Vesta Wood-Fired — Restaurant in East Rutherford

I am a local that just moved into the area. On my spare time I do Uber eats, Vesta is a vendor that I have delivered food for.

Today was my first time trying it out as a costumer and not as a delivery driver. I was welcomed by the host.

The bartender allowed to me move to a more comfortable area where I had more breathing space. I have worked in the restaurant business in the past, front/back of the house. I was coming back from a massage after a long day of corporate healthcare employment and was looking forward to enjoying a nice quick meal- I live up the block .

My evening was interrupted by a female employee who took the liberty to mention that she was tired and complained about her Uber ride prices and such… and talk loud while sitting right next to me. I didn’t appreciate that. I asked the employee if she usually sits at bar and speaks loudly after finishing her shift. She mentioned she didn’t noticed she was speaking loudly (Hard to believe) I got your point ! You wanted me to leave. You wanted me to wrap my food. She asked at some point while I was enjoying my appetizer “sir are you listening, do you hear anything , while she spoke to her coworker about why “she” still here and why her food is not wrapped up yet.

Later on, another male employee w beard came out with a salad straight to me and ask if the “girl salad “ lol -grilled salad was for me? I heard you sir! I am a gay male. I am not offended. I am a professional and I conduct myself in such way. But I am also human and this was a low blow. Be professional. Be kind. No need for this type of treatment. He went above and beyond to make me geeky uncomfortable. Great job! Only if they did this to make my experience a great one.

I am so disappointed that I received this type of treatment . This was not a service. This is was insult and a waste of money. They need to be retrained . As for the bartender she was aware of everything that was going on as she came back to deliver my pizza from the kitchen and made sure to announced out loud that she was giving me a large pie instead of the personal pie that I had initially ordered. Is the large pie supposed to compensate the bad experience I receiving ? I am thankful Not complaining for the pizza. That was not my initial order but thank you miss. I tip well and I am pleasant.

Is the staff so unaware that some costumers may have potentially worked at restaurants in the past and may know the ins and out? This shocks me.

The bartender was ok. I understand employees are tired when closing time is nearby, but I believe it is restaurant absolute mission to make EVERY costumer feel welcomed and comfortable throughout the whole stay … no matter if closing time is near. I was planning to take my dinner (pizza ) home anyways, while i tried to enjoy a glass of wine and my appetizer. That did not happen.

This occurrence did not affect the bartender’s tip. We all work hard. I do as well. I now work in a different field and was looking forward to closing my night w a great meal. I hope you guys did well tonight and are able enjoy a calm evening. I paid for a service I did not receive. This was shocking and I would not call it a services.(the bare minimum with a slap on the face.) The (large pizza) is now in the freezer and I will probably not eat it. thanks anyway. As for anyone in the LGTB+ community “I’m sorry I don’t believe we are welcomed here” I hope the behavior presented by the employees today is addressed in order for future potential costumer to have a good experienced and be not shocked by the treatment that stills happens to folks in our community or anyone...

Tonight I called Vesta at about 5:20pm, and after 2 mins going through the phone prompt, I finally got to someone. I explained that we had a large motorcycle skills event (115 riders) that was going on at the stadium for the next couple days (we recommended places to eat), and we had a group of 14 from Louisiana that wanted to get great pizza and Italian food. They are staying at a real close hotel and it was minimal travel. Right off the start she asked “How Many”, I responded 14. Sorry, we can take reservations and anything over 12 is considered a group party. I paused for a minute and asked, can you split the tables up? She replied, no, we don’t split groups up. I said, You cant even put them into groups of 2 or 3 tables, no, cant guarantee it. I paused and said, “ok, let me understand this… I’m calling you because I have a group from Louisiana that wants to come to YOUR restaurant, for YOUR pizza / food and spend money at YOUR restaurant and you can’t help us? They are willing to split up? They can walk in but we can’t guarantee anything. I hung up floored and embarrassed because I was standing with them when I called from the parking lot, not expecting what I had just heard. One of the ladies said, Where else can we go? I called Al Di La, explained it was a group, in from Louisiana and that they were willing to split tables up. She said no problem, we’ll set up now and have it ready in 10 mins. When the group got there, they sat immediately and were well taken care of. What a shame, we recommended Vesta to riders from all over the country for the next couple days and never even made it past a phone call of “No”. I repeatedly asked her how can we make this work, they really want YOUR pizza and she said cant guarantee that we can even seat them! You lost my business, that’s...

Went on a Monday evening, friendly hostess greeted us and we were seated immediately. Service for our visit was efficient and we did not have to ask for refills of water or wait long for our food. Restaurant was not crowded, ambiance was nice. Our waitress smiled politely but was very difficult to hear when she spoke, seemed timid but friendly. An order of bread sticks with dipping oil was brought to the table and we ordered the bang bang shrimp off the specials appetizer menu, margarita pizza and "it's the guanciale for me" pizza. The bread sticks were very doughy - close to just barely baked, and tasted like yeast. They had some spices on them but not enough to make them flavorful and there were no spices in the dipping oil at all. Traditionally, the sauce in bang bang shrimp is spicy. Unfortunately, there was zero heat or flavor to the sauce. The shrimp were crispy and cooked nicely but served on top of a pool of pink mayo aka bang bang sauce. I asked for the guanciale pizza to be crispy and it did come to me as I requested. The sauce used on both is bland, again very little spices added. Both were full of toppings but no seasoning in the sauce or in the toppings made them bland. Very few pieces of guanciale on the guanciale pizza. Overall, a disappointment. Pizzas were $18 each and appetizer was $19. An expensive dinner we...