La Famiglia Ristorante Italiano
“Another great thing is that it is BYOB so we were able to bring in some great wines and beer and keep the cost of the meal down.”
“Her Chicken Francese was a good solid textbook dish.”
“An amazing, tucked away BYO Italian restaurant with the best penne vodka EVER (careful if you have allergies, finely diced mushrooms in the amazing vodka sauce).”
La Famiglia Ristorante Italiano
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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A-OK. Good local Italian BYOB spot for a nice meal. The atmosphere isn't overly warm but it serves the purpose. Tile floors and dark wooden chairs and tables. Very clean.
Warm sliced bread was served to us upon being seated. We decided to split the cold antipasto for our appetizer…three different salumi, one type of cheese, a few sundried tomatoes and a couple of olives. Good stuff. We couldn't tell if the garnish was meant to be consumed or not. It looked like a shredded lettuce/peppers/tomatoes type of thing.
Our entrees were the scallops/shrimp/sole stuffed with crabmeat and the seafood medley over pasta (calamari/mussels/scallops/clams/shrimp). This dish was akin to a cioppino minus the broth. Both of our scallops were a little overcooked but everything else was nicely prepared. Good portion size on both entrees. Leftovers are always welcome in my world!
We were presented the dessert menu but our server never came back to see if we wanted to order anything. It was okay though because we were pretty stuffed and we wanted to just finish off our vino at that point.
Total with gratuity was $66 – very reasonable. The parking lot is very tight but I followed the lead of the others and parked in the lot next door. Not sure whose lot it was but my car was still there when we left…and I should mention that I parked it halfway on the sidewalk. That's how I roll!
The service is fine, the food is passable. There's good and bad about La Famiglia, and for an early dinner with my Italian family, the restaurant served a decent meal.
I'll start off by describing the ambience. Upon my family's arrival, the employees insisted on seating us in an area of the building that was boiling hot. They hadn't turned the air conditioning on yet, but repeatedly promised that the temperature would become more comfortable in five minutes…even five minutes later. Eventually, the environment became bearable, but I still don't understand why they refused to seat us in the cooler lower level.
Now onto the food. A big disclaimer: I'm a vegetarian, and while Italian cuisine manages to offer numerous choices for those who abstain from eating meat, I was noticeably limited by the dearth of meatless options on the dinner menu. Aside from the typical pasta dish, which I usually refrain from ordering due to its simplicity, a ton of cheese embellished with a slice of tomato, or a side of vegetables (the quintessential sign of a vegetarian who can't order anything else), there were only a few potential meals. One could select a lovely "antipasti": the pasta fagioli (okay, this still has pasta, but at least has the legumes for protein; $5, or $10.95 for the main course version) or the pane d'aglio (…bread with garlic and herbs; $4). Otherwise, eggplant parmigiana (listed under the "farinacci" section; $14.50) is the sole meatless dish, unless one went with the larger bowl of soup. Like I said earlier, I could've gotten a traditional plate of pasta, but I wanted something more nutritious and complex in flavor.
In the end, the pasta fagioli won my vote. The waiter warned me that it was "very small," but I assured him that it wasn't a problem. If anything, I'd ask for one of the various "contorni" later on if the soup wasn't satiating. He was pretty persistent about the size, but I continued to let him know it was acceptable until he finally moved on to another member of our party.
When our food arrived, I wasn't disappointed in the portion of soup I received, despite the waiter's concern. I appreciated the blend of herbs and distinct taste of tomato in the broth, but found that there was an overpowering burst of cheese with every spoonful. In addition, the ratio of beans to pasta was disproportionally in favor of the latter, obscuring the "fagioli" component of the dish.
Even though I hold these criticisms about my meal, it was hearty and filling. Admittedly, I probably would have liked it more if I could've had something else; in fact, my brother mentioned that his chicken parmigiana was one of the better ones he's tried.
La Famiglia, expand your menu by offering more spinach, eggplant, or even a trecolore salad for those who cannot sample your wide array of pollo, vitelle, and pesce. We all know that if any culture's cuisine is adventurous enough to explore different flavors, it's the Italians. Your future vegetarian patrons will certainly appreciate it.
What happens when you get a bunch of crazy coworkers together for a Sunday dinner? Absolute craziness outside the confines of professionalism that's what I tell you. Hahaha just joking it was actually quite civilized. Anyways we decided to hold a get-together for a recently retired member of our work family at La Famiglia. A good friend and coworker suggested this place and had made all the arrangements herself! Awesome Lora! She got the party package which includes two appetizers, pasta, salad, and choice of three entrees plus soda and coffee. Bang for buck right there I tell you. I have nothing to say but great things about this restaurant. They made an ordinary Sunday into a weekend fun-day.
Our party was held in their private party room upstairs. It's a nice size and our group of 25 people fit comfortably there. The servers we had were very attentive and super friendly. They didn't have that look of "oh man I gotta be here for this!" and that is certainly much appreciated. The décor is simple but inviting–almost reminding you of dinner at grandma's house. Coupled with their BYO policy it's not too hard to imagine that people might actually just sleep overnight after stuffing their faces and drinking so much wine…and La Famiglia would be fine with it!
Okay so on to the food that was served that night. I don't know if the chef happened to be on fire (well not literally) that night but every dish we got was delicious. It started with their crispy calamari. Now I love calamari so when I saw this dish come out I was beside myself. Next to that was their eggplant rolatini which was also amazeballs. The penne pasta with tomato sauce was next and a helping of salad graced each table. Finally my entree order of chicken Marsala was cooked perfectly. Good piece of chicken breast with plump mushrooms and Marsala gravy made my tummy happy. I could taste the earthy flavor of the mushrooms and the slight sweetness of the wine. Like I said kudos to the chef.
We rounded out the night with two different cakes and coffee for dessert. Packed up the extra food we couldn't eat and the un-opened bottles of wine that lay next to the humungous pile of empty bottles and everyone went home to their merry ways. With their great food and great service, my work familia will definitely be back at La Famiglia for future gatherings.
I came here at lunch time with some coworkers, it was pretty quiet except for a few tables.
The bread basket was alright, a little stale. I got the lobster ravioli, which was pretty amazing. The vodka sauce was great. The lobster in the ravioli were nice chunks. This was the best part of the meal and the reason I'd go back. My boyfriend got the eggplant parm with pasta. That wasn't that great. Not the best I've had.
It took a while to get our check even though it was pretty quiet in there.
La famiglia never disappoints!! The food is very authentic Italian food. The waitress staff has been there for years as well and they know how to do their job well. This is the only restaurant my Italian family will eat. Although on Saturdays your service might be slower than expected, bring some wine (BYOB) and enjoy the outrageous dishes that are sure to satisfy. The owners are very sweet people and are willing to accommodate as best they can.
My boyfriend and I didn't realize on Saturday we would need a reservation around 6:45 for 2 (not sure what made us think that since this place is usually packed on the weekends haha out slip up!). When we walked in they notified us that they could make it work at a 'not so ideal table' (a table near the doors to the kitchen). I was very nice of them to show us the table we could have but they also gave us the option to wait about a half hour and they could seat us in a better location. We decided to wait for a better table.
Once we came back, they were as sweet and sincere as always. The food was unbelievable; as expected. This is certainly a favorite spot for dinning out for some authentic Italian food. Go try their menu favorites or dip into one of their specials of the evening.
The Story: The papa bear took me here for my birthday. It's a small family style restaurant located in Bogota.
Food:
I ordered the chicken Marsala. It was good but I get bored on eating the same flavor over and over again.
I ended up loving their house salad and pasta sauce. It is so good that I've been eating more salads in hopes to duplicate the taste. The pasta sauce is great – even now weeks later I'm still smacking my lips time to time when I remember the taste of it.
We also ordered mussels for appetizer, however, didn't feel like there was much mussels at all.
Price: Average price for the food you get.
Service: Service was also average. I feel like I'm talking into a diner when I first arrived. I think maybe they could of placed the table layout differently. I didn't like sitting in front of the kitchen door.
Parking & Finding the Place: Located in Bogota NJ – It is on a residential block and parking can be tricky if you have a SUV type vehicle.
Additional Thoughts/Tips: Overall I will definately come back for the food.
Veal parm is so tender and the marinara sauce is the right amount of sweet with an easy acidity balance. Lunch $9 to $13. Leno is a great waiter.
We were welcomed at the door by the owners to celebrate a birthday with family at this restaurant, A huge piece of salmon, the veal special of the day; veal with prosciutto and mozzarella, with mushrooms and potatoes and a nice bowl of homemade pasta fagiloe. I'm the only one that ordered dessert. The coconut custard was already gone, so I had the chocolate oreo mousse. We left very happy and FULL. The only problem I can report was that the server did not offer ground pepper for the salad, which accompanies every entree by the way. We'll be back!