Tre Piani

Awful! I was very disappointed. Order the beet salad and it was a Granny Smith apples chopped into pieces with feta cheese tossed on top with maybe 4 beets… no greens no dressing and just bland. The house-​made gnocchi was drowned in a pesto sauce with nothing else. No flavor and way too much pesto. I could not even finish it and ordered the half portion. Sorry but I’m a foodie and eat out and do not recommend.

Excellent lunch! Great apps, entrees and dessert. Very friendly and attentive servers. Outstanding meal overall.
I’ve worked in this area almost three years, and never knew it was here until someone showed me. Wish I had known sooner — my last day is next week!

Went here for Groupon deal and will be returning soon! Great food, nice wine selection, great service! I went for the rigatoni in a gorgonzola cream sauce with filet tips and my boyfriend got the house linguine with clams, bacon, and tomatoes – delicious!

Unless tonight was an aberration, the quality of the food here has seriously declined since my last visit about two years ago. The food was not fresh, a sin in my book since the chef is part of the slow food movement. I was going to order the scallops but I didn’t after I learned that they were not «dry» scallops (another no-​no for a slow food chef). What fine dining restaurant does not purchase dry scallops? I ordered the veal sorrentino which was tough and the sauce was completely flavorless. My companion ordered the flounder which she described as «fishy». I had a groupon which for $ 42 gave us one appetizer and two entrees. Even at that, I don’t think the meal was worth it. There are places in Princeton where one can get far tastier and fresher food for less. Without the groupon, the prices would be a total ripoff. Which reminds me that when the server brought the tab, he forgot about the groupon and presented us with a full-​price tab. The atmosphere and décor is very nice. Too bad the food doesn’t match up. I will not be returning unless they make some big changes

Out dated design, warm pinot grigio, mushy, luke warm local flounder. Forgettable. That is all. The wine bar downstairs is MUCH better.

Had 7pm reservations, arrived 5 minutes prior to 7pm, but waited 45 minutes for our table of 2, while we watched numerous other couples that arrived after us get seated (couples of 2 and 4). The same thing happened at our last visit 6 months ago, people were arriving after our reservation time and getting seated before us. I think they were the «regulars»…
Our eggplant rollatini app came out burnt. Then my grilled tuna was served and the steaks were absolutely cold to the touch, when I complained they brought back my dinner and only heated up the plate. My wife’s pasta and filet mignon was not good, the meat was sparse and the pieces that were there were tough.
We tried this place 3 times and will NOT be going back — we’ll let the regulars enjoy themselves with the overpriced food and poor service.

This is a nice place in terms with décor. When we first walked in, we had to wait 5 minutes before we were seated on a second level. This first level was only half full. When we reached the second floor, I realized that there is no waiter in sight, out hostess had to seat us and pour the water and provide us with the Menu. After about 5 min, a server appeared to take our order and recommended the calamari to us. The calamari is by far the driest and smallest in ring size that I have ever had. My teeth had a great workout when I barely touched the bag. Can’t wait for the rest of my food to come…
My food is here. My partner in crime ordered a rigatoni with filet mignon tip– this dish is over power with a ton of cheese. Unless, you are a crazy cheese lover, this dish is not for u. I had to admit that I am not a cheese fan but 2 piece of rigatoni almost made me want to vomit!
For me I had the homemade linguini with clams and bacon. The linguini was so big it more like spaghetti or the Chinese e-​fu noodle. The noodle was a big mushy and the clams were sandy. Come on, a chef does NOT KNOW HOW TO DESAND A CLAM? Get real!!!
This place is definitely over priced for its quality. For now, will not recommend or come back… ever!

We have been to Tre Piani several times before our Valentines celebration last night (2÷13÷2016). Started off we were seated up on the third level which is clearly a banquet room. Table was in the middle of the room and the lights were beyond bright. Only décor on the table was an unlit votive candle. Our server whose name I believe was Mary (she did not speak above a whisper) was clearly untrained. Came over and poured us water (and spilled it) and left. Did not take our drink order or say anything else. Ten minutes later asked if we wanted a drink. Ordered drink and appetizers. Within 3 minutes the appetizers arrived followed ten minutes later with the drinks. Had also ordered dinner when the appetizer came. As soon as we’re done with appetizers the dinner is there. Very rushed considering we just got our drinks. Downhill all the way. Food was mediocre. Not that hot (temperature) and gnocchi with the hangar steak was mushy and covered in butter. Coffee and dessert took longer than the entrees to prepare. Mary the server needs serious training and needs to learn how to interact with customers. Other server in this banquet room was working her tail off trying to cover all stations. May consider giving Tre Piani another shot but no time soon.

Very disappointed with the meal and service. The waiter spilled my wife’s wine and she had to ask him to clean up the spill. My «Sea Scallops» must have come from a very small sea. They were undersized to say the least. I would not recommend Tre Piani since there are so many other restaurants in the area to choose from. I thought $ 28 for 5 undersized «sea» scallops and a scoop of spinach was a bit much.

Christmas eve dinner with family. I was dubious about making a reservation here given all the negative reviews on atmosphere and server issues. I’m happy to say none of those fears were realized.
Started with calamari and meatball appetizers. The meatballs were so tender and flavorful served with some ricotta and marinara. The calamari was just average. Tiny rings that were chewy and fell short on flavor.
Entrees. Lasagna was tasty and flavorful. Filled with a meat sauce and creamy ricotta. It was enjoyable, but had to wait 15 minutes to take a bite. It is baked in the same dish that is brought to the table, making it impossible to touch. It took forever to drop to an edible temperature.
Nut crusted sea scallops. Very good. Perfectly cooked and tender. Served with a bur blanc.
Flounder sautéed with brown butter. The dish was plentiful. Enough for two. I’m not a flounder fan, buy i was told it was good.
Good cocktails and wine selection. The first glass of proseco was flat and old, but the boss brought a fresh bottle and opened table side to make it right. The super Tuscan by the glass is a winner.
Overall a very good experience. The staff were friendly and accommodating. They played proper music for the occasion at a proper volume. They just need to work on some basics like presentation and having the servers communicate a little better with the customer. For instance their name, explain the specials, make a recommendation, tell us what you’re known for, etc.
Also need to illuminate the restaurant on the outside. It’s pitch black at night In this corner of Forestall Village and you can barely tell there’s a restaurant there.

We should have known when the server insulted our group right off the bat (calling us murigenerational) (after waiting 20 minutes for a drink) that the night would go downhill from there.
Where do we start? Having to wait 30 minutex before having an order taken? The forgotten appetizers? The mediocre food? Not aking us if we wanted another glass of wine? Only filling one person’s water glass before walking away? Waiting another 45 minutes for dessert? Giving himself a 20% tip?
From the overly peppered steaks to the mushy gnoochi, our girl’s night off can only be described using one word: disappointment.

Yoselin our server was great, very attentive and smiled all the time. The prices were reasonable for Princeton. We enjoyed our visit and will return again
Jim weaver the owner is highly rated
I recommend highly

Where to begin… Well first and foremost when my girlfriend and I decided to go here we were excited expecting a lively place on a Friday night for dinner what we encountered was quite the contrary. Out of maybe 20+ tables there were only 3 or 4 there, awkward as it is like that, someone there had the bright idea to play NO music whatsoever. Everyone in the restaurant was forced to sit in awkward silence and whisper to each other because no one wanted to be overly loud. Absolutely ridiculous. Besides this we couldn’t understand why the place was empty because the décor was very nice and looked upscale; our minds changed when we encountered on of the creepiest, most of putting waiters ever. He proceeded to ID my girlfriend for a glass of wine, which is fine because we just recently turned 21, but then decided it was okay to keep stressing that she looked like she was 16. Why would anyone want to hear that being said to them? Needless to say we were very weirded out and shocked that he kept repeating this for no reason and then he decided to scrutinize her NEW JERSEY ID (why would anyone in jersey have a fake ID from the state they live in…) and even asked her what her name was to match the ID… Completely unnecessary. Our food came afterwards; we got a white pizzette which was actually not bad, decent, and then I got gnocchi with pesto and mozzarella while my girlfriend had the hanger steak with a side of gnocchi that came with it. My gnocchi themselves were well made but the sauce was atrocious. There was literally a one inch pool of oil (basically oil soup) in the dish and it was very salty. I barely ate it because I felt like I was going to puke. My girlfriend’s steak was good but the gnocchi was supposed to come with blue cheese sauce and they actually forgot to put it on there so it was just plain gnocchi with nothing at all on them. How do you not notice that? Finally after our disappointing dinner, when we got the check (this place is very overpriced for what it is also), the SAME creepy waiter went to a table of girls next to us and began to say to this girl that she «looked so young» and asked «how old are you? You look like a teenager» she was 27. He then took it to the next level and repeated OVER 5 TIMES «you look soooo good for your age.» They were so freaked out they literally ran out of the restaurant and forgot their doggy bag.
Never go to this place. If they put music on, bettered some plates, and got rid of the pedophile waiter then it would be OK.
PS the waiter is a short Caucasian man with gray hair, and probably in his 50s

At first I was SHOCKED when my boyfriend and I walked into Tre Piani (a gorgeous looking restaurant) on a Friday night and the place was practically empty… However, after our experience, I completely understand why.
We used a Groupon– $ 42 for two entrees up to $ 30 each AND an appetizer. We thought the deal was amazing, but it wasn’t even worth the price we paid. Going to Tre Piani and paying full price would be a complete rip off. It seems like the only people in the place were using a Groupon deal also.
Major downfalls of Tre Piani:
–no music, which makes the restaurant feel very «awkward» AND you can hear all the other tables’ conversations
–there isn’t one waiter assigned to a table, so you’re bombarded with repetitive questions from multiple servers throughout your entire meal
–the food is beyond overpriced for the quality
My biggest complaint of the day: the world’s creepiest waiter (about 55+). I ordered a glass of wine from him and he wouldn’t stop mentioning how young I looked. He stared SO hard at my ID that he could definitely have memorized my address. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume he wanted to make sure my ID wasn’t fake.
I noticed he kept creeping on every 20 year old in the place. He even had the nerve to go up to a family and tell their daughter that he recognized her. He tried to pull personal information about where she works/​lives out of her to figure how where he apparently «recognized» her from.
Worse of all, he approached a table of girls and asked their ages. Once they said 27, he wouldn’t stop saying how good they look for their age. They got so freaked out that they couldn’t even control their laughter and sprinted out of the restaurant. They even forgot their leftovers on their table!
Aside from the creepy waiter, the food was mediocre and the prices were OUTRAGEOUS for the quality. Our favorite dish was the garlic, rosemary, and mozzarella pizza that we ordered as an appetizer. They completely forgot to add the blue cheese to my grilled hanger steak dish, so the gnocchi was extremely plain. My boyfriend’s gnocchi and pesto was practically inedible. It was like eating a dish of pure oil. A positive is that the gnocchi was really well made and would have been great with the right sauce!
Overall, when looking at Tre Piani it has so much potential! It’s a beautiful looking place. Management should definitely pay more attention to staff members like the creepy waiter because they’re literally making people sprint out of the restaurant and never return. They also need to lower their prices if they want to stay in business. As of now, I don’t plan on ever returning to Tre Piani.

Visited Tre Piani during a work trip with my partner to meet my uncle coming down from North New Jersey. We went to bar for drinks and appetizers. Very large establishment in a mall with parking, but I“m sure it can get crowded when Princeton is in session. The bar was the smallest area, very intimate. Happy hour until 7 pm, and there was a daily special going on for ½ off the 2^nd appetizers. I ordered clams, a personal pizza, and a slider with beer. All good solid food that hit the spot. We ordered 8 appetizers and 3 drinks for a total of $ 85, not bad. Enjoyable visit and one to repeat when work ever brings me back to the Trenton area. Recommend!

«Well, we had a groupon for this place…»
Yes, this is going to be one of THOSE reviews. I’ll cut straight to the point, the atmosphere was absolutely beautiful. Very well decorated, and the high vaulted ceilings give the place a very airy, art gallery, type vibe. Service was great. Our waitress was very nice. Our groupon gave us 1 appetizer and 2 meals up to $ 30 each. We split the meatballs, sauce was delicious, meatballs were good but a lil’ crispy and burnt, not unsalvageable burnt, but still burnt. Hubby had Ravioli, which he said was ok, but didn’t look all that impressive. (They almost looked like won tons from a Chinese restaurant), and I splurged the extra $ 3, and got the filet mignon. Steak was a little fatty, not the best I’ve ever had, but not the worst. (And no A1… how can you serve steak and not have a1?!). And we split a gilatto for dessert, decent, but still tasted like high end grocery store ice cream. Even with out groupon, it was still expensive. We would probably not be back.

Visited Tre Piani with a groupon. or living social. not sure. And thankfully we were treated the same as if we hadn’t, which can be a problem at some places. The service was great, especially because I was held up and my guest had to wait for me to arrive. The restaurant wasn’t very crowded, but it’s also a very big space.
As for the food, we ordered the tuscan meatballs which were a little to salty for my taste. For my entrée I had the grilled hanger steak which was served with gnocchi, arugula and blue cheese. The steak was cooked well but was lacking some flavor. The gnocchi was very buttery. Normally that’s not a complaint, but there wasn’t much of anything else in the sauce. The whole dish left something to be desired. I kind of felt like the gnocchi was pretty random altogether. Not a usual suspect when ordering a steak. But I can appreciate variety.
For what Tre Piani is worth, I had higher expectations. With similar restaurants in the area, it has some competition.

Tre is the perfect place for large groups and small gatherings! Inside you can sit at the bar and chat with local patrons, couches for intimate chats, or at onr of the tables for a slightly more formal experience. During the summer you can even enjoy the patio, which is surprisingly sucluded for being in Forrestal Plaza.
They have further improved on the bar menu by adding onto some already great food and drink options while also expanding happy hour choices.
Overall I would recommend this venue to friends and strangers who want to go out with a group, significant other, or solo to grab some dinner.

Full disclosure, though I’ve been here 4 – 5 times, all visits were the result of a dining companion who kept buying groupons. They are readily available so if you plan on trying this restaurant, do take advantage of them. The dishes here can be hit or miss, but when you find one you like they seem to be consistent. Hits: for apps I would recommend the meatballs, or the very good pizzettes that are made in a wood fired oven and have a variety of quality ingredients. The house made mozz is very good, but wait until the peak of the NJ tomato season before trying. For mains I would advise to stick with specials if possible. The chef/​owner was one of the first chefs in the area to really show his support for local ingredients. In fact on Fridays there is an economical 3 course RSA dinner (but you can’t use your groupon for it) On the regular menu, the seafood risotto, veal, and pasta dishes are good. Misses: don’t order the lasagna, tuna may be overcooked, a signature dish of pine nut encrusted scallops is ok, but scallops were sliced in half so it was like getting about 2 nice sized ones. We have tried a few desserts, but nothing special or worth getting again. The wine list is pretty good, and contains a few reasonably priced wines. I don’t know very much about aperitifs, but the list contains several. One day I will try a sampling of them. The décor is very nice, and as the name implies, there are rooms on three floors. We have always found the service to be very good, in fact once when my companion had a mild complaint about a tuna dish, it was removed from the bill even though it was mostly consumed. One more tip, there is a weekly farmers market in Forrestal village in warmer months. The restaurant usually participates with samples and sandwiches. At one point the owner was there handing out buy one get one free coupons.

Love this place !! This was our second visit here and we definitely enjoyed dinner at Tre Piani.
They had a few unusual drinks on their cocktail menu. Pleasantly surprised.
We ordered the mushroom ravioli and angel hair pasta with Jersey tomatoes. Simply yum !!
The only disappointment was the dessert. We ordered the Crème brûlée and it came out without being torched. The waitress count understand when I mentioned it to her and I dint make a big deal about it. But for an Italian rest to serve Crème brûlée without the burnt sugar on top is surprising.
But overall was a great experience