Focacceria Ristorante

Went there last week with my partner and had a great time. We both had the specials and truly enjoyed it. The staff was very friendly and attentive. I would definitely recommend this place and will be going back in the future.

All around great place to eat. Delicious homemade Italian food. Exceptional service. Best Italian restaurant in the area. Owner is the nicest guy. Gotta support local small business when we can. This is a must to dine here!

My boyfriend and I went here recently for our anniversary and had an AMAZING dinner. The staff is very welcoming and courteous. They were extremely busy, but our waiter was always attentive.

These guys are great. The owners, Cheech and Nick, are welcoming and treat you like valued guests. The service is efficient. The food is really good, with a great selection of menu items and specials.
All are expertly prepared and varied.
Their veal dishes are very tasty. We also ordered the tuna special, which was uniquely spiced.
Great homey atmosphere.
Their coffee dessert is excellent (can’t remember the name, sorry.)
BYOB just adds to the experience.
Enjoy.

I enjoyed the awesome meal from the bruschetta to start to the sweet and spicy calamari. The burrata cheese to the meatballs. Awesome. The blackened salmon was stellar. I tasted my girls sesame crusted Tuna. Wow. Then the wonderful pecan pie and cheese cake. Priceless. I highly recommend

Rude Matre’ D, Pasta fas chol way undercooked, lasagna great

We went for dinner on Saturday, it was our anniversary, and were hoping for a special dinner.
People sat at the next table arrived after us, and got waited on first. We had to get up and ask for a waiter! It took 15 minutes for us to get a waiter. When we asked if he was our waiter, all he would say was «I’m your waiter for the rest of the dinner.» Even after repeated direct questions, he would not say, but I suspect that there was no waiter assigned to our table.
The dinner was OK and uneventful. There had to be ten wait staff members standing around, pouring water, picking up dishes, offering fresh ground pepper and offering dessert, but there seemed to be only three waiters.
Then we asked for our check, and asked for our check, and asked for our check, finally the hostess was seating a couple and we asked for our check again, still nothing. Finally a service staff member came over and asked if we wanted dessert, and we asked for our check a fifth time, and got it, but not from «our waiter,» we never saw him again, from a bus-​boy. When we left we noticed that a couple several tables over was wondering where their waiter was, so that they could place an order.
I would never go back, even if it was free!

Wow. Talk about a true dining experience. The food is great, the service is outstanding, and I leave the restaurant satisfied, every time. The sweet and spicy calamari is to die for and keep the focaccia bread coming! The salmon is is moist and tender, I get it every time. And the dessert, every time I eat the Lemonchello Marscapone Laired cake (topped off with fresh white chocolate shavings), I feel like I died and went to heaven, but then I came back from heaven to have another bite! With all this l, along with great service, il be back for many years to come

Surprisingly below average for the price. Had read the reviews and hard the outdoor dining was great (it was) but the food was average to poor and, although the service was good, a question asked to one of the owners was answered rudely and that affected the whole experience. Will not go back.

Worst experience ever food was drowning in butter and what they call risotto was and soggy disgusting

I came here on a Saturday night at 8:15. I would give this a 3.5 if I could, but I think 4 is a bit on the higher side.
I would maybe come back to try it again. But I would be more inclined to go elsewhere in the area before coming back.
RESTAURANT OVERVIEW:
–I’ve been here a few years ago and sat inside. I’m not totally sure if changes have been made inside, so I can’t really speak to it since I sat outside
–The outside seating area is great, and the reason I made a reservation here. very cute and nice when the weather is right
APPS:
–Fresh Mozzarella Caprese with added Prosciutto: This was good. It came on a rectangular plate — first pieces of mozz, then topped with lettuce, red onion, roasted road peppers, balsamic, tomato slices, and covered in prosciutto. This was tasty to pick on. I’ve had better prosciutto, and the menu did not state the dressing addition. I would have most likely asked for this on the side or not at all since it was a bit too much for me
–Homemade Meatballs: The meat balls also came on a rectangular plate. There were a 4 – 5 placed in marinara sauce, coated with melted mozz, and then topped with basil. These were good! I’ve had better meatballs, but they were good nonetheless and I would probably get them again if I came back
DINNER:
–Orecchiette: This was good, but I had had better orecchiette as well. I did like the added in fresh tomatoes and the broccoli rabe. The pasta itself tasted a bit bland for my liking, so I added in fresh pepper and later decided to get cheese for more of a taste. I’m still a fan of this dish, but it’s not my favorite Orecchiette
–Five Cheese Ravioli: This was VERY cheesy. The sauce is creamy, but also just very very cheesy. It was good! A bit too much cheese for me and not enough other flavors though. My boyfriend really enjoyed it though
DRINKS:
–BYO!!! I didn’t realize it was BYO, and had to drive 10 mins to pick up wine while my boyfriend sat. I am not docking points for this though since it was totally our fault to not look into this
SERVICE:
–Loved the blonde, young hostess. She was very nice and sweet! It did seem like the waiters were running around from table to table without one real server assigned, which was a bit confusing. My boyfriend had to remind them about his sprite order 3 times. Then when we asked for our food to be wrapped, we sat looking around for a server for maybe less than 10 mins. Then we had a different server ask if we wanted the dessert menu — we said we were done and asked for the check. Then we had another ask if we wanted a dessert menu and said no just the check. Then after waiting more, I saw the blonde hostess and we asked her. Then we finally got our check from a 3^rd different server… so it was a bit confusing with how they handled serving tables.

Just visited this restaurant last night for the first time with my fiancé and we left fairly impressed overall. I ordered the bucatini and my fiancé ordered the veal funghi. Both dishes were fantastic albeit the bucatini was a bit on the oily side but still delicious. We also split a spring salad and ordered the tuna tartare as an appetizer to split. I was not impressed with the tuna; it was tuna tartare mixed with guacamole and was kind of bland and off in my opinion. The dish didn’t feel very Italian either. I’m not saying that everything coming out of this kitchen has to be Italian but it just didn’t match the theme of the restaurant very well. I’ll definitely skip this one in the future. We also split the warm chocolate cake for desert; simply amazing melt in your mouth chocolate gooey goodness. A must have if you’re in the mood for desert.
This is a very small restaurant so I imagine it’s going to be hard to get in here without reservations on a weekend night. We came on a Tuesday so the restaurant was fairly empty. The staff was very courteous and we experienced overall a very solid dining experience. We’ll be coming back here for sure.

Pretty sad experience.
I was was home alone on a snowy Saturday night, so I decided to simply walk around the corner to Focacceria to have dinner alone and read. I called to make sure they were open and could take me, and they said yes.
I got there, and the hostess went to seat me. I said I wanted to hang up my jacket first and she said fine and would seat me when I was ready. Less than a minute goes by, and two other tables walked in – without reservations like i was — and they were seated.
I waited about ten minutes while she sat the others and then a few minutes more while her obviously unhappy manager and she whispered together. The hostess then informed me that they were completely booked up with reservations and it would be at least 90 minutes before they could seat me.
Clearly, they don’t like single diners on a Saturday night. I get that — we drive up a smaller tab, but this was ridiculous.
When I pointed out to the hostess that had I not said I wanted to hang up my jacket, I would have been seated, she turned into this attitude laced high schooler who rolled her eyes at me.
Food might be great — but hospitality sorely lacking

We’ve passed Focacceria many times, but never tried it (even though it’s probably the closest restaurant to our home) until last night. It’s unassuming façade and deli-​sounding name hide a warm, homey space and very nice Italian restaurant. We went with friends who are regulars and were enthusiastically greeted by Cheech (no he’s not Italian). They gave us a little cheese, bruschetta and olives to get started, which was nice and unexpected. The Ceasar salad and Barruda appetizer were OK. The short rib ravioli, the asparagus ravioli and portobello entrée were excellent. We shared the affogato for dessert, which had good cookies accompanying the espresso with vanilla ice cream. It was BYOB, but they had nice large glasses that enhanced our Bordeaux style red.
Update 2÷21÷15: We visited Focacceria again tonight, having stopped here many times since our last update. The cheese in the amuse bouche seems to be getting smaller with each visit. We had excellent beet and tricolore salads. We tried the lobster ravioli special and the tuna — both were great. Afagatto was an excellent way to finish. Cheech and Nick are outstanding hosts. We still love this place. It’s a little expensive, but BYOB makes it painless.

Have been here just 2 times, but will continue to go. Can’t wait to enjoy the outside sitting in the spring. It is a beautiful place, great service, great food and did I mention great service?
For me obviously the food has to be appetizing and excellent to enjoy, but service is everything and both time I have visit they are extraordinary. They make me and my family feel cozy and welcome. Love it!

We came here with a party of eight for a birthday celebration. Every course was impeccable. Highlights for me were the beet salad and the filet mignon.
The place is BYOB, which is nice. Ambience and service was great too. None of our plates came from the oven, so it was all well timed.

Excellent Italian — very well executed. We were a party of 10, our soccer parents night out and seated outside. A gorgeous summer evening and the place was in full swing. The 2 brothers who owned the place was a good friend of one of the couples and was greeted warmly and seated right away and served some bruschetta, which was delicious. Their olive oil with basil was really tasty.
You have to order the sweet & spicy calamari appetizer, best one I’ve tasted outside of Burano. Perfectly done, very lightly battered but crackling crispy outside and soft inside. The meatballs/​sausage was also good, but pales in comparison with the squid.
My wife had one of the specials, Rack of lamb, 3 double-​cuts with this incredible balsamic flavor. The meat was tender — a little too rare for her, even though she asked for medium, but it’s lamb, no? So she wasn’t able to eat all of it but there was more than enough meat to satisfy.
I had the black pasta with prawns Fra Diablo. Initially I thought it was squid ink pasta but it was marinara (what do I know?). The shrimps were large, perfectly cooked the sauce had the right amount of heat, which makes me perspire and may be too hot for some folks. Portions were reasonably sized, which I like, and was able to eat the whole entrée.
There was an incredible list of desserts/​specials but since I don’t usually indulge, didn’t get to taste any of the offerings but I heard Cannoli dipped in Sicilian Chocolate and Red Velvet cake, home made.
A really pleasant and enjoyable dining experience, service was professional and attentive excellent atmosphere. Will be back for more.
And, it’s BYO. It doesn;t get better than that.

Stopped by with colleagues for dinner during the week. Another great experience. Service, food, and al fresco dinner in their patio. My colleagues loved it, too, and thanked me for introducing them to Focacceria and their eggplant lasagna with béchamel sauce!

We haven’t been to Focacceria for some time but glad we came back. This place is BYOB. The food has gotten so much better. For starters, I’d suggest the sweet and spicy calamari. It’s great. I had the night’s special which was the grilled salmon, friends had the grouper and the black linguini shrimp fra diavolo. All were excellent and were cooked to perfection. The food came out in a timely manner and the staff were very attentive and accommodating.
Seating is limited so make reservations. The atmosphere quaint but somewhat loud which is perfect for my group of friends. Will definitely come back.

At lunch this little gem of an Italian restaurant serves sandwiches for $ 8, primi patti (i.e., pasta dishes) for $ 10 and secondi patti (i.e., meat dishes) for $ 14. Waiter service, white tablecloths and an elegant interior all make this place a nice destination for a fine midday meal. BYO!
Our waiter offered sparkling or good old New Jersey tap water :) He brought a basket of bread with pieces of focaccia and sliced Italian white bread, delightful when dipped in the olive oil with herbs from the little bottle on the table. And a bread refill arrived without any prompting.
The meals came quite quickly. We tried the orecchiette (pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe), sweet & hot sausages (sliced sausage with white beans and roasted red peppers) and the penne (a solid vegetarian choice with eggplant, mozz, tomato and basil). The waiters instantly offered grated Parmiggiano and fresh pepper. All the food was very very good, nothing high-​end gourmet but perfectly made and extremely tasty.
The actual restaurant is two small rooms downstairs plus a couple more rooms upstairs. It’s very New York with tables rather close together. Their outdoor patio is easily several times larger and looks like a great place when the weather improves.
We didn’t need a reservation at noon on a Thursday. Our food came so quickly that we were able to fit this visit into an hour without rushing the staff or hurrying. Next time we bring Chianti and make it a proper two-​hour lunch!
Focacceria is located in Liberty Corner, close to where Church Street dead-​ends into Lyons Road. The Unilocal map was wrong when I wrote this review and showed a different Church Street; it’s *not* near down town Bernardsville.