Grissini Ristorante

My dinner companion got so sick from eating bad fish at this place he almost needed to be hospitalized. He was completely debilitated for almost 3 days. The next day after our dinner there when I called to tell them he was so violently ill (I thought they should know– not that they could do anything after the fact but maybe the source of the fish etc…), they were nasty and denied it was their food and kept saying «it wasn’t from our food».
I have never seen anyone that sick from food poisoning and will never go back. Enter at your own peril.

A combination of average and pricey. I honestly expected a nicer ambiance– the place is kind of cramped with wicker seating. That was where it started. Food was ok– not bad, not great. Service was ok, not bad or good, but not as much attention was paid to us as expected. I’ve been to Café Italiano down the street and from the outside and prices, I expected better. Café Italiano is better food, much more attentive service, and better prices. Disappointing.

Recently went here for a holiday lunch with the office. I have to say the charms of this place elude me. The waiter came across as «old school,» and not in a good way, with an attitude that came across as mildly disdainful. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it would be appropriate to ask the diners if they would like another bottle of sparkling water (at $ 8), rather than assuming they do. The long «specials» list was read off quickly with no prices and little description, which means we ended up with a $ 45 stone crab claw. The rest of the food was okay, but like the claw, over-​priced. There’s a «clubiness» about Grissini which has kept it popular over the years as its quality has descended, while its prices continue to rise. Don’t be fooled by the flashy accoutrements. There are better places to find a good meal in Bergen County.

Hands down the best restaurant in the area! Amazing italian! Great food, great service. If it’s a Thursday or Friday night make a reservation or you will probably wait a while for a table. Pizza is as brick oven and fantastic as is the Bronzino served and filleted table side, amazing.
Overall you’ll be lucky with any of the servers but I have to say that Raphaeli is a real stand out. This guy is a seasoned professional from Sardenia, the way he handles the suggestions as well as the other staff, he’s the real thing. You will be thrilled with the service which is extremely hard to beat. The food is incredibly fresh and you can tell that they only buy the very best when it comes to ingredients. There’s great fresh fish and about 10 specials everyday. On Sunday, you can get an authentic italian home style sauce with meatballs, sausage and brociole over home made pasta! It’s great (A+) and I grew up with the real thing so I know. You also get a side salad for the table and it’s only $ 25. You get what you pay for and you’ll be back if you try it.

Ordered the gnocchi with pesto sauce, which had a little extra garlic that I did enjoy and they made an off the menu risotto for my friend. Would visit again.

My 5 stars are for the bsrtender of Tuesday night. Great bsrtender, very professional. Really he did a great job. Food good, little skimpy for what you pay, we are in jersey not in New York. Will be back

I absolutely adored this place. The service was impeccable. This was my first time trying carpaccio and it was fabulous. My main dish was the lobster salad — not to be confused with the typical deli kind of lobster salad smothered in mayo. It was a real poached lobster tail with asparagus, avocado, grapefruit, and potatoes in a black truffle vinaigrette! Their espresso was perfect.
And I loved that they were playing Dean Martin songs!
The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the actual grissini, which tasted like those gold fish crackers. But that won’t stop me from going back! I highly recommend!

Besides tasteless, lame, plain food; watch out for valet rubbery! Tonight I tipped the valet guy $ 1 because I only had $ 1 and another $ 20 in my wallet. Guess what? He held on to my car key and gave me attitude by saying «You only give me a dollar?» I said «Sorry, but that’s all the change I have.» He said «I’ll give you change.» WTF? So I pulled out the $ 20 and he gave me $ 15 back!!! They did not state valet parking is $ 5 charge so beware the mafia style hassle. I’ll never go back. Unbelievable!

Excellent food and experience. Ask for the specials; the fettuccine (with black rub) is amazing, though is only available at certain times. Chicken was cooked perfectly, like silk. The wine selection is admirable, and don’t be afraid to ask the waiter on the best pairing for the dish you have ordered. The design and layout inside is very modern Italian, surprisingly. (The outside does not imply that, aside from the nice row of cars out front). We will definitely be coming back.

Extremely expensive– and AWFUL food.
I had the soft shell crab sauteed franciase on 5÷6÷15 for lunch and it was burned, black and awful. They served it to me with the sauce on the side. The crabs were black; was with my boss so I kept quiet BUT how could they even hand me a plate so awfully done? Yeah there are so few restaurants in that area, but stay away better to skip lunch then to pay so very big prices for awful food!

I’ll start by saying this — absolutely not worth the money. The luxury car display in the front is a pretentious joke, and left a bad first impression. They’d be smart to drop that little «gimmick» — it’s not attracting any customers, and probably turning off some people. Though it’s clear that I’m not their target clientele — I rarely eat at «upscale» restaurants.
I went on a Saturday night, and the restaurant was jam-​packed inside. There was a decent wait (maybe a half hour), but nothing unreasonable considering how packed the restaurant was. However, there was almost nowhere to stand, which was a bit annoying.
We were seated right next to the main door, which meant a periodic cold draft right up against my back throughout dinner (as well as a horde of people standing around us, waiting for tables). I get that the place is small, but I don’t think this was a good place for a table.
Service was, in a word, abysmal. We waited over an hour for our orders to be taken and our food to be served, which is crazy, even in a packed restaurant. I get the feeling that there are some regulars here who are treated well, but if you’re not an insider, you’ll be stuck waiting for some time.
The food was good overall. I got the tagliolini neri ai frutti di mare. The seafood was fresh and also quite tasty, and I liked the squid ink pasta as well. The sauce, which was a very thin red sauce, was good. However, the portions could have been considerably bigger. Common problem at upscale restaurants, but for a $ 28 plate, the portions were noticeably small.
Just like putting our orders in, it took an obscene amount of time for us to get the check. This was made a bit better by the complimentary biscotti they put out, which was a nice touch.
Overall, the food is good (though not the best Italian in Bergen County by any means), the portions are on the small side (especially for the price), and at least when it’s busy, the service is downright abysmal. I may be being a tad stingy with 2 stars, but feel 3 stars would be too high given the awful service, lack of waiting room, and mediocre portions.

I really want to hate this place with the whole fancy car display thing, but I can’t. We couldn’t help but laugh when our very nice car (albeit not a $ 70K car which is clearly the preference for the front row here) made it up front on a slow night, but our enthusiasm waned when we saw that they put a Jeep next to it :-) This is definitely a place where they appreciate and fawn over the regulars, but the food is sooo good. There’s a scallops appetizer with little pieces of crispy roasted artichokes that is delicious. The squid ink pasta with seafood is great — the pasta has to be homemade (I assume it is but I can’t remember if it says so on the menu) it is delicate, thin and just perfect. Veal parmigiana (yes, American Italian thing, not legit Italian I know) was reportedly amazing — it was ginormous and disappeared quickly. Steaks are great there too. Oysters are really fresh. The service is on point, and the bartender (Charlie?) is the quintessential bartender — chatty but not overly so or intrusive, friendly, knows his stuff of course, and makes great suggestions. I think the place has more of a steakhouse vibe than an Italian vibe which the bartender fits into. You can eat at the bar and there’s a TV, but there aren’t that many seats at the bar. There are a few hight tops in front of the bar but I wish the bar had more seating, maybe they do too. There are regular tables in the bar area too where you can see the TV. The place is quite narrow, kind of like a large railroad apartment. There’s a small area immediately to the right when you walk in, and then the bar area to the left, and then the open kitchen along the far side lined by tables — smells great to sit there but it is a bit tight, and then there’s another space all the way back/​left. It’s nice to find places that know what a macchiato is, which is a good test I think; when you order a macchiato and get a cappuccino… not good. Some places ask what it is (scary question at Italian places) but this place has everything down, start to finish.
Some people do get decked out here, but casual dress is fine too, nice jeans, etc. would be fine. It’s a nice date place, dimly lit and even though the seating is cozy, you don’t feel like you’re in other people’s conversations.

Yes it is in a nice area and they love to put the Lambos out front. However the food does not near justify the prices. Dimora, Locale all offer upscale environments with food that justifies the price. When discussing where we want to eat no one ever mentions Grissini’s — there is a reason for that.

I DO love this place, honestly
Upscale italian dining
good food, especially dover sole the best!!!
Come here every week with my husband, he love it as well
the best place in the area for sure

I found this place online in an article about New Year’s Eve events in North Jersey. It was a pre-​fix 4 course meal, toast at midnight, DJ with dancing very good service!
The place: there is valet parking with high end cars in the parking lot. You drive in, give your key to the valet and proceed into the restaurant. The restaurant has three sections. One is a small seating area by the entrance, one is attached to it and has a full bar with TVs (great for watching the ball drop) and one in the back. In the evening, the place had dimmed lighting and white table cloths with small candles.
Service: the manager is there at all times and is happy to greet customers or accommodate requests. It gives the restaurant a family feel. Service varies as it is done by different waiters serving the tables at once. There is no assigned waiter.
Food: the salad I got was a bit disappointing. The salad mix was dry and needed more dressing. The pieces of cheese helped balance the dryness but it wasn’t my favorite dish.
The oysters and scallops were made to perfection with the sauces giving them just the right touch of zest.
For my third course I got a chunky piece of halibut with tomato and olives sauce. It was great and too big for me to eat in one meal. I took it to go.
The dinner ended with a light and fluffy cheese cake that I literally inhaled. It must have been made with ricotta. I tried a bite and next thing I know the cake was gone…
Other: this is not the young and vibrant scene you would get in Manhattan. The patrons were mainly families and groups living in the north jersey area.
New Years: DJ was amazing. We got a lot of dancing in and had a fun doing it. I would defiantly come back here for the atmosphere and the food.

We dined at Grissini on Christmas Eve.
The good:
1. All pasta dishes we tried, especially the squid ink pasta
2. We ordered a Margherita pizza for our 3 year old daughter. After the order was taken and sent to the kitchen, a server came and told us that «kitchen can’t bake pizza tonight». Upon hearing this we changed the pizza order to a plain pasta with tomato sauce. To our surprise, the Margherita pizza was brought to the table right after the appetizers. When we called our waiter to cancel the pasta dish, he went and investigated the mix-​up, apologized and offered to serve us the pasta dish for free. Both the pizza and the pasta were excellent.
The so so:
1. Grill jumbo shrimps were a little over-​cooked and some parts tasted burned.
2. No wine list was offered with menu. we had to ask for it. Similarly, no special menu was introduced either, also had to ask.
3. Check came with several extra items we didn’t order. Problem was quickly corrected once we point them out to our waiter, the mistake amounts to about $ 100.
The bad:
1. Our group of six came in two vehicles. When we exited the restaurant, both my husband and I offered our parking stubs and tip to the waiting valet. He took the one from my husband and threw me a rather harsh «wait!» as he walked over to the key box. As I waited for my turn, several other groups of diners also came out of the restaurant. After bringing out my husband’s car, the valet passed me by and proceeded to help a guy who just came out of the restaurant. When I reminded the valet that I was there first and had been waiting, he didn’t apologize for his mistake and just left to get the other guy’s car. Finally another valet showed up and took my parking stub. When he brought out the car, I started buckling my 3-​year old into her car seat. I took me all but 15 seconds or so to secure my child. But apparently that was too long for the valet as he loudly knocked on my car window, urging us to move. My child was really scared by the act. My sister was really enraged by this unprofessional behavior and stepped out of the car, telling the valet that we couldn’t drive till the child had been secured on the car seat”. To this, the valet answered with honking from the vehicle behind us.
2. As we drove home, my fuming sister phoned the restaurant. She described the situation to the person who picked up the phone and asked to speak to the manager. She was put on a minutes-​long hold and eventually was told that the manager was too busy to talk to her. Once we came home and told my husband what had happened, he was incredulous and called the restaurant. The manager came to the phone right away. To the manager’s credit, he was courteous and very apologetic about the valets’ behavior and asked my husband to «come back and he’ll set things right».
Provided, it was a very busy night. And the parking attendants were probably overwhelmed by the number of patrons waiting for their vehicles. But even that’s the case, the treatment my sister, my daughter and I received was still unacceptable. In addition, my experience and observation at Grissini seem to indicate that male patrons are treated with more respect and courtesy.
Despite the food, its vicinity to our home and the manager’s promise to «set things right», the night at Grissini left a bad taste in our mouths. We do not wish to return there again.

I typically don’t write about free meals* — but I see Grissini could use some love!
It’s true. I’m so out of place upon walking in. I have no designer bag, my hair is au natural (and usually looking like a rat’s nest), my Nissan Altima looks like it’s straight outta Compton not Englewood Cliffs, NJ and I’ve never seen an episode of Real Housewives. This however did not stop me from having a damn good meal.
Listen, this isn’t your local deli where you’re walking out with a $ 15 meal — wham bam thank you ma’am. This is where you go for a leisurely lunch, enjoy a fine red and impress whoever you are eating with and drop some money on a gorgeous meal. Linen table cloths, fine service and $ 25 entrée’s are to be expected, and that’s just at lunch! I started off with a minestrone and a chicken arrabiata (spicy peppers). I was feeling under the weather and needed some sustenance.
I don’t like minestrone soup, I liked this one. Slopping up the steaming broth filled with fresh vegetables with the Tuscan bread, made me feel better. The chicken entrée was perfectly cooked, juicy, spiced, with sauteed peppers and onions. It was a hearty meal and it was delicious. Ending the meal with coffee & tea and some biscotti makes me feel like I’m powerbrokering in Milan, not Bergen County.
It’s definitely an upscale, old school NYC/​NJ style Italian restaurant. I also seemed to see a lot of business lunches going on, which makes total sense. You’ll end up dropping some dough, but if money ain’t a thing, or you’re looking to splurge, you’ll find some great fresh food here.
Pro-​tips — Valet! Parking is pretty much non-​existent.
Reservations — this place seems to be a fan favorite locally.
* I was treated by my lovely gal pals from a PR company and not by the establishment itself.

Extremely overrated restaurant. If I had to recommend a dish, I would go with the risotto.
I heard they just changed chefs, so maybe it will eat better. I only hope they update their menu.
The best part of this restaurant is Enzo.

I have to say that this was a borderline 4 star for me, but it’s based on the clientele it’s trying to attract. I assume most clientele that this place attracts is above Unilocal,so maybe you get what I mean. If you make $ 150k or less or appreciate value for what you pay for, this is not the place for you. In other words, find a sugar daddy or have an Englewood Cliffs address that has separate dorms for the help and your mistresses. My Hoboken address and 6′-2″ meat and potatoes frame is unsuitable for the clientele they want here.
Grisini has great atmosphere though, and has an intimate presence like no one else on Sylvan Ave. I loved what I saw when I walked in. The charm is soon lost by mediocre service and portion sizes. The bill is overly surprising as well.
Bread came five minutes before the appetizers, and the apps came 25 minutes after we ordered. The drinks we ordered also came out wrong. I would suggest the saying name the drinks as they are being laid down when they can be confused easily.
The calamari was excellent, but portioned for a sorority girl after her grip on the reality of the freshman 15. The giant sea scallops were worse. Four scallops for $ 30; you do the math. They were good, but go down the road and save $ 10 and get a double portion.

I love this place. Great décor, great service and excellent food. We’ve gone many times so let me tell you our favorites;
Martinis by Charlie the bartender
For food
Great salads, shrimp with avocado, and the clams in a red sauce. Problem with the clams is the sauce is si good I eat too much bread dipping it in the sauce.
For entrees my wife lives their Bronzino, I like their grilled shrimp over spinach and their chicken with sausage.