La Famiglia in Bogota, NJ

[jsibley]

Has anyone been to La Famiglia, on E Main St, in Bogota (I'm told it rhymes with pagoda), NJ?

Apparently, it was featured on "The Best Of" on Food TV, although I'm not sure that is much of an endorsement. Anyway, it made me curious. Unfortunately, I missed the episode, so I don't know what they said.

[Rosie]

Haven't been and I really don't even know where Bogota is?  :confused:

[shugga]

I have some friends who have been there several times and love it.

We tried to get in once last summer but there was such a long wait, we said forget it.  My husband won't wait more that 20 minutes no matter how good the place is!

[Rosie]

Do they take reservations and are they BYO?

[ngatti]

Only know it by rep rosie,  But it's a VERY good rep

Nick

[dodge621]

I have been there a few times, it was pretty good.  

The restaurant is in Bogota and is only a couple minutes from Teaneck.

[Rail Paul]

Rosie - I-80 east, second exit east of NJ 17, then north about a mile

[dodge621]

It is exit 67 from 80 East.  It is moderately priced.

[Rosie]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it is worth a trip.

[kelly]

It's Byo. There's a great wine store  on the corner  of  Queen Anne & Fort lee Road.  There's a really bad liquor  store diagonally across from La Famiglia parking lot on Palisades.

[Rachel Perlow]

Apparently, it was featured on "The Best Of" on Food TV

What were they supposed to have the best of?

[dodge621]

My opinion this place is consistently good. not great

[kelly]

My opinion this place is consistently good. not great

]

I agree, it's a good place to bring a family or not, everyone is happy....and they know how to serve a large table.

I think it was great when it was around the corner, but now it's bigger and has parking.

I always have a good meal there.

[Rachel Perlow]

We stopped there on Friday night. 40 minute wait so we left. Another time then. Do they take reservations?

Oh, and no one has answered my other question... What were they supposed to have "the best of"?

[kelly]

They do take reservations  .

201489-1713    

The food is Italian. The mom makes the homemade cakes, the daughter serves the food and the husband cooks it.

[jsibley]

I was away. I believe they were "best of" "viewers' choices".

[Rachel Perlow]

We went there tonight. It is just OK. We had basic Italian American dishes. Chicken parmesean, spaghetti bolognese, a side of meatballs (cause we wanted to try them), and broccoli with garlic. Basically, all the food was OK. Not bad, but not great by any means.

Major quibbles: flatware that is worthy of a high school cafeteria, overdone pasta, watery marinara, obvious slices (squares) of mozzarella on the chicken parm. Pluses: nice simple salad comes with dinner, good service, nice crusty bread.

But, it just isn't worth the drive if you aren't right in Bogota; I don't know what's with the long waits? I suppose if you were going out with a large family group, people who aren't foodies, then it is a possibility. However, if that is the case, may I suggest Stancato's in Tenafly, (201) 567-3313. The food is better and the set up is more amenable to large parties.

[jsibley]

Thanks, Rachel, for trying it out. Sorry to hear it wasn't great.

[dodge621]

I had 3 decent meals there when I lived in Bogota, but far from great. I found their Chicken Cacciatiore and their Chilean Sea Bass (a special at the time) good.  Since moving 3 miles from there, I have not been back.  I too am wondering how Food TV put them on their show as a best of?

[Jason Perlow]

Dodge:

I'm not sure what kind of criterion they gave for it being Best Of, but certainly, the pasta dishes we had were no better than you would get at an average neighborhood pizzeria.

The reason why I chose spaghetti bolognese and a side of meatballs (and Rachel's chicken parm) is that they are benchmark dishes for an Italian-american restaurant. If you can't do those well, you likely can't do anything well. I felt the meatballs were a bit too stiff (I think meatballs should be soft when you cut into them), the sauce was watery and not particularly flavorful, and the sphagetti was NOT al dente.

The one thing they did seem to do well was the broccoli aoli with garlic -- thankfully, cooked just right and had just enough oil and garlic was plentiful.

I was kind of hoping for pasta fagiole that evening but they only had chicken soup and lentil soup -- I almost ordered the chicken marsala, but I didnt think that was a good enough test.

We didnt try any of the desserts, but if they are baked on premises as Kelly says, maybe we should have.

[kelly]

I had 3 decent meals there when I lived in Bogota, but far from great. I found their Chicken Cacciatiore and their Chilean Sea Bass (a special at the time) good.  Since moving 3 miles from there, I have not been back.  I too am wondering how Food TV put them on their show as a best of?

Perhaps the trick to the place  is the specials.

I always enjoy my meals there but I usually order off the board or Vegatarian entree.

Another reason it may have been picked is the early bird special.

It really packs them in.

Jason, there is only one  deserts a night thats  homemade.

[bpsklar]

We were there once. Not worth a revisit.

Fair to middleing food.