Rella's Italian Tavern — Restaurant in Brielle

My husband and I ate dinner at Rella's last week for the first time, having heard about it for some time. The food was excellent. I ordered scallops oreganata, which came out perfectly: they were a good size, sweet, and cooked just right. I also liked that they weren't completely smothered with the orreganata; it was just enough to really taste and appreciate the freshness of the scallops. My husband had a steak sandwich. Steak slices were prime and cooked exactly as he asked. And since he is in the meat business all his life, he knows a good cut of meat when he tastes it.

A very good first-time experience. We called over the manager at the end of our meal to let him know how much we enjoyed our dinner, and that we'll be back.

Update 3/11/24:

My husband and I went back to Rella's on Saturday evening, 3/9. He again ordered the steak sandwich, which he LOVED even more the second time. Our daughter, visiting from NYC, had the Smashburger, which she thought was great. And I ordered grilled salmon with citrus butter (which I asked for on the side so I could drizzle the amount that I preferred over the fish) and it was out of this world, cooked perfectly. It was delicious.

A very good second-time experience and, of course . . ....

Won a $50 gift card to Rella's. Our 1st time there - service was great..food was fabulous. It wasn't until I attempted to use my gift card that the evening took a bad turn!!!! I was informed by the "manager" "this card is no good here...it is for Lacey - we can't take that". I explained that my sister had won a gift card a month prior and used it in Brielle and it was accepted. That's when I was told that "I'm the manager, I can't take that, do you want me to ask the owner if it is acceptable - I'll just tell him you have no money" - WOW!! He asked the owner and came back and stated "the owner said it's alright which surprises me - so is there really $50 available on this? - you don't want change, right?" - WOW again!!! I only wish I had taken back the $10 cash tip I left him!!! Perhaps a lesson on how to speak to guests so that they will return to your establishment is in order for this "manager"!!!!!!!! My daughter and I had every intention to return one night to try out their pizza - NOT...

Arrived for a late lunch 4 adults and 1 baby at about 2:10pm waited for a table no big deal, expected as much, didn't have to wait to long we were seated about 2:30pm. Looked over the menu. The table had water glasses which were empty. Waited to be greeted by a server after about 20 minutes of no one greeting us, we than began to try to get the staffs (very sparse, as we are now noticing) attention. Anyone of the staff that had been in the dinning room avoided making eye contact. After 40 minutes (silly us) we decided we would find some where that had some hospitality aka "service" it wasn't until after bundling back up and getting the baby situated back in the car seat, did anyone finally approach us. Only with excuses of why they hadn't had 1 minute to even say "hello, someone will be with you soon". We will not be going back. We landed at Watermans down the street GREAT place,...