Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Good Italian places in NJ


tommy

Recommended Posts

I've said it here before and been put down for doing so. Nevertheless, my favorite Italian eating place in New Jersey is Il Villaggio on rte 17N in Carlstadt. I would estimarte that I've eaten here a couple of hundred times in the last 25 years. I've never had a meal that I've found to be disappointing.

Porkpa

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any good threads for CENTRAL New Jersey Italian?  Newark, Elizabeth areas?

Thanks!

I guess I'll be the one to tell you, Rich...Newark and Elizabeth are NOT considered Central NJ! New Brunswick and below normally qualifies as Central (but those of us up north think it's all SOUTH after that!) :laugh:

That said, I know lots of people who love Assagini di Roma as well as Tony De Caneca's, both of which are in Newark.

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
jpr: I haven't really seen any impressive Italian places in NA/Lyndhurst... I'm sure they're good, but not the greatest, and unless I've missed it, none are really chef-driven places.  I'm open to be persuaded otherwise, though.

I need to correct myself: Fortunato is far more than an "Italian place" to me, and having talked with Jeff (Is it Jeff? I never did the proper introduction-shpiel ;-;) just tonight after another landmark meal, he mentioned what I'd posted here.

Fortunato is not an "Italian place." It is an all-around Italian restaurant that leads in terms of, oh, just about everything they do.

I retract anything stating that Lyndhurst is without good restaurants, and in perpetuity hope that Fortunato will need no special mention, instead being entirely THE best restaurant in town.

E&V trip is being planned. Stay tuned.

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside" -Mark Twain

"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock 'n roll." -Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of The Legend of Zelda, circa 1990

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it may be a "red sauce" place, but I like La Riviera in Clifton. Never eat red sauce there though.

Thanks for mentioning Fortunato. I've heard good things about it, but haven't gotten there yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any good threads for CENTRAL New Jersey Italian?  Newark, Elizabeth areas?

Thanks!

I guess I'll be the one to tell you, Rich...Newark and Elizabeth are NOT considered Central NJ! New Brunswick and below normally qualifies as Central (but those of us up north think it's all SOUTH after that!) :laugh:

That said, I know lots of people who love Assagini di Roma as well as Tony De Caneca's, both of which are in Newark.

I always thought Tony De Caneca's was Portugese not Italian. It was Portugese when I ate there last :biggrin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always thought Tony De Caneca's was Portugese not Italian. It was Portugese when I ate there last :biggrin:

HYSTERICAL. I (obviously) had no idea, as I've never been! :laugh:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always thought Tony De Caneca's was Portugese not Italian. It was Portugese when I ate there last :biggrin:

HYSTERICAL. I (obviously) had no idea, as I've never been! :laugh:

It's actually pretty good but not the best in Newark. There are plenty other better places for Rodizio in the ironbound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sam Vera in Marlboro?

What is it about SamVera that keeps everyone from talking about it? I adore this restaurant, I eat there every chance I get. It is really my favorite restaurant in the area. Perhaps we can get a contingent over there for an eGullet evaluation. Count me out, though, I'm broke. Being sick is expensive! :angry:

edited by me, to offerthis!

Edited by Rebecca263 (log)

More Than Salt

Visit Our Cape Coop Blog

Cure Cutaneous Lymphoma

Join the DarkSide---------------------------> DarkSide Member #006-03-09-06

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cannot find a listing, or any reference to Assagini di Roma anywhere!

Assaggini Di Roma

134 Clifford Street

Newark

973-466-3344

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

One place in Freehold that is, or has been, under the radar, is Solo Trattoria, 7 South Street. For my money, it's as good as any Italian place in the state. It does, of course, occasionally suffer from Jerseyitis (i.e. minor inconsistencies in quality and service), but the positives far outweigh its negatives. There are four or five items on the ``Cucina Classica" section of the menu, for example, that are as authentic as any in New Jersey (their bucatini amatriciana is one prominent example).

Pizza is another of their under-reported virtues (where else can one find a typically Roman example of ``cucina povera" as their potato pizza, a disarmingly bare-bones yet delicious small pie dressed with nothing more than mandoline-sliced, wafer-thin potatoes, olive oil and fresh rosemary?).

Another all-too-frequently overlooked virtue of this place is the glassware for your BYOB; how rare is it to get a glass that does justice to a better-than-average wine?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...