Kava Restaurant & Lounge

This place is no longer Kava. The menu has changed and im not a fan. I Will only come here for drinks from now on as a last minute resort. They claim they have a «top chef». but the food was much better before

The New York Strip steak was incredible! I haven’t had a steak taste this good in awhile! Just a bit pricy but well worth it! Wifey had the lobster ravioli and she loved it as well! The manager Shika was great! We will definitely be back!

Went to Kava (soon to have a name change and now Italian food) last night with a friend. Both of us were delightfully surprised and pleased. The food was delicious with wonderful flavors and very fresh with perfectly cooked vegetables, Nice selection of salads and the beet salad that was the special for the night was great. The service was top notch. (Our server was Jason.)
The owner Vinney and the chef Andrea both came out and spoke with us. Wish them great success with their endeavor. Looking forward to going back and will recommend it highly to my friends.

We tried the charred octopus, half portion of lobster ravioli, and wings. Everything was amazing, super rustic ittalian food (lrge portions), and you could tell everything was house made down to the blue cheese with some of the best wings I ever had. Lobster raviolis were STUFFED with lobster no gimicks or shorts, and sauce was great. The carred octopus had the best smokey flavor from the grill and great mix of salty olives and tomatos canneli beans in the sauce to balnce it out. Chef came out to meet us before dessert, he comes straight from italy and reconmended the warm nutella cake, marscapone cheesecake and homemade cannoli. We tried them all!
Overall food was delcious, bartenders were attentive and so were servers.
We will be coming back!

The servers were friendly and the food was plated nicely. But the food was not worth the hype or the cost.

Honey and I poked in here one day. And the service was top notch along with the food. We had the fried shrimps and wings both were good. Our waitress was very attentive and invited us to come back later for the club scene. The service alone will have me as a regular customer!
Thanks for the great food and service!

Came on the weekend for dinner and was very disappointed with everything. I thought it was a restaurant but the music was so loud and the place was so empty I should have realized what it was when I walked in, but we made the mistake of staying. Bartender doesn’t even know how to make a simple cosmopolitan But he sure knows how to Overcharge $$$ for it! I did like the Lamb sliders but everything else was tasteless. We will not be revisiting the Kava Restaurant anytime soon

First time here and 2 stars is generous. They present themselves as a tapas bar, but I feel like I’m at a club/​disco. The music is terribly loud it hurts. Small plates are actually really big? I decided to go with the cheeseboard with fruit… by fruit they mean a sprinkle of blueberries. We had to ask for bread. There was a large portion of meats and a very basic selection of cheese, not impressed. Hey didn’t have the bottle of wine we ordered so we went with our second choice, no problem! BUT, they couldn’t seem to remember 2 very basic cocktails the guys at our table ordered (rum & coke and a vodka and Coke… c’mon). The ambience is all over the place, I’m honestly confused haha.

I have been here twice and the staff and owner were very attentive to my friends and I needs. The food and ambiance was really great. The drinks are super yummy and strong. It’s a little out of the way for me, but had I lived closer, I would definitely go back there more often!

This place is a great tapas place to chill and kick back with a friend or SO or even a group!!! Love how they play music in the backround and also the food was amazing! I loved the Lamb Sliders!!! The best! The owner Vinnie came up to us to introduce himself. Had a warm feeling coming in. I would definitely come back here for drinks and appetizers. Need to add more to there wine list tho… But everything by far was great!

The ambiance, food and service are great!
Our server was Shereen! She was so upbeat! Friendly!
The wings are SO good! So were the lamb sliders… They were SO good even my son ate them. My friends also got the fried, calamari, mozzarella sticks and fries. The lamb shank is delicious as us the beef short ribs. The dishes do not disappoint! I literally want to try everything!
The food and drinks are so good.
So is the music.
I would def throw my party there, it’s a sexy spot (formerly mood café)
Wish the owner good luck!

I came here last night for my moms birthday. When I called to make the reservation I told them I want a piece of cake with a candle to be brought out, which never happened.
I ordered the salmon special that they had and didn’t want rice at all on the side but vegetables. I told my waiter that atleast three times and he didn’t seem to get it, but acted like he did. He comes out with the food and a massive plate of rice with veggies mixed in and no salmon. Meanwhile my mom had her lamb shank and WA eating it slowly since she didn’t want me to eat alone.
A good 5 – 10 min later and my meal finally came out.
It was good but the service was horrible, and super slow. Don’t think I’d come here again.

Food is still good! Been there several times. Was there recently (Nov. 2015) and kids were running around the restaurant (literally weaving in and out of tables and even knocking a few chairs over)! This was a Saturday evening (7−8pm) and we were out without kids so the last thing we wanted to see was kids misbehaving publicly. Now the kids weren’t the restaurants, but the manager who said something group, needed to do so, more than once. In addition to our group, the 2 tables next to us were in disbelief how this group was allowed to ruin the experience of many there without addressing it properly — or significantly comping the table (waitress was great in taking issue to the manager that all the tables there continued to ask her to do — she comped us a drink… Honestly needed more than that to make that night worthwhile… The group there was that disturbing).
Returned later that month on a Friday night… D.j. Playing music… BAD choice of play list. Music play consistently had a hardcore tone and plenty of vulgar words (‘B’ word, ‘N’ word and other things) that management should NOT allow as acceptable. I’m no music prude, but if you are a restaurant/​lounge, maybe you should have the conversation with your d.j. on what your business represents.
Giving this a 4 (3.5 for recent atmosphere, 4.5 for food)

Dear Mr. Awesome Bartender — this Unilocal review is not about you, you gave this place the two stars it got. Keep up the good work, perhaps find a better establishment for your service.
Now with that disclaimer out of the way…
First impression: Holy cow! Their large plate entrée’s are as much as their small plate tapas that you’re supposed to buy multiple of!
Second impression: Hey, wait a tick but New Castle and Yuengling are not craft beer! You should change your webpage that says «Craft beer, ask us what we have on tap!».
Third impression: Two beers and one entrée is $ 50??? New Jersey is this the best you can do???
Anyways, I do alot of traveling but will avoid this place the next time I’m in the area. I’d suggest Chevy’s over it. Sorry! (But not sorry).

What a disappointment. The food had no seasoning. The truffle fries are too cut too large to really enjoy the flavor. The gnocchi, which I’m sure came frozen from a bag was a gelatinous mess. The dish didn’t have all the components that the menu listed. The bacalao bites had absolutely no taste and the lemon sauce was lame. And don’t ask for drinks from different bartenders or you will wind up with two different cocktails. My husband got the full, tasty version of the drink and I got the disgusting, half empty version. Work on consistency with your bar. And look into some salt and pepper.
We were there at prime time on a Friday. We could tell why it was so empty.

My favorite local restaurant. .I opt to eat outdoors each time… service is amazing… John and Arian are part of the reasons we come back… food? Fresh. favs? Small plates… what have I tried and recommend?
Chicken brochets.
Bacalao bites
Gnocchi *pillows of heaven*
Crostini…sweet, salty, sour, creamy. .all taste buds are happy
Trio dip… no explanation needed, just try it. Yummy
Octopus is good
Calamari is good
Try their changing beer menu
I enjoy the Mythos Greek beer when it’s available
My dining partner enjoys the darker beers and seems to enjoy all of them
Quality, service, and ambiance… so happy Kava is here. .can’t wait to visit on karaōke night
You won’t be disappointed

I stopped by again to have those amazing lamb sliders. I asked that the sliders be medium well, but they were overdone and too tough to eat. It didn’t live up to my first visit to this spot but in a way has satisfied my craving for them.
The only real qualm I have is their drinks. I ordered a White Russian and I noticed that the cocktails aren’t that strong. I could barely taste the vodka that for a second I thought it was just liqueur in it. It was the same with their jack & cream speciality cocktail. On my first visit, I had the same issue when I ordered a whiskey sour so I switched to a simple rum and coke.
It seems weird that the prices have increased $ 2 – 3 for drinks on par with what you expect at chain restaurants. The staff and ambiance are really lovely though.

I bookmarked this place without knowing this was the old Mood Lounge. Had I known; I probably would not have given this place a chance, but I am glad I did. The atmosphere was charming. It was Thursday after work, and it was not much of a crowd. I went during happy hour and honestly I can’t remember the deals, but my bill was harmless. The drink menu did not impress me, so I settled for sangria and that was just OK. The appetizers were awesome! I had the chicken brochettes and the spicy aioli was a nice touch. I also had the veal meatballs and they were delicious. Both had great flavors. Their small plates are the most exciting on the menu. I would definitely come back to try different appetizers. I would love to see more or different options on the drink menu, but overall I am a fan.

This is a fun place! I came here a week ago for happy hour with some friends and we enjoyed ourselves here. They have many beers on $ 5 special for happy hour, which included a few brews from Samuel Smith’s and that is fantastic. A bunch of my friends got food and they particularly enjoyed the crab cakes (I tried a bite and yes, they were very good). There’s plenty of seating and a lot behind the restaurant for parking. The bartenders and waiters were great and really friendly and the house gave our group a round of shots, which was very unexpected and very appreciated. We really liked Kava and I definitely recommend it to someone interested in a few drinks and a small snack.

Very enjoyable lunch.
Waiter visited several times to ensure I was taken care of.
Parking in back.
Had Gnocchi Gorgonzola. WOW! Top notch.
1 demerit for not carrying unsweetened (or sweet) tea. (I had seltzer w/​lime)
Fresh place. Very very good.