Ponte Vecchio is part of the same ownership group as Lou Cas in Edison and Frescos in Milltown. The menu's are all very similar and the food is all prepared the same way. Solid experience with a large group. Service was good considering the size of our crowd. Appetizers are probably my favorite part of the meal when dining with this ownership group, the seafood tower is always very good. The seafood is extremely fresh, the tower includes cold lobster tails, seafood salad, clams, oysters and ahi tuna. For the entree I went with the 24 oz rib eye served with mashed potatoes, onion rings, and broccolini. The steak was disappointing, not nearly the cut I normally get from Fresco's. The steak was very fatty and was thinner than I expected. It was cooked to a greater level of fineness than I prefer, more well than medium. The sides were very good. Folks had desserts which were fine from what I am told, I had an espresso and it was not good. Not sure what brand of coffee they use but it was not enjoyable. All in all we had a good time, but I am in no rush to go back.....parking can be extremely difficult depending on what day and time you are pulling in. read more

Ponte Vecchio - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

Food is fine, not outstanding. Service and management is very good. The decor and ambiance is dated but fine. Its your old school classic Southern Italian cuisine that's more seafood focused. This place, along with LouCas and Fresco are consistent and usually a 'safe bet' - but have aged a bit over the decades. With inflation out of control, the prices remain pretty steady which is a welcoming thing to se. I will say most of the dishes were plated pretty sloppily, something that could (and should) be easily fixed if they cared. I'd say its great for groups - as its BYOB and offers a very large menu with something for everyone. There is a reason these restaurants have been around forever, but they will have to adapt and update themselves eventually. read more

One of the worst restaurant experiences I have had in a while. I have been to their two sister restaurants, and Fresco's is the best. I have visited Fresco's at least eight times and have never been disappointed. Wanting to try the other restaurants, I decided to visit Ponte Vecchio, but I must say it was the worst. We had a 5:30 pm dinner reservation for four and were seated on time. The appetizers were okay. However, I ordered Filet Mignon, and it was served barely warm to the touch, while the potatoes and vegetables were cool. For what you pay these days for a meal, this was unacceptable. Although they did bring me a new plate of hot potatoes, because I would never send my food back. My husband ordered the steak special (also pricey), and his food was also cool to the touch. He ate his meal because he was starving, but his steak was supposed to come with fried onions, which the waitress brought ten minutes after the main course was served. The other two meals did come out hot. The manager never came to our table to check on us. You would think if two people stated their steaks were not served hot, someone would come over. I had them wrap my meal up and took it home. Additionally, when we left, there were at least 15 people waiting to be seated, which I would attribute to mismanagement. I hope they were just understaffed that night, as it was evident that other patrons were not happy either. Unfortunately, this was a poor choice of restaurant on my part, and they will not see us again. read more

Nice atmosphere and it's a BYO been coming here for years great food all the time. Except for the Chicken Francese that my wife had recently. It was very bland no flavor she was disappointed. Overall the entrées are exceptionally well prepared and tasty except for that one dish. read more

See all

Came here tonight with a party of 7 for dinner. The place is quite large and it was packed. We were seated promptly and our server explains the specials and took our drink order. The service was very good for the crowd size but dinner service was a little slow. All of the food was flavorful and enjoyed by the group. For such a busy night our server did a good job!Overall a good night with Friends! read more

Food and service were excellent. Went early on a Friday evening Had chicken parm and pene ala vodka Gets crowded after 7 pm on weekends read more

Ponte vecchio is your typical red sauce joint. They had more specials than they had items on the menu. If its so special why isn't it on the menu!! Ha. The ricotta fritto (special) were delicious. Enjoyed it. The chicken parm wasn't the best I have had but it did the job. Portions are hefty so you won't leave hungry. The halibut didn't have much flavor so I wouldn't reorder. They had like 15 desserts and we went with the peanut butter bomb dessert but it wasn't great. Not sure I'm drawn to get back here but glad I checked it out. read more

Straight up the food was horrible! Another place where you pay a lot and get Less. = Shrink Nation! I ordered the Chicken Giambotta for $26.00 (Chicken Breast Sautéed in Olive Oil and Garlic with Sweet Cherry Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, Potatoes and Sausage) All I had on my plate was sautéed Onions and peppers, Wheres the chicken? My girl got some other food that was just ok and nothing to speak about.. Then we order 2 sodas they came out with these shot glass soda bottles and charged us 4 dollars each for a soda. after speaking to the management they said and did nothing!. Shrink Nation is not a good way to have a food business! There's much better places around for Italian food, Ill be going to them instead! read more

A lot of money for terrible food. A party of 11 ate their and everyone agreed the shrimp appetizer was the only thing that tasted good. I ordered octopus appetizer and it tasted like rubber-bands. All 11 people thought the main meal they ordered was terrible. I don't know why people lineup to eat here. read more

For an appetizer wow, what a lot of food. I was eager to have the mussels but between two people there was only 2 each. It was all delicious, though I felt the string zucchini took over the dish. We had also ordered the chicken parmigiana with vodka sauce- amazing, the chicken was great. We ordered for take out- they said 30 minutes and they meant it. That's a big plus when you're ordering take out! read more

Ponte Vecchio - Hot Antipasto For Two - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

My family and I dined at Ponte Vecchio in Old Bridge on Valentines Day this year. We had a reservation for 5pm for 4. The place was practically empty but they sat us at THE WORST table outside of the bathroom, practically at the entrance on a cold winter day when the rest of the restaurant was basically empty at that time. Mind you, we had a reservation. The place filled up as the evening went on but I was livid. It ruined my dinner as I could not enjoy the food since every time the front door opened, there was a cold draft that came my way. There was absolutely ZERO reason why we should have been seated at that table when the rest of the place was empty. I could understand if it were the last table available and they gave us the option to either sit there near the entrance or wait for another table. For this alone, I wont go back to this place. I will NEVER let anyone seat me next to the goddamned bathroom again. Not in this lifetime. If they won't move me, I will leave with my business and my money. In the middle of dinner some other waiter slammed the back of a folding table into my chair and coat that was handing on the chair. (The folding thing where waiters put the large plate with the food on it). I have no clue why he did that. There was plenty of space to move it out of the way without slamming it into a customer's chair. It was jarring and uncalled for. I gave it 2 stars because our waiter was pretty good and attentive. He was a young kid who worked hard and I appreciate his service. The food itself was not bad either and I would have been happy to return and become regulars had we not been treated like second class citizens and given the worst seat in the house. I hate to play this card, but a part of me wonders if it was because we are asian that they sat us in that god forsaken table. I guess I'll never know. read more

We were here for an engagement party luncheon. They kind of seem to staff really didn't care that there was a party going on. They were very scarce except when serving food. They mostly hung out near the kitchen or up in the dining room, where there was nobody. I haven't been to the restaurant itself, but I hope it's better than what they show at a catered event. The food was OK. Decent Italian food. I will say the red sauce was kind of acidic. And I'm definitely a pro. I only gave it four stars, because it was very clean and neat. And everyone was super polite and respectful ! read more

We were a party of 11 celebrating two birthdays....First off, all of the reviews we found were mixed - people either seem to love it, or hate it... Our group was also mixed, but since I am writing this review I will give my take on it... Our server was not the best... Not overly attentive, and tried a little to hard to be playful, which came off to some of our group as nasty & snarky... I had the Escarole & bean soup, which is one of my favorites, so I had to order this when the server told us it was the soup of the day... it was a little bland, and lacked any real flavor... I then had the shrimp cocktail, which was four shrimp of an average size, which were wet, and tasted fishier then they should... I had the Large Prawns over Lobster Risotto.... The shrimp were over grilled, and tasted of char... The Lobster Risotto had a good flavor, but lacked any real pieces of lobster that I could find... The best part of the meal was desert - I had the Chocolate mousse which the server said they made in house, and it was delicious. Over all, not a great experience... Would not return for a second try... read more

Terrible night... Took my in-laws to celebrate their 40th anniversary 1.my husband asks to see a waiter as our party had been seated for a while with out seeing anyone. Waiter comes over and says to my husband "are you in a rush sir?" 2. We were seated at a round table. My 5 year old handicapped daughter was walking from my mother in law to me we were next to each other but she had to pass the wine bucket. That same waiter pulls her by the arm closer to the table. She has trouble walking and could have easily fallen. And I'm sorry but you DO NOT put your hands on someone else's child. He should have said something to me and I would have moved her. 3. Our reservation was for 5:00. At 6:30 we still had not received our meal. When it finally comes out the waiter says "it's Saturday night, we're busy" 4. We all ordered specials. My mother in laws came out cold and bland, I ordered the same thing warm And bland, my husband ordered his steak medium well it came out medium rare, and my father in law said his veal chop sucked. 5. Finally we called over a manager, he took my husbands steak, we never saw him our our waiter again and we waited at least a half an hour. We left $40 on the table to cover our appetizers and my daughter nasty pasta and left. Won't be returning. Our servers name was Andrew and I didn't catch the managers name. read more

I wouldn't recommend this place to someone if they were dying of starvation. What really killed this place was the service. My boyfriend took me here for my birthday, and the server single handed lay RUINED my birthday. We made a reservation through Open Table for 8:30pm for last Monday night. We walk in at exactly 8:30pm, are sat down and were then IMMEDIATELY told that we had to order cause the kitchen was closing. "When does the kitchen close?" I asked. "Oh, 9pm." He answered. I then asked why the restaurant would they let us make a reservation for 8:30pm if they close so soon after? It doesn't make sense. I told my boyfriend we should just leave and get take out somewhere else, to which my boyfriend replied no, due to nothing being open around us AND due to the fact that it was my birthday and that he wanted to take out to a nice dinner. Fine, okay. We stay. BIG MISTAKE- we should have left. The place is BYOB, which we didn't know (and now do know that it's very common in NJ). So, no alcohol did not help our cause. When we got appetizers, the server kept hovering over us. He legit would not walk away. He would come by every minute. My boyfriend had to tell him to back off so we could TRY to enjoy our shitty food. The food was alright- nothing blew me away. I could have made everything that they do at my house in no time, and it probably would have been seasoned better. We definitely got the butt end of the kitchen because when our main course came out, which was EXACTLY at 9pm, it was HOT- like fresh off the stove and we were the only people left in the place. We got the check real quick because the server still wouldn't go away. Very disappointed to be driven out of a place that I was so excited to go to. Thanks to the server here for ruining my birthday dinner, and to management for letting us book a reservation so late. Change your Open Table preferences so no one else has to go through this. read more

Ponte Vecchio - Clams with a touch of pasta and some oil. - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

Used to be good, now they are just pricey and think people are stupid. Got ripped off yesterday and felt sick for several hours. Was my last visit after going there since it opened. Go to Paulins on 34!! The waitress was good and atmosphere is nice. Just can't see how average seems to be rated so high. read more

Food not anything special, especially for the price. Mrs. wanted to order the Lobster Ravioli, but she does not eat cheese. So....asked our waiter, he said he would check, and he did. He returned to our table and said he read the box they came in and there is cheese in them! Great chef they have! read more

Sadly the food quality at this place has dropped in the last six months or so. The ingredients are not as fresh and the grade of the meat and the size of the sirloin strip seems much smaller. Hope to return and give them one more chance. read more

I came in with two colleagues for a celebratory dinner and left a bit disappointed with the food and service. For appetizers we ordered the cajun calamari (awesome) mozzarella and tomato (not bad) and then got a few entrees. I ate the rigatoni bolognese which was honestly very bland and did not taste like there was any veal or pork in the meat sauce... it tasted like straight meat and it had no marscapone, bland. One entree was asked for without mushrooms and it came with. Waitress said "oh I didn't hear you say that." I heard it. The beef and stuffed shrimp special was apparently delicious and looked like it. She was nowhere to be found to open our second bottle of wine, we had to flag someone else down to open it. A piece of cheesecake came with my meal which I opted to take to go -- it was partially burnt. Not a piece I'd serve in a nice restaurant. We went to pay and the credit card machine was down. They asked my manager to write down his info to get an emailed receipt and I'm assuming they kept his CC info somewhere which is totally not safe in 2019. Oh and I ordered off the $25 pre fixe menu and asked for the octopus as my appetizer, they were out. All in all, average food for some items, burnt cheesecake, no octopus, credit card machine down, average service at best, it gives a bad name to Lou cas and Fresco which it is affiliated with. Those places are top notch, this didn't live up to it. read more

Food was very good. Staff was very attentive - expensive for lunch, but very good portions.

I enjoyed my Valentines Day dinner yesterday. The decor and music were AMAZING!! I had the best seafood dinner!! Hard to believe I never ventured into this fabulous restaurant before. The location is on the road across from the municipal complex, it's a hidden gem! Thank you to the staff for an excellent experience.. I'm surely going to return again in the future. Tracy and John . read more

My wife and I have been dining in Ponte Vecchio from the time they first opened. The food has always been excellent and the service is first rate. While we usually have dinners there, we decided to have lunch today. My wife had our favorite fish, the horseradish encrusted baked salmon with mixed vegetables. I had today's special, fluke served over Angel hair pasta and spinach. It was absolutely incredible. I jokingly asked the waiter if he could get me the sauce recipe since it was so tasty. My meal came with a nice garden salad. Ponte Vecchio has been our go to restaurant for years and we are always pleased when we leave. read more

It was my son's birthday and when they bought dessert they never acknowledged his birthday.

Long overdue review here. This is our families go to place for special occasions. My son takes his girlfriend here for Valentine's Day. We love to go for Christmas Eve as a family, and my husband and I enjoy a romantic Dinner here for our Anniversary as well. The service is always Outstanding and the food is perfectly cooked and presented, even when it's a busy time such as Holidays. My favorite is the lamb and it's always tender and delectable. My son and husband love the mixed seafood over pasta and they accommodate my Vegetarian daughter with out even blinking at her 100 Questions! Wonderful place all around! The only down side I can say is that the portions are so generous that we never have room for Dessert! read more

Ponte Vecchio - Rack of lamb. Plump and delicious! - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

Nice atmosphere and great for parties! Wry friendly wait staff. Prices are average for the area. Seafood is the specialty! We did the seafood fra diavlo. Lots of seafood and pasta. The stuffed Bronzino fish was delicious. Crispy skin and a good amount of crab meat read more

Ponte Vecchio - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

Excellent food and service. Very attentive wait staff. They were very accommodating for my party. A very large specials list, and those we tasted were excellent. A fun experience. read more

The place is related to Lou Cas in Edison! Should I say more. Expensive for over cooked steak. The food is totally overpriced and terrible. I have friends that love it, but they are Irish. read more

WOW. If I could give 10 stars, I would. Incredible Italian! The service was impeccable, food was fresh and timed perfectly, and we had the best dining experience. Got a swordfish special and really enjoyed it! Family said it would be nice to have a private party here. read more

Maybe I am just tired of beurre blanc sauce or shitaki mushrooms but I am starting to get jaded about the Lou Ca's family of restaurants. Actually most of the food was very good and I highly recommend this place despite the 3 stars. I think the 3 stars has more to do with I find this particular location a cut below both Lou Ca's and Frescos. The Caesar Salad here was not good whereas at the other two places, it's great. This one seemed to be lacking in garlic, cheese, and anything else that would have given the dressing a flavor. I still continue to enjoy the Cajun Calamari appetizer but my wife thought it had been better in the past. Hmm. maybe a pattern is emerging. I went pretty simple on my main course with the chicken breasts layered in smoky, mozz, red peppers, and mushrooms and it was excellent and also under $20. They substituted the roasted potatoes with garlic mashed as per my request. As mashed potatoes, it was good but where was the garlic once again? That's 2 dishes "under-garlicked" Were they out of garlic? My friend had the seafood fra diavolo and said it was very good but thought they might have been skimping on the seafood. In the past, the amount of seafood seemed a lot more. My other friend had the soft shell crab special and I got to taste it. They do a great soft shell crab dish with that beurre blanc sauce that I can only take so much of which is why I didn't order that dish myself. My wife had a fish special with a fruit salsa and liked it but had to remove much of the salsa as being "too much". Our server was very pleasant and very helpful. I felt very cramped with table all around us even though the restaurant was not crowded. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if there were people sitting at those tables. Despite all my negatives, I still managed to enjoy myself. I guess I am just getting more finicky about food. read more

Ponte Vecchio - Cajun Calamari - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

I got the Penne Tuscany! My boyfriend & mother got the crab cakes to start & my boyfriend is usually a fast eater but he savored every strand of crab meat. He said one of the best he's ever had. The Penne Tuscany was MUCH better than I anticipated! The smoked mozzarella was PACKED with flavor & the veggies were sautéed to perfection. (Lots of oil in the dish !) We finished off with their HOMEMADE pumpkin cheesecake! PERFECT for the fall! It was decadent & delicious. It was fresh & the crust was beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed it, HIGHLY recommend if you LOVE pumpkin! Get it while you still can for the season !!!! The service was A+, it was busy & chaotic but the servers held themselves together in a professional manner. You could tell they had many responsibilities & they work really hard. Love how authentic the ambience feels & how delicious the food is. Definitely a restaurant I keep coming back to! One of my mom's favorites. read more

Ponte Vecchio - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

If you are in search of great Italian food look no further then Ponte Vecchio in Old Bridge. The Resturant is extremely clean. Service is second to none and the food is outstanding. Besides the regular menu they offer a lot of specials also. I had the Grouper special over spinach topped with a mango salsa. Portion was the perfect size. We were a party of six and there was not one complaint. From the appetizers to the desserts, we all left there completely satisfied. I'm sure to be back there real soon. read more

Food and service were very good. I attended a dinner seminar there and the food I ordered was very good. If it gets too crowded as there was a large turnout, service can be a bit slower. Their fish dishes are very good, and I love their warm rolls. Price of dinner can be moderately expensive. If it is crowded due to a large crowd attending, parking can be tight, as the parking lot sometimes doesn't seem large enough. It really pays to get there early. read more

First time here for dinner and loved it. Enjoyed the ambience, beautiful decor and friendly staff. For a party of 10 we ordered 3 portions of the hot appetizer sampler. This was fantastic and I would definitely have it again. It had eggplant rollatini, clams, mussels, shrimp, and stuffed mushrooms. My favorite was the mushroom (creamy and flavorful crab/lobster filling, not fishy at all) and the clam (cheese and breadcrumb topping which was baked and crispy on the top). Chicken parm for the entree was the only weak link - chicken was quite plain and lacked some flavor. Nothing quite special about the linguini with pasta sauce that came on the side. I would order the penne vodka or seafood capellini next time because I heard those were delicious. For dessert they had pumpkin cheesecake (yum), and chocolate cake (even better!). If I'm in the area I will definitely be back! read more

Ponte Vecchio - Hot appetizer platter (3 orders on 1 plate), so so delicious. Get the stuffed mushrooms for sure! - Italian Near Me - Old Bridge, New Jersey

See all

Used to be a great Italian place, but they lost their professionalism. Waiters are rude and pushy and so are the bus boys. Food was mediocre at best. Hostess was waiting a tank top and ripped baggy tie dye jeans . I mean are you for real? This is an Italian restaurant. Even the manager didn't care when I asked who she was? Must have been his daughter which is why he didn't care. Not very professional for a Friday night. No wonder the place was half empty. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere if you want a nice sit down Italian dinner. read more

Great Italian option for fresh food cooked with care. Good choice for the area filled with Italian options. Pros: Delicious food and friendly staff. BYOB. Cons: Some wear and tear on napkins, glassware, etc; details that could elevate the experience if tended too. COVID- Outdoor & indoor seating available. Outdoor dining has decor, tent, & ambience. A plus. Staff with gloves & masks. read more

Went here on Tuesday October 10th for my wife's birthday with her parents. Have been here before nd food has always been very good including when we have catered. Food was delicious - had chicken francaise, double cut pork chop, pork chop parm, and sword fish over risotto. Waiter was Adolfo. Service was excellent and food was delicious and 2/4 of us took home half of our food because we were full - did calamari and fried zucchini for apps. Definitely will be back and cater from during holidays. Great local Italian restaurant with great service. read more

I'm disgusted with how I was treated last night. I've lived in the area for years and have been here many times. Last night I was out with 5 others. We sat for 20 minutes before we had to get up to see if anyone was even going to come over to us. We ordered 3 apps, 2 salads, 6 entrees. I ordered a chicken parm which I had gotten there before. Apps took forever to come out, service was nonexistent. But the part that gets me the most is that when the entrees came out mine was missing and the waitress said oh they made you veal parm by accident so they are fixing it and it will be out shortly. A few minutes later, a plate was placed in front of me. I instantly knew something was off as it did not look like chicken parm. I pulled back the cheese and instead of a breaded chicken cutlet, it was an egg battered piece of chicken like you would get with chicken francese. I got the waitress and showed her and she immediately said oh that's supposed to be breaded! She walked away. Then a manager comes over and instead of just apologizing and getting me what o ordered he started arguing with me! Telling me that he's worked there for 10 years and that's always how they make chicken parm. I explained that I had it there before and it came breaded. He got nasty with me and kept telling me I was wrong and if you want it breaded you have to ask for it that way. Then he took my plate and stormed off. Now if you look at the menu it actually says breaded chicken under the description. And pictures of the same dish on here clearly show it as being breaded chicken. I don't know on what planet chicken parm comes with egg battered chicken. And I wouldn't be as upset if he would've just acknowledged the mistake but instead he was argumentative and then lied to my face. Very disappointed and I will not be returning. read more

Waiter read off approx 15 specials. It took 40 minutes to get bread (only 2 rolls)after we ordered. Couple next to us were seated 20 minutes after us, got there food well before us (they left disappointed because their food sucked). I ordered a $20 appetizer that the waiter forgot to put in (I cancelled it). My $30 entree was the size of an appetizer. Never had a visit from a manager. Waived the option for coffee and dessert because we hit our quota of disappointment. I cannot refer anyone to this place. The only reason that I gave it one star was for the Lobster Bisque. read more

Nice outdoor setting. Food is very good. All the pasta dishes we had are tasty and fresh. Desert was average, Panna cotta was made of Greek yogurt, healthier but not as good as the real thing. read more

See all

Not as good as it used to be. Appetizer of zucchini blossoms was very small and strangely accompanied by bruschetta. The stuffed shrimp portion was small as well. No discernible whole shrimp and the crabmeat stuffing was mostly wet bread. The fried zucchini was as tasty as ever. read more