Cara Mia
“We had the gluten free flourless chocolate cake and we devoured it.”
“The food was excellent..the ambience is very romantic and the fact that it's BYO makes it excellent in my book!”
“The owner is related to the folks that own another of our favorites, La Campagna in Morristown, NJ.
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Cara Mia
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
6 reviews
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A romantic experience with fine food and a wine, spirits and beer store next door. I like walking into a restaurant with a coat rack where I can not worry about my coat falling off the back of my chair. The bathroom was far away from the eating area. The lights were dim and overall ambiance romantic, perfect for a first date. Waiter knew his stuff and we were never neglected. Food was delicious all around. Italian food can be good like your mom made it and good like a professional chef made it: Cara Mia is the latter. Enjoy.
The ambiance, service and food are all very impressive.
The inside has a cozy Italian feel to it. Between the art work and white linen table cloths, I could have easily been in Italy, though the 60s American music probably needed to be substituted for some Andrea Bocelli for the full effect.
Our server was prompt, attentive and had one hell of a memory. She whipped off the nightly specials without reading from any cheat sheet and took our order without writing anything down. That's how I used to do it in my waiting days (at least for smaller parties), so I give major props to the service!
As for the food, the portabello mushroom soup special was nice and rich, yet not too heavy. Perfect consistency.
The meatball appetizer was good, but appeared to be missing fennel. Maybe it's a preference thing, but I prefer that in mine. Either way, it was nice of them to split the two meatballs.
The gnocchi bolognese sure tasted homemade to me, and like most gnocchis, was nice and filling.
The herb crusted salmon had a lot going on, but was tasty nevertheless.
Overall, the portions here are very generous so if you leave hungry you best go get your stomach checked.
My only regret is I didn't get to try dessert, but I'll be back.
BYOB and outdoor seating are major pluses, and the fact that the owner was present for the dinner service is a testament to why this place is run so well.
The meal started out with some bruschetta that was possibly the worst I've ever had, the bread was not very good either.
Surprisingly the appetizers were very good. The beef carpaccio was really fresh and flavorful and my husband loved his burrata with prosciutto.
Our main dishes were okay but not great. I had the cara mia pasta with shellfish which was lacking in flavor. I also had asked the waitress wether it was a white wine sauce and she said yes yet this was tomato based.
My husband had the pasta with meatballs and he said it was good but not great.
Overall the service was very confused, between the inaccurate pasta description I was given and the fact that 3 different waiters asked us if we wanted bottled or tap water. Music overly loud in my opinion as well.
Although it wasn't a terrible experience, I'm not sure we would be back here.
What a delicious meal!
The highs:
The complementary bruschetta style bread with fried zucchini slices was a tasty welcoming plate.
All of our entrées were delicious. My branzino was fresh, properly seasoned and properly cooked. Such a well executed dish. When 4 people order dinner and the plates are practically clear, that's a great sign. The portion sizes were right on. Just because my food was delicious and I could have eaten more does not mean a huge portion is necessary.
The chocolate chip cookie cake is sensational! It's really a chocolate chip molten lava cake that oozes sinful delight. They were kind enough to swap out the vanilla ice cream for a hazelnut gelato to satisfy my craving.
The service was adequate for the most part. Water glasses were regularly refilled, though wine glasses were not. Substitutions (by my dining partners–I don't really believe in it) were readily accommodated.
The lows:
Upon arrival it was clear that they had screwed up our reservation. Thankfully, they sat us immediately.
The Caesar salad was a pretty limp uninspired rendition, though adequate.
Only when we were ordering were we informed that they were out of a particular item. That's a major no-no. Any such items should be announced when the menus are distributed–at the very least when the specials are explained.
Our dessert arrived followed by an unacceptable wait for our coffee. Those two items MUST be served together. In fact when our server finally brought our coffee, he told me he didn't like the mug mine was served in and promptly took it back away. That may have been acceptable had coffee and dessert arrived together. Unfortunately that faux pas managed to ruin my dessert experience. The cake was outstanding. It would have been much better with a cup of coffee.
A few mishaps aside, the restaurant is a solid, enjoyable experience. I would definitely return.
As an FYI, it's a BYO so be prepared. There was no corkage fee.
Parking in the area is tough, so you may want to arrive a little early.
I love how when I come home for the weekends, I go to more expensive restaurants than I would find in Manhattan. I was shocked that a place in my own town was offering such elaborate fair and at high prices. Their didn't seem to be any lunch time specials, same menu & prices as dinner.
I'm impressed with their seafood selection, we all got a bit fishy and had crab cakes, seafood pasta, and the grilled sea bass. The one non seafood dish was probably the best, and that was the mushroom ravioli, left my mouth watering. But I was quickly full after we ended with some Tartufo.
Fabulous, attentive service. Good food and a BYOB. My chicken scarpariello was extremely tasty. Will definitely return. Service here was best I have ever had in Millburn.