Frescos Seafood Trattoria

The food was delicious. Scallop appetizer was perfect. Swordfish was dripping in it’s own juices; really perfect with saffron risotto and fresh vegetables. Dessert was very unusal and good. Staff all outstanding from the hostess to our server, the busboys to the manager. Really first rate experience on a beautiful summer evening. Recommended by a friend who used to own a local restaurant in Cape May. She was so right about trying it.
Try to let guests know about the private parking lot a block away. We paid for the lot across the street not knowing there was nearby parking! Thank you for a great night!

I want my money back. An utter disappointment. Food was tasteless, unimaginative, and perhaps frozen. Server was excellent but could have gotten a better meal for one fourth of the price almost anywhere else!

Great place! We lucked out on a super quiet Friday night in June but made the experience better. We shared some delicious garlic bread while waiting for our entrees. I ordered the carbonara and my girlfriend had the pasta with sausage. This carbonara may have been the best I’ve had. Well seasoned with black pepper and filled with bacon. It almost seemed like there was more bacon than pasta! Never a bad thing! For dessert we shared a piece of babka since they were doing an Israeli menu for the evening.
Service was great and very attentive. We will seek Frescos out again when we come back and recommend it to our family that spends several months out of the year down here!

I had dinner here with family, I ordered the lobster lasagna, I was disappointed. For 28.00 I expected more lobster, there was more ricotta than anything else. If it weren’t for the 3 small lobster claws on top, I wouldn’t even know this was a lobster dish. My pear salad was very good, and the others at my table enjoyed their dinners. I got a taste of the swordfish piccata, wish I had ordered that, it was very good. I had the tiramisu with a cappuccino for dessert, very nice end to meal. Service was friendly and attentive.

Everything was very good. Ahi tuna appetizer was fantastic. Staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend if you are visiting Cape May.

We only had one night in Cape May a couple weeks ago and chose to go here for dinner… Great meal! We ordered 2 cheese plates for 7 of us and they were plentiful with some fun cheeses and meats (try the 160 yr old salami recipe). Oh and the fried olives, a must! All of our entrée’s were yummy! The waiter was patient and kind. It was a Wed night… We were allowed to take our time and truely enjoy our meal even with 4 teens and a 6 year old. Only down part was the person that answered the phone letting us feel slightly uncomfortable before going… making sure we knew there were no menu changes for children, etc.

My wife and I had dinner at Frescos last night (celebrating our Wedding Anniversary).
I had done a little research to find a nice restaurant for the occasion during our week at the beach (without the kids for a night); And was extremely impressed. I Made reservations and reserved an Osso Buco; I told them it was my anniversary, and they saved is a very romantic table.
The meal was Excellent!!! We started with the lamb chop appetizer special, cooked perfectly, tender & tasteful.
We had the two salad specials. The Caprese salad was very good, the tomatoes were ripe and warmed, made them sweet.
I had the Osso Buco, and it was perfectly delicious. I’ve had my share of this dish at many restaurants, and this one was really amazing!!! My wife had the Shrimp and Scallop Pescatore; delicious as well; the champagne cream sauce was very, very good!
Cappuccino and coffee with a piece of Tiramisu for dessert finished the evening well (the Tiramisu was delicious, fresh and one of the best I’ve had).
The ambience was nice, the old Victorian House was beautiful and charming.
The service was very good. They didn’t rush, rather took the time with each course.
A bit pricey, but well worth it; especially in consideration of a BYOB (love that!).
Overall an excellent night. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. Well done indeed!

waited for my dinner for a half hour and the service was terribly slow. The main dish was a size of a small appetizer. How is that consider a meal? Food was much better years ago. Nice atmosphere inside.

Worst experience ever
The tuna was UNDERCOOKED and spivey
It made my stomach hurt and feel like I’m gonna vomit
The service was slow and I had to wait over 1 hour for my meal
Never coming back here again

Was concerned when bottle of red was quite warm. Scallop app was ok but went quickly down hill from there. Bolognese was flavorless but for the awful peas. «Saltimbocca» had zero prosciutto and an odd blob of mozzarella. When questioned the server stated that there was almost no chance of there being none and it was pounded thin. I must have overlooked it. Based on the lack of flavor of all else, possible, if I hadn’t made such a point of hunting for it. Squash was 3 parts impenetrable and one part brown mush. Was given a slice of supermarket chocolate layer cake delivered with the dig «let me know if you can’t find the chocolate in this.» Perfectly captures this unfortunate attempt at a date night.
Funny, our reservation was canceled on Open Table after we left. Guess they were trying to avoid the «how was your experience?» prompt.

Our party of 4 was here for the first time last night. I have a mixed review. I reserved for 2 by mistake. The host was very helpful in getting us seated anyway. The food was very tasty, although 1 dish was sent back because it was under-​cooked.
What really shocked us was this: we were told that there are no substitutions. 1 person in our group has dietary restrictions. He ordered the swordfish without the artichokes and without the potatoes. He wanted the zucchini, which was part of another dish, and was told there are no substitutions. Don’t know if that was the waiter or the chef’s rule. The waiter conceded with string beans, which our friend really didn’t want. Really no need to go back here. We will stick with our favorite, 410 Bank Street.

Fresco’s is a very nice option in Cape May. The service was very good and the BYOB feature a plus. Our table was ready on time. The food is good with the highlights being the fried olives and grilled garlic bread, the lamb loin was well seasoned, perfectly cooked, with excellent spinach, fennel and potatoes accompanying. The seafood pasta dish (in a champagne sauce) was good, hearty and well prepared.
The server (sorry — cannot remember her name — short hair) was extremely helpful and professional.
Desserts were just OK (chocolate gelato and red velvet cupcake). Really not worth the calories — better off getting ice cream in town. Another disappointment was not having dishes like Ossa Bucco available (they said they ran out and my reservation was at 6:45 PM). The Burrata Cheese appetizer was so cold it was practically frozen — not creamy at all and a bit overwhelmed by pesto sauce. Ceasar salad appetizer was fair — not a highlight.
Otherwise, a good dining experience, worthy of 4 stars. Nice atmosphere, very good entrees, very good service.

I was extremely impressed with the service I received during my visit at Frescos. I wish I could remember the server’s name — I believe it was Lisa. I was dining alone in the sunroom and did not feel that she was inconvenienced by a meager «one-​top». She was thorough in her explanations, spoke pleasantly, and displayed a passion for hospitality. It was fun to observe how she interacted with the various guests. We come with all sorts of quips and personalities; Lisa was able to handle them all with poise and charm.
The food was terrific — creamy Burrata Mozzarella with fresh basil pesto made for the perfect appetizer. Next was an Herb-​crusted Lamb Loin, cooked to perfection and full of flavor. I wish I had room for dessert!
Thank you to Frescos for 5-​star service, extraordinary cuisine, and a great time. The experience was absolutely wonderful!

We had a nice dinner at Fresco last night. We all liked our food and the service was good, but a bit rushed. Fourth of July in Cape May is like that — everyone wants to eat in time to see the fireworks so the restaurants are busy. The one complaint I have was our server, Amanda, asked if we wanted garlic bread for the table, but she didn’t bother to mention that it was an additional $ 5. Just felt like a way for her to increase the bill. She also didn’t bother to fill our water glasses or pour our wine. We were given a carafe of water for the table and we brought a bottle of wine, but tipped service usually includes filling glasses at least once. All in all it was a good experience, just expected a higher level of service.

I must’ve hit this place in the twilight zone. It was the final hour on a Monday night [warning] and there were no other patrons in the restaurant [warning] so I should’ve kept walking but the friendly staff and high Unilocal ratings drew me in. Every bit of seafood tasted old — the tuna and the muscles both had a pungent taste. The marinara was bland. The mozzarella in the caprese salad was stale and the tomatoes were small roasted whole tomatoes (also bland), seeds busted open everywhere on the plate.
The highlight of this place is the staff. Very friendly, attentive, happy to take care of any requests, and pleasant to interact with. It’s too bad because I don’t plan to return.

We went here last night with family for my boyfriends cloudy rainy birthday weekend down the shore. Parking is conveniently located nearby for $ 5 and then if you go to this restaurant, they take the $ 5 back off of your bill. We were a half hour early for our reservation, which the host didn’t mention nor did he skip a beat pleasantly seating us and making us feel welcome. We sat upstairs and Maria was our server. She was wonderful as was her support staff. All of our water glasses were always full and she came and poured wine throughout the night. My boyfriends mom wanted to know all of the specific ingredients in a specials dish and when she didn’t know the full answer she happily went to ask the chef and got the information.
The food was better than expected. We got a few appetizers that were all a hit. I really recommend the fried olives if you like olives– pretty simple way to do something different and delicious. The fried calamari was battered perfectly (not too much) and the calamari itself was thick and yummy. The scallops wrapped in prosciutto tasted exactly as it sounds (amazing) and the tuna ceviche (a special for the night) was light and hit the spot.
It took pretty long for the main courses to come out. We kept busy talking but most of us were getting antsy by the end of the wait. My swordfish was worth the wait ! It was incredible ! We did order a side of brussels sprouts and bacon to share but the brussels were a little raw and crunchy. My boyfriends lamb was very good and they cooked it exactly to his liking. Another person in our party got the steak and he said it was great but small and very fatty. The other 3 people got the tuna, salmon, and snapper dishes and they were all very pleased with them.
For dessert we were pretty full but the table shared three small scoops of ice cream — the salted caramel was GREAT!
I wouldn’t go here if you are in a rush (who is in a rush in cape may anyway?) but we will definitely be back! It is rare to find a place down the shore where both the food and service are decent.
The upstairs bathroom is pretty cute too !

Grilled octopus over mixed greens was excellent. Plenty for two. Fried calamari was great. Try the garlic bread too.
Restaurant week pre-​fix menu. Both the salmon and the tuna dishes were perfect!
Veal Oso Buco is also a winner.
This place is on my top 5 in CM.

Seriously memorable food and atmosphere. I dined on the seafood piccata and I must say it was Amazing!!! My boyfriend had the scallop dish and a shrimp cocktail to start. We shared an order of cheese bread. Such a great little spot. Service and atmosphere was spectacular. I would eat here every week if I lived in the area. It is a bring your own booze establishment, but I think it ads to the charm and makes the food a priority.

My husband and I finally got our chance to dine at Fresco’s. I am so glad we did. Open Table reservations made Saturday night dining a breeze. We were politely greeted and seated upstairs. You really get a feel that this was, once someone’s home; it’s very cozy and charming. Our server was fantastic, I forget her name, but she was a doll, knew everything about the menu items and told us the specials perfectly. Our food was fantastic and we really enjoyed a lovely dinner there. BYOB is fabulous, so go to Cape May winery and pick up your favorite bottle. PS. parking is tricky as there’s an office building parking lot across the next street over where you can park and they will validate your parking at Fresco’s or 410 Bank Street.

We stumbled upon this restaurant as we were walking around in Cape May. After looking at other reviews we decided to try it out. We were so happy we did. We went off-​season in early October so the restaurant wasn’t too busy but it was nice and relaxing.
We made reservations and were seated right away when we arrived. We started of with the Grilled Vegetable Antipasta. The vegetables were very fresh and seasoned beautifully. For dinner I had the Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna Medallions. The presentation was so pretty and the portion was more than expected. My husband had the Black and White Lasagne. It was filled with homemade ricotta and crabmeat. Delicious. For dessert we shared a warm molten lava cake with homemade coconut gelato that sat on four slivered pineapple slices. I was expecting the chocolate lava to ooze when cut but it didn’t. Nonetheless, it was still yummy.
This place is a BYOB so our bill was reasonable at $ 76. If we lived closer, we would be dinning at Frescos often.