Cafe Graziella

I’m being generous by giving three stars. I think more like two stars would be more like it, but I gave a little higher rating since the owner is Italian and seemed very nice.
Maybe I went on an off night, that’s the only reason I can explain my dining experience here. Don’t get me wrong, the service was excellent. Our orders were quickly taken, the waitress made suggestions and answered all our questions, the food was brought promptly to the table and our water glass were refilled quickly. I couldn’t ask for anything more. What we had issue with, unfortunately, was the food. I don’t think it was… well, I don’t it was very good. I rarely complain about the food as I can eat almost anything, but I have to call out bad execution now. Our appetizer of steamed mussels came out smelling a little too «fishy». I could tell these were frozen and not fresh. I understand fish should smell like fish, but these were too fishy, if you know what I mean. Lesson learned — don’t order fish unless you are near the ocean. Next, my «special» chicken entrée, in addition to being priced more than the other menu chicken entrees (Pet peeve: Why is this? It’s like this everywhere you go. Is it a way to squeeze a few bucks out of you?), it came out very over-​cooked and tough. I tend not to send things back, so I ate it, unhappily. My wife, who had a seafood pasta dish, also complained that her food was not flavorful and smelled a little off. See my lesson learned, above. Even our dessert, some sort of tart, was dry and not that great — obviously frozen and not made in house.
Like I said, maybe an off night? Maybe the cook was preoccupied with something else? I don’t know. It wasn’t a really busy night. Anyway I don’t think I would go back on my dime. If someone else is going to pay, I’ll give them a second try.

Disappointed in this restaurant! Went for a private party; antipasti was okay then downhill from there. Overdressed & too vinegary mixed greens with nothing else on them followed by sloppily plated small portion of cut ziti, which was so under cooked it was almost crunchy! The sauce on it was fine at least. Main course was awful — veal pounded so thin I was barely able to taste it between the breading and tons of white wine & artichoke sauce. Vegetables clearly bought frozen… Lame. Nothing really to say that makes this place worth visiting. Sorry.

This restaurant charges you for soda refills. My husband and I one refill of a soda which cost us $ 12.00. This is really petty

The service and food are always outstanding and now they have a new wine menu too! Our dinner group enjoyed delightful bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Gris with our meal. It was so nice not to have to remember to go out of our way to stop at a liquor store on our way to the restaurant. The Pinot Gris was perfect with the Chicken Savoya. Looking forward to our next visit and trying another new dish next time.

I came here with my family on a Tuesday evening. We don’t frequent restaurants weekly, but enough to know what’s decent.
The pasta here is what (I assume) most people come here for. It’s decent pasta at most– not worth $ 17+
We also ordered a chicken dish and a veal dish as well. The chicken was juicy and tasty, probably the best dish of the night. But, like I said, it was a bit pricey ($ 19).
The veal, now, is a bit questionable. We eat a lot of chicken, pork, and beef in my family. In fact, I had a pork dish for lunch before the dinner. The point? We know the difference between beef and pork. The veal tasted just like pork, so we were a bit suspicious and called over a waiter to let him know about the situation. He then called over the manager, who said that it’s pork. He explained that the color is a bit lighter than most veal meat, but that it is veal regardless.
I haven’t eaten veal in a while, so honestly I can’t remember what veal tastes like. However, there are 2 things that distinguishes pork from other meat. First and foremost, pork has a distinct taste. Also, after eating pork, it leaves «left-​over» remnants in your mouth after you eat it, no matter how tender it is. (Sorry for the gross description, but it’s true) The one we ate satisfied these 2 descriptions.
I don’t want to accuse them of anything, I’m just following the old adage, if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it IS a duck.

We came here because we bought a
certificate and we were not disappointed. It was a Sunday night and we called ahead to make sure a party of two didn’t need reservations they said we did not.
The restaurant is located off 206 in a small strip mall with seemingly plenty of parking. We were seated immediately and brought a complementary plate of two bruschetta. A bit peppery for my taste (I abhor any pepper so I’m not a good judge) but delicious nonetheless.
There were so many menu options I had a hard time choosing what to order. We decided to get the appetizer special of battered, fried zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and served with marinara sauce, the salmon dinner special (served in a dark olive filled sauce) with veggie side and I went with the rigatoni vodka. Everything was delicious — we loved their marinara sauce and my Italian husband approved of my rigatoni’s al dente cooking.
The staff was attentive and so polite. We also ordered dessert which was their tiramisu and it was exactly how I like my tiramisu. My husband also got an expression which was served with the lemon peel (we don’t really get that but have been plenty of places that do it) and a little biscotti.
All in all a great dinner experience and we’d love to go back again.

11÷5÷2014 6:30 pm with my 18yr.
Very good food and same price as many pizzeria restaurants would charge. Well I should make it clear that this is much better than any pizzeria.
Calamari fried seemed fresh and piping hot, one chicken dish which was very good and one pasta dish which was very tasty :)
Service was very good, food came out within a very reasonable time and was hot!
Will definitely be back!
Actually, at this price point — It is AS GOOD AS IT GETS :)

Café Graziellas is a good BYOB located conveniently next to a liquor store. The décor is rustic, dark and pleasant making for a good date place.
The food itself is really good but the menu could be updated. In a dining world that is seeing lighter and creative spins on classic dishes, Café Graziellas fare tends to be heavy and over sauced. However the quality is excellent which makes this restaurant a place you have to be in the mood for versus being the destination for general dining out.
Café Graziella loses marks for value being expensive for a BYOB at about twenty to thirty percent higher than I would expect from other similar establishments nearby.
The service here has always been excellent.
I’ve been coming to Café Graziella for years and I do suggest it if you’re looking for new spots to check out.

Negative star. Today they charged us 6 dollars fee for splitting one entrée that feeds 3 and did not notify us!!!

Great food, great atmosphere, great service. Defenetly would recommend this place.

Went there yesterday for a super late lunch. No one was there so we had the entire place to ourselves. We also used a
certificate here. The service was a bit slow in the beginning especially since no one was around but it got better once the food started arriving. The bread basket was pretty decent. We ordered the calamari to share. My mom had the pasta soup (I forget the name), my sister had the bow tie pasta with salmon and I had the fettuccine with shrimp and mushroom. Everything was pretty good. My sisters pasta though was kind of lukewarm rather than steaming hot. Other than that, pretty decent place with decent prices. I might come by again.

This is a great Italian Restaurant. I have been here many times over the years and have never been disappointed in the service or the delicious food. I am originally from Italy and it is hard to find a good Italian restaurant locally. I highly recommend the grilled Octopus as an appetizer and the homemade Ricotta Cheesecake for dessert. I love this restaurant and will continue bringing all my friends and family.

One of the best Italian restaurants within the surrounding areas. I used to love this place but a few years ago, the quality declined. I’m happy to say that I tried it again last week, and they have improved. Once again they’ve become one of the better Italian restaurants. The capellini Sinatra is delicious (I substituted gulf shrimp and sea scallops instead of the baby shrimp and bay scallops and asked then to make the sauce fra diavolo style). The salmon special in a brandy cream sauce was also excellent. From the outside, it doesn’t look like anything special but definitely worth your while.

Simply put, the Italian food here is unmatched for at least a 25 mile radius. I lived in different spots in Jersey and frequent Manhattan and in my opinion, the food here is some of the best you can have. If you like veal, the Veal Capricciosa is outstanding. If you prefer chicken (which I do), they will make this dish with one of the best chicken cutlets I have tasted. The chicken parm dinner dish is also amazing. As for quality of food, I eat here a few times a month (take out primarily) and the food is always outstanding. If you are looking for great italian food, your taste buds will not be disappointed.

We have been several times to Café Graziella. It is our place for special occasions. The food is excellent, the portions are generous. It is a BYOB. A restaurant that survives without selling alcohol must have very good food. Surely they do!

I am disappointed to have to review down this restaurant. While it is still my favorite Italian restaurant in the area, I am a bit concerned about a downward trend in quality after a couple questionable dishes of late. In the meantime, still above average Italian food and worth the visit.

The food is always fresh and tasty. They lose some points because service can be a little uneven (it does feel like the waiters think they are doing you a favor by serving you — they are very unfriendly and rush you) and the appetizers are small so you can’t really share them. Prices are a little on the higher side for what this place is.

Apparently, this place is better at private dining than group functions, but I doubt I’d go back to try dinner in the main dining room.
Had our office holiday party here last night, after weeks of my boss raving about the food. I looked up their website, and I came on Unilocal and read the reviews, so I was skeptical that we’d have a good experience.
Upon driving into the parking lot of this tiny strip mall (basically the restaurant and a dry cleaners), the entry is covered in a garish bright green lit sign– the restaurant itself looked dark and empty through the front window. We walked in to see a heavyset man in a white business shirt glaring at us from behind the front register. I’m assuming he’s the manager or owner but he just glowered at everyone. No ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’; didn’t even show us to our room.
Our function was in the large private party room in back, and it was nice. Accommodated our group of 30 – 35, not too noisy or crowded or outdated. And we had a private bathroom which was nice. We had a few servers, mostly quiet and polite Hispanic men and one very tall, skinny man who seemed irritated with us from the start. My co-​workers’ girlfriend asked for a vegetarian option off the party menu, saying whatever dish they prepared would be fine, and he pressed her to choose something, «in case she didn’t like it.» I guess it was just his body language and tone that bothered me. Another strange incident was when another co-worker’s pregnant wife asked an older server for bottled water and he didn’t seem to understand what she was asking. I guess it was a language thing because he brought her a club soda, after which, her husband found bottled water elsewhere in the restaurant. The server seemed confused that they even had bottled water. (Just observations.)
Appetizers came out family-​style but the portions were small and awkward. Shrimp were in-​shell, grilled to burnt and cut in half lengthwise. Antipasto was too salty, cheeses were dry, seafood was rubbery and again over-​seasoned. Bruschetta was sitting on the table when we arrived, so by the time everyone sat and began to eat, the bread was soggy. A small mixed green salad tossed in a simple vinaigrette and a small penne a la vodka were served after the appetizers, but almost an hour later, and in quick succession of each other. Then we waited another hour for dinner to arrive. Our party started at 6– we didn’t receive our entrees until 9, when most of us assumed we’d be finishing up. A few people had to leave before they ate.
Then, just coffee. Dessert wasn’t included in the package apparently, which I thought was a little stiff. Could be my boss’ fault but for approximately $ 35 a head, I think a platter of Italian pastries or tiramisu could easily have been provided. I’ve had it included in plenty of other party and catering menus without breaking the bank.
In any case, while our get-​together was enjoyable because of our group, the food was incredibly disappointing, the service was slow and management seemed terribly rude and irritable. I try not to look for problems when I go out to eat, and I don’t go out to eat just so I can review a place. But I felt our experience last night warranted an honest review.

The food here is very inconsistent; and at these prices I am taking it off my list.
Third visit yesterday for lunch and once again (see my first review) we were disappointed. The bread had been cut ahead of time and showed it. But, after an excellent rolled stuffed eggplant as a starter, I was beginning to feel good about our visit. Then the entrees arrived. My wife did not like the orange roughy, thought that the texture of the fish was wrong and certainly the sauce was overpowering. At $ 26 it was no bargain when my wife left most of it on the plate. I ordered the canneloni which was another disappointment. Instead of using a very light pasta sheet or crêpe as is traditional, they used what seemed to be a heavy manicotti tube. The filling was almost chunky, rather than the expected smooth texture. I had one piece and took the other two pieces home.

Slightly underwhelmed by this place. Went for a family party so this review is strictly for private dining, as I have not experienced a «regular» meal here.
Food was run-​of-​the-​mill, oversauced Italian. I was impressed with neither flavor nor service. There really is not much else to say except that I won’t be back to try the dining room any time soon.