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Villa Gennaro

4.1 (252 reviews)
ModerateItalian, Pizza
Closed • 11:00 am - 9:30 pm
Updated 2 months ago

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Villa Gennaro Photos

VILLA GENNARO ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Good for kids
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Villa Gennaro

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Reviews With Photos

Thai Fried Calamari
Marta F.

Came here because my husband and I were in the mood for Italian. We were seated right away and our waitress Kyara was awesome! We started with the special calamari and a salad. They both were very good. I had the scallops and mushroom risotto phenomenal!!! My husband had the steak with broccoli rabe, perfection! We finished our meal with some espressos and some tiramisu. We will definitely be back. The best part they are BYIB!

Menu
Nihar K.

One of the best Italian places I have visited recently. It's a family owned restaurant that has been around for years. The ambiance on the inside is alright but outdoor seating looks very beautiful. Too bad they don't heaters on the outside. Also this place is BYOB! So definitely take your favorite wine to pair with the food. Recommendations: pizza in vodka sauce with burrata, cheesy garlic break, penne alla vodka Definitely recommend trying these dishes. The pasta is made with extra sauce!!

Veal Parmigiana (bottom)
Cheyenne M.

pretty restaurant and good prices. no alcohol is served here. it would have been nice to have a glass of wine but no big deal. the food took FOREVER to come out. i enjoyed my meal and i'm happy they have angel hair pasta. it wasn't anything to rave about it was pretty standard italian food. my friend said his was just okay and the sauce here could be better.

a bunch of blue and yellow flowers

We held a baby shower for my sister and it was a beautiful space with incredible food. The banquet room was its own private area downstairs complete with a foyer to welcome guests in. For the 3 months prior to the event, I was mostly coordinating with the manager Tyler who was helpful and accommodating in every way. He allowed us to come in the night before to set up some of the more complicated decorations and indulged some of our other requests like extra tables for the displays. Overall, planning the event to be held at the restaurant went smoothly. The day of the actual event however was a bit different. The owner of the restaurant was assigned help our party and we felt a little less than welcome. She told us there was another event following ours so we needed to leave immediately as soon as our event was over. Of course we agreed but that sort of set the tone for how she treated us the rest of the day. She was frantic, stressed, concerned we hadnt started on time (we were a few minutes late because some guests as well as the parents-to-be were stuck in traffic). Her frustrations were evident even to our guests which affected the atmosphere at times and made us feel like an inconvenience for holding our event. I'd apologize every time she expressed her concerns and was always showering her with thank you's for her patience, despite the visible lack of it. Other than her service, my experience having the event at the restaurant was lovely. The guests raved about the food and everything offered to our party. We went for the second buffet package which came with plenty of food for our about 40 guests. It even came with coffee and desserts after the meals were served which a lot of people loved. We ended our party early to make time for cleaning, at which point the owner had essentially told us we needed to leave after we had cleaned our share of the event. I could've done without the stress, as I'm sure the owner would have too. So I'd still love to come back to this place for the food and event space alone, despite the owner's attitude. 5 stars regardless. Maybe I'll plan my activity earlier next time.

Receipt showing $7.44 credit card sur-charge when paying CASH!

Caveat Emptor, yes buyer beware! After reading the recent yelp review about excessive fees at this establishment, I was careful to review the bill. Three couples met there as a recommended restaurant. The total bill was $272.73. Included in this total was a $7.44 charge for a non-cash transaction. We paid CASH!! After my wife photographed the attached receipt, I scratched out the total and added the corrected. What makes matters even worse, I looked for notices that the use of credit cards would be sur-charged. There was nothing in the restaurant, on their doors, on their menus or on their website. This is a violation of the New Jersey statute #N.J.S.A. 56:8-25 under the Division of Consumer Affairs. $7.44 may seem like a small amount when compared to a total bill of $265.29, but this process is systemic, and every bill would contain the assumption of credit card use and could amount to thousands of dollars. As for the food, it ranged OK to Good. All the women thought it was good and the men thought it was OK. Now that I am armed with the knowledge of how this place operates, I will go back only if I'm asked, but not of my own volition.

Really appreciated the bonus black hair in my take out.. I shave my head daily sooooo..

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5 years ago

I love this place and their veggie pizza! One of our Friday night take-out favorites!

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7 years ago

Food is always excellent great pasta dishes and the pizza is great as well I will be coming back again definitely

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6 years ago

I have been going to Villa's for two years and they are consistent. Excellent service and great food!

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7 years ago

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5 years ago

Service was fantastic and quick . The food was healthy and delicious, full of flavors . Desert was amazing

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5 years ago

Anna and Alexa were awesome! Great customer service. Came here after work with my mom.... And it was perfect.

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7 years ago

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16 years ago

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7 years ago

Sorry. Had their pizza and it was pretty bad. Not much flavor and terrible crust. Salad was described as earthy, and not in a good way.

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5 years ago

The food and hospitality was top tier.The ambience/atmosphere very relaxing and inviting.

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7 years ago

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11 years ago

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Business owner information

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Eddie H.

Toral I’m glad you enjoyed Villa Gennaros Thank you for the review !!

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13 years ago

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7 years ago

Service was good. Cute spot. Food was a bit disappointing. The gnocchi was gummy. Sauce was good. Overall just ok.

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Villa Gennaro Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Villa Gennaro

I understand that this restaurant automatically charges 20% service fee (tip) and a 3% credit card sur-charge. Are there posted notices in the restaurant or on the in house menu?

No. Noticed it on the bill after I paid.

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4.4(278 reviews)
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I cannot explain why it took 7 years after Florence, Italy natives Alberto Buglione and Ivan…read moreGuarducci took over this restaurant for me to visit. It is outstanding! Over the years I have heard nothing but good from friends -- "Excellent" "Exactly like they make it in Florence!" "Best Italian food I've ever tasted." I went with a party of four. For appetizers we split the Polpo E Patate (grilled octopus & potatoes) and Patate Fritte (French fries). The octopus was amazing, tender almost like perfect scallops with a tasty pesto. The French fries with herbs, garlic bread crumbs and pesto were crunchy, tasty, delicious. For mains my companions had Branzino with eggplant carponata, an amazing 4-cheese Gnocchi, and swordfish. I tasted all, and all were spot on; everyone loved their main course. I had Linguini Vongole (clams and linguini); the clams were perfect - tender and tasty; but the star of the show was the homemade linguine, seasoned perfectly and cooked to al dente perfection. We finished with cappuccino and Tiramasu. The service was excellent. Attentive and quick, and our waitress, Merin, was able to answer every question about the menu with authority, and even about the ingredients and preparation. The ambiance is understated, relaxed, and what you hope for when enjoying a special meal. I am quite stingy in passing out 5-Star ratings; I reserve them for the best of the best, for restaurants where I'm confident readers will also enjoy an outstanding meal. Mangia Toscano is clearly 5-Star; it is *the* must-do restaurant in Metuchen.

The food, service, and atmosphere were definitely a vibe! Everything about the experience was…read moreenjoyable from start to finish. I had the Salmon and the Gnocchi Al Pesto, and both dishes were delicious, savory, and full of flavor. The staff was attentive, the ambiance was great, and the overall experience made me want to come back again. Highly recommend!

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Outstanding food and service! This place is very unassuming on the outside but cozy on the inside…read more We have been here several times before and always enjoy it. The special stuffed pork chop was delicious and enough to split between two people. Loved the calamari with balsamic glaze appetizer and the veal parmiggiana was a huge portion, very tender and yummy. Service was excellent. We had a group of six. The other plus is the restaurant is BYOB.

If your looking to eat dinner in a dump that smells like a$$, this is the place! Not sure why the…read morehost is so rude like this is the hottest ticket in town. The place looks like a dump and we questioned even getting out of the car. Not sure what was worse, the rudeness, the smell of mold or the dumpy atmosphere.... Read on and I'll share what we experienced. Mistake #1 deciding to go here Never heard of the place but saw on the gps there was an Italian spot while cutting through town. We went for it! Mistake #2 getting out of the car We pulled up to a gross old building, crumbling parking lot where people were creating their own parking/ blocking in each others cars. It was completely bizarre. After much debate about how to park and not have our car hit, we parked. We kept seeing people coming out of what looked like a rear kitchen/ service door. Odd. We walked through the horribly lit parking lot, in bad need of a repave and made our way to the front door. This door is street side and has an unlit sign over it. I pulled the handle only to have half of the metal handle pull off in my hand??? What in the world! Two elderly gentleman cutting through the lot on a walk let me know that the "kitchen entrance" was actually the main door. When they saw how perplexed I was, they laughed and said "There in lies the problem. This place is weird and doesn't have a proper entrance. Did you try the broken handle yet?" Followed by their laughter. Wonderful! They told us to not have big expectations as this is the local greasy spoon and to hold our nose when we entered. I'm not going to lie, we debated getting back in the car again as we walked past it.... Which brings me to mistake #3 Mistake #3 Not getting back in the car when we had the chance We entered into the building and were immediately hit in the face with a smell that I can only describe as that of and old wet basement paired with a moldy wood smell and a kitchen in need of an air out. It was not good. A guy came up to the host stand (a random podium in the dining room) and asked for our reservation- not if we had one- but the assumption that we must have one to dine at this fine establishment. I told him no we just came in and he immediately snickered at us and said, "come back in an hour" Ok Peter Luger. Best Decision We Made #1 immediately leaving It's really unfortunate for a place to have such crummy interactions on the heels of giving gusts every reason to run before even coming in. A simple- hey we are booked with reservations, let me peak to see what we can do- ok first spot will be in about an hour. Does that work for you? Or how about, have chairs???? There's literally nowhere to wait. You'd have to stand in the smell waiting and hoping to not get legionnaires disease. I would not recommend this dump.

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3.8(278 reviews)
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Took my family from out of town for a special dinner, celebrating my grandmother's 90th and they…read moredid not disappoint! Our server was Vincent and he was wonderful. He really made us feel at home and helped make the evening seem special. If there was a criticism, the menu seems to be a bit smaller than when it was Torino II which made it a little challenging for some of our pickiest eaters to find what they were looking for, but Vincent helped them navigate. Several of us had the Caramelized Onion Cacio e Pepe and thought it was delicious. The past was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very flavorful. If you don't enjoy black pepper, this dish is not for you. Others had the Pistachio & Stracciatella and said it was fantastic. Kids were happy with the kids portion of pasta and chicken fingers. The atmosphere was very light and relaxed. Service was wonderful, we had a really good time and will be back.

I am sorry to write this update to my review, because Torino (now Terzo) has always been my "go to"…read morefor fine Italian food in Metuchen. But apparently Torino II has relaunched itself as "Terzo," which according to their website does "...classic Italian flavors and ingredients in a reimagined way, using farm fresh ingredients & homemade pasta." The menu now includes 7 appetizers, 2 salads, 7 pastas, 7 entrees and a few desserts. We were immediately told that two of the appetizers and two of the entrees were not available "today," so even less choices. Thing is, anything resembling the classic dishes in every Italian restaurant were absent from the menu. Ah, but then I spotted "Caesar Salad" -- but it was actually "Summer Kale Caesar Salad." Hey, there;s a time and a place for kale; that would be in a health food or vegan restaurant, not in my Caesar salad. But I figured, keep an open mind. We ordered two appetizers, Salmon & Shrimp Arancini and Wagyu Meatball Pomodoro -- both excellent. But the entrees, and this is the crux of the matter, varied from mediocre to poor. I ordered the Airline Chicken Parm, which was a giant portion of panko breaded chicken breast, with marinara and cheese, and a small pasta on the side. The homemade pasta was excellent, but the chicken -- tough as leather and tasteless. And sadly the other three in my party also felt the same about their entrees. Some were overcooked, others were tasteless. The bill, for a party of four (and we ordered no wine), excluding tip was $220. We did provide a 20% tip as the server was excellent, but the selection of menu items was poor, the food was mediocre at best, and cost was outrageous considering quality of the food. As I said, I hate to write this review, but Terzo leaves me with the challenge of now finding a new "go to" Italian restaurant in the area.

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Torino Restaurants
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We stopped by The Greek on Main for lunch and immediately found it to be a warm and inviting spot…read more *AMBIANCE* Located on main st in Metuchen, street parking can be a bit tricky. We walked in for lunch and were immediately seated. Though they also take reservations on Resy. We came dressed casually though the vibe seemed a bit dressier with the dimly lit interior. The restaurant has a clean, modern feel while still maintaining the charm of a neighborhood eatery. *FOOD* The menu offers a great variety of Greek-inspired dishes made with fresh ingredients and bold flavors. I ordered the lobster gyro, which was absolutely delicious. The lobster was flavorful and the combination of ingredients came together nicely in the pita. The dish also comes with a side of fries. *SERVICE* The service was friendly and attentive throughout our lunch. Our waitress was welcoming and checked in periodically to make sure everything was going well. Overall, great experience all around and it's the type of place you'd want as a regular neighborhood favorite. I'd definitely return and look forward to trying more of the menu!

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Villa Gennaro - italian - Updated October 2026

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