Belmont Tavern — Restaurant in Belleville

Not horrible, but not good. The place is considered a New Jersey icon, so i wanted to give it a try. It is yet another "classic" place resting on its laurels, and not really trying to do a good job anymore. 1. the chicken savoy is a famous dish there. I did not care for it, but some may like it. To me, it was a very dry cut up chicken, soaked in vinegar, and some other seasonings. The vinegar was overpowering and too sharp. Hey, to each his own. Shrimp beeps, a.k.a. shrimp fra diavolo. very good, small portion for the price. Prob the best thing to order there. cavatelli in pot cheese. pretty darn good cavatelli, but as others have pointed out, where is the pot cheese? kind of a hint of cheese flavor on it. grilled peppers. wow, kinda spicy, but that is what peppers are. clams oreganata. very small clams, not many of them on the plate, and because they are small, not much clam meat. they were towered with seasoned bread crumbs, so much so that they outweighed the clam meat itself, instead of just topping it. The flavoring was excellent though. service. this is interesting. when we got there, the service was great, but during dinner, the place got very crowded, and very loud. because the seats are all packed together too tightly, and the place was so noisy, the service could not keep up. Ambience. A lot of famous people photos on the walls, but really, it looks like a dump inside. I like dumps, but perhaps they overdid it. the tables are VERY close together, if not touching. so you really don't get your own table for your party. We had two old men next to us commenting on our conversation (and asking us if we would pay for their dinner.) Finally, the place is LOUD. It could be due to the bricks on the walls echoing the sound, the lack of carpeting, how much they pack in the people, but it becomes so loud you have to shout to be heard by the person across the table from you (kind of a vicious circle, isn't it) Would I go back? Maybe. Would I go back soon? not really. Definitely there is much better Italian food in New Jersey. Many, many more traditional, old school, family owned Italian restaurants in New Jersey. Ones with good quality food, good portions and good prices. Out of all of them, the food at Belmont is easily the worst. Perhaps that is why the best they can do is compare themselves to Olive Garden. Homemade???? Pretty sure it is restaurant made. Please stop...

I'm a typical Noo Yawka: surrounded by marvels, yet never go to any of 'em: the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc., etc. One of those kinds of places is The Belmont Tavern and their rather famous Chicken Savoy in nearby Jersey. I was ready to treat myself and five other heavy-tippers to a sumptuous meal this Independence Day Weekend.

Ready to finalize our plans for the evening, my friend looks-up from her iPad and exclaims: "Hey, remember that ne'er-do-well from Howard Stern, Stuttering John ...??" "Why yes, yes I do, as a matter of fact!", came my reply. "Well, he's talkin' about the place we're going to tonight!"

It seems my friend stumbled upon a very recent YouTube video in which this fellow Stuttering John is intimating that The Belmont Tavern is an establishment where key mafioso & organized crime figures congregate, as well as those so-called "FBI Mob Informants" ....

I watched his video three times through and came to a decision: my friends and I are quiet, unassuming folk. We DO NOT want to be in the vicinty of any sort of illegal activity "going down". Nor do we wish to be in the midst of a potential shootout should a Mob figure who believes he's been unjustly wronged seek retribution against a "snitch" ....

In the end, it was a tough choice for me to make, to cancel my & my heavily-tipping friends' evening's plans at The Belmont Tavern. But my first and foremost consideration is my and my friends' safety, so it was that final element that forced my ultimate direction.

I'd like to personally extend the utmost gratitude to Stuttering John for opening my eyes as to the true nature of The Belmont Tavern. He may allegededly be an unemployed alcoholic who's tens of thousands of dollars in arrears to the bank for unpaid mortgage deposits & child support, but I'll trust his judgement on this one. THANK YOU,...

Went to BT last week. I’ve been coming since the 80’s but avoid weekends.If you’ve never been, here’s the low down. It’s been an establishment since the 60’s with overflow out the door on warm weekends.Wrap your head around this and you’ll have a great experience.The servers are aged, always…and crumpy because their joints hurt, (it gets very crowded, esp weekends, and the need to turn tables quickly to get the 2 deep at the bar waiting to be seated is THE priority).The dishes are greasy and not clean most of the time because the dish “washer” can’t keep up making new soapy water to cut through the delicious oily entrees devoured by previous patrons, (don’t think about asking for a clean one).The food is great! So, upon entry, inhale the experience and get acquainted quickly with the infamous charmed non-renovated good fellas atmosphere, (you swear Pesci is sitting in the back with De Niro), loud speakers blaring Sinatra tunes making it more difficult to hear any conversation you’ll attempt …AND last but not least, the expected and inevitable surly demeanor of the septuagenarians servers who like their job, I presume, but have no time or patience for you if you don’t know what you want off the top of your head as soon as you sit down esp if they’ve flipped their pad open to take your order. (Don’t ask for a menu, you’ll be marked). This, my friends, makes the BT experience infamous, along with their signature dishes of course. Have the right attitude, know what you want before hand, sit back and enjoy. But not too long.They need the table.Shout out to the bus crew always.They’re pleasantly efficient with a smile (most...