Presto’s Restaurant

The food is here is absolutely amazing. It is a true gem in Jersey City. I always have a great experience here.

Used to work in the area and ate at Presto’s at least once a week for seven years. Loved their chicken parm. Was there last week for the first time in several years. Food was ok, but service was awful. No water or bread offered until requested and then brought with our meal. No drink order ever taken.

I’ve always gotten a good meal here, although it’s slightly odd that they deny me from ordering my side pasta with olive oil and garlic. Dated interior including old puffy-​backed church/​shul stacking chairs, although there’s a comfort to that. I’d call it no-​frills.

A neighborhood favorite. Excellent Italian food with prompt service. The seating is tight but it makes for a great atmosphere.

Good Italian home-​style cooking. The menu has all the basics — chicken parm, baked ziti, etc. — complemented by some more interesting daily specials. Old-​school on the inside, small and nothing fancy. Good, friendly and attentive service.

I love this place. Be prepared to wait a while for your entrees, but when they arrive you will not be disappointed. For appetizers we like the stiffened mushrooms or zucchini sticks and I love the chicken marsala for an entrée. It is also BYO so don’t forget to bring your favorite bottle.

The food is great and they will permit your children play video games with the volume on. Super awesome for people who like eating Italian in an arcade.

We’ve been meaning to try this place for a while as our neighbors really like it. I wish we could say we liked it but we were far from impressed. The food was mediocre at best (we had pasta, a salad, veal piccata) and the restaurant didn’t seem very clean.
The pros:
— byob
— convenient location
The cons:
— mediocre food (honestly, Olive garden does better food)
— service is slow and very inefficient (slow, kept forgetting to bring us things we’d asked for such as water and silverware)
— dull atmosphere (needs to be refurbished)
With all the great restaurants in the area and Abbonzanda Trattoria down the road (also byob Italian), we won’t be coming back here anytime soon.

So thankful a large party was a no show! We waited about 15 minutes if that before we got our table. Restaurant is very cute and intimate. Dim lights and a friendly staff.
We were a hungry bunch as usual and shared the fried calamari, mussels in oil and garlic and the mozzarella tutti. Amazing! The calamari was light, crispy and fried just right. Not oily at all. The mozzarella tastes so fresh and the tomatoes, roasted peppers and olives were also tasty and lightly seasoned. Everything was well marinated and not over the top. The mussels were cooked in a garlic sauce that was absolutely amazing. You can definitely taste the fresh garlic and we actually used the fresh baked bread to soak up the remaining sauce that was left on the plate. Only complaint was the mussels could’ve been bigger.
For our entrees we had chicken Alfredo, baked Ziti, tortellini with meat and a seafood special on top of Angel hair pasta. Everything came out within 4 minutes of each other and there was silence at the table. No one talking. Everyone eating. All the pasta was perfectly cooked. Fresh mozzarella and savoury sauces. There was really no complaints on any of our dishes. Everything that you would expect from a home cooked Italian meal.
Staff was very attentive. Friendly and kept our glasses full of water. Reasonable prices for great food and service. Best part is Byob.

Above average food. I ordered the shrimp Alfredo– the sauce was creamy and delicious. My bf got the chicken parm– again very good! The portions are huge. Only con is that the food takes a while to come out. Other than that the staff was nice and a good place to have some Italian food. BYOB btw!

Amazing food!!! We ordered the chicken piccata (small serving but tastes amazing!) and pasta and meatballs (portions are huge and tasty!). Additionally, the waiters are very attentive– they ran out of bread upon our arrival (for a starter bowl at every day) and they had someone run out and grab us more. Wonderful experience and will definitely come back!
Be warned: they don’t take reservations and the place gets packed. Make sure you don’t mind waiting a bit if you come during rush hour.

They need to get it together on timing. Your reservation basically won’t be respected. They just take forever on everything. I don’t understand.

I really want to like this place because it’s conveniently located and the food is really good. However the wait time has been unacceptably long. In 3 visits (2 take out and 1 dine-​in), I’ve logged over 2 hours on that park bench directly in front of the bathrooms.
The pizza is their best kept secret, it’s fantastic. My last visit, I called and placed my order for a pizza and a couple salads and was told 30 minutes. I gave them 40 minutes until I showed up and still waited 30 minutes on that bench. It just isn’t worth the aggravation.
But the food is good and the staff is friendly. I plan on going back in a couple months to see if their timing has improved. And if it’s not at least it’ll be spring time, maybe waiting outside won’t be quite as miserable.

Cozy gem! No frills Italian comfort food. Fantastic service. BYOB – don’t forget the wine!

I finally made it to Presto’s this past weekend and really loved the food and experience! Presto’s is an Italian-​American restaurant with a very old school feel. Everyone who was eating there were locals in their 50’s and 60’s. To start we had the baked clams, the house salad and the portobello and shrimp salad. The salads were a great size and value ($ 3 for the house, $ 9 for the shrimp salad) and really fresh. The baked clams were just okay– I would skip these next time. For entrée I had the Mussels Marinara and the sauce was out of this world good! My mother is off the boat Italian and this sauce was some of the best I’ve ever had. The portion was huge and the mussels were so fresh for only $ 13 it was a steal. My fiancé had the eggplant rollatini with a side of broccoli rabe which was also delicious. I can’t wait to go back!

The reviews were good and the wisdom was that parking would be a bear in NYC, so we decided to drop in at Presto in Jersey City for a weekend family dinner. The conventional wisdom was wrong! Parking was bear around Presto and the food was quite ordinary as well.
We were the last patrons served (they close at 10:00 pm), but we were still early enough that the kitchen did not have to rush the preparations. While the staff was pleasant and friendly, the food was the most unimaginative. Ok we did not expect food innovation here folks — just something which would taste better than Pasta cooked out of the Barilla boxes.
There were lots of vegetarian options — but the four we ordered were below par. Cheese Tortellini was boring and the baked Ziti was quite ordinary — just like the taste of a dorm cafeteria cooked pasta. I think Presto’s pasta is boxed and not freshly made — it certainly tasted that way. Ziti serving was HUGE — but quantity can’t make for taste on this one ;(
Eggplant parmigiana was decent. For our fourth entrée we thought we were ordering a nice healthy salad but their Mozzarella (with basil and sun dried tomatoes) was more of a appetizer than salad. I personally don’t like cheese served straight out of the refrigerator and with this one, the cheese was cold and with no character. Had to force our way through with this dish.
And yes, it’s BYOB so make sure you bring a good wine — that may be the best part of your meal!

We’ve lived a block from Presto’s since September. Heard and read good things. Tonight was our first go ’round. You have to appreciate this place for what it is: solid, traditional Italian comfort food. Nothing fancy here. Minimal décor & a casual crowd of locals eating and drinking through lively conversation (yes, it gets a little loud). Just as a neighborhood Italian joint should be.
I’ve had many a veal parmigiano in my lifetime, and Presto’s does it right. Tender veal, smothered in cheese and a bright marinara sauce. My wife got a HUGE plate of pasta. Add the BYOB and it’s a good value.
I would recommend they spruce up the bathrooms a bit. Simple, dated décor is one thing. A neglected bathroom (albeit acceptably clean) is something else…

SO GOOD! The red tomato sauce is absolutely perfect! I had the chicken parmesan, my mom had the stuffed shells, and we had the fried calamari to begin, LOVED it all… I took a star away because it took them a while to take our order, but once they did they were very nice and attentive.
We didn’t get to try any dessert because we were stuffed but they all sound so good, next time.
The place is kinda ugly, I don’t see any reason for it either, its a great little space, they should really hook it up
But overall, food was AWESOME!

Some of the best italian food I have had in a while. The restaurant, menu, and old «strega Nonna» looking lady give this restaurant the feel that this is pretty legit. Although there is not much on the interior, i can almost guarantee you will enjoy everything you put in your mouth.
Its true, italian, simple food. No more than 5 ingredients in each plate.

A great spot for no frills Italian classics. You will overpay a little when you consider the lack of décor and bar, but the food more than makes up for that. It’s the only one of it’s kind in the area.
On any given night owner Sal can be found running the kitchen and whipping up his mother’s recipes. Momma can even be found at the restaurant giving it that extra neighborhood Italian vibe.
All dishes are made to order, so stop at Liberty Wine & Liquor on your way in so you can enjoy some wine while you wait. Trust me when I say that you will thank them for painstakingly pounding out every cutlet, rolling each meatball, and tossing your pasta in fresh sauce. It is stick to your ribs, warm your stomach, old school Italian.
Favorites: Veal Parmesan, Veal Piccata, Meatballs, & Pasta Carbonara, Clams Casino, anything Bolognese