Leo’s Grandevous

The sauce is too sweet and the food is overrated. We ordered salads and there was no dressing.

Leo’s has some of the best authentic Italian food in Hoboken. My husband and I have been to the restaurant several times, and have also ordered through
and the food is absolutely delicious. The only downside is that the restaurant is cash only, but otherwise, we’ve been pleased with their service and food ever single time. I would recommend the linguini with vodka sauce, or the meat stuffed ravioli — amazing!

Meh. My man said something about the Frank Sinatra connection and the restaurant’s lengthy history/​presence, but that don’t mean the quality of food can be or become compromised as decades passed (that’s assuming the food was finger lickin’ good way back when). He picked this spot for an early Friday night dinner, and mentioned that they has GF options — soon, we’d find out that there’s not much GF accommodation taking place at all.
I’m sure the chef way back when was good, but the current kitchen ain’t cooking up anything to sing about. I’m definitely not dying to come back here. Their famous red sauce was puzzling — why’s it famous again?
My chicken marsala was a bit on the salty side. I was starving, so I wolfed it down, but that in no way translates to a great meal. The chicken had a weird texture to it. I thought that they would have GF options for all pasta entrees, but upon finding out only two such dishes were available for the GF option, I opted for steak fries as the side.
Also, we were seated at the corner window spot and instantly regretted it. There may be an echo or everyone sitting near the window is deaf. I swear, I haven’t been surrounded by so many obnoxiously loud people in years. Perhaps the tables are just too close together? Someone has to figure out the science behind the exaggerated noise levels here. I couldn’t hear my man’s voice and was eager to leave.
Another Hoboken restaurant fail for me. There’s just too many good Italian restaurants a couple miles out that I don’t see a reason to come back here unless we’re in PJs (a lot of people were in sweats and slippers) and unbearably lazy.

My office orders Leo’s religiously, I’ve also been to Leo’s a couple times before and always loved it. My spouse and I also always make sure to go on a week day to ensure the best service. Well… My family showed up as a surprise and I decided to take them out to Leo’s. I knew they would love the juke box and all the Frank Sinatra memorabilia.
We were seated immediately Friday night April 1. I was excited to see I had a waitress (Angela) that has served me before. When she showed up I hinted to my family what an amazing waitress she was in front of her, and that I know she’ll treat us well.
This was NOT the case this time around. BY FAR the worst experience ever. So bad I probably won’t return.
Two adults, two children.
FOOD:
Both children split a cup of minestrone soup ($_5?_) and a chicken cutlet parmigiana dinner ($ 18.50)
Both Adults ordered for appetizers — Manhattan Clam Chowder ($_6?_) & Broccoli Rabe ($ 6)
For dinner we ordered –Tomato & Mozzarella Salad ($ 8) & a Shrimp Fra Diavolo entrée ($ 19.50)
DRINKS:
3 Pepsi ($ 1.50ea), 3 Shirley Temples (maybe $ 2.50ea) lets say $ 10.50 all together for drinks
First off we waited forever for drinks.
Then we had to remind the waitress about our soups.
As soon as the soups came, the minestrone (Vegetable soup) tasted like watery vegetables. No flavor what so ever. The clam chowder was not red. Also tasted just like the minestrone soup with rubbery pieces of clams at the bottom.
Ok. whatever. Glad we got cups and not bowls. Moving on.
The entrees come (the table wasn’t cleared for them so when the waitress came she awkwardly stood there as if we were supposed to hand her our dishes for her to put the entrees down) Totally uncoordinated.
So entrees are down… They split the chicken parm for the children. Thumbs up. First adult has the Shrimp Fra Diavolo — He requested linguini — It came with Penne.
Caprese Salad is down — tomatoes were old. Not enjoyable.
Where’s the broccoli rabe? — Waitress forgot it.
She brings it over. Of course. it’s cold. She gives us an attitude asking do we want a new one or not? If we were to wait for a new one it would have taken forever. We decided to just eat the cold one.
Ok so GET THIS. We can’t wait to get out of this place, we ask for the bill. The bill comes and it’s a WHOPPING $ 135.00
Wait a second here… We were a bit confused — the waitress came over and asked what was wrong. We pointed to the bill and she shrugged her shoulders and tried justifying the price. Well! you ordered this and this and this and… Then she said wait. Something’s wrong.
She hands us the bill back for $ 75 – ($ 60.00 LESS than what she originally charged.)
We’ve never left so little of a tip in our lives. 7%
Worst experience by far.

VERY DISAPPOINTING on many levels… Last night was not the first time we have dined at Leo’s, although it will certainly be the last time we return.
After finishing an appointment in the neighborhood (approx 6:00pm-Saturday) my husband and I thought… Let’s go to Leo’s for an early, casual dinner. He ordered a draught beer, I ordered wine. The server returned soon thereafter to inform us that they did not have either of our selections available. We made new drink selections and ordered dinner — after having to ASK our server about any specials that were being offered. Once again, she returned to explain that they were sold out of my husband’s dinner choice — veal and peppers. Really?! It was too early in the evening to have had a «run» on this dish… and the kitchen had NO veal… NO peppers? They obviously did not care to be accommodating… about anything. The paper napkins they use are flimsy, cheap– not even of the quality that come with pizza or Chinese food delivery. And there should have been more wait staff working, as well.
The food was OK — not outstanding, not even HOT by the time it arrived.
Unfortunately, on numerous occasions we have found Leo’s to be a mis-​managed neighborhood place to eat; cannot really be considered a restaurant. You will be disappointed (and frustrated) if you are expecting a nice dining experience.

If you want authentic Sinatra era Hoboken this place is for you. From the 70s décor to the sinatra photos you feel like your italian grandparents have cooked every dish for you. The Italian is authentic and the simple dishes have been mastered for decades.
Be sure to bring cash.

Wow… just a staple. Likely the best old school restaurant in Hoboken. No glitz no glitter. Just perfect bread, food, drinks and environment. Juke box is an added treat. Kathy was amazing. We miss you.

We wanted a Hoboken restaurant with a connection to Frank Sinatra and a friend recommended Leo’s. The food was good but one dish was painful. My friend ordered Fettuccini Alfredo and it game out with pieces of grilled chicken. That was strange but the worst part was that the chicken was inedible. It was flavorless and rubbery. I literally couldn’t swallow the piece I sampled. Was it frozen and reheated? I don’t even know. Waitress did bring us a fresh dish with no chicken!

I’ve only had the pasta here and it is solid. Fun environment to eat dinner and staff is friendly. Haven’t had delivery from here, so can’t comment, but it’s a top spot here because of the food.

Always great, quality food. From
The caesar salad to the bar pies and every pasta I have tried to date has been delicious. Even the bread they bring you is fresh out of the oven. Laid back atmosphere makes this the perfect go to.

It’s pricey, $ 20 for a plate of pasta pricey. My plate of pasta came with very little meat and I thought I was eating chef boyardee’s for a super inflated price. The waitresses were super nice and the atmosphere was authentic Italian. As a while the experience was mediocre, there was nothing special about the bread or pasta.

Met friends for a casual dinner. This is old school Italian food at its best. The service was really good. The food though is as good as it gets. We had their mussels as an appetizer along with one of the salads and garlic bread. WOW! The main courses were all terrific. We even had cannoli and tartufo for dessert. All of left really happy.

Authentic Italian!
Leos has been a long-​standing Hoboken establishment from the Sinatra days. The food is authentic and unapologetically Italian.
If you’re feeling hungry, Wednesday’s is lasagna night — yumm!
Besides the lasagna, I recommend ordering the mussels a diavlo and meatball bar pie.
A MUST visit for any Hoboken resident in which it will undoubtedly become one of your new favorites!

Very cozy family style restaurant. We had the shrimp fra diavolo and the shrimp with Brussels sprouts and pancetta. They were both very tasty meals with very generous portions. Shrimp was cooked wonderfully.

Just moved to hoboken and this is by far one of my favorite spots. food has been on point each time i have visited, and the personal service by Sergio is fantastic
Everyone is extremely friendly and the pesto chicken pasta is one of the best i’ve ever had. I will become a regular bar fly as i set up my roots in New Jersey.
— x new york city food snob

When I first heard of Leo’s Grandevous, I was intrigued once I learned of its history. Opened in 1939 by Leo and Tessie DiTerlizzi, it was a favorite of Frank Sinatra’s. Whenever he was in the area, he would always pay a visit, usually after hours as he enjoyed not only the food but the company of Leo and Tessie. Here is an article that talks about all this:
We were visiting our daughter and her family for Mother’s Day and decided that we would try to have dinner here. They don’t take reservations but we took our chances and showed up around 5:30 p.m. The place was busy but they were able to put together some tables so that there was room for the 7 of us.
Looking around at the customers, it was clear to see that most were older folks which I suspect were part of the BNR (born and raised) Hobokenites. It also appeared that much of the staff was also.
We found service to be friendly and efficient. For starters, we decided to get a large antipasto to share. This dish is attractively presented and consisted of black and green olives, salami, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, hot peppers, shrimp, roasted red peppers and wedges of cheese. We liked most of it, except the cheese. Most antipastos have mozzarella in them but here the cheese was, apparently, romano which didn’t go well with the other items. In fact, most of us didn’t like the cheese with the exception being one of the grandsons. In fact, when his brothers discovered that he liked the cheese, they gave him their portions LOL!
One of the specials of the day was filet mignon served with mashed potatoes with gorgonzola cheese. Our son-​in-​law wanted this until our daughter guilted him out of it by telling him that we were in an Italian restaurant that was well-​known and he should get Italian food. So, like me, he ordered chicken parmigiana with angel hair pasta. I had heard that Leo’s red sauce was on the sweet side but that wasn’t the case. It had good flavor and wasn’t at all sweet. The portion was huge — 2 chicken cutlets (one would have been fine!) You are given a choice of sides and I chose angel hair pasta, as did my son-​in-​law. I think that the pasta was from a box as it didn’t have that homemade flavor. The cutlets were breaded and thin plus the amount of mozzarella on them was generous. We both enjoyed our meals.
They don’t have a kids menu here so I told our daughter to ask if they would do a half-​portion. It turned out that they indeed do offer that option. So the 3 kids got cheese stuffed tortellini with red sauce. All of them just about inhaled their food — they liked it that much!
Our daughter got the eggplant parmigiana with a side of pasta (I forget which kind). She raved about her eggplant saying that it was the best she ever had. In fact, she told me that she can’t wait to go back for more! I tasted some and I agree that it was well prepared and flavorful.
My husband got sweet Italian sausage with penne and red sauce. The sausage was nicely flavored with fennel. He enjoyed every bite!
For drinks, my husband and our daughter each had a Peroni beer. I had wanted some ginger ale but they were all out. So my son-​in-​law and I had Pepsi. Our server brought us a pitcher to share. The kids had water.
We all left feeling quite full! The kitchen was on the slow side but I think it had to do with their being busy. We didn’t mind as we were in no rush plus the wait wasn’t so long that we felt annoyed. Prices are very reasonable as all our entrees cost less than $ 20 each. The large antipasto was $ 9.50.
If you are in Hoboken, I recommend a visit here, if for no other reason than the history. There are lots of Sinatra photos on the walls and the jukebox is filled with Sinatra music. It’s an easy walk from the train station — find your way to 2^nd Street and it’s right on the corner of 2^nd and Grand.

I heard a lot of fan fare about this place. I visited a few months ago and was a little disappointed.
The service was good, the bartender was nice and they were accommodating to us despite the lack of a reservation. So on service I would give 5 stars no problem.
The food was the issue. I had chicken parm, it was definitely over salted and the sauce was overwhelming. I felt like it was drowning in it.
We had salads to start, they were fine. Nothing to talk about really.
I wouldn’t come back unless it was to grab a. Drink at the bar before dinner.

Leo’s barely deserves 3 stars. We went last night and it was pretty disappointing. We ordered the antipasto, mozzarella pizza, and rigatoni bolognese. The antipasto and pizza were ridiculously bad. Although the pizza was only $ 3.75, I’m pretty sure it was a frozen pizza that they just heated up. The antipasto had a few pieces of salami and a random shrimp– gross. I did, however, like the rigatoni bolognese. They were even nice enough to split it onto 2 plates for us. That was really the only thing the place had going for it. Also, not a byob. I would def skip this place.

When I lived in Hoboken I always passed by this place but never checked it out until last night. They have a full bar in the front and plenty of seating in the back room. The place does have a cozy and homey feel that most reviewers mention.
The glasses of wine were priced at $ 8. They have plenty of options if you want a bottle. I had the Penne alla Vodka with chicken which came out to $ 19.50. It was a good portion size for the price and it was absolutely delicious. I wish it had more chicken of course. Our server was Kathy who was super attentive, friendly, and funny. At one point I wanted her to sit down with us for dinner. She made us feel at home. This is a great Italian restaurant that I plan on returning to, for sure!

Leo’s has been and will always be my favorite restaurant in Hoboken. There is not one negative aspect about this place. From the décor, staff, food, and overall mood everything is marvelous.
What sets Leo’s apart from the other Italian restaurants in Hoboken is that it has stayed true to their roots. The décor is true «old Hoboken» as some may call it. Frank Sinatra photos hang all around the restaurant, and you’ll catch some of your local citizens who have been in town for years dining at Leo’s.
As for the food. Delicious is all I have to say. I have had their penne aka vodka, baked ziti, chicken parm, and seafood. All of the dishes are superb! Perfect portion size, temperature is always warm, and the ingredients taste authentic and fresh. The bar pie is a must have appetizer or even addition to your meal.
If you are looking for a nice family feeling restaurant in Hoboken go to Leo’s and ask for Cathy! She has been the waitress there for over 26 years and has been doing a fantastic job.