Cafe Mulino

This place is no longer in business FYI, just in case you thought of going there for dining out.

Here it is a Saturday night and the phone for this place is not working. I posted a question on their Facebook page which also lists a non working phone number, but no response. I then noticed a post from someone else on their Facebook page from March saying they saw a sign on the door saying it was closed and that the phone was disconnected back then. We have had dinner there before and it’s been hit or miss. Maybe they’ve had one too many misses. Even if they are open, I’m not wild about a place who can’t even update their Facebook page. Much better place would be the Metro Grill only a few miles away. Excellent food, service and decent prices. Quiet ambiance, dark too. Italian food, with excellent specials.

I tried to give this place a few chances. It’s local so I thought I would give it a chance. But it’s the same every time. The food mediocre to poor, prices are high, and service is spotty. We stopped going for these reasons.

The food is just ok and nothing more. It is the usual Italian food you can get at a pizza parlor, but much cheaper.

Great place! We had lunch there and the food was great, especially the lobster ravioli. They have a full bar as well, which was a pleasant surprise

Was here for a retirement dinner with a buffet style meal. Drinks seemed very overpriced for then area, atmosphere, and time of day we were there. Food was ok but not impressive. The chicken francaise was decent but was finished with too much lemon. Sausage and peppers was exactly that and nothing more. I don’t eat tilapia so I cannot comment on that. Veggies and potatoes were also OK at best. The «cheesecake» that was brought for dessert was gross. Wouldn’t go back here to try again!

I always like to go to places with mixed reviews to prove someone wrong. And needless to say I had extremely low expectations considering the place is 2 stars, but thankfully it was a Groupon gamble that went completely right!
We came in to a nearly empty parking lot at cute little Café Mulino, that looks like someone’s house was renovated into a restaurant. I found out they have a fully stocked bar by embarrassingly trying to bring a bottle in (hey, can’t blame me for trying). Our waiter was extremely friendly and attended to all my annoying questions about why the place was empty, how long the place was open, etc.
We got the fried calamari as an appetizer, which were extra crunchy and with a delicious tomato sauce to dip (not your traditional marinara, more of a diced tomatoes and sliced garlic sauce). We glanced over the wine menu which included very reasonably priced bottles under $ 20 even! Unfortunately for Café Mulino we had just splurged on a bottle that waited for us in the car.
I decided to stick to chicken parm and got my pasta with Alfredo sauce which proved to be the correct choice. The chicken parm was nice and thinly sliced, great sauce on it and not overdone with cheese. The Alfredo sauce on my pasta was the clear winner, with great flavor and texture.
My fiancé ordered the Mare e Terra, which was pasta with lump crab meat, shrimp and asparagus in a light tomato sauce. The dish was ok, I think the shrimp were a bit overcooked, but overall the plate had a good seasoning on it.
The place has a great romantic yet familiar quality. The prices are quite reasonable and I’m just glad the groupon got us here.

The prices you find in the dinner menu are all outdated & FAKE !!
The average entrée price is about $ 5.00 more than it is listed here !
Be aware of this clip joint !!
Entrees are rather skimpy and way overpriced !!
Avoid this joint by all means !!

I never had a full course meal here but their Arugula Salad and Eggplant Rollatini has never failed me. Two stars seems kind of harsh but that is considering the fact that this area is about as desolate as you can get dining-​wise. Businesses pretty much have no chance… I will say that their service can be as unpredictable (read:invisible) as the wind blows but every time I go they are friendly enough.
That being said, if only for the convenience factor and consistency of the aforementioned dishes I give it a solid 3 stars.

Started off seemingly like a good idea to try a new local place with a groupon. The place is nice quiet place with a decent bar. When we arrived we were seated quickly. The waitress seemed unfamiliar with menu and had to check on specials and nightly offers several times. I ordered chicken Marsala and the wrong dish came out. Well when my good did arrive the chicken was undercooked or should I say raw. Otherwise the service was ok… not sure if I will go back wait I have another group on. Damn

Sooooo bad. I keep hoping the food will get better and it keeps getting worse. I literally threw out half the take out order I just brought home. Two forkfuls of the sauteed calimari and it was in the trash. Hope is now lost…

I just finished a family meal at Café Mulino. The meal was the best I’ve had! The owners made it a point to come to our table to welcome us and do did the chef! I had a hard time selecting from the three specials, but finally decided on the lobster ravioli. It was delicious! The fireplace was roaring, the wine was flowing, and the place was packed. I recommend Café Mulino for dates, families, and anyone looking for a good meal at a good price.

This place can do better. the décor was very nice the food was meh… I ordered the chicken parm and it was dry and the sauce lacked flavor…
Do not go by the prices online because they have raised the prices since.
It was a nice try, but I will not be coming back

The family came in here after my sister’s graduation from Rider University last week. Definitely doesn’t look like much from the outside (almost like a house) but the inside has more of that small Italian restaurant feel. They easily accommodated our party of 12 on a Thursday night around 7pm. We ordered a pitcher of sangria and a few appetizers (clams casino, calamari, eggplant rollatini, and mozzarella sticks) to get us started. On top of that, they also bring out fresh bread and bottles of herb filled olive oil. Not a bad way to kick off a meal. I will say, the portions aren’t huge, so if you want a lot of any appetizer (say for more than 3 – 4 people to share) then order more than one.
Then came the meals. Everyone ordered their own entrees, each of which come with a side of pasta or roasted veggies and potatoes (which were more baked and chopped than roasted). I went with the Chicken Scarpariello, which is sauteed with garlic, olive oil, fresh rosemary, lemon and Italian sweet sausage in a white wine sauce. I also asked for extra sauce to be sure there was enough to cover the pasta. Turns out when you order the side of pasta it comes on a separate dish and has marinara over it unless requested otherwise. Minor disappointment, but it was fine. My meal was great otherwise. The chicken was on the bone, but it did come off quite easily. The sauce and the sausage really made the meal something special. Contrary to the review of Kim B. about 6 months ago, my sister’s boyfriend ordered the chicken valdostana and he said he enjoyed it and I can say from sitting across from him that it was not a small piece of chicken. Everyone seemed to enjoy their entrée with few complaints.
I will mention the one issue we had with our visit. We ordered 12 meals, which came with 12 side dishes, so about 24 plates had to be taken to our table. All of the entrees and sides made their way to our table over about a 3 – 5 minute period, except for one. My wife had to wait an additional 5+ minutes for her entrée and her side, which caused my mother (who arranged this get together) to talk to the manager. The meal came shortly after. Personally, I attribute that to an enormous simultaneous order that probably overwhelmed the kitchen staff quite a bit. In the end they compensated our wait time nicely by offering us three free desserts (around a $ 20 value) for free. There’s something to be said about a business that admit when they’ve made a mistake and work to make it up to you. We got the tiramisu, the apple tiramisu, and the cheesecake. Nice end to a tasty dinner. I would definitely go back, but probably not with such a large group. I recommend you give it a try.

As bland as bland could be.
My boyfriend and I had a Living Social deal for Café Mulino and even with the money saved I am annoyed I paid so much for such crappy food.
We ordered the Seafood Incrosta as an appetizer which was a store bought piece of puff pastry that they burned and then drowned in flavorless watery sauce– the only upside is they were generous with the seafood, but they somehow found a way to make that tasteless as well. My boyfriend ordered the Cappellini Mare e Terra (please forgive any spelling errors, I am working from memory) which was a healthy serving of pasta in another watery, tasteless sauce. This again was generous with the seafood, but it was still totally tasteless. I ordered the Gnocchi Sorrento, which was overcooked gnocchi (which I didn’t even know was possible) in a watery, tasteless red sauce with some mozzerella melted on top. Every piece of food we touched was just so, so bland even with us dumping salt and pepper on it.
On top of bland food the service was very slow and not at all attentive. We often sat with empty drinks and plates pushed away waiting for someone to clear the table or offer the check. When we finally did receive the check both the waiter and the manager/​owner (I am unsure of who this person was because he didn’t introduce himself and barely spoke english) gave us grief about the fact that the Living Social deal was pulled up on my cell phone and not printed out. It took the manager/​owner 20 minutes to go into the computer and verify my deal before he finally took the money off our check, because he explained that I could have somehow duplicated the certificate… on my phone… in the Living Social app.
The whole evening was just irritating enough that even if the food had been decent I wouldn’t have returned based on the service. Save your hard earned money and your time and head down the road to Marsilios, Sal De Fortes, or my personal favorite Revere– it will be worth the little bit of extra money you spend.

I was very disappointed with Café Mulino. My family tries to get together and go out to eat around the holidays. With all my siblings and their other halves, that’s 12 people. We picked this restaurant based on location and a very large menu. So many of the dishes sounded so good as did the specials. Just about every Italian favorite plus many more options.
First, the good. The atmosphere was very nice. Quiet, dark but not like you couldn’t see your fork. On the romantic side for a date. The people are super friendly. We had a good waitress and the owner, manager or chef (not sure which one) came around and asked how things were. They really seem to be making and effort, which I commend. The prices are very, very reasonable and the portions are rather large.
OK, the downside. Out of the 12 of us, I think only 2 said they enjoyed their meal. I had a shrimp and scallop special that was completely bland. Just not a lot of flavor at all. I tried a couple of other dishes from others in my party and felt the same about those. The chicken marsala looked delicious but again was very bland. I should have gone with the chicken parm as that was the only one that was above average. I hate to be negative about a new place, especially one where the people are truly putting forth an effort. But, something has to change in the kitchen for me to go back. The meals are just plain «eh».

Just had food delivered! Ordered chicken valdostana which cost $ 16.95. It was the smallest piece of chicken stuffed with minimal mozzarella, prosciutto and spinach. Worst of all the chicken itself was like cardboard! The sauce was good but not worth $ 16.95! The veggies and potatoes were soggy and bland YUCK! The turkey sub with lettuce, mayo and provolone was equally repulsive! I was billed for a turkey club but there was no bacon or lettuce. It actually appeared to be chicken roll rather than turkey. The meat had air holes (picture posted). The roll was toasted until the bottom was hard as a rock! The fries were soggy and had no seasoning. I will never order from here again. I uses to order all the time but it has been a few months. Something has gone horribly wrong!

Recently had a really nice evening here. We started the evening at our usual Friday night place about 10 min away from here, but after we walked in and were confronted with an hour wait and a reservation list for the first time ever, we decided to try Café Mulino as an alternative. We had been here way before the construction over the summer, and it was pretty good, so decided to see what had changed, given the negative reviews.
The parking lot was sparsely populated, and the dining room had half a dozen couples — not looking promising, so we decided to sit at the bar and get a feel of the place. After a cocktail, and chat with the bartender and server, we ordered. Menu was a mix of Central Jersey Italian, steak, plus some interesting seafood specials. Nothing exotic or unusual for these parts, but good solid comfort food to go with a martini and glass of wine on a Friday night.
My wife and I ordered a fish, a veal and shared a speciality salad. The calamari salad had a delicious lemon/​olive oil dressing, but in our memory of the previous long ago visit, the calamari had a slight grill char to offset the tart dressing and arugula — but alas not this time, it seemed more steamed or sautéed. Still tasty, with tender tentacles included.
My Veal Portobello came with fork tender veal, and a nice light cream sauce, with red peppers, eggplant and tomato, and big chunks of tasty portobello mushroom. My wife had the fish special, fresh fluke (like a meatier flounder), with lemon caper sauce, spinach and angel hair. It was really simple, but attractively presented, super fresh, and delicious. A shared side of broccoli rabe was perfectly done, tender with chunks of garlic.
Dessert was the highlight. The youngish server (who we spied copying menus from a food magazine) told us everything was now made in house. She recommended a tiramisu with apples and walnuts, an unusual combo — it was light, airy and delicious, with fresh made cream, and fresh fruit garnishing the plate. The real steam espresso machine was working fine, and we shared a 30 minute conversation over an Americano and cappuccino with the owner about his native Ecuador, favorite foods, and the restaurant business.
We think this place is worth a try or a relook — the food is high quality, service friendly, prices moderate. With their liquor license, and new gourmet pizza menu, its also good place for a casual meal and beer or cocktail. I think we may have found a new go to place for Friday nights.

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SCREW UP A CHICKEN PARM? THAT’S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS TERRIBLE RESTAURANT.
I live around the corner from the place and I’d rather drive 20 minutes further for a decent meal.

We have eaten here twice and I must say, the food is well-​prepared and tasty. It’s a pleasant, attractive space, and our service was very good. I like the menu and the only thing I would have preferred was that was that the entrée I enjoyed on our last visit been a little more strongly seasoned. I will ask for extra garlic next time! But there are healthy, tasty choices and I do think this is a great addition to the local food scene. The owner visited our table on both occasions and was very hands-on…I like that. We’ll be back.