The Belmonte

We should have been warned by the half-​empty restaurant on a Saturday night… this restaurant is pretty and has a nice ambiance, but that’s where it ends. Our drinks were not good, our food was absolutely tasteless. Very disappointing meal — less than mediocre. The server was pleasant and tried hard, but we couldn’t get past the tasteless food and will not return.

Decided on the Belmonte for happy hour with friends. It had a lovely upstairs area but we opted to sit in front of the windows. Staff had no problem with us pushing tables together to do so. Bartenders were lukewarm but waitress was very personable & friendly.
We shared several small plates. We started with the chips & guac, steak tacos, & one of the Ceviche dishes that was very good. The bartenders made some very good dirty martinis (with blue cheese stuffed olives) & cosmos. We were a happy group:)
We had a great time here & it did fill up after awhile. Would return but have lots of other places to try first.

Great food, service, and down town scene. The staff is extremely friendly and the outdoor seating provides a nice atmosphere.

Best brunch in Red Bank easily. Def a best kept secret. Free cocktail with your meal. I had Heuvos Rancheros that were outstanding.

We have been here three times since it opened twice for dinner which was great, but we were blown away by the brunch. The food was fantastic, the drinks delicious, attentive service with a smile, and a great value. What more could you ask for in a restaurant!

We had a lovely bridal shower for about 30 ladies at The Belmonte on a Sunday afternoon. Kiera, the event coordinator made the planning process seamless especially since I was planning it from out of state. There were many food options from passed hors d’œuvre, buffet style or platters. She was very helpful with staying within our budget and providing recommendations on how much to order. We went with the platter option. Everyone said the food was delicious, we went with the hummus, crudités to start with then chopped salad, cheeseburger sliders, quesadillas, papas bravos and cupcakes for dessert. I loved that they had a mimosa and sangria station for a very reasonable price per pitcher. The space on the 2^nd floor was more then enough room but still intimate and private. The staff was great and very helpful. It was a very memorable event and I highly recommend.

Wonderful ambience. Great appetizers. Friendly service (Sam our server was great!). Came here before a show and had four different small plates and they all were very tasty, nicely presented and decent proportions. Will definitely come again when in Red Bank.

I had $ 600 pair of ballys and was not allowed in. My friend were wearing $ 100 Steve Madden and let in. This place in Vegas or the city. We are never going here again.

The Belmonte has a really nice bar setup. Lots of room as it’s a horseshoe shape that probably seats 30 – 35 people — very nice. The food was good — had the brussel sprouts — which are a MUST have, along with the lobster and avocado flatbread, chicken tacos and chopped salad. The only disappointment was the chopped salad — very bland and not close to being a chopped salad. It was more of a «chunk salad» and really needs to be a true chopped salad or taken off the menu — total waste.
Other than that, the service was good and the ambiance was very nice — we’ll definitely be back.

First time eating here since the change from Red. Service was amazing. Our waitress was very attentive. Food was very good. We had the two specials for the evening which was an Artic Char entrée and a Lobster Tempura appetizer. Both were cooked perfectly. We also ordered several tapas including the mussels, pan con tomate, and Ruby Red Shrimp. All were delivered quickly and the entire experience was extremely enjoyable.
After dinner we headed upstairs for some cocktails and dancing. The bar was crowded but overall, we had a great time. I would definitely recommend this place for a night out.

We have been back a few times since our first review and took a star away. Not feeling the place anymore. Had the paella and was underwhelmed. The seafood was okay. The rice was not seasoned
Or tasty. It was
A
Mediocre dish at best. We had an appetizer of lobster tempura which was good. It was a daily special, but did not see the selection of Cervichi which was a big favorite. The cocoanut pan navotas dessert was good. Not planning to rush back soon, unfortunately. This was my original… Great tapas bar restaurant. The taps selection was very good. Standouts included the Cervichi, mussels, peppers and taqueria. Everyday happy hour was a good start. Great selection of tequila. Good range, fair pricing. Saturday night was crowded but not overwhelming. Staff was frindly and attentive. The food was brought quickly, so pace yourself.. The place is a whole lot brighter and more approachable than Red. We
Will be back!

Good, not great. I went with a few friends and we ordered a bunch of plates to share. The papas bravas and skirt steak with chimichurri sauce were the best things I had. I also really liked the charcuterie board and their version of a Moscow Mule, which had cilantro and jalapeño in it, which was a nice touch. The calamari and queso skillet were meh, wouldn’t order those again. Our server was nice and knowledgable. I’d definitely go back to try some of the things we didn’t on this visit.

Went here one night because another restaurant couldn’t seat us. I hate the tuna ceviche per the waiter suggestion which was lacking flavor. For dinner i had the fish tacos which were just ok. The wraps they were in were on the dry side and again the flavor was mediocre. The restaurant itself had a pretty cool vibe and live music which was cool.

Ok so this is going to be the most honest review of this place to date. We decided to give it a shot after receiving a gift card for Christmas.
In my opinion there are 2 types of tapas restaurants — those that truly honor the tradition of small plates but using THE best and locally sourced ingredients money can buy and the other — trendy places that think they can still charge entrée prices for smaller quantities with subpar quality and call it «tapas.»
First impressions — decorated nicely — music was WAY too loud for 7:45 — and to boot it was early 2000s punk music — Yellowcard, Blink 182 — very odd when trying to talk and enjoy dinner that early.
Drinks — save your time and money. Craft cocktails had traces of alcohol at best. As a gin snob, the promise of a gin and tonic with house made tonic gets me very excited — ice was completely melted before it arrived — tonic was way way too sweet. Wine selection by the glass was very good and reasonably priced.
The food: let’s just say I was glad I had a gift card — the prices are honestly outrageous for the quality of the ingredients. And nothing and I mean nothing resembles any real Spain tapas. Since we had a gift card we sampled many more tapas than we usually would but here’s the run-​down:
1 — Corn sopes: tasty
2 — Lobster flatbread: tasty but an insulting and I truly mean insulting amount of lobster meat for $ 18 /​barely traces of leg meat
3 — Steak taquitos: SKIP — flavorless
4 — Calamari: SKIP — over battered — over cooked
5 — Shrimp: SKIP — flavorless — burnt crostini
6 — Ceviche: SKIP — at $ 14 there were about 4 cubes of tuna — acidic to the point that the fish was unrecognizable — really a shame.
Honestly the highlight of the evening at the establishment was the Manager Chris. Truly an outstanding Manager — came by the table twice to check in on us — and even sent out a complimentary dessert — even though the churros were dense and lead sinkers instead of being light and fluffy, Chris is the epitome of what a Manager should be — cordial, engaged and truly a great guy.
Unfortunately we won’t be returning bc of the subpar cocktails and food — real shame.

Went there for some tapas and drinks. Both delivered. The Belmonte Mule was a great craft cocktail as was the Winter Cider. I am a bourbon fan and the winter cider, despite having multiple flavors, didn’t take away from the bourbon. For food we had 4 of the tapas. The stuffed peppers with the short rib, the dates, the shrimp and the potatoes. You will have to look at the menu for the proper name of each of those dishes. I am not a shrimp guy but I really enjoyed the shrimp tapas. The potatoes are your standard potato side dish but had a great aioli sauce on top of them. The dates stuffed with bleu cheese, almonds and wrapped in bacon sound different but worth the shot. The waitress saw that I was torn between two tapas and she brought us the cheese one that came with some soft small tortillas and had some pumpkin seeds on top. It was outstanding.
Bottom line: if you want some good drinks and some good food to snack on this place is worth the visit. I will be back for sure.

This is really a 3.75 star rating. Let me start with the good — the restaurant itself is lovely, the drinks were great, and the food was very good — we ordered the steak with chimchurri, the traditional ceviche, the charcuterie platter, and the brussels sprouts. All of our orders were flavorful, executed well, and overall very tasty. So why the lower review… it is a tapas restaurant and they asked if they should bring things as they are ready. They started us with the brussels sprouts, the steak minutes later, and the ceviche and platter within 5 mins of that — so literally what we thought would be a nice «date night» event was delivered in seconds. Then we felt we had to eat the steak and brussels while they were hot — so overall it kind of ruined the vibe of the restaurant. I realize this may sound picky, but a chef should pay attention to flavor profiles (like typically ending with steak instead of fish etc…). We will probably give it another chance if in the area as the food itself was good.

I’m giving this place 3 stars because I was expecting much better. It’s probably more like a 2.5. I’ll give them points for doing something different. It’s nice to see something other than an Italian Restaurant in this area.
Had dinner and drinks on Friday night here. Made reservations but decided to sit at the bar instead. We like that type of vibe better. First off, I’ll say the drinks were made well. I had a good Manhattan and the wife had one of their specialty drinks called the Belmonte Mule. She liked it a lot.
The décor and atmosphere seemed nice and the bar service was fine.
However, the food was a disappointment. We had 4 tapas. The whipped salt cod was bland and basically just tasted like canned tuna fish on toast. The White Corn Sopes with Brisket was again really one note. The Brisket had no flavor and I got no acid or pop from the pickled Cabbage. The Wild Mushrooms & Chickpea Taquitos had decent flavor. And finally the Traditional Ceviche Acapulco was just not very good. It seemed like they used canned tomatoes as their acid and it had that tin flavor to it.
Overall, I like the idea. The food is thought out, but not well executed. I’ve been to way better tapas bars. Nothing was awful, but for the price and expectations, I was hoping for better. I think there is a lot of room for improvement. If they can step up their game, I would definitely come back.

I love this new spot in Red Bank! Finally some tapas and I mean DELICIOUS tapas! They have happy hour daily from 4−7pm which is always great! If only I could make it! I am not a New Jersey resident but come at least twice a month for business and each time I find myself coming back to this new spot. The bartenders are great and there is a great variety of tapas. Their Brussels sprouts are an absolute must. If you hated mama’s Brussels sprouts as a kid this will bring a whole new meaning to the word and the taste! They actually put mine to shame! The papas bravas are these roasted potatoes that are just the right amount of crunch with a nice little garlic alioli. Their tlayuda is a delicious open face pizza with lobster, avacado, Serrano and queso. Um… yum! Come here!!! Everything is great! It’s an awesome new addition to Red Bank!

Drinks Only Review: Old fashioned on the rocks, extra cherry juice. Admittedly I only stayed for that drink but they knocked it out of the park. The refreshed environment, bright and new open bar setting and the knowledgeable bar tender we had, set the tone for a proper evening out on the town. After briefing us on the specials, the bartender gave a lesson on the bourbons and whiskeys that were on deck at the restaurant to help steer our palette in the right direction. This is the classic cocktail bar detail that more lounges need to get back to… educating the customer.
Great stop at the top of Broad to kick off the night. Looking forward to going back for dinner and some more of their top shelf delights.

The food was good, but overpriced for what was served. I would have been ok with prices were 30% less.
The waitstaff were not professional my waitress refilled way water by grabbing the top of my glass. The ambiance was lacking as well.
Ordered drinks off their cocktail list, both drinks were extremely weak, not sure if there was any alcohol in them at all.
Left after one drink each and two tiny appetizers, and had dinner a few doors down.