Americano Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Bayonne

Updating my review May 2024. We have been here a couple of time now since it has opened. It’s happy hour menu and offer has changed so many times! They used to give shoe string fries and pigs in a blanket for happy hour with no cocktail specials. Now there are cocktail and food specials and no free food. Though I did ask the bartender about the fries and he ended up giving them to us which was nice. Happy hour is now 4-7 instead of 3-6. Regular cocktails are now $17 instead of $19, and $11 on happy hour. but the cocktail menu has changed. No more Daniels cocktail which was our favorite. I got the Tracy and it was so creamy, sweet and delicious. I never had a pistachio cocktail before and it was excellent. Though the drinks are a bit small.

—- Came here again Feb 2024 after seeing on their instagram that they have happy hour everyday from 3-6 which is complimentary shoe string fries and pigs in a blanket. No drink specials, but on a random day they may have a drink special. Pretty amazing deal though because for a $19 drink glad it comes with some free food.

The complimentary food was delicious. It didn’t taste like frozen food. It tasted like shredded potatoes deep fried, and they even put a side of olives and chopped veggies. The pigs in a blanket too were top quality. And not like typical frozen ones. You got to ask for them though, the bartender didn’t tell us about it.

We got a pizza too which was packed with ingredients, super fresh and crispy. The mushrooms were shiitakes which were super yummy. The Daniels cocktail was my favorite. Overall great balance of sweet and savory in the drink. The gin bond had a weird flavor I couldn’t put my finger on, it wasn’t my favorite.

The cannolis were okay. Not that big and $7 each. They have some desserts up front, I wish we got from the case instead since there were additional donuts and types of cannolis in the case that were not in the menu.

—- This place is very nice. Nothing else like it in Bayonne. Service was excellent, super friendly and attentive from the moment the door opened for us to enter. Hostess Lisa seated us right away even without a reservation while the place was packed. Also at one point during the night she came over to see if we needed anything, it was so nice. Servers came over frequently to fill the water too.

The drinks and the food, everything is very high priced for the area. It’s NYC prices. I didn’t except to see $19 for a cocktail. It’s more expensive than some of the appetizers. The main dishes are all around $30, some are $40, $50 and higher. We got the lasagna and the pressed chicken. The lasagna is made of spinach noodles and has a bolognese sauce. It’s a big portion with many layers. The cheese, sauce and noodles were all very good. The chicken was super tender and many pieces of thighs, wings and drumsticks in a nice light tomato and caper sauce with some potatoes. They serve complimentary flat bread with garlic butter. The garlic butter was so good I wish there was more on the plate.

The desserts are $11-$14. We got the chocolate mouse. It looks small, but it’s very rich and has a chocolate ganache on the bottom. It was thick and creamy yet fluffy and not too sweet.

Everything we ordered I would get again and was delicious and generous portions.

The atmosphere is old Hollywood, very swanky. Long velvet couches and magnificent chandeliers. Marble everywhere and a bathroom attendant. Individual bathroom stalls with thick napkins next to the sink. Andes candies at the hostess desk and at the bathroom attendant area. Playing 40s music when we arrived. Picked up to happy 70s music a couple of hours later. Took us to a different era, or like we were in a movie. It made me think of the bar scene in The Shining. Also White Lotus.

This place was so wanted that they opened up earlier than expected and have a limited menu. Most things are imported from Italy and a lot of the staff speak Italian. No doubt this place will continue being popular. Next time I want a nice fancy evening out...

I’m revising my review from sept. We heard they hired a new chef so we took a chance and held our company dinner there. Everything was excellent! The cocktails, Focaccia, meatballs, calamari, eggplant meatballs, ribeye, lamb chops, pork chops, literally every single thing was delicious. Even the desserts down to the cappuccino. Better than some of the best places in Italy. The staff was pro. We placed a delivery work order a couple of days later bc the food is that good. Worth every penny. We will def be back and we can’t wait!

Sept review: To give you some context, my husband and I have lived in the Lower East side of Manhattan for almost 30 years but we work in Bayonne. Our experiences span from five-star dining to cherished neighborhood gems across the globe—we LOVE food. We drive by Americano all the time so we decided to invite our family to try it with us last weekend. We walked in and we were immediately WOWed! This place is stunning. It’s hard to believe you're in Bayonne when you're inside. Service was great, everyone seemed to be on point. A couple of times, the servers removed plates before we had finished, which was a bit inconvenient. They were efficient but perhaps a bit too eager to clear the table, so it’s worth noting if you’re dining there. Now the food…I had such high hopes for this restaurant. With these prices - in Bayonne, I expected more complex flavors. I really hate to say it but it was disappointing, see itemized review below. If I had to come back, I would order cocktails (the mixologist was good) and pizza. We only tried one and the dough was delicious. I would try the other pizza options if there is a next time.

Tuna tartar: Fish seemed low quality and devoid of any flavor. It was served with oil on the side. I didn’t understand that. Definitely not worth $27 each. Grilled octopus: Passable. Skewered, served with peppers and onions. Not much flavor. I think this could be better. Fried calamari: this was a hit. Everyone liked it. Pappardelle: our server recommended this dish. It was bland and boring, if you’ve had good short rib ragout, this will not make you happy. Lasagna: I’m not kidding when I say that Stouffer’s frozen lasagna is better than this. It was small, about an inch in height, burnt bottom, the sauce was also boring and bland. $32 for this dish is insulting. Chicken Francese: this was basically tasteless chicken cutlet wrapped in omelette. The egg was so thick and overcooked, you couldn’t even see the chicken. If you know chicken Francese, this was unrecognizable. Mini truffle ravioli: We all love truffle but this dish was not it. It was creamy and the texture was proper but the flavor was not what you would expect from a $39 dish. It tasted like cream with a little salt and truffle oil and nothing else. Spaghetti vongole: this was my nephew’s dish and no one in the group had any of it. He said he liked it but he didn’t finish it. He always finishes his meal when he likes it. Spicy Rigatone Vodka: My niece said she liked it. This dish actually looked good. Chicken Marsala: Just ok. I wouldn’t order this again. It wasn’t seasoned properly. Mortadella Pizza: The dough was delicious. They can do better with mortadella, it tasted like over-the-counter from ShopRite. It was too thick and nothing special. So if you’ve had good mortadella, don’t order this one. s'azerican: Sazerac, this was good. Cheesecake: this was excellent Coconut gelato: tasted like medicine Berry sorbet: good Lemon meringue tart: Just ok Tiramisu: I would skip

We didn't take photos. I think we were disillusioned since our first dish was the tuna tartar.

Would we come back? Maybe for...

Went on Friday night date night to Americano because several people have been talking about it. Bottom line is that it's a gorgeous space, but I found the food just slightly above average due to the eye watering prices. First the space, spectacular! You walk in and the art, the lighting, the seating, bar, pastry case, lounge area and white jacketed staff are all stunning, really like you stepped back in time or to the lobby bar of a very high end European hotel. We were greeted nicely and shown to our table, in retrospect we should have had our cocktail at the bar and not the table just to experience that part of the restaurant. The menu, both food and drink, is extensive, but the first thing my eye went to was the $46 vesper martini and the $295 tbone for two special. To be fair, you can get a pretty awesome looking pizza (saw coming out of the oven, but didn't order) and a Peroni for less then $30 so there is a way to make this a non event/destination experience, but I like martinis. Anyway, settled for two basic cocktails, both were good. At this point the service became a distraction, slow, getting things wrong, typing on a handheld which I understand is the way of the future, but you need to know where items are on the screen. I'm being picky on this, but if you want to command the prices you're asking, the experience needs to measure up. We split the spicy shrimp crostini, pasta ala Norma, NY strip and broccoli rabe. The shrimp were great, not really spicy, but great and because they come on a slab of bread (also great), very filling. The pasta was just ok, under seasoned in my opinion, but cooked properly. The steak was also just ok, again underseasoned in my opinion. There's a salt shaker on the table, but for a big steak you want big, course salt. At this point very glad we didn't spring for the $295 steak special. The broccoli rabe was stringy, but we'll seasoned. The dessert case and menu is extensive and looked great, but we didn't partake. I feel like stopping by at 4pm and having a coffee and a dessert may be in my future. Overall it was a good experience, mostly due to the ambiance. I don't think the food is in line with the prices, but you can navigate the menu to make it more affordable with apps and a couple beers. Will return at least...