Provesi of Morristown

Made reservation for 4 for a special dinner. Specifically asked for a front window table. When we walked in 10 minutes early, a man, who seemed to be owner, manager (?) immediately stated he had a party of 10 along front window and was not sure he could «do that». I very nicely stated I had requested the window, and he immediately jumped down my throat to state «He would make it work, please calm down». I wasn’t at all upset, as I expected to get what I had requested. He moved tables around and very nicely fit our table at the front window. No problem at all. While that put a damper on my evening, the meal topped it off. Not good at all. Very small shrimp oreganato for $ 24. Literally 2 julienne carrots and ONE small red potatoe! Left hungry! Would definitely not recommend Provesi.

Good food and great atmosphere outdoors, with a really good singer providing entertainment. Salad special, baked clams, mussels and the pizza were all very good. Red sauce on chicken parm was good too.

Set reservations for a graduation party and when we got there they changed where we were sitting. very unprofessional.

Horrible good-​so many fruit flies you couldn’t sit and enjoy dinner-​was our first and last time–
We won’t be coming back —

This has been a go to place for our big groups for a number of years and we are all asking why of late. Saturday night, group of 8 in the cave, starts out with the «we are having credit card issues» call with the reservation. Only thing is that is the 3^rd time we received this call and they took cards all throughout the restaurant
Service was non existent. We had to beg to get basic items, ice bucket for wine, parm cheese, even had to stand up to get check to leave.
Veal Milanese, my go to dish here for years, delicately fried, tender veal? NOPE! Over fried, tough, dark pink color, not sure if it was Canadian Veal or a leg cut, or did they just massacre some pour scallopini. 2 of had this, another hated his chicken parm, fried to hell as well.
I’m going back tonight out of loyalty over the years, already got my credit card warning… will see the results soon enough.

Food was good. Nothing extraordinary, but good. I ordered a cesar salad, menu said it was $ 8. When the bill came, my Cesar salad for lunch was $ 20 because I added grilled chicken. They charged me $ 12 for one small slice of chicken. The interior and décor is all mismatched and could use some attention. Many other places up and down the street that are better to check out.

I think the varied reviews for this restaurant are merely a reflection of the reviewer’s own preconceived notion of what Italian food SHOULD taste like.
Being born and raised in Italy, I have an okay idea of what Italian food should taste like, and I can assure you that THIS IS NOT IT! For starters, half of the menu is misspelled. How do you expect to cook something properly if you do not understand what it is that you are cooking?
The bread sticks were mediocre. Everything else was not even deserving of 1 star.
This restaurant, and the owner, as many have noted, are an utterly uninspiring experience. This was an easily forgettable and overall unremarkable dinner, which I will never be repeating again.
There are countless other nearby restaurants that offer way better food at a way better price.

Only good thing about this restaurant is BYOB.
Food is just average and they won’t have most of the things on the menu.
Very sad…

While the bread sticks were good, the penne a la Vodka was flavorless. The meal took awhile to arrive but I assume the kitchen was backed up. The service was average however the cheeky waiter asked for his tip in cash. We won’t be returning.

We have passed this place a whole bunch of times wanting to try it. It is an averagely priced Italian restaurant, $ 15 – 30 per dish. The place is BYOB and you can get wine etc delivered to the restaurant, which is pretty cool. We had overall good service and a nice waiter.
Onto the food, I seriously don’t mean to botch this place, I’m sure they do have potential. We had ordered the calamari balsamico and the cold antipasto for appetizers. The calamari was fresh, but it was very bland. The balsamic was just drizzled on top, and it wasn’t mixed with anything. In my opinion this dish would be much better and less bland with maybe some onions and tomatoes mixed in. I wouldn’t order this again.
Don’t even get me started on the cold antipasto, there were like 2 pieces of mozerella mixed with raw, cold veggies like broccoli, string beans, and eggplant. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought antipasto was a mixture of meats, cheeses, and olives. This was not that, and it was not very good, unfortunately.
I ordered the lobster ravioli, and it wasn’t my favorite. The vodka sauce was actuallyreally good, but the peas tasted undercooked and frozen. As a matter of fact, the raviolis tasted a bit undercooked as well. I wasn’t a fan, I wouldn’t get it again. I wish I would have ordered just plain penne vodka.
Like I had said, I’m sure this restaurant really has potential, but I won’t be back anytime soon.

First and foremost, «taste» is subjective to the individual. What’s not subjective, in my opinion, is customer quality service; either you have it or you don’t. Provesi tops my list as an excellent service oriented restaurant that provides outstanding cuisines at an extremely affordable cost. They truly look to take care of the customers in a way that make you feel at home. This was my first time eating there, however, when I was deployed overseas and unable to attend the ballet with my wife, she took my 8 year old daughter. They decided upon dinner at Provesi’s before the ballet. After hearing my daughter exclaim, with jubilance, over her experience at Provesi’s and then experiencing their service for myself, I firmly believe the staff at Provesi’s does everything in their power to go out of their way to take care of you and make for an excellent dining experience. This place will see my business in the future.

*garlic bread (yum! Warm, toasty, soft inside, lightly salted on top. This was probably the best thing I ate all night.)
*penne vodka (blah, the penne was alright, a little too chewy for me. the sauce was quite a dark orange and coagulated rather quick from kitchen to the table; there was a lack of salt content and didn’t have much flavor either; a creamier texture would have also been appreciated)
*chicken marsala (blah, the chicken was moist at least but the marsala sauce wasn’t salty/​tangy enough, I wish the sauce was thicker so it stuck to the chicken better); *salmon (honestly this wasn’t bad, flaky and smooth but kind of fishy; nevertheless a better option than the chicken)
*tiramisu (where do I start??? when you take a bite of tiramisu, you expect it to be soft and moist… the middle of the cake was icy so you know they were thawing this cake. I was like wtf is this!!! luckily the cream was good but omg to the cake! horrible!!!)
This place gives the impression that the food is going to be good, but that is totally not what I experienced. Food was blah. Service was actually ok. But back to the food. I was starving so I was ready to devour everything. But even with me being hungry, I wasn’t satisfied with the portion or the flavors. Would definitely not return.

My advice, walk around the corner to the next place.
If you live in Morris County, you will drive/​walk past about 4 or 5 Italian restaurants to get to «your place». Everyone has their favorite. What makes a favorite is quality of food, price, and most importantly, an enjoyable experience.
Provesi falls painfully short in all three categories.
Quality of food: Terrible. The chicken franchese was served as one piece of chicken with a side of carrots, string beans, and a PIECE of a potato. (It seems one potato was split among our table). Why wasn’t it served over pasta? Side salad? Bread, Parmesan cheese, ground black pepper? A warning?
The restaurant was busy, so the cooks were under pressure. However the price of the meal should assure me the chicken won’t be dry.
Price: Unrealistic. $ 26 should come with more than the aforementioned bare plate.
Enjoyable experience: Not a chance. 45 minute wait, even with our reservation. My large group shared the basement with another group who was equally disappointed. Both parties left at the same time, all agreeing that none would ever return. That’s 50 adults leaving your restaurant with no intention of returning! Is that bad?
Manager honestly didn’t care that everyone was unhappy with the service, he made his money for the night. Very short sided business model.

If there was a half star… I would give it.
I generally do not like to write poor reviews. Sometimes people are not having a good day or things just aren’t working efficiently in the kitchen. I get it. However, my experience on NYE was devastating. My dining experience at Provesi that evening was the worst I have EVER HAD in a restaurant. I have eaten at Provesi once before a year or so ago, and it was nice. This time… not even close to okay. I felt disrespected, manipulated, and mocked.
My friend made a reservation for NYE 3 weeks in advance for a party of 19. Then, the week of NYE, he called to see if they were able to accommodate 2 more. The manager said it wouldn’t be a problem. Okay — great.
Here are a list of issues that happened that evening:
1.) The reservation was for 8:00 and we did not sit until 8:50. The manager continued to say for 15 minutes, that they needed 5 more minutes because the table was being set for us. The wait staff worked so hard and diligently once we were seated. These young men were excellent. However, they set up the table as we sat there. So, thanks for lying to our faces, manager. We sat downstairs (what a cool looking room with rock walls… felt like you were in the basement — oh wait, we were!). A family was there down (huge party) and so they sat two huge tables at the same time. Turns out their reservation was for 8:00 as well. I can’t believe 2 big parties waited almost an hour to be sat. One party of 20 (one of my friends left) and one party of 23. Too bad the max capacity for the basement seating was 38.
2.) The server told my one friend who was ordering apps that they offer family size. My friend asked if we should do that, and so the server said that he would because our party was so big. The apps on the NYE menu they provided were $ 11 a piece. When we got our bill we were charged $ 100 for 2 plates of calamari, $ 80 for 2 plates of eggplant rollatini, and $ 80 for 2 plates of hot antipasta. !!!
3.) The dinner prices were inflated. Understandable to jack up your prices a bit for NYE, but then you should deliver with the value of the meal. The food was terrible. It was not hot, and it looked terrible. My boyfriend got the shrimp scampi and it was oily, cold, and had 6 small shrimp on it with a hand-​full of pasta. His plate was $ 28. I got chicken for $ 25 and it was one chicken cutlet, 5 beans, 2 slices of carrot, and half a white potato. The server told my friend that the chicken came with pasta, which it did not.
4.) The menu had multiple misspellings (kind of funny, but also horrifying). Beef was beff. (eh, who cares, right?) Well broccoli rabe was spelled as «broccoli rape» throughout the menu.
5.) When we received the bill for $ 815, we talked to the manager about the outrageous app prices. (Did I mention this bill did not include booze?) He told us there was nothing he could do. The server stood in the corner smirking at us and laughed to a co-​worker as we gathered cash for the bill from our friends at the table. The server eventually did take $ 60 off our bill. How he was able to do this and the manager was not is beyond me. I got a funny feeling he played us.
I will NEVER return, and I do hope that for those of you who held out and read this entire scathing review, you will not go either. There are so many incredible Italian restaurants in Morristown that Provesi isn’t worth your time or energy.

Went there with a party of 20 for New Years. Had a reservation for 8:00 pm, arrived at 7:50 and we weren’t seated until 8:45. We waited for 25 minutes and then the owner/​manager assured us it was only 5 more minutes and then blew us off for another 20. We were seated around 8:45 — 8:50. Ordered food by 9:10 and our food didn’t arrive for until 10:20. (It was cold when it got to our table) They said we should order their appetizer dish that fed 10 so we ordered 2. Let’s just say it was underwhelming at best. 50+ per tray it was insulting for what we received, and that wasn’t even the worst part. The entrees were 25 $ at the cheapest. I ordered chicken francese. It is was a small piece of chicken and what my self and the table called ¹⁄₈^th a potato (it was smaller than a spoon full) and 3 green beans and 3 small a Carrot strips. Insulting portion size and even more insulting flavor. A 15 $ meal at BEST! So we waited 45 – 50 minutes to be seated when we had reservations for over a 3 weeks, and then were Insulted by the portion size. And then received the bill and were insulted by the lack of compensation, and lack of respect by the manager who ensured us our wait was only going to be ten minutes. The bill came out to 45+ per person. Insulting… Just completely disgusted by this place. Never again… Don’t feed people lies about how long they will be forced to wait when already having reservations, or lie and say the app plate is a good value and the charge 25 $ more than it’s worth. Ps… When you print a menu… make sure you spell the words right. The menu said they had «broccoli rape» it’s broccoli rabe. Unreal that you would print out a menu and has the word rape in it, not once, but twice… Ohh And it’s beef not «beff»
Update! I wrote a review on Google reviews and the owner responded! Butt instead of apologizing for our mistreatment, this is what he wrote to me…
«People like you they should go to McDonald’s for New Years.»
Shame on you sir. Shame on you. Classless!

Sub mediocre at best. This is the second time I have given this place a shot in the last few years and was just as disappointed. I should have known when I was handed a soiled, wrinkled paper menu. I ordered a Caesar salad for $ 8 which was very small and came with no croutons. I asked for more dressing and it was given to me in a half full small plastic soufflé cup. Really? I ordered the grilled salmon with sautéed spinach with portobello mushrooms. $ 21. What I got was a tiny piece of salmon perhaps 2 ½ ounces, spinach, and a paper thin slice of a small portobello mushroom. When I asked for some sort of sauce for the salmon, I received another half full plastic soufflé cup of lemon butter. Plastic! Ok, there are so many other better restaurants in Morristown. Our party of 6 agreed we’ll never go back. We all left hungry, and the service was pretty poor as well.

Surprisingly decent prices for a newly renovated restaurant in the heart of Morristown! The restaurant has a cozy feel. Servers were friendly and attentive. The bread basket was soooo tasty… really fresh rolls and garlic knots! I really enjoyed my plain cheese pizza and it tasted even better the next day. Calamari was a tad bland for me… could use more spices but overall it was fine. Def worth the money in Morristown.

Underwhelming. Scattered service, though to their credit, it was a very busy Saturday night. Food was mediocre, everything was swimming in oil — wilted salad, caprese, which had a small sliver of unripe, tasteless tomato (sad for September in NJ). Chicken Francese was rubbery and potatoes were definitely out of a box. More oil everywhere on my veggies. I’m surprised at all the 5 star reviews. Maybe because it’s a legacy type of place? Definitely better Italian to be had in Morristown.

Made a reservation for a Friday at 8pm for outside because we had walked by so many times and it looked so nice. Upon arriving we were told they had no tables open outside. Why did I make a reservation then? A different waiter and what looked to be like the owner came over and said they were clearing one and they were much more pleasant.
The service was great. Our waiter was super attentive. Ambiance is so nice. They have a singer there on the weekends and we sat there for probably an hour after we finished eating just to listen to the music.
The food was delicious. They give you breadsticks and we had the stuffed mushrooms for appetizer. My husband had the chicken Parmesan and of course I had a bite, it was very good. I had a caprese salad which was also good. The food wasn’t out of this world but the scenery and service were so great we are already planning on going back next weekend. Can’t go wrong with byob as well.

Best Calzone I have had in a while. Just the right size for one larger person, or two smaller people. I had mine stuffed with saussage and pepperoni in addition to the stands ham. Was a good choice by me. Yeah me!
Two reasons I don’t go higher on the rating. Service was slow. I think we were seated for about 30 minutes before we even heard the specials. Second issue was the music. The pace is small and could be intimate, but the live music and the prerecorded stuff they play is done over a 2×3 loud speaker in the bar area.
I don’t know what it’s like in the far reaches of the restaurant but for those of us in the bar area it tuns pleasurable dinner conversation into a shouting contest. We kindly asked for the speaker to be turned down and/​or redirected. They did this for a while but after a while the live preformed decided the sound needed to be jacked back up for a rendition of «New York, New York». A classic no doubt but not a 110 decibels. We decided to call it a night at this point.
I may be back for the food, but it certainly will not be on a night with a live performer.