Civile Cucina Italiana

Went there last week with my girlfriend and had a great time. At first we were greeted by our waiter who gave us the specials and opened our bottle of wine but soon got overwhelmed by a large party that shortly came in after us. But not to worry the food runners/​busboys and the manager were quick to help take our order, make sure our water cups were never empty, and make sure our food came out promptly and correct. We split an order of mussels on the specials for an appetizer which were delicious as well as our Italian jambalaya and my girlfriends pasta dish. All in all it was a great restaurant only reason keeping me from the 5^th star is the waiter never really came back to check on us but was very attentive to the party that he left us for. I hope most of our tip went to the people who helped us. Great restaurant, i recommend Civile and i will be back !!

The food is amazing, everything on the menu is good.
The place is nice, and Jason is the man. I highly recommend civile to any skeptic.

Been here 4 times– the food is always amazing. I’ve brought family & friends who wholeheartedly concur. The steak, the pasta, the chicken, the apps, are all delicious. It’s a great place to bring wine, friends & family. The atmosphere is also very cozy & unique. Service is good. Love this place!

Thank You Jason and the crew, you made the afternoon over the moon perfect!!! The food was quite possibly the best Italian ever!!! As my husband said… If i could make one suggestion it is… DON’T CHANGE A THING!!! Many Mahaloz from the Gnadinger, Mahoney and Wincz families! If you are thinking of having a party here… DO IT!!! They are the BEST!

Had our first dinner at Civile tonight. We are new residents to Metuchen and we look forward to visiting here again! Both the food and service were perfect! Our appetizers, main courses, and dessert were all flavorful and well worth the price. We would highly recommend this place to anyone. We felt so appreciated as customers (unlike many of the chain restaurants in the Edison area). Thank you, Civile for one of many date nights to come!

We have followed Jason from the old Durham Café which had many iterations but Civile Cucina is the best. The veal rolitini is terrific and Jason is a gracious host and manager. We have been back many times and it has been consistently good. The old movies are an added touch.

Food — amazing! Even for a table of six ,
All were pleased. Actually beyond pleased!
Service: Freddy is the man, hands down!
Price is fair considering the amount of food on a portion!
I am so glad my father in law introduced us to this place.

Service is great and if something is wrong they will take care of it no problem. Hats off to Jason and his entire staff. My wife told Jason her Caesar Salad had too many croutons and not enough lettuce. It was quickly replaced.
While not cheap, portions are large. ¾ took significant amounts of their main course home. I was the exception, I wanted that Pork Chop Giambotta in one sitting.
The pounded Veal Chop Parm was a major hit at our table. For an appetizer, we shared the Tuna Special entrée. It was kind of bland but for that I blame Laura who ordered it with pretty much all the flavorings removed.
The Caesar Salads were large and good except that the anchovies were extremely salty.
It’s BYOB and there is a parking lot. If you need to park on the street read the signs very carefully.
The only real downside is that this place, particularly the back room, is very noisy. The front room seemed to be quiet but in the winter with the door opening and closing„ may not be desirable.
It’s A Wonderful Life being projected without sound onto the wall was an interesting touch.
Will definitely be going back.

Amazing food and exceptional service. Tried the special rib eye and it was unbelievable. Also tried the Chocolate Ganache — so good it should be illegal!!! Jason is a great host and although it was our first time he made us feel like regulars.

Great food! Love that they moved to South Main St– we need some good restaurants this way! Everything I’ve ordered from them has been great! Gnocchi, chicken saltimbocca, calamari, etc. We had our daughter’s christening luncheon at Civile when they were located on Central Ave. Jason was great to work with — very helpful in planning the menu. We Civile!

After the meatballs and red sauce antipasto, they could do no wrong. Maybe the best meatballs in NJ. I had the pork ossa bucco. It fell off the bone. My dining companion had the chicken parmesan. It was also good. Large portions, tasty food, and nice people. What more can you ask?!

This is just a really great, local/​small Italian restaurant. I’ve been here twice. The first was for a large birthday party. All the dishes were served family style and everything was outstanding.
The second time was just me and my wife. Same experience. The menu has a lot of interesting dishes I’d like to try eventually. That night I had the Osso Buco. It was cooked perfectly over really good risotto. We shared the meatball app. Also great.
They also play old movies on a movie screen.

4.7 stars * * * *
Had a triple date dinner here a few months ago and wow, what a hidden gem. I think that the location of Civile Cucina is off because it’s right before the ‘main’ area of Main Street. It was packed that night so make a reservation if you have a large party. We took advantage of the $ 35 per person family style. You get a choice of 5 appetizers, 1 Salad, 5 Entrees, and Dessert Samplers. So much food! And we took the leftovers home!
Here is what we ordered:
Pancetta Fig Crostini
Calamari Ciasulli
Speidini Alla Romano (Fried mozzarella, yummy!)
Traditional Caesar Salad
Gnocchi Alla Sorrentino (pretty good)
(and a meat and chicken dish. I tuned out the meat, oops!)
Desserts — homemade Italian pastries and treats
This is a great place for date night, family brunch, or any other occasion. Delicious food, BYOB, good location, and great service!!!

Incredible dishes that are absolutely unique. Ambience that reminds you of quality time spent away from the daily grind. Attention by a well dressed and well versed waiter/​owner who makes sure you are taken care of.
a must try is the Calamari Ciasulli and I quote from their menu:
Fried Calamari tossed in Intense Balsamic Reduction, Diced Tomato & Scallions

My husband, son and I had dinner here for Valentine’s. The food and service are phenomenal! They had a 4-​course prix fixe dinner and each portion was huge! We had lots to bring home. The owner is friendly and made us feel very welcome. Nice atmosphere and ambience. I love the chandelier. Look at the photos of the food we ordered. I can’t wait to go back again!!!

Probably best italian food around, a lot of thought put into the food, i never eat at chain resturaunts and this just proves why

Really like Civile. Jay G said the new location was in a rough neighborhood… not sure what planet he lives on, but the neighborhood is great (I live a few houses down from Civile, so I know what I am talking about.). It is in a residential area of Metuchen, so there aren’t that many other businesses around.
The food is really good– somewhat high prices, but you can tell they use high quality ingredients. Their calamari is excellent– it’s in a balsamic reduction, and is unique and different (in a good way) from any other standard traditional calamari.
I’ll come back for sure– lots of great Italian restaurants, but this makes the cut.

Cute and cozy place. Service was friendly and attentive. Bread was amazing… crusty and warm. Food was also very good. Downside… portions are small for the price. They also no longer give you nice chunks of cheese like they used to at their former location. The place was also a little bright and somewhat dead for a Friday night. With so many good Italian restaurant around, Civile needs to do something to stand out and to entice people to come back.

So excited to eat here! Loved the atmosphere & the beautiful chandelier in the middle of the room, very peaceful! The food was delicious! We started with the Spedini ala Romano which was so awesome. The sauce was great we dipped our bread in it. Delicious! Caesar salad was great with nice big slices of parm cheese. Yum! The house salad was good too.
My husband had the steak I don’t remember the name but it was pounded and served with fresh mozz and tomato. Very flavorful. My chicken dish was tasty and served with fresh ingredients.
Can’t wait to go back and try a few more dishes! Yum!
Almost forgot, the apple cheesecake & the mascarpone cheesecake. Yummy! Don’t skip dessert!

Went there this weekend and had a great meal. This place is BYOB, so that was nice. They were quick about noticing the second bottle to open it for me.
We started with the meatball app, and it was delicious. The red sauce was great, and the meatballs with pine nuts and raisins was different but tasty.
I had the veal/​capicola rollatini, oh man… soooo good. The veal was cooked perfectly, and the cheese in the middle was nice and melty. The brown mushroom sauce was also delicious. The risotto on the side with sauteed spinach was meh, I make better food than that. Definitely a lazy afterthought– served on a plate delivered after the special veal.
The wife had the italian jambalaya, which was basically risotto with meat mixed in. Also, very tasty– but not spicy like I imagine a jambalaya. I get this wasn’t a traditional dish, only a re-​imagining, but some heat would have been nice. The food was a bit slow to come out, but it was a packed house Friday night, and we had wine and friends with us, so I’m not complaining about that.
I’m only bumping this place down 1 star for the ambiance. It was LOUD in the dining area, we were shouting at each other across the table. The walls are painted just like an olive garden and there was a bizarre italian movie with subtitles being projected onto the wall. No idea what that was all about. Overall, great food, excellent service, just a strange dining environment that was almost too noisy to enjoy company.