more often, even though it is not a BYO. :-( read more

Osteria Crescendo - Olive oil cake - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

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This is tough review because its taste vs quantity vs service: Taste: all meals & drinks had exciting flavors, definitely left you with the feeling of wanting more. Appetizers: oysters are must, nice lime flavor, but not really shareable, calamari, shareable btwn 2, maybe 3., clams definitely shareable btwn 3, maybe 4. Octopus, sadly the size brought the scores down to this review, ive had longer or thicker tentacles at less expensive restaurants, BUT taste was awesome. NY steak with crispy potatoes worth it, and if your partner gets the Ravioli, it also goes well with the steak. Drinks: good flavors but some drinks were in these small cute glasses. Service: very nice ppl, no one was rude. For group of 8, we felt welcomed. Would luv to give 3.5/5 Definitely would go 2nd time and hopefully bump up to 4. read more

Osteria Crescendo - Drinks - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

We came to Osteria Crescendo on a Friday night as a party of 4. The restaurant is on a street corner and offers bay windows along two sides of the location as well as gorgeous lighting fixtures and a modern bar. The Chef is Felix Gonzalez & he stunned us with every dish he prepared for us. As the food was brought out, the amazing scents coming off all of the plates made me so excited to try all the food! My favorites of the night were the charred corn pizza, the potato croquettes, the rigatoni & the affogato was delicious with the caramel gelato! Couldn't have ended the meal off on a better note! Great place for a date night or a nice celebration like an anniversary or birthday, as the pricing is a bit on the higher end - but definitely worth it! read more

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Came here on a Saturday night at 5 o'clock. It was pretty empty when we arrived but quickly got filled up. There was metered street parking around the area. The food was pretty good overall. The cocktails were great. I really enjoyed the paradise. Ravioli calamari was really good also. My husband enjoyed his tomahawk steak all to himself. My beef cheek entrée was average. The service was excellent . The dishes were a little on the pricey side. The ambience was nice. read more

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I love the layout of this restaurant. The decor is modern and elegant. Service is very good. The waiters are top notch. Food is excellent, too with great food. Pictured is a pear crostada, gnudi, bacon and corn pizza, fazzoletti pasta read more

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Decided to give it a second try after a "nothing burger" experience 6 years ago (mushroom app with minimal of mushrooms) We should have checked out the menu on line beforehand. It was lack luster and left after we finished our cocktails read more

It's ok and sitting at 3 stars for me. I was here for a business dinner and it's definitely a trendy place. I would never bring my family here. The atmosphere is clean, a bit cold almost and the decor consists of 50 acoustic panels along the walls to help control sound. They don't help. That trendy atmosphere with wood floors, wood tables, solid chairs leads to a very loud place. Conversations got louder and louder, waiters yelled specials louder. On that note, I don't recall our waitress mentioning specials to us, but they did drop about 5 menus on our table. Prices are high for what you get. My $18 cocktail was a rocks glass overflowing with ice and a splash of booze that a finished in 4 sips. Wine prices were ok and the house red (while not super smooth) was affordable at $42/bottle. Service was good and I very much appreciated the waitress cleaning my crummy messes after each course, also replacing silverware. You don't see that in many restaurants. The apps we got were mostly good. Most people enjoyed their entrees, but mine was really disappointing. Mussels with saffron sauce - excellent. Plenty of mussels, a great sauce for dipping Fried calamari - It was tasty, but not crispy if that's what you're after Pepperoni pizza was good. We ordered it to try the "hot honey" on it, but for me, that part was barely noticeable. Oysters - $14 for 3 and they come with a citrusy foam that was a bit sweet, almost like limoncello. This totally masked the taste of the oyster, but they were definitely fresh. Maybe I just prefer mine with straight lemon and tabasco. Bread was crisp, fresh and really nice with the also excellent EVOO. For entree, I got the zuppa di pesce bianco. I found 1 tiny slice of octopus in it, which disappointed, along with tiny calamari, tiny mussels plus the fish. The fish was supposed to be trout, but appeared more like salmon. Worse though was the sickening sauce. Not sure what they were going for - gross acidic, creamy pesto. I don't know. While all of the seafood within this dish was fresh, the sauce was gross and I was generally disappointed with what I got for $42. I've had much grander and more satisfying zuppa di pesce elsewhere. The panna cotta with strawberry compote and pistachios was tasty, but the texture of the panna cotta was off to me. It wasn't as structured as I've had with better ones. Considering the prices, the loud acoustics, value and 4% credit card fee, this isn't a place I'd return to. read more

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Food and service were amazing. We were lucky enough to be there during truffle season. The gnudi are good on their own, but with the addition of the truffles, they were perfection. Dining room was a little noisy but I guess that's the vibe. read more

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What a lovely gem! The seasonal prix fixe menu is 100% worth it! - chicken (?) meatballs: had a strange texture, but it was just fine. 3 meatballs on a yogurt-y sauce - calamari fritti: this was SO DELICIOUS. If they prepared calamari like this, I would probably order it more often! Lightly crunchy calamari in a spicy/pickled/savory chili sauce that was amazing - "cacio e pepe" with little tomato or peppers? Pretty good but also sooo filling - ravioli: so yummy - scallops with farrotto: perfectly cooked scallops!!!! You need to get this - Berkshire pork: tender and juicy with butternut squash - fall spice olive oil cake: not too sweet but lovely spice flavors. Comes with ice cream read more

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would not return. very limited menu and most in italian so cant understand. got the burrata for app which was good but came with this weird carrot sauce. i settled for the chicken for ent since nothing else appealed to me. they didnt have the chicken on the menu but did some weird chicken marsala with no starch. my husband got the spinach pasta with "bolonasge".. lets just say there was no meat to be found. drinks were a fortune: skip this place. read more

Let's forget the weak service and slow bar (15 minutes for a cocktail after being seated and then again for a next round) and start with food because really that's what matters most. On all levels the food was completely unacceptable. I've been to OC about two years ago several times and back then it was absolutely outstanding. Since then, somehow the wheels have fallen off this place completely. No wonder I was able to book a Friday reservation on a Thursday. Apps included 3 specials , oysters which were the standout top quality and fresh but that's where it all ended. A sad version of their focaccia but really not focaccia it's chunks of toasted bread with mediocre poor quality ricotta cheese and oily pepperoni utter nonsense and some other flat bread type mini pizza with arugula and a sad sad mortadella given some chic name that I can't recall in the disgust for it all. The Veal Saltimbocca was as tight as a fist. Literally. Tough chewy and oily. The steak knife struggled cutting through it. Really ? Seems like it was prepared days ago and reheated. Who's watching the kitchen ? Ridiculous to put these out there for a customer. Hoping for a savior , The three pasta dishes Gnudi in cacio pepi sauce very weak with pasty pasta and two amateur Fusilli Misti with breadcrumbs were lackluster. All were severely off regarding taste and quality. Literally an amateur attempt with crispy breadcrumbs on everything. Maybe an off night but last night this place completely crashed and burned. Completely subpar Italian masquerading as top quality somewhere in suburbia. Feeling totally ripped off and embarrassed how much I talked this place up to our guests joining us compared to prior visits. Should have taken some crime scene photos of it all but remembering this night wasn't something that even crossed my mind during the horror of the evening. read more

I'm baaackkk! Whatever OC has done, it has drastically improved the restaurant, service and food! We had a lovely experience and the pastas we ordered were delish! A fun, nice vibe and our server was amazing! They gained me back as a diner and I cannot wait to return and chill out at this spot! read more

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Excellent service, great drinks, good food. Went to celebrate our anniversary and the service was awesome. It gets really busy after 7pm, make reservations. Street parking, no private parking around the area. read more

Osteria Crescendo - Autumn skyline and Naked in the rain - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

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Fire the dessert chef. Too bad because a good meal ended on a stale note. The cannoli shells were stale. The "milk bread" dessert tasted like a day old roll from the corner deli. The strawberry shortcake cheesecake was very good and a fun play on the good humor ice cream bar. Pizzas - excellent Pork Chop - excellent Bronzino - good but a tiny filet for the price Service excellent read more

Anniversary dinner. Early reservation, which was great because the restaurant filled up quickly. Our waiter, Antonio was great. A young man eager to please and I'd say he did a fabulous job. They have such a wonderful array of appetizers and starters, that said the calamari is so fresh and different it's terrific. Entrees for the table were Branzino,Orrchiette, and a dry aged strip steak which was perfect. The chef and staff put out first rate dishes and do it right. Thank you for a great anniversary dinner. read more

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The best oysters I've ever had! Would absolutely recommend the charred octopus as well. The service was fabulous and it has a great vibe to it. read more

Osteria Crescendo - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

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Ambitious restaurant in an unassuming setting. Terrific and friendly 5 star service and food was delicious but over salted. Regardless, this will become part of our dining rotation when seeking fine Italian cuisine. read more

Beautiful spot for a lovely dinner - really cute/pretty ambiance - not huge so feels intimate which is nice. Burrata was delicious - had the branzino and it was really good. Ordered paper plane cocktails all evening - good, but small. Service was great! Loved the overall experience! read more

Osteria Crescendo - Paper plane cocktail - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

Chef, come back and whip your restaurant back into shape please. Iv been coming for 2/3 years and there has been a decline. Also, I get that this place is supposed to be hot and trendy and artisanal, but you end up just feeling ripped off. The service has gotten slower and the dish quality a bit lower. Get some high chairs (really? no high chairs? booster seats?) and create a little kids' menu with some buttered pasta, a little plain pizza, and a chicken finger. The business will make a little more money if you stop excluding families who want to come for an early dinner, before the usual rush, by not having these things, instead of charging so darn much for pasta (yes yes I know handmade and all that but still) Just sayinnnnn! It IS possible to have vibes AND kids. The freestyle Italian joint the next town over (I shall not name names) is the best example! read more

What an amazing place. Sunday dinner outside at 5pm. Service was great. Not a single dish was poor. Burrata and pasta dishes on point. Waiter Derek was attentive and had great advice. My only single complaint was that I felt the menu was very limited. One chicken dish, one steak dish, one pork dish, and that's about it in terms of land protein. However, and this is a big however, each dish that we did have no one complained about. Limited menu but done so perfectly well. My grandfather had the chicken and it was packed with flavor and was moist. Coming back here for sure. read more

Loved the vibes of the restaurant. Waiter was excellent. Food was just ok. The pastas were a little too al dente. Steak was cooked the best and drinks were also very good! read more

We were really excited to try this place on the weekend before Valentine's Day. One thing I didn't like was that in order to hold a reservation on a weekend you needed to have a CC on file and it was I think a $50 charge for no shows? Just not a fan of that concept at any restaurant. Make it $25 it's more affordable things happen etc. if you make the reservation online you're actually forced to do it, but I felt more comfortable doing it after talking to someone on the phone. The place is beautiful and the drinks were great. It's a great place for date night but given its popularity and this cancellation fee, I think I had high expectations. One thing I remember being upset about was that their website seemingly promotes steak more than anything and when we were there, there was just one steak available and didn't seem appealing. Our server was cool but a little too abrupt. He took my boyfriends plate when he was eating his bread and for two people who have worked in hospitality, that was a big no no. We ordered two items from their specials - a special type of oyster and pappardelle and those were pretty good. Underwhelming - oysters being my favorite, but still good. We got their pork chop which is heavily promoted and recommended by people who've gone here but we didn't enjoy it at all. It was painfully sweet and the meat was tough. Between that and the server, I don't think we'd go back. read more

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This was my husband and I first time dining here. To start, we were handed several menus; specials, pre-fix, wine list, cocktail menu, and dinner menu. Our server was Jackson and he did an excellent job reviewing the different menus for us. We started off with a dirty martini and the old fashion. Both were good, my dirty martini was slightly too dirty when I asked for light and they didn't have blue cheeses stuffed olives. I still enjoyed the drink, my husband enjoyed his as well. We had the oysters and octopus as starters. Both very good, the foam on the oysters was interesting. We both ordered two pastas from the specials menu. They were delicious. The salumi was spicy and had a nice crunch from the chili oil, and my husband really enjoyed the sauce in his dish. The star of our dinner was the cheesecake. It was absolutely delicious, we cleaned the plate and finished off with an espresso martini - also very good. We enjoyed our experience and will be returning! Thanks again, Jackson! read more

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Great food and specials. We have been there a few times and might become one of out go to restaurants.

The ambience is very very loud by the bar. I felt my ear drums were going to pop. The food was great but cold when it came out and portions were lackluster for the price. The drinks was good though and desert also. read more

This place has been on my list for the longest time. Finally get a chance to try it. It did not disappoint me. The food was excellent. Mussels were very flavorful, the sauce came with it was even better. Pasta was prob handmade, rich taste and texture. Excellent service. She gave me suggestions for the wine and it was definitely good. read more

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This place is conveniently located in downtown westwood. Its decently sized with a dining area and a bar area with more seating as well. My wife and I went for the specials as they were highly recommended by our waiter, and they did not disappoint. The ramp onion pasta had a nice garlic/onion taste to it in a blended sauce that was super flavorful. My wife tried the Gnudi special, which was essentially cheese filled gnocchi layered in breadcrumbs. Portion size was a bit small as an entree in my opinion though. The calamari, burratta, and drinks were great too! read more

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Absolutely delicious meal from the crusty bread served on a board with olive oil to the strawberry panna cotta surrounded by a vibrant red berry sauce, we know for sure we will definitely be going back for another dinner date very soon! read more

Osteria Crescendo - Strawberry panna cotta - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

Like at the sister restaurant Viaggio, I feel food quality is going down hill in 2024 - owner possibly distracted with his other business ventures such as Bar Mozz. The ravoli was so oily, my wife said it tasted like day old pizza. Burrato was tasty. Coffee was so bitter it was undrinkable. Will think twice about going back again. Service was excellent. read more

The service was excellent and extremely attentive. Go with the specials, they're delicious and a nice addition to the menu. The wine specials are also worth a look. The gnudi was light and fluffy while their accompanying sauce was rich and decadent. We also tried the scallops and Bronzino specials which didn't disappoint. I'm sorry that we didn't have room for dessert. Bronzino read more

Osteria Crescendo - Bronzino special - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

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Service was great but unfortunately the food was so surprisingly bland that I debated whether to take a Covid test. A little s&p would have gone a long way. read more

Just came here after a hard day of work at the office, in my not very comfortable chair. Lower back has been bothering me a bit for a while. Anyway, I ordered their oysters. Excellent. They have an option to add caviar right now, which I highly recommend. I ordered a drink special called the "Go Thyme." It was probably the best rocks cocktail I've had since my memory began. After the oysters, they brought out my lamb chops (also a special) which I ordered medium-rare, and which came perfectly cooked. They tasted so good that I felt my lower back pain completely release and a deep sense of relaxation and satisfaction enveloped me. If you don't eat here, you're either poor, stupid, or both. It's not cheap to begin with, and their ultra-premium items are also priced accordingly, but they are worth every single penny and then some. I've been coming here since about 2020 and I've only seen it improve since then, which I was not sure was possible, but the excellent staff somehow was able to make it happen. I love this restaurant and would recommend to anyone. If you try 1 appetizer and leave, you'll leave impressed. If you stay for a full traditional 3 course Italian dinner with your family, you'll leave completely satisfied and convinced I am correct. I've eaten at probably 250+ restaurants in my lifetime in this price range, and this is the best. Crazy that it's in the suburbs of NJ. Make a trip or you're missing out. P.S. Their ribeyes when they have the butcher's menu are even better than the lamb chops. Well worth the price, and it isn't even close. read more

Osteria Crescendo - 45-day dry aged 40 Oz. Ribeye. 11/10. I was a 10/10 on the Richter scale after this visit. Highly recommend. - Italian Near Me - Westwood, New Jersey

OC never ceases to wow me. The Valentine's day brunch was the most comforting thing I have had in a long time. For $40 pp, we each had a cocktail, app and main. We ended up adding dessert at the end. We had a generous mimosa and bellini with our meals. For apps, we had prosciutto ricotta toast and polenta. The polenta exceeded my expectations - creamy polenta topped with salty pancetta, runny poached egg and sweet maple syrup. The perfect sweet savory combo that I now want to eat all the time. Prosciutto ricotta toast is always a winner - thick slice of crusty bread with ricotta and housemade prosciutto. For mains, we both got the tagliatelle which I had been craving since my last brunch visit. It's basically a taylor ham egg and cheese everything bagel in pasta form. There's even ketchup on the bottom - yes, ketchup! The pasta is also made in house which takes the NJ classic to another level. For dessert we shared the espresso affogato - gelato with a shot of cold strong espresso poured on top with a chocolate biscotti to dip. A great way to finish a meal! read more

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Let me begin by saying I rarely complain about prices or service but I must when I talk about OC. The food was just OK and not worth the price tag on most dishes. The service was terrible. There are so many restaurant worth a higher price but OC is not one. All of my party agreed. read more

First time Here, I can said is a nice place for dinner friendly staff , food was Good , love the Tuscan chicken was juicy ce and very tasty , mozzarella appetizer was also delicious and brozino with sea food , ambiance was very lively Will be back read more

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