Rustica Lounge Bar & Restaurant Reviews Summary

Category: Italian restaurant

Address: 565 Gorge Rd, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010, USA

Phone: +12013130802

Rating: 3.9
based on 255 reviews.

Music and Ambiance

Pros:

  • "Awesome live Jazz with the Bass, drums, piano and Trumpet."
  • "The music here is good."
  • "Great outdoor seating ambiance."
  • "The decorum and ambiance was so cozy and relaxing."
  • "Overall this place is great for all occasions."
  • "Beautiful ambience. Comfortable seating. Warm decor."
  • "The jazz trio seemed great, but unless you were seated right in front of them inside, you can't hear a thing."

Cons:

  • "It’s very much a style-over-substance kind of establishment."
  • "The Cats- stray cats were running through the restaurant, jumping in tables and on top of place settings."
  • "The music was turned up a tad too loud"
  • "There are no speakers outside and it's silent."
  • "The tent had holes in it and the decor was falling a part."
  • "Oh, did i mention tasteless decor with all fake plants??!!??"
  • "The 'skylight' is held together by failing duct tape."

Service

Pros:

  • "Service was on point."
  • "We have been here many times and the food and service, as well as the music are always outstanding."
  • "The staff are very attentive."
  • "Our waitress Sara was excellent. She made us feel at home and was very attentive."
  • "Service was excellent. Alex was very nice and helpful."
  • "Aliakasandra was probably one of the best server I’ve had from any restaurant in recent years."
  • "Excellent service, Frank was incredibly attentive!!"

Cons:

  • "The waitress ignored us almost the entire time; I am not sure why, as there was no one in the restaurant on Monday at 9pm."
  • "The waiter constantly was mumbling and complaining as if he didn't want to be there."
  • "the service was horrible"
  • "No drinks refills. No communication or apology from servers."
  • "The wait staff was inattentive; they kept bringing more food as dirty dishes kept piling up on the table."
  • "Service: very poor. We couldn't get refills of our water or our drinks."
  • "The waiters were very rude. made my friends and i feel like we had to hurry up, eat, pay, and go."

Food Quality

Pros:

  • "The appetizers and main entrees were also good."
  • "The Peach martini was great."
  • "Everything was cooked to perfection, the octapus, scallops, ribeye, and branzino."
  • "Food overall was excellent and our group enjoyed the charred octopus and the Burrara salad for an appetizer."
  • "The food was tasty!"
  • "The crab and steak were cooked to perfection."
  • "The food was delicious."

Cons:

  • "The food has no flavor and is very bland."
  • "Food- terrible! We ordered the seafood tower and while it looked good it certainly was not."
  • "Really wanted to like it but the food was just OK and steaks terribly overcooked."
  • "The food was absolutely not worth the money."
  • "Every single dish arrived came out flavorless, cold and RAW."
  • "The crab cakes as they were soggy and falling apart."
  • "The tuna was not bad but not the freshest I've had."

Management and Operations

Pros:

  • "The owner is extremely friendly and welcoming."
  • "Our waiter was the only person who did apologize and give our table the respect we deserved but the same could not be said for the manager."
  • "The servers are always making sure your glasses are not empty and they continue to refill and take away empty glasses."

Cons:

  • "I think this restaurant is incapable of operating at full capacity and the owner knew that."
  • "This place clearly has operational issues.. they told us after waiting 90 minutes for our food that the chicken rollitini was no longer available."
  • "The manager has no respect, we wanted to exchange one of the dishes because it was so bland."
  • "the manager proceeded to argue with us"
  • "The manager was so incompetent he decided that he would take over the kitchen and cook; and with no surprise, it turned out he’s a horrible cook and an even worse manager."
  • "HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! Beisar the manager could care less about addressing our issues at the restaurant."
  • "The lack of management, accountability, customer service in this location was insane."

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