Ponte Vecchio

Stay away overpriced, horrible staff food so disappointing. I don’t usually write reviews but don’t want anyone to waste there money .The food was so bad that I couldn’t even finish my meal. The staff acted like we were bothering them to work. Save yourself from getting sick stay away.

Great food and Great service… enough said! Should be the benchmark for restaurants in NJ. The manager Nick was very knowledgeable and the owner, Anthony D. is an absolute pleasure… I come here about 3 – 4 times a month!

Great local Italian spot in Old Bridge. My family and I have dined and had family events over the years. The service is always excellent and the food is fresh flavorful and well prepared. I especially enjoy the raw seafood tower.

Next time: knives and water on the right, forks and bread plate on the left. Tables are much too close. My steak was good. I tasted my wife’s veal sorrentino and I was glad I got the steak.

Great food! We had a party of 15 and every meal was delicious! The group appetizers were plentiful, ordered for 10 people and had plenty for 15. Deserts were all nice portions. BYOB saves you quite a bit.

Great food! I came here with my friends and sister and we really enjoyed it.
We got the hot antipaste appetizer and it was great! Delicious eggplant.
The place is BYOB which I love because it keeps the bill down.
The service was great, ambiance was really nice.
I had their grilled salmon and it was delicious! My friends loved their dishes as well.
Overall the experience was very good.

First time here for dinner and loved it. Enjoyed the ambience, beautiful décor and friendly staff.
For a party of 10 we ordered 3 portions of the hot appetizer sampler. This was fantastic and I would definitely have it again. It had eggplant rollatini, clams, mussels, shrimp, and stuffed mushrooms. My favorite was the mushroom (creamy and flavorful crab/​lobster filling, not fishy at all) and the clam (cheese and breadcrumb topping which was baked and crispy on the top).
Chicken parm for the entrée was the only weak link — chicken was quite plain and lacked some flavor. Nothing quite special about the linguini with pasta sauce that came on the side. I would order the penne vodka or seafood capellini next time because I heard those were delicious.
For dessert they had pumpkin cheesecake (yum), and chocolate cake (even better!). If I’m in the area I will definitely be back!

We ordered the hot antipasto. The clams were horrible. A female manager came to the table and proceeded to tell us how many people they served clams to that day and no one else had a problem. No apology very arrogant. When I left spoke to another manager –older male who had same attitude as though it were my problem. I hope my friend and I don’t wind up in the ER after eating bad clams. I won’t be coming back here. Very disappointed. I’ve never been treated this way before.

We went to the restaurant yesterday for a family celebration (11 family members).
Service:
Our waiter approached the table, said «listen up these are the specials for tonight».
And no, not with a friendly smile or even a pleasant expression on his face. Think announcement in a food hall. His service and attitude continued to be in no way appropriate for a restaurant of this price point.
We asked him to describe the ingredients in one of the specials of the day. His answer: I don’t know, I just sell it. Really, a $ 30 dish and you don’t know or at least offer to go back to the kitchen to find out?
Food:
I didn’t think an Italian restaurant would not offer spaghetti if requested. But ok.
We requested the available pasta to be cooked al dente. He said no. Plain no. After questioned further, he told us that the pasta is pre-​cooked, already done and the kitchen could not offer us al dente. And no, we are not talking about $ 10 dishes!
Not one of the steaks were prepared in the manner ordered. Sorry, this statement is not true. One steak was ordered well done. And it actually came this way:) but not the steaks ordered blue, medium rare, medium.
At this point we didn’t bother to complain or ask for a correct prepared dish.
Our bill for a group of 11 came to $ 600+ without tip. No wine.
This should have translated to friendly, professional service and carefully prepared food.
Unfortunately this is not what happened.

Went here based on rave reviews from friends in the area. While the restaurant looks nice and the staff is super attentive the food was disappointing. Portions were huge and prices reasonable but everything was super salty.
Also, parking can be tough in the small lot.
So many other Italian options in the area that I can’t really recommend this one.

Just had an absolutely delicious meal with my family here tonight. The service was excellent and the food was some of the best I’ve had in the old bridge area. We started out with the hot appetizer sampler for parties larger that 7. All the different appetizers rock shrimp, calamari, caprese salad, eggplant rolatini and muscles oregenata were not only amazing but enough of a meal by themselves, then our meals were all impeccable. My family that had come from out of town were very happy with my choice of dinner location as well as everyone else. I highly recommend this restaurant.

I read a lot of the reviews on Unilocal.We decided to go anyway with a party of ten. Our reservation was for 8 and we were sat promptly. I must say most of the reviews on Unilocal were fair. The service was average.
For the appetizers we decided on the special. This was a family style appetizer for ten. The appetizer was eggplant rolintini, calamari, brucetta, rock shrimp, seafood salad, clams casino, and stuffed mushrooms. We also ordered the Cajun calamari, and fried zucchini. The appetizers were good. Everything came out hot. The Cajun calamari was ok.
The entrees I have to admit were bad. Other reviews on Unilocal said food was bland, and unfortunately it’s true. For my meal I had the beef tenderloin tips and stuffed shrimp. The entrée came with steamed vegetables and mash potatoes. I asked for the steak medium rare. The steak came out medium well. All I was able to eat were the two stuffed shrimp. The steak was bland. The mash potatoes I had one fork full. I swear they were boxed mash potatoes. I tried eatting the vegetables but they also had zero taste. Even after I dumped salt and pepper on the food it was unbeatable.
When it was time to pay, the waiter asked if I wanted my food to go? I told him no. You think they would have known something was wrong when nothing on the plate was eaten. I would urge you to listen to the other reviews and don’t waste your time at this restaurant. I can’t stand Olive Garden but the food at the chain is actually better.

Wonderful restaurant hidden in a typical Central New Jersey mini-​strip mall. Good selection of entrees, a pleasant treat.
Bonus … it is BYOB!
Always a nice meal … energetic, enthusiastic and patient servers. I am a 6-​time visitors to this restaurant.
If you have not been to Ponte Vecchio, you are missing out.

Hosted my sister’s bridal shower here and it was a great experience.
The team at Ponte Vecchio, headed by Nick, was totally professional and took care of every last detail for us.
They set up the room beautifully.
Everything ran smoothly, from the wait staff taking the orders, to a a soft music piped over the house speakers, to the delivery and execution of the delicious food.
The package included a salad, a serving of penne vodka, and an entrée choice, all served at the table.
It was more than enough food, with generous portions.
We brought our own cake which they served with tea/​coffee and fruit platters.
We brought our own wine too and they kept the tables stocked with water and wine.
There was ample space to place the gifts, and for the bride to open the gifts– it did not feel cramped at all.
Everyone thought the venue was lovely and the food was great.
They were also very accommodating with a few changes.
Great place to have an event if you don’t want to worry about anything that day.
We had quite a few snafus along the way including our flowers not being delivered the day before the shower, and invitations needing to be reordered, but the day of the event went really smoothly and that’s thanks to Nick and the Ponte Vecchio team.

I’m going to start off saying one of the best italian seafood places I have ever gone to. The service here how ever could be improved on. The last time I was at this place with a party of 3 it took is almost 30 minutes to recive an appetizer. The food however is very large portions so expect to bring something home and for the price you pay to eat here you defiantly get your money worth. There seafood fra diavlo comes highly recommended with it’s spicy sauce and fresh clams, muscles, octopus, and shrimp ! If this place service was better I would go there more often but it’s always been a long wait for me to get food there. Overall recommend for seafood lovers who got time to kill and want to play it safe for the night.

First time here and will definitely be back for a second trip. The staff was on point, they got us seated as soon as we walked in (ten minutes early from our 9:30 reservation) and our server Zach was 110% attentive and helpful. The meals were excellent, I had the Swordfish Sacilian and my girlfriend had the Seafood Cappellini. Both of which were wrapped up with plenty for a second serving. After our server had wrapped everything up when we were finished he whipped out the desert tray… And just when you think you are going to explode you somehow seem to find room because each desert looks better then the next. All in all it was truly a five star experience and can only hope each visit back will be this good!

I have dined here on 2 occasions for lunch. They have a a prix fixe for lunch with options for $ 15 or $ 20 depending upon the entrée chosen. There are more than enough options to suit anyone’s taste and for the amount of food/​portions sizes given it is a steal. We had such a good experience the first time we went, we opted to go back again and were not disappointed.
We were promptly seated and attended to. Specials were offered but we opted to go with the prix fixe.
I had the ricotta and mozzarella fritta as my app. Reminded me of burrata, but warm with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella on top. It was tasty.
For my main, I had the mahi mahi with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms. Huge piece of fish and enormous serving for lunch. For dessert I had Italian cheesecake which was very good.
They noticed it was my dad’s birthday because I had given him a card at the table. They brought out his cheesecake with a lit candle and wished him a happy birthday. I was impressed with their attention to detail as I had not advised them or indicated to them to do this. This was very much appreciated.
Solid restaurant with excellent service. Great prix fixe lunch options. Absolutely will return.

Amazing! Went here for my birthday with family everything was perfect! The waiter was very attentive and friendly. The food was great everything was so tasteful and portions were big as well. Would come back again it can be pretty pricey but well worth it!

I had the seafood capellini and it was delicious! The bread was stale but that’s OK because I wasn’t tempted to eat it lol. Next time I come I must try the seafood tower appetizer. It looks unreal!
Our server was very knowledgeable and friendly!

Maybe I am just tired of beurre blanc sauce or shitaki mushrooms but I am starting to get jaded about the Lou Ca’s family of restaurants. Actually most of the food was very good and I highly recommend this place despite the 3 stars.
I think the 3 stars has more to do with I find this particular location a cut below both Lou Ca’s and Frescos. The Caesar Salad here was not good whereas at the other two places, it’s great. This one seemed to be lacking in garlic, cheese, and anything else that would have given the dressing a flavor.
I still continue to enjoy the Cajun Calamari appetizer but my wife thought it had been better in the past. Hmm. maybe a pattern is emerging.
I went pretty simple on my main course with the chicken breasts layered in smoky, mozz, red peppers, and mushrooms and it was excellent and also under $ 20. They substituted the roasted potatoes with garlic mashed as per my request. As mashed potatoes, it was good but where was the garlic once again? That’s 2 dishes «under-​garlicked» Were they out of garlic?
My friend had the seafood fra diavolo and said it was very good but thought they might have been skimping on the seafood. In the past, the amount of seafood seemed a lot more. My other friend had the soft shell crab special and I got to taste it. They do a great soft shell crab dish with that beurre blanc sauce that I can only take so much of which is why I didn’t order that dish myself.
My wife had a fish special with a fruit salsa and liked it but had to remove much of the salsa as being «too much».
Our server was very pleasant and very helpful.
I felt very cramped with table all around us even though the restaurant was not crowded. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if there were people sitting at those tables.
Despite all my negatives, I still managed to enjoy myself. I guess I am just getting more finicky about food.