Brunello Trattoria

My son’s wedding and reception were held here recently and I was very happy with the entire experience.
Although the reception was originally only supposed to take place here, due to weather, plans were changed and the ceremony took place inside as well.
Sophia and Jen were extremely accommodating and did everything they could to make sure everyone was comfortable and that everything went off without a hitch.
Everyone raved about the food, the service was great and what was a very stressful day quickly turned into a great party. Sophia, Jen and the staff were awesome and I can’t thank them enough.

Food was very pedestrian. Not worth a special trip. Our mussels were cooked to the point of being beyond rubbery. My wife had a veal dish that wasn’t any better than what you would get at a strip mall pizza joint. Speaking of pizza… the pizza looked slightly better than a frozen box pie.(we did not have the pizza, but what we saw at a neighboring table) The bartender was very affable and attempted to establish a rapport with her customers, but the meddling owner kept that from happening. The woman has no people skills at all. There was a small band playing an eclectic mix of music in the bar area, and that seems to be who drew most of the customers. Add a leaking roof/​ceiling and you’ve got the makings of a wasted Friday night out. 2 stars for the bartender and music (Weedly??) But that’s about it.

The food here is very good, fresh vegetables and high quality well-​cooked ingredients. Their brick-​oven pizza is great! This is one of the few places in Flemington that serves alcohol and it’s nice to have wine or a cocktail with a nice dinner out. Staff is good. The pseudo-​Sinatra that is constantly playing is a bit obnoxious but that’s the worst thing I can say about the place. Casual atmosphere. Unfortunate location, but worth the detour off Route 12.

Food is a 5! Ambience is a 2.5. My husband said «I feel like I’m in the Poconos». The Veal Milanese was perfectly done and the shrimp was fantastic. The risotto accompaniment was a large portion, which means we’re taking some home. Our server Trish was as sweet as could be. The service was excellent! There is some need of a decorator’s touch to warm the dining room atmosphere however. I will be back.

We went with a large group the other night. Once again the food was excellent but the service was simply awful. There was no bartender and one waiter for the entire restaurant. The owner is a nice person but clearly needs to hire an experienced general manager. She proceeded to tell us that the bartender had another commitment and the waiter was away, you may consider getting temporary help in that case.

I had made reservations for 8 people on a Fri. night @ 7 PM, heard they had music & thought it would b a nice venue. The place was pretty empty @ 7 PM. The waitress took our order and never wrote it down, so when half of our meals did not come out correctly — no shock, but we’re still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt — instead of shrimp scampi we got fradiavilo in red sauce, instead of 2 chicken giambotta we got one & something else The owner Sonia said she would take some desserts off the bill to make up for the inconvenience and instead charged us for an additional dessert. The Zabaglione that we ordered, was the worst, warm and liquid ey with thin pieces of berries. When I brought it to Sonia’s attention she told me all her OTHER customers loved it. Clearly our opinion did not matter. We also ordered Strega from the dessert liqueurs menu, only to be told they don’t always have it, so why is it on the menu? Then for the finale, we were told not to come back. We will be very happy to accommodate that request. Very disappointing experience. Who treats their customers like that? I give this review one star and that was for the food and Brian the bus boy.

The star earning of this restaurant deserves a zero. This was truly a mess of an experience.
8 of us had reservations
on a Friday night. When we arrived there were 2 other tables seated. not busy at all.
Horrible from the start. it was the waitresses first night without a mentor. when she took our order she never wrote anything down. it was no surprise when the food arrived 3 of the 8 entrees were totally wrong. Shrimp Fra Diavlo instead of scampi. Another dish of shrimp that nobody ordered as well as a Pollo giambotta that never made it to the table.
By this time the waitress was sent home and the bus boy took over her responsibilities. Sophia the owner of this place needs to go to polishing school. She has no owners etiquette She had no patience for listening to our service problems. Dessert was a joke. we ordered Zabaione that was served with all egg whites which is supposed to have a custard consistency. this had nothing but the egg whites and warm champagne and they had charged 9 dollars for it.
The bill came and there were desserts that we never ordered added to the bill.
Finally, the owner Sophia, comes to our table .and asks if it is our first time as patrons. when we said yes she said «Do me a favor don’t come back». This owner took no ownership in owning a restaurant. no doubt in my mind this restaurant will fail. No doubt.

My husband and I enjoyed another good dinner here last night. This is our comfort food place. We would come here even more often if we lived a little closer. The chairs are comfortable and the people are nice. The prices are very competitive too. We first had cocktails/​beverages and a large appetizer of perfectly fried fresh calamari on the patio. (Based on our frequent dining experiences in central New Jersey, only a few places do this appetizer so perfectly. The Tewksbury Inn is one and the now-​closed Il Pomodoro was another. I can name quite a large number of really nice restaurants that can’t consistently prepare good calamari or at all. Fried calamari is apparently a difficult dish to get right, but Brunello Trattoria does it. Ideally, the calamari should be fresh and not frozen to start and then there’s the preparation which seems to be an art.) For dinner, we moved inside to a tablecloth-​covered table as they had held a table for us. We then had an nicely done arugula and strawberries salad, which was topped with crumbled goat cheese. My husband had a wonderful salmon dish with sesame seeds and a drizzled reduced wine sauce. I had the scallops that were topped with a pesto of sundried tomatoes. Both dishes came with very tasty broccoli and red peppers prepared with a touch of garlic and roasted potatoes. For dessert, we shared a slice of carrot cake.

What a disappointing experience. It is no wonder it seems this place keeps switching owners and was dead on a Saturday night. The hot antipasto sounded good as described on the menu, so we asked the waiter if it was enough for two to share. He said it was. When it came to the table, it consisted of four tiny stuffed clam shells, one shrimp, one tiny scallop, and a minuscule eggplant rollatini. The shells had a teaspoon of bread crumbs in them, burned to a crisp with no clam to be found. The scallop tasted rotten, and the rollatini had this tasteless cheese that did not really melt. The whole thing must have been frozen. We were obviously hungry, so we ordered another appetizer of mozzarella carozza, which was ok. More of the same tasteless cheese. The entrees were big, both chicken, but more of the same horrible cheese. The service was ok. They tried. The drinks from the bar were pricy for the area and horrible. The restaurant was way too bright, and although there were two big dining rooms, the hostess/​owner??? sat the four tables of patrons next to each other in an area where the tables were really close together. Was she trying to make the place look busy? So in such a big space, we were all crammed into one area. It was also way too bright and there was no atmosphere. Here are a few suggestions: fire the chef and hire someone who can actually cooks and takes pride in what they do, use better quality ingredients (even if it means decreasing the portion size), get a bartender that can make drinks, turn down the lights, and hire adults instead of children to wait and bus tables. Maybe, you’ll survive a few more months!

Great gluten free pasta! Had a lovely dinner with some great music and service. We started with the antipasto which was a nice spread. I got shrimp fra diavlo with gluten free pasta. Nice and spicy! It was very good. We will be coming back for sure.

We had a surprise birthday party for my husband in September 2013. I made arrangements to have the banquet room (which holds 50 people) and had 42 guests. Tables were arranged to accommodate 6 guests each and the room was pleasant and spacious. The dinner consisted of antipasto, fried calamari, penne vodka and salad and you had a choice of 3 selections in the main course. Cheese cake and tea/​coffee were served for dessert. Children were also accommodated. All of the food was delicious which was accompanied by servers that were not only attentive but also respectful. If you would like to have a gathering, I would suggest Brunello Trattoria. I had nothing negative to say about food or service. All at a reasonable price.
Carol D.

Went for Dinner on a Friday night. Not many people there so the service was good. Not great but very good. Food was very good as well. I had shrimp fra-​diavolo. Sauce was excellent. Shrimp were just a tad undercooked, but better that than overcooked. My wife and I both had the arugula salad which was excellent.
This location has always been a bad one for restaurants. I hope this one lasts. After the Perryville closed, we are looking for a local replacement. While this one is good, it’s not the Perryville replacement. I would go back though.

The food here is pretty good for this area so it pains me to write this review. We have been there about 4 times and it was pretty good. The last time we were there-​Oct 29^th-​was awful. We sat at the table closest to the bar which as a half wall dividing the area. We were there for my 11 year old daughter’s birthday. While the food was still pretty good-​we were subjected to the female bartender and the lady who seated us having a continuous argument which included really foul language. This with 2 kids at the table and my parents! Myself and my husband heard every word. On the way out, we spoke to the bartender and told her how her behavior in terms of this argument with a table of customers right there which included children was appalling. She didn’t have a response. Brunello’s your food is good, but you need to hire staff that isn’t trash or I wonder about your survival.

Last night was our second visit to Brunello Trattoria. We will certainly go again soon. The service is professional, the décor authentically Italian and they have a full bar. Oh yes, the food is really excellent. We split an appetizer of mussels in tomato sauce ($ 11.) followed by scaloppini Remo. Both were outstandingly good. The tab, which included three drinks, was $ 75 plus tip. We’ll be back.
Don and HIROKO Wright

Amazing Christmas Eve dinner! The quality and portions of food were amazing. I took my 4 kids (ages 23 – 30) out for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and was very happy with our food AND service!
The seafood was as fresh as expected and delicious! The prices were very reasonable based on the quality and portion. My wife and I eat dinner out often and Brunello is at the top of my list.
We are making a News Year Eve plans and taking my Mom and Sister this time. I highly recommend Brunello andI give them a 5 out of 5!

We recently attended a party at the restaurant on a Sunday evening. When we entered, the tables were full and we thought that the service might be slow. Not so! As it turned out we were with a group of about 50 people in the upstairs dining room.
The food and service were excellent.
The antipasto platters were well filled and excellent. The calamari was well done and not rubbery. The penne pasta and salad were served quickly and quite tasty. My wife and I had veal parmigiana, which we loved. Our friend ordered salmon and she found the dish very enjoyable. Desert and coffee finished the meal.
The entire group 50 people were served a high quality meal. Table service and delivery of the courses was prompt and respectful. And, all of this was in addition to a restaurant full of customers downstairs.