Arugula Ristorante

Didn’t like anything in this restaurant. Really bad service, waiters were slow and rude, food wasn’t good. Over priced. Waste of time and money.

This is truly one of my favorite resteraunts and I always recommended it to clients. The atmosphere is classy and relaxing and the food is tremendous. The Penne Sofia is hands down the best on the menu along with the eggplant parmigiana. Definitely good for a ‘date night’.

Used to love this restaurant it had great food and great service to match. We were wondering if there were new owners — the food was still good but the service was deplorable– started with loud — very loud clanging smashing pans every couple of minutes very unpleasant — followed up by a vanishing waiter who delivered food on a metal cart that rattled and added to the unnecessary noise… I have been in the restaurant business for over 20 years and I would hope that my wait staff could carry plates rather than pushing them on a cart.
Finally we were served coffee loaded with coffee grinds… that was right after the waiter who presented the desserts chose to touch his finger on to the items as he explained them to us…

prices are a little high but the food is delicious… best bets include the octopus special (app), mussels marinara (app), penne vodka, langoustines, and ravioli (lunch)…papardelle with salmon was the only entrée we thought needed some work… loved the outdoor seating option

Alright, this review is for a Valentine’s Day dinner. I know that things don’t always go so smoothly on nights like this, so I was prepared to be forgiving. I had worked in the restaurant business for better than a decade, so normally I’m pretty lenient when things get out of control. But honestly, my experience was a disappointment.
My girlfriend and I arrived at the restaurant at about 7 pm, to a full house. We were part of a party of 6, 3 couples. Drink order was taken within 10 minutes, and we were given the specials at this point also. Drinks delivered relatively promptly. Then things went off the rails. Our waiter didn’t reappear to take our order for better than a half hour. Food wasn’t delivered for 40 minutes after that, and we were almost finished eating before the waiter came back to check to see if everything was ok.
Like I said, I used to work in this biz, so I’m forgiving. You have to really work to blow a tip with me. But honestly, there was no excuse for what I saw here. The waiter, instead of coming by and trying to manage the inordinate wait, simply hid. The owner or manager — an older Italian man wearing far too much cologne and looking like a hybrid between Ricardo Montalban and the Tall Man from Phantasm, was wandering around the dining room, but not interacting with any customers and not checking in on anyone at all. It seems there was simply no attempt to placate a roomful of diners who were impotently waiting for their food. Just not the way to manage the situation at all.
As for the food: Okay. Just meh. Your typical, mediocre, uninspired, strip mall Italian. While this was not a «red gravy» joint, the menu was fairly uninspired, with a lot of minor variations on themes that relied on the same ingredients with slight differences. My girlfriend’s salmon was just a grilled piece of salmon, far from the best I’ve tasted, with some sautéed chopped tomatoes on top. Boring. My «fusilli arugula» was properly cooked pasta with arugula, cherry tomatoes and maybe a teaspoon or two of crabmeat — very little, actually. In short, nothing to make this place stand out. Nothing really creative in terms of the menu, and while nothing was bad, nothing stood out either.
There’s a place for middle of the road, uninspired strip mall Italian. It’s called New Jersey. I guess this place would be okay as a neighborhood place if it was in my neighborhood, but for the prices, there are about a zillion better options in the city. So that’s my meh-I’ve-had-better review. Good for the area, yes. A dining destination? Absolutely not.

I agree with a lot of the other reviews in that the service was slow, but when they were waiting on you they where very good. I thought the food was great, but pricey. I would recommend the buffalo cheese with portable mushrooms for an app. The crème brûlée cake for dessert it was assume. We sat outside and it was very enjoyable.

I went there this past Friday night with a party of 6. The food was okay, which really is not what your are expecting for the price. I found myself thinking we should have just gone to Michael Angelos in the Northeast instead where the Italian food is always great and much more affordable.

I went here on a Sunday yesterday with a party of four. After we came in and have gotten water, we waited another 30 or more minutes for our waiter to take our order. They were only 2 other tables except us in the dining room. The appetizers we got were the ricola salad it was nice fresh. Calamari Griglia was fresh with chopped tomatoes. When we were waiting for the entrée it smelled like burning 2 different times. For the entrée we had Vitello Cristallo there was too much oil on the plate, the veal medallions were not sautéed but breaded and was too salty, they were topped with wilted brocolli di rape like one or two pieces, the presentation wasn’t pretty. Costolette di Agnello is lamb chops which were all burned and red with blood inside. Pollo Sophia the chicken was too tough and hard to eat. When we finished eating we had to wait 30 minutes for them to come and ask for desert. The Chocolate ice cream looked like it store bought whole hazelnuts inside with fudge and chocolate ice cream. The chocolate mouse cake was also store bought. It was bitter and dusted with powdered sugar.

We went there for lunch on a Thursday. We arrived at noon and were the only ones there. The food was good. Another two tables were seated closer to 1pm. The service was a bit slow considering there weren’t alot of people there. Waitstaff was friendly. I thought it was odd we were not offered dessert at the end, only coffee. Not sure if they have dessert. I preferred not to tempt myself, so I didn’t ask.

Arugula, much to my surprise, is no longer a BYOB. We were able to drink the wine we brought with us, though there was a $ 10 a bottle corking fee.
But this was just the first disappointment of the evening.
The service was slow and inattentive. When our waiter reviewed the «specials» he failed to include prices. It annoys me when restaurants make their guests ask about the cost of their specials. A competent server will tell you the cost.
Overall the menu, including the specials, were uninspired. Our meals, which ranged from fish and steak to pasta, were OK… nothing to write home about.
The Caesar Salad featured a grayish/​white colored romaine lettuce that was partially wilted. One assumes that a restaurant named «Arugula» would do better with its lettuce. My fish featured lots of bones (and very little fish). The vegetables were no better than a bag of frozen vegetables from Green Giant.
What finally drove me to write this review was the fact that they added a 20% gratuity for a party of five.
One final note, on the credit card bill, they left the space for gratuity blank. I take this as a sign that they were hoping I didn’t notice the 20% gratuity on the bill.
Overall, I was unimpressed and more than a little annoyed by the entire experience.

An attractive restaurant with so much possibility and so little to offer in customer satisfaction. The food is your basic Italian fare but uneven in quality. Served on over-​sized white dishes, my Pollo Sofia (17) was very well prepared and tasty. My wife’s Linguini Pescatore had thick pasta with a scant selection of mini seafood trimmings. A Rigatoni Bolognese was rather pedestrian and lacking any real meat in the sauce. The restaurant was extremely noisy. The walls an floor are all hard surfaces, and the few sound absorbing baffles on the ceiling only provide a decorative band-​aid for a poor design. Nearby, a table of women were screaming in laughter all through our meal (at least they were having a good time). While eating I was bumped about 10 times by walkers and waiters. I should have left when the waiter apologized for having to shout the specials at us.

We went to Arugula for a family reunion type thing and we were VERY Impressed! The apps and antipasti were really fresh and delicious! Our entrees were very very good as well. I did not find the price to be ridiculously expensive and the portions were adequate though I would have liked them to be a little bigger. Overall I look forward to going back!

The food was delicious and the service was great. But the portion sizes were very small. I ordered a Spinach Ravioli special that was topped with Shrimp and Grilled Scallops in a creamy sauce. Again, it was extremely delicious. But 4 ravioli, 2 shrimp, and 1 scallop sliced into five pieces, doesn’t warrant $ 33.00 per plate. We had a lovely time, but if you spend $ 66.00 on dinner and walk away hungry, there is something not quite right. So yes, super yummy, but unless they are going to start advertising themselves as a «small plates» restaurant, it was way overpriced. I rated it three stars for the quality of the food, but it could have been a 5 star experience if the portions were a little more generous. Even if they served a small salad with the meal and something to dip the bread in, or a little butter, I would have felt better about it. I would not go back a second time unless they made some changes.

I would probably give 3 ½ stars if I could. The food was pretty good and the entrée portions were large. Slightly on the more expensive side. Staff seemed very friendly and definitely liked the fact that it is a BYOB. Not totally blown away with the food, but I would go back for a second time.

If the food doesn’t blow you away, the service certainly will.
I am pretty stingy with 5-​star reviews and even more so for Italian food considering it has to stand up to grandma’s, so understand Arugula must be doing everything perfect to earn this score.
Its a great BYOB and I highly recommended for date night or any special occasion.

Excellent value! Unusually good grilled octopus and grilled salmon. Very nice addition to suburban restaurant options.

Went last night with friends. Food and service was above par. There were 9 of us and our waiter was very attentive. They even chill your white wine and beer without being asked and they pour for you. Only downside is the noise level.

This is a very attractive, slightly upscale dining experience for the area. The food is quite good, but the menu is slightly limited. It seems that they need to get their act together a little more, so as far as the wait staff and kitchen, and their interaction with customers. One of the people in our party ordered a veal dish topped with crab, and was served lamb chops topped with crab. He questioned this and was told «The veal is excellent!» and was never offered an exchange to the dish he ordered. He was very easy going about this, but, did request a complimentary dessert, which they agreed to after some going back and forth, and then charging us for the dessert, and then removing it from the bill. Personally, if it were my restaurant, I would have removed the charge for the entrée from the bill, since it was my staff’s mistake to keep guests happy & coming back. I never heard of trying to convince someone to eat something they didn’t order! Portions are good size and everything is well prepared. It is a bit loud, and the waiting area spills into the dining area adding to the chaos and overcrowding. I love that it’s a BYOB. They are new and I’m sure they are in the growing stages! Best wishes!

Nice décor and fantastic service, but mediocre good. The Mussels in Red were tiny and dried up, and their bass entrée was nothing to write home about.

It was VERY yummy. We had the calamari antipasti and the caprese salad, they were fantastic. The penne arugula was good and my dad loved the veal. The owner and waiter were very attentive. Great service, great food, all in all, a great experience. Bravo!