Lu Nello
“The food is amazing, the wine list top notch, it may be a little pricey but you certainly get what you pay for.”
“If I had to nitpick I would say the valet could have opened the car doors on the way in and out for the passengers.”
“Everything was excellent and I would absolutely recommend it, a little pricey so you may want to save it for a special occasion!”
Lu Nello
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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Very disappointing meal here. Maybe it was because I came during the holidays (week between Xmas and new year). Food was so so, but the service was really the most disappointing part of the evening. For the prices they charge, food and service should be much better. Way too many places like this in NJ to justify a trip back.
Been to Lunellos a dozen or more times for business over the past few years. Always great but took wife for dinner tonite and it was even better than usual. Quiet when we arrived, but we got there earlier than our reservation so went ahead and sat. Service is impeccable, food was absolutely fantastic. Short ribs for me, wife got the homemade raviolis which she loved. Nice measured service reminded me of being in Europe. Each course was followed with time to sit and chat. No rushing at all. Finished with a few desserts to sample, all fantastic. Nothing more to say, great food, great service. This place is a winner every time.
This is as good as it gets. One of my absolute favorite places for dinner and certainly the one place I always have to visit for my birthdays. The food and service here is second to none. I assure you that the meal you order here will be cooked to perfection and of course a very interesting meal to boot. When you are seated drinks and bread are brought promptly to your table and an immense list of specials, appetizers, entrees, and desserts are read to you. I find it amazing how the waiters are able to remember nearly 30 different specials and describe them just perfectly. In summation, LuNello's is quite pricey but I can say that I have never ever been disappointed with anything here.
Well lu nello is Lu Nello . Excellent Italian food, with great service, we ate again at their small and entertaining bar, it is one of the best and most unique high-end Italian food establishments in North Jersey. Just see what's in the parking lot.Their food was truly amazing, long list of specials, appetizers, entrees, and desserts to chose from, more than 20 different specials that evening, it was a feast for the palate. You can go wrong there , you really get what you pay for. Make it a trip for a special event or just splurge on yourself. Well worth the trip.
I was really excited to try this place out considering their average star rating of 4.5 with over a hundred reviews, but to my dismay, I felt like I was on a reality TV show, just waiting for a TV crew to pop and tell me "Just kidding!," but never happened. I mean to poke and make fun, but this place is so typical of old school Italian, Gaudi construction, super-frilly Jersey. This is the kind of place where Jerseyans are called Jersey-ites. Your average guests dining here wears polo shirts while the ladies wear black "cute" sleeveless tops, heels, most expensive purse in their closet, and casual jeans, thinking they pass for "smart-dressy-casual". It's all very Atlantic City, very Casino-like. All personal taste aside, let's break it down for you:
SERVICE: Valet parking in Cedar Grove…in a residential area? It doesn't behoove anyone for this kind of service, considering it's a small parking lot. It's also my understanding that they used to own the building on across the street, which logistically makes sense for overflow of cars on a busy weekend, but to be honest, I could walk over there with no problem. This isn't a wedding banquet hall. While I commend them for their table service, (ie – Water cup was always refilled) I don't think my server is a suit jacket has to spend a good 5- minutes at my table, let alone any other table reciting the "Specials of the Day". A simple 8 1/2 x 11" piece of paper on good linen paper inserted in between the permanent menu could have done the trick and the server's breath.
FOOD: I heard tales of their "amazing" food, but in all seriousness, I wasn't too impressed. Our GRILLED PEACH with prosciutto, Gorgonzola cheese, and balsamic drizzle was tasty, but wasn't enough to tip the scales for my under-salted main course. My PARPADELLE PORCINI dish was swimming in sauce, good sauce at least, but quite frankly, could have used a nice a rationing of lightly fried chicken cutlet mixed in there, or some nicely sliced garlic, or at least parsley for garnish. My fiance's CAVATELLI with MEATBALL and SAUSAGE had great pasta texture, but the dish was really one-dimensional in flavor.
AMBIANCE: Typical of your banquet hall, but on a smaller scale. Tuscany style tapestries, which I don't presume to hold much value, arbitrary curtains, custom light fixtures, and your average Home Depot tiles and fixtures. I date the work done sometime early 2000 – 2004.
VALUE: $84 for two pasta dishes, two glasses of wine, and an appetizer? It's a little above average for your suburb town. The wine prices are rather shocking if you ask me. There's no need to sell wine by the glass at New York City prices.
Any saving grace? The CHIANTI CLASSICO was an excellent glass of wine! However, I find it odd that my glass was not poured table-side, regardless if it was just a glass of wine versus ordering a whole bottle.
My advice: don't go out of your way! There are so many Italian restaurants in Montclair and Clifton that are lightyears ahead of Lu Nello which a fresher approach and tastier food.
This is actually a retrospective review, as we dined here in November of 2013.
Ambiance – 4.5 Stars: Lu Nello has some upscale features that I'm sure some people would really enjoy. The coat check is fine during winter months, but I always feel a bit odd giving away my coat. Additionally, the only parking option is valet – and I HATE valet. I do not like people messing with my seat position, fiddling with dials, and burning out the clutch in my car. The parking lot isn't even that big, so it's not like you have to walk a half mile to get into the restaurant from where you would be parking your car. This is just my opinion though. There seems to be a trend with Jersey restaurants forcing you to Valet your car – whats up with that?
With that being said, Lu Nello's interior is nicely appointed. It's very cozy and warm inside. The night we went was very empty, however, and that made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I would say they need to get rid of the carpet though, there's something that grosses me out about carpet inside of restaurants.
Service – 4.5 Stars: The service here is great. Not sure how the wait staff manages to memorize all the specials, as they are abundant. I had read some complaints about people not being able to remember all the specials that are rattled off – but when we were there they did offer us a print out (after he completed his speech). Wine glasses were continuously filled. End of the meal they came around with a tool to scrape the crumbs off the table, for some reason this always makes me giddy. As with many other upscale restaurants, I did feel as if the servers were a bit cold to us due to our age.
Food – 5 Stars: All three of the dishes we had were specials. Appetizer was a small pumpkin stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, sausage, and a few other things. I was hesitant to try this – but I'm glad we did. It was amazing.
Entrees were the Gnocchi and Halibut specials. The gnocchi were much different than any gnocchi I have had before. House made, obviously fresh as they were still quite tender, but they were MASSIVE. Each gnocchi was the size of a stuffed shell or manicotti, and there were about 5 or 6 on the plate. It was served with, of course, Bolognese. The sauce was very very good. Halibut was also quite good, considering I don't like fish.
The pumpkin appetizer was very creative, and the gnocchi was a change from every gnocchi I have had before – so accolades are deserved for these two dishes.
Plating – 4 Stars: Nothing over the top about the plating. Everything came out looking good.
Price – 4 Stars: It's quite expensive, but I believe it's justified.
Overall, very good experience at Lu Nello. We may just return again this November for the same special occasion.
I was definitely not expecting such a high-class experience in this small town area, but wow does Lu Nello deliver!
I was a little skeptical when we first arrived, as our party of 6 had reservations for 5:30 on a Monday evening and when we arrived, there was no one at the host station, but I think this had more to do with a world cup game being on upstairs, and I really can't blame them! The bartender from the bar up front quickly noticed us and called the staff downstairs to take care of us. Our table was set beautifully with charger plates, several sizes of silverware and nice linens. The menu seems short but this is because they have 15 specials that the well-dressed waiter impressively rattles off to you. Luckily he also provided us with a typed copy, as the list is overwhelming.
Off the specials menu I had the frog legs with garlic and white whine sauce and they were out of this world! Breaded and cooked perfectly and the sauce was delish. I also had an appetizer portion of the risotto, served with filet mignon, sausage and musrooms. This was delicious as well, although the risotto was slightly underdone and I found the sausage taste overpowering. For a main meal, my boyfriend and I shared the veal medallions in black truffle sauce which the kitchen was nice enough to separately plate for us, with generous portions of the mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach sides. And let me tell you, it's a good thing they did or we would have been fighting over every bite!! This dish was AMAZING and came with slices of real truffle. As if this food wasn't enough, our group decided to order two desserts, the peanut butter sampler and the canolli platter. The former was scrumdiliumpcious and came with pb mousse, brittle, Gelato and a cookie pop. The second dessert was okay, but not worth ordering.
Service was excellent throughout the night, they offered all the tables complimentary samples of tomato broth soup and pistachio gelato! They also professionally served the bottle of wine we ordered and politely cleaned up our crumbs between courses.
You do pay extra for this wonderful service and amazing food, but I thought it was definitely worth it!
This is not a restaurant. This is a fine dining experience. I have never been to a restaurant that pays such close attention to detail and is so on top of things. I had been here for a baby shower and had a great time, but it was nice to return and see the true dining side of things. It was a surprise birthday dinner from my boyfriend and we were greeted by name multiple times. We were led to our table in the main dining room in the corner, which I like because we had our own privacy. Our server was attentive and friendly, and has a remarkable memory for memorizing all of those specials! I think the specials list was longer than the menu itself. They brought us bread and a complimentary broth, which was a perfect start to the brisk evening. Then we sampled some wine and then subsequently ordered the bottle of cabernet, as well as sparkling water. My boyfriend had the tuna trio appetizer, which he seemed to enjoy. We shared a pasta dish, whole wheat penne with sausage and broccoli rabbe. The pasta was cooked perfectly, aldente, and the sausage was garlicky and flavorful. Utterly delicious! We got a half-order, which was plenty for the both of us. For my main course, I got the shrimp scampi/filet mignon with roasted red peppers and mozzarella combination. This came with sweet potatoes and a vegetable medley. I of course couldn't finish it all, but it was all excellent. Just when we were stuffed to the brim and couldn't eat any more, the staff came out and sung me Happy Birthday with a flourless lava cake accompanied by vanilla icecream. SO GOOD! To add an extra touch, they brought out fine sugar cones with peanut butter gelati for each of the guests. So amazing-and yes I mixed the two! We left this placed full, buzzed, and happy-all of which I'd like to think encompasses my Italian heritage. I am one lucky girl. Can't wait to go back!