Roman Nose

Years ago, I went on a trip to the Galapagos with a small group on a small boat. As our tour progressed, the food got saltier, as the hard working crew of the boat sweated and started craving salt. The salt on the marinara pizza reminded me of that food, one bite and whoa. Was the chef sweating in some hot kitchen and hence the heavy hand?
Roman Nose got rave reviews from two locals we saw in the street, one holding a pizza box. Pickiest Sis didn’t want any of the food at Project Eats and we decided to eat inside with A.C. and then return to the festival for dessert. We were both in the mood for artisanal pizza after their compliments. They had the butternut squash pizza, so maybe their pizza was not too salty because the high salt content was in the red sauce, which is lacking in the butternut squash pizza.
According to Rachita B, she had the same experience to a worse degree, which is a shame. It would have been a good pizza, with a thin crackling crust that was more a flatbread, fresh mozzarella, chiffonade fresh basil and a nice layer of tomato sauce made with way too much salt. A small pie is enough to feed two if you aren’t hungry. I doused mine with balsamic vinegar and sis, more used to salt, ate hers plain. She did complain that the bottom had ash from burnt crumbs left over from other pizzas in the oven and she was right. Clean out your ovens, folks and have someone who isn’t the cook taste test your red sauce.
The place has a homey, bistro feel, with seating inside and out. The wait staff is lovely and accommodating. I might try it again, if I were in the nabe, as Arshi K. knows how to eat and gave it a good review and the service is nice. I just wouldn’t order the pizza again or anything with red sauce.
Tip: On a Sunday, families seem to like it here so you might get, as we did a table, with screeching kids. We were ready to move to another table when thankfully, then got up and left. If you don’t adults who make no effort to control or calm down their bawling kids, avoid Sunday afternoons.

Great spot right by the Grove street path station. The bruchettes are pretty good. I like the sundried tomato and the artichoke spread. The meatballs are also pretty tasty, but I wish they had a bit more texture. i like when my meatballs have a bit of bite, these almost felt too soft like meatloaf.
My favorite dishes are their homemade pastas. I prefer the ones with less sauce so that the pasta doesn’t get too soft. The orchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe was really good as is the simple cacio e pepe. My bf had ordered the pasta with the bolognese sauce, which was also really tasty but the texture of the pasta was slightly too soft in my opinion. As far as portion sizes go, they run on the slightly smaller size (compared to my overall italian pasta eating average). My BF is a skinny guy but he’s never actually «full» when we finish.

I love pizza and really wanted to love Roman Nose too! It is a short walk from where I currently reside and it is in a fun and lively area. Its proximity to the PATH and nearby bars also make it a convenient spot to meet up with friends in the evening.
Unfortunately, it missed the mark. While aesthetically pleasing and conveniently located (main reason for the stars I have given it), the food and service were below average. We ordered the margherita pizza and the fungi & spinach pizza (minus the fungi!!). We also asked for the complimentary bread.
The bread itself took just under 15 minutes to arrive at our table. I was expecting that because it took so long, that it would be warm! However, the bread was cold and hard. It came pre-​oiled and we were not provided with butter, balsamic, or any other dip.
We gnawed on our hard bread and sipped water for a good 25 minutes and finally, after 40 minutes, our pizzas arrived! I was excited. We ordered the smaller size for both pies, and they were definitely a good size that I felt was big enough.
However, upon cutting into the pizza slices, I saw how thin and flimsy the pizzas are are! I love thin crust but this was like a soggy cracker — not appealing at all. The crust itself tasted like a saltine/​soda cracker and did not have much flavor to it sadly.
The margherita pizza is a standard for me and I often use it as a benchmark when comparing pizzas at different restaurants.
This particular margherita pizza had super salty sauce. It was hard to even bite into it because of how powerful the salt flavor was! It tasted like canned tomato paste that had been thinned out with water and salt added into the formula. I was also disappointed by the sparse sprinkling of the basil, which they chiffonaded. A chiffonade is already thin and long so more basil would have been nice. Additionally, there was not enough cheese on this margherita! The cheese that was on the pizza was rubbery and very chewy. Definitely unpleasant overall.
The second pizza we ordered was the fungi & spinach, but due to an allergy, we requested that the mushrooms be omitted. They were happy to accommodate this but they would not accept any request for a substitution! This is a disappointment as many people have allergies and intolerances, plus there was nothing on the menu indicating that the kitchen wouldn’t accept requests for subs. Anyway, the pizza had a good flavor because the garlic was strong in it. It was topped with mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, as well as olive oil and garlic. Please note that there is no sauce on this particular pizza and they will not incorporate one on! You can, however, pay for a dipping sauce on the side (i.e. That salty marinara lol) if you’d like. The crust, again, was not that appetizing and again, the toppings were super sparse. They could have placed extra spinach pieces on top, especially because we didn’t get the shrooms!
The service overall was also lacking. Our waiter was smiling and nice enough, but he had no idea what the ingredients in the pizzas were!!! He also was slow to bring us water, and did not provide us with any plates (AT ALL!!!) or napkins! This place was semi-​busy but not super happening, so there isn’t really an excuse for this!
I would not come back here unless someone insisted. I am sad that this super convenient place is not what I thought!

In my opinion, there are three types of Italian restaraunts:
— cheap, satisfying, take out style. sometimes delicious, but even at its worst, it was cheap, fast, and/​or delivered to your door
— great, authentic food, worthy of taking time to really enjoy, possibly with a carafe of wine
— and third. the one that tries to be authentic and upscale, but is really mediocre and overpriced
guess which one Roman Nose is.
I’ve lived in the neighborhood for two years and was always under the impression that this was one of the better Italian restos.
After a really long, exhausting week, I wanted to treat myself to a really great meal. Between Japanese and Italian, I chose Italian for the comfort/​indulgence factor. I wanted to get pizza/​pasta/​wine wasted.
Ordered a small Margherita pie. which was quite large. Looked nice. I expected the bread and olive oil, fresh pepper, freshly grated cheese. I got pizzeria shakers. I eagerly picked up a slice, and before it reached my mouth, there was sauce on my pants, shirt, and all over my face. I had not expected the bottom of the pizza to be so flimsy and thin. I wiped my face down.
I sliced my slice into a smaller piece and put it in my mouth. My world shattered. I bit into a salt pie. The one and only thing I ordered and looked forward to eating all day. was a salt pie. The outer edge crusts were nice, as were the tiny bits of chopped basil. But all I tasted was salt. Really.
Now which was dumber, telling the waiter that the food was bad and walking out, or actually sitting there and eating it? My embarrassed, non confrontational self sat there lIke a fool and ate it. A strange ending to the long week. I kept eating, hoping the next bite might taste a little better. I saw other plates coming out, but I only wondered if they were as bad as my pizza.
Overall, I felt it was really a waste of money. I would have been happier with a slice and glass of cheap wine next door. At least the waiter was nice. Really disappointed, but there are better options in jc. Took the leftovers home, but it ended up in the garbage can.
My Italian friends wouldn’t feed this to a dog.

Stopped here for an early Sunday night dinner with friends.
We were famished and decided to split bruschetta as an appetizer (3 pieces for $ 6, or 6 pieces for $ 9… Went went with the 6). We ordered the traditional tomato bruschetta, a pesto bruschetta, and a ricotta cheese one with walnuts and honey. All were served on delicious bread and phenomenal. The pesto was so fresh– probably from the basil they have growing out front!
For dinner we had a couple things on the table, the orchette was amazing, served with broccoli rabbe and sausage, and the pizza was enormous!!! I ordered a shrimp dish (essentially shrimp scampi), the pasta was delicious but the flavor was a bit underwhelming.
Overall– I really like this place tho! Foods amazing for the most part, staff is super friendly, and it’s really adorable inside.
It’s a bit tiny inside so I imagine it’s tough on a Saturday night to get a table though.

How did I not write a review on this amazing place yet?!?
Let me begin by saying, pizza has never been the same. I down right refuse to eat pizza anywhere else. You taste the TLC in each bite, not to mention the pies are huge. The pasta selections are great too. I’m a personal fan of the Pesto dish! I also recommend getting a side of Marinara sauce for pizza slice dipping. The extra flavor is worth the extra few bucks. Rather eat pizza at home? No prob, they do pick up orders too.
The staff is awesome! They are extremely professional and pleasant. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced an «off day» from them. Our fav bartender, Kevin, makes the best cocktails (the drink menu has something for everyone).
In short, this is a great place for some amazing Italian food and drinks. I hope that stay in JC for a very long time!

There are a ton of upscale pizza/​pasta places in Jersey City. We have attempted to go to this place previously but there was too long of a wait. We went on a Sunday night for a party of 3 and were seated fairly quickly as there were tons of seats both inside and out. We decided to sit inside which is fairly cozy but comfortable. Service was attentive throughout our meal. We were greeted and served quickly.
They serve happy hour daily until 6 so we were able to get happy hour priced drinks. My glass of house white was only $ 6 and was a good size portion. Allagash white and some of other craft beers were $ 4 so it’s a good deal.
As for the food, menu is solid with tons of choices from pasta dishes, meat dishes, pizzas, salads, antipasto, and bruschettas. We opted to split a house salad ($ 8) to start. It was a large portion and easily shared by 2 or 3 people. Salad was fairly standard but good nonetheless. We then ordered two smaller size pizzas — zucchini and four cheese — for $ 16 and $ 17 respectively. The pastas are flatbread style so each had 6 large pieces. Soft bread with a very slightly crunchy crust. I’m not into a large amount of crust so it was perfect for me. It was plenty of food for 3 people and we had leftovers. Loved the zucchini pizza as the zucchini was tender and flavorful. Would order that again in a heartbeat.
Gourmet pizza is a huge trend in JC so there are a bunch of places like this only steps away. However, I would add this place to my rotation when in the mood for pizza/​pasta as it was a good meal.

Came here with my girlfriend on a weekend. It is a nice and little italian restaurant on newark avenue. It has a full bar, outdoor seating, and great décor. When we arrived, there was about an hour wait, but that hour goes by quick when you are surrounded by great bars.
After an hour, our table was ready. There timing was right on point. We were starving when we got in so we breezed through the menu and asked the server what is the best past. He suggested the Tagliatelle al Ragù, which was okay. I didn’t think it was anything special. It was just meat and pasta. We also ordered the zucca pizza pie. This was more different than a usual slice of pizza. I enjoyed the caramelized onions and the maple glaze at the end of every bite. Although, I wish they cooked it a bit longer because it tasted really doughy.
Overall, this place is okay. If they work on making the food better, I might come back again. I was not wowed by the food so I would not come back.

Came here on a Saturday night with my boyfriend and we were expected to wait 45mins. So we decided to grab a drink at Porta until we wait for the call.
They call us within 45 minutes, not going over so thank god! I have heard and read just good hype, i had to try myself.
We got there and their service is great. The host sat us right away and immediately after the server came to our table. Unfortunately the server didnt greet us properly with his name or if we have been there before so he just stood our water quietly. We asked his recommendations which were good, but i thought of would be better.
We ordered the tagliatelle ragu and butternut squash Pizza. Both were good, but I think the ragu could be a bit more wet in sauce and the pizza could be crisper. The pizza was very doughy which killed it, but the taste was very good.
I hope next time I come back the pizza will be better. Because I really like this place.

I wish I can say positive things about this place…
The chairs are comfy. Okay, that’s it.
The door was constantly open bringing in cold air. The service was extremely slow. But my biggest issue was that our waiter was a jerk. This was seriously our conversation:
«Can I substitute the pork for chicken because I don’t eat pork.»
«No. We don’t substitute.»
*I glare.* who the fuck doesn’t substitute?
«I guess we can put the pork on the side and put chicken on the side and you can mix it in yourself but we’re charging you extra for the chicken…»
Bitch what?
He was acting like my questions were stupid and instead of impressing us with amazing knowledge and wowing us with good customer service it felt like he was demeaning us.
And the food wasn’t even that good! It was meh! Definitely not worth $ 21 for a small plate of pasta.
I left the place thinking it was such a waste of time and money.

Very casual place, we had pasta and pizza, the small pizza is really big, only $ 12, meat ball is their specialist, also very cheap, only $ 5 for 2, they are big. Bread is normal. But generally is not bad place to go.

Great ambience, really nice, helpful and responsive staff! We ordered a bruschetta starter — which was flavorful! My friend ordered the chianti wine And i ordered the montepulciano — both wines were very earthy and full bodies or so I though! (disclaimer — not a wine connoisseur yet!)
We then ordered the pesto pizza (small) more than enough for two people with abt 8 slices in square shape. I felt the pizza could be better with a more crunchier base and a little less salt. I also felt that we had to repeatedly request the staff for stuff like — pizza seasonings, replace the slightly stained /​not sparkling wine glasses and to understand the size of wine serving which was not the norm but served in quant. These small things should have been taken care of for first time visitors and kind of rained on my dinner — but still a great place! Will give them another chance soon :)

I have to take a star off because our pasta plates were not that good. Everything else about this place is awesome — great ambiance, attentive waiters and amazing appetizer .
We came here to celebrate my husband’s first day at work, arrived at 8pm and got seated right away. We were a bit lucky as I saw a crowd waiting for tables right after us. We order three bruschettes and they all were delicious!
Pastas, on the other side, are a bit disappointing. We got Spaghetti with shrimp and fennel with pork sausage. Fennel dish is so bland, it is not and better than canned ragu sauce with ground pork. Flavor of shrimp spaghetti is a much better, shrimps were fresh and cooked to perfection. Unfortunately it is very oily, we could see a half inch of oil in the bottom

3.5 out of 5 stars
(please Unilocal create 0.5 marks, it’s tough to give them a 4 but they’re not bad enough to give 3, thank you Unilocal!)
This place was quite adequate for an Italian brunch. The meatballs were very good but some bites had a little cartilidg-​ey feel to them.
My bro in law ordered a pizza (the one with white sauce & egg on top) and it was a little soggy but had decent flavor. The waffles were also just alright but overall we enjoyed the place. Seemed more of a dinner place possibly than a brunch, at least from the items we ordered.
But this place does get at least 3 stars because our waiter was nice and friendly.
I would go here again but probably for dinner next time. But this place does get 3 stars

Pastas and gourmet pizzas galore. We originally wanted to go to Razza for lunch, but we didn’t realize it was closed during lunch hours. So after me being depressed for a few minutes and wandering about aimlessly, we somehow ended up at Roman Nose.
For the pizzas you have a choice between the piccola (small) or grande (large). The piccola is actually a grande in disguise. When they brought out the pizza, at first I thought they made a mistake and gave me a grande instead. I even had leftovers to eat for lunch the next day.
I ordered the Zucca, which is a roast butternut squash pizza with pancetta, caramelized onion, mozzarella, fontina, parmigiano, maple glaze, and parsley. The pizza was crispy, thankfully no sogginess. It was sweet from the maple and didn’t have enough pancetta since it lacked the salty contrast. To cut the sweetness I added some red pepper flakes and black pepper which made it even more tasty.
My boyfriend ordered the Breakfast Sangweech, which had over-​easy eggs, prosciutto di Parma, homemade mozzarella, parmigiano, and arugula on ciabatta. Good choice on his part. I had a bite and it’s like a breakfast sandwich on steroids. Definitely getting that next time I come here.
In addition to the tasty food, they have $ 4 draft beers on top during lunch. My boyfriend got a refreshing Allagash White. Thankfully, this place was able to somewhat alleviated the sting of not being able to go to Razza.

I have been twice after debating on going for a long while. I am always conflicted about getting Italian food out, especially the classics, because I have my go-​to family-​owned Italian restaurant.
The first time, I was with friends. We ordered wine and starters and pizza and mains and desserts. Somehow it did not quite feel like enough for the four of us. Everything was decent, just good enough to devour and lifeless enough to not be extremely memorable. What I remember most about this first trip was the fun conversation, too much wine, and a dish snafu. I ordered the bolognese, fixated on the meaty flavorful sauce that is redolent of nonna and delicious times. This bolognese, however, did not usher any of those pleasantries to my mind. In fact, it was dull. There was no flavor, no seasoning, no passion, and what felt like no hope. I was super bummed, but we let our server know. The manager came by to make recommendations for a second pasta dish to try. I ended up with the immensely flavorful and fragrant gramigna con salsiccia, which was meaty in its own right. This was much more satisfying and delicious than the bolognese, so the trip was not a complete fail. But something about plain bolognese is off-​putting.
The second trip, we went for a late date night dinner. There was a wait, so we sat at the bar, and were utterly unimpressed by the value of the drinks. They sounded beautiful and looked beautiful, but they tasted like cheap tricks. Finally, at our table we ordered a round of bruschette. I was so ready because these were some of the appetizers I tried and liked last time (I think). After placing our order, the server returned to announce that they were out of bread. My boyf was shocked, but it was late, so I almost understand. It did, however, put a damper on the whole thing. I got the gramigna con salsiccia again. This time it was not the pick-​me-​up that I remember. It was flat, but again, this might be attributed to the lateness of our meal. The eggplant parm was gorgeous– a delicate dance of textures. Something too was lacking– a heap of pasta to drink up the extra sauce and fortify the dish (that’s just how it comes, senza pasta). Our meal ended on a high with the tiramisu, which was not soggy and drippy with coffee, but solid and just sweet enough.
Perhaps I have been trying the wrong things or going at the wrong time, but the Roman Nose has not hit it on the head for me yet.

This is purely based on the Bloody Mary and overall atmosphere.
Came in for a drink while waiting for a table at another restaurant. We ordered the Bloody Mary– as we watched the bartender make it, we we confused as to what ingredients they were using.
Turns out that they use a marinara sauce base along with Worcestershire sauce and olive oil– sounds weird I know but was actually great. As opposed to the usually watery, overly sweet flavor, theirs is rich with a little heat. Highly recommend.

We had Sunday brunch here, we didn’t have a reservation. 4 of us walked in and they seated us right away. We had a couple of coffees and some really tasty freshly squeezed orange juice.
They have nice décor, they have vintage Italian memorabilia, I especially like all the wedding pictures. The service was very pleasant.
We had the meat balls, spaghetti carbonara, cacio e pepe scrambled eggs and eggs baked in red sauce. The meat balls and cacio e Pepe scrambled eggs were the stand out dishes. The cacio e Pepe scrambled eggs were amazing, how scrambled eggs can taste so good, I don’t know. Meat balls like everyone says is really really good. Everything was tasty. They were also quick to refill our water and coffee.
For dessert we had the budino which was basically chocolate mousse, in this case it was dark chocolate and hazelnut mousse, was nice. We also had cannolis again nice.
Can’t wait to go back and try their pizzas and pastas. This is a lovely Italian restaurant in the area. One of the best.

Came in for brunch at around 3 on a Sunday. The place wasn’t too packed but it was also Christmas weekend and 3 is kind of a weird hour to be having a meal (for me, at least).
I was craving a panini since I love sandwiches and anything with melted cheese (especially mozzarella). So I ordered the cotoletta (breaded chicken cutlet with homemade mozzarella, fresh tomato, and arugula on ciabatta). The mozzarella was really good and the arugula complemented the panini very well. But the chicken was just very… meh…for lack of a better word. It almost had this microwave-​like quality to it. Also, the bread was a little too toasty, to the point that it was hard.
But the saving grace was the meatballs. It was flavorful, and tender. I’d come back for those balls any day.
Plus, it seems like a cute date spot!

Great spot for a tasty lunch.
Stopped in for lunch and was pleased with the quality of the meal. If you’re around and not sure where to go definitely stop in here — you won’t be disappointed.
I had the meatball sangweech and the pastini soup combo for lunch which was a ton of food and only cost $ 10. The meatballs were delicious but since they’re served in a ciabatta bread roll they got crushed with every bite due to the toughness of the bread. I ended up switching to knife and fork after about 3 bites as my meatballs completely fell apart. My wife had the side of meatballs which I wish I had ordered since it was the better way to eat them. If you’re torn between the two go for the side since it also comes with a lot more sauce, the acidity of the marinara adds to the flavor.
We both had soup, minestrone for my wife and the pastini for me. Both were seasoned perfectly and full of great veggies so hit the spot.
As mentioned a great meal for lunch and for two of us with a soda each we were out of there for under $ 30 not including tip. I can’t wait to come back for dinner sometime.
Give it a look.