Il Piccolo

Wasn’t impressed. Attended bridal shower lunch. Food was mediocre at best but service was horrible/​wait staff clueless.

My wife and I have gone to this restaurant 7 – 8 times in the last year. And we just learned that it is no CLOSED.
The staff has moved to another restaurant with the same owner, but different menu.
Really hope the chef’s menu reappears in another restaurant in the area ASAP. The farfalle with shrimp in a pink sauce was INCREDIBLE.

This place has really deteriorated now that it’s no longer Marra’s. The staff is not as friendly, nor are they as patient, and the food is not as good as it once was.
There are too many BYO Italian restaurants in the nearby area to make this a worthwhile destination anymore.
It’s a decent enough place to go if you live locally, but it’s not a destination location. The food is acceptable to give you and Italian fix, but it’s nothing special.

Marra’s, now called Il Piccola, is not what it used to be. Fish & meat are frozen, not fresh.
Sauces are average. If you like so-​so food in a tiny, loud environment, this place is for you.

The food is ok not the best in town. Service is very slow they don’t come back after they give you your food. And we made reserv and the guy said I don’t see your name so I can’t let you sit. I Hera there are new owners again… Don’t go if you want real good food. And nice service.

Small, family type establishment.
Quite loud when crowded on weekend. No music though.
Relatively big menu for a limited space. Generous portions. Friendly & prompt enough service. BYOB with no additional charge.
Tried several dishes. In general: claim that this is ‘authentic Italian food’ is a bit overblown. At least significant part of the menu is an attempt to somehow replace taste of the food by the quantity of the spice, seasoning and/​or sauce especially as regards to seafood.
Cajun Calamari was over-​spiced & therefore calamari itself had been mostly lost.
Escargot with Scampi appetizer had been noticeably over-​garlicky as well as Zuppa di Pesce & Angel Hair soft shell Crab recommended by waiter as a specialty of the house. In fact, even by texture soft shell crab swimming in the too much of the sauce was a bit stringy and not easy chewable.
The best of the tried was meat plate Chef Gambatta — both in terms of taste, texture, balance of flavors & style and the only dish I can recommend here.
Uneven quality could be a price of a menu range if owners want to keep us much choices as presumably limited kitchen space technically allowed.
Nonetheless all tried were on the level of edibles but not necessarily really enjoyable ones.
So I & my friends skipped desserts and have no plans to repeat an experiment.

A very nice small neighborhood bistro; the kind of place that I would love to go back if only the food impressed me.
Tomato sauce on eggplant and veal parm was over rich and way too thick drowning out all the other flavors of the veal and eggplant.
Eggplant was bitter but the veal tender; served a little messy over pasta.
Caesar salad had very little flavor. Combination Ceviche had way too many scallops in it and over acidic. Martini appetizer was tasty but way too rich and I’m not sure how it fit in to a meal. Scallops as an entrée lacked flavor.

Used to be great. Now it’s average with huge portions that lack the old taste. Also miss the previous waiter (He was so good and charming, we always assumed he was the owner).
My old review: Excellent food, super friendly and byob … What more could you ask for. Great value for the money. We also order out regularly with favs including eggplant parm, lasagna and spaghetti & meatballs. Very lively restaurant especially fri and sat nights. Great for small groups.

One must truly appreciate authentic Italian food to appreciate the food here. Unfortunately over the past year, the restaurant has had some issues and is not open half the time. The deli side is open but their portions have gotten progressively smaller and they may have switched meat purveyors hence their dishes taste off from what I initially loved about this place, still good, just off.
My employer has a corporate account with Marra’s and as long as we have been ordering from here, it’s been hit or miss. They only began delivering for any size order recently, before it was only for large orders. They also are now offering breakfast. The portion size has gotten significantly smaller, reduced almost by half.
Most of the time when you call, there is a whole bunch of attitude that is served with a side of small delicious food. Unfortunately, I believe this restaurant needs some tweaking for it to continue to prosper and over the years, I don’t think it’s getting the tweaking it needs. Authentic Italian food is all that this restaurant has going for it.

It’s small and gets crowded/​fairly loud quick during the busy times– and despite not enjoying places like that most of the time– Marra’s was a delightful exception. It makes you feel warm and cozy.
The food was also excellent. I had the Chilean Sea Bass with what I believe was mashed sweet potatoes on top. The bass was quite tender and the sweet potatoes were again. an unexpected delight.
With your meal you’ll also get some crusty bread with whipped butter as well as pickled carrots. I have to say, I loved the contrasting flavors of everything on the table.
My date had the eggplant parmigiana– also excellent :)
Isen the waiter is quite the character, and often laughs uncontrollably for absolutely no reason. I like that.
I’ll definitely come back!

Marra’s is hand’s down one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the world! It has everything you could ask for in a NJ Italian restaurant right down to the Frank Sinatra music playing in the background. This location is purely authentic Italian!
The environment is great and the food is beyond belief! Though it is tough for me to pass up on the flawless Shrimp Parmigiana, I have been enough times to taste around the menu. You can’t really go wrong whether go with the chicken, veal, any pasta, or even a steak. These chefs know what they are doing! Be sure to try the appetizers as well, they are just as impressive as the entrees… if not more!