Branda’s Italian Grill

So for living in Mount Olive for almost 4 years and passing by this place everyday, on a whim, we decided to check it out for dinner. It’s very small and intimate yet still has the traditional pizza parlor feel when first walking in. The BYOB is a wonderful advantage as it keeps costs down making this an affordable dining experience. There are actually zero complaints from anyone in my family and we all left members of the clean plates club (well kinda). Everything was fantastic. 5 stars all the way. Thank you Branda’s!

Very delicious pasta and pizza especially the vegetable pizza. Me and my family drove by and decided to stop for lunch, so worth it. The service is very nice. Definitely would stop by again.

After living in Italy, it is rare to find a place that has real authentic Italian food… Except
Brandas. When suggested to me by a friend I was a little skeptical by the outside as it does not look like anything special but I was very impressed by the inside. It was clean, well decorated, and cozy. I had the spiedini alla romana as an appetizer, which not only is rare to find at a restaurant in New Jersey but is even more rare to find one that tastes good. Theirs was amazing! Next I had the chicken Francese which was also great. It the perfect amount of lemon flavoring. After talking to the owners j realized the reason that the food was so good was that he was from Italy, too often do I see tasteless Italian restaurants that are ran by people who know nothing about Italian food
I 100% recommend trying. They have a wonderful lunch menu that is very affordable and great deals throughout the week. I do suggest checking out the menu online before coming to see what offers/​deals they have that day.

Ate here a few weeks ago for date night. The restaurant seating area is VERY small. It was not a downside, it was just surprising since the building appears to be so big (being essentially a strip mall, tbh). The service was very efficient, but I would have liked the servers to a be a bit more friendly. We’d never been there before and the menu is pretty lengthy so, I don’t know, I suppose a bit of prompting/​guidance would have been nice. (Though I do recognize that’s not exactly their job).
It’s BYOB which was fantastic, and probably a really big reason why I would go again.
The food was pretty good, however our appetizer (Eggplant Rollatini) was not hot in the middle. Actually the whole thing was pretty lukewarm.
Our entrees were superb (Fettuccini Alfredo w/​Chicken and Veal Parmigiana) and ginormous so we took most of them home (they also give you some bread before appetizers so we had already eaten basically a meal).
It’s my understanding they also do takeout, which would likely be my preference over eating in their dining room, if only because I felt a bit like the walls were closing in (so, just personal preference). Also, despite the room being pretty small, it also seemed to be pretty loud, which was weird.
I’d recommend trying it out, as the food was above average.

BRANDAS ITALIAN GRILL
HERE WITH MY BUDDY CICI
awesome italian cuisine
intro snack
appetizer
ficcacia with a sauce so thick so good
spanish shrimp spicy in a lite cream sauce
outstanding
entrée
eggplant parm the best anywhere
actually Claudio mastered the secret how thick to slice the eggplant
excellent service
quality food
a must do

Love Brandas! The melon salad is ridiculously awesome! I really haven’t had a bad meal from here and I have been ordering from them for 5 years. Super friendly staff. When you call you will get Claude, he’s the man.

When you first glance at this restraint it seems promising. When you go inside and order its fine but I would much rather go to Enzo’s. The worse part is when you get food delivered to your house. Let’s just two hours to deliver the pizza and when my family got opened the box it was cold. In the end I think Pizza Hut is better

Ordered a late afternoon pizza from Brandas. Glad I did because it was excellent! Staff was great– gentlemen behind the counter who I’ve seen several times makes a great pizza, seems like he takes great pride in his work. Have ordered several times for multiple items from dinners to stromboli. Always excellent. Thank you Brandas for being a great local spot right down the street!

I was impressed that the owners took time to respond; this is a solid local Italian restaurant that should be supported.

Great food, from the pizza to the pasta. Great salads are a terrific add on. The owner and staff are always cordial.

Branda’s is hands down my favorite local dinner joint. The food is ALWAYS top notch, the service is always good, and I LOVE their desserts. The portions are huge and so filling. My husband even loves their salad, homemade dressings, fresh ingredients, unique combinations. Clyde’s specials are always delicious, well seasoned and yummy! Desserts are homemade, and during the week his nightly specials are always a good deal. LOVE LOVE LOVE this place.

Not sure why there are so many good reviews… we were not very impressed with our food or experience. The location is odd (strip mall next to post office) and is very casual inside. They serve you focaccia when you are seated and it was not very good (dry and flavorless). I ordered chicken piccata-​the chicken was very tough and the sauce was too lemony (makes your cheeks pucker). With so many other options, we won’t be back.

This is my first time trying Branda’s Grill. I have passed by this restaurant numerous times but due to its odd location never ventured in. We decided to try out as there are not much choices in Mount Olive/​Hackettstown area for good quality restaurants.
We went on Friday evening and very greeted/​Seated with smile and asked if we had Wine. (Its BYOB), well we didn’t so just had Water. The menu is extensive but we ended up ordering Cheese Calzone and Chicken Francese. The quantity was very good. The Calzone was tasty overstuffed with Ricotta Cheese and Mozzarella served with home made tomato sauce. The chicken on the the other hand had too much lemon and was a bit too sour.
Most customer were aged between 40 — 60, and it made us feel a bit uncomfortable as we were half their ages.
Overall, I would recommend to try the Grill at least once if you are in this area.

So I’m sitting in the airport in Miami and realize my family is flying to NJ… Newark. We call Claude from the airport to place our order because we won’t be 1200 miles away for long. nobody makes food like him. He stays open an extra hour so our plane can land and we can get to him and pick up our food. I would fly just to have his panina d’andre that he named after me. I used to deliver for him when I was a kid. maybe I’m biased but it is the best damn food in the world.

This is our favorite place for pizza. Their Sorrentino pizza is just amazing!
The restaurant is also a great place for Italian food. BYOB, the bread is delicious, as well as their entrees.

Went for dinner the other night because we were going to be in the area and I chose it based on the reviews. Was not disappointed. It is a cozy small restaurant but late Saturday night it was mostly empty. I had the vegetarian stromboli and it was AMAZING. Stuffed with cheese and broccoli cooked just right. But the amazing part was the crust — I’ve never had a light flaky stromboli crust, but it worked! Others in our party got broccoli and cavatelli, chicken parm, and rigatoni and sausage and all enjoyed their meals.
If in the area, would definitely go back.

The good: We like Branda’s pizza and order at least once or twice a month. They’re always quick with delivery and usually nice on the phone.
The not so good: I’m really not a fan of the mixed vegetables that come with their entrees– they’re bland and just not a great mix, mostly yellow squash that has a squishy texture. For the first time ever I decided to ask for something other than the mixed veg and was told that they could give me sautéed broccoli or spinach but they’d have to charge me $ 3.95 for the substitution. I told them to keep it and not to bother with the mixed vegetables because I REALLY don’t like them. They never offered to comp or substitute it. I probably won’t order an entrée again from them because of it. It seems like poor customer service to only offer one veg side and to be unwilling to listen to a good customer who just doesn’t like one fairly simple thing to fix.

Ate there the first time the other day. Fantastic food, great prices. Their homemade italian cheesecake is to DIE FOR. It’s a cozy, small restaurant that looks elegant and romantic. Sadly, we did take out, but the food was still great even though. Will be coming here many more times in the future. One of the best italian restaurants in the area.

Their eggplant rolatini is a phenomenal appetizer. Their Branda’s Special Salad is killer. Eating in is nice, but the service can be casually slow. I am not a fan of their pizza, but not because it’s bad, it’s just not my style. All in all, great food.

Branda’s was a great spot for dinner.
The spot is small, so I can see it filling up quickly on the weekends, but a colleague and I got right in for a late-​ish dinner when we were in town.
The staff was really friendly and let us debate the menu for a while. I do like the fact that this spot is BYO as well.
Food was tasty (though I didn’t love the meatballs — sorry!). I had the vodka pasta with shrimp and it was extremely delicious, though the portion size was about enough for four people. I could have gone with a bit less food, but if I hadn’t been traveling, I could definitely eat this for a day or two more.
The bread to start the meal was WONDERFUL!
The starter salad that comes with dinner was solid, though nothing super special. Dressings were tasty.
So, a good spot in this area — but don’t forget to bring your wine!