Pazza — Restaurant in Franklin Lakes

Ended up finally trying Pazza after a failed sushi girls night. The atmosphere was awesome! Seinfield on TV , 90s music pumping! Gorgeous painting of the beautiful Sophia Loren ! Trendy, modern, and really exceeded my expectations from the moment we walked jn. Immediately focaccia with olive oil followed our menus. The bread was not warm , but it didn’t matter. It was SO fresh and well made. The olive oil … was def from the good olive oil bottle ( if you know you know). The grilled octopus with Shepard salad blew our minds. The octopus was tender and charred perfectly. The salad was light, refreshing, herby with the perfect amount of acidity. The spinach dip was good , however , it is regular spinach dip with chips - still great. The mussels in white sauce were delicate and flavorful. I wish they had a little more garlic, but that is just my own preference. The mushroom risotto… listen up …. I HATE MUSHROOMS….. this dish…. Was a showstopper. These mushrooms , do not apply to my mushroom loathing rule. Apparently roasting them in their brick oven transforms them into magic morsels of deliciousness. This dish… will be in my dreams for nights to come. The boom shroom … again, I hate mushrooms. I was being agreeable with my friend anticipating to pick the mushrooms off…. I could not get enough. Holy smokes. The roasted garlic cream was unbelievable… that combined with the neopolitan style dough, cooked in their high quality wood burning oven … I am at a loss of words. I never thought I would ever EVER eat mushrooms and here I am , taking second and third servings. It is a must try.

Our waitress, Karen… oh KAREN ! We loved you! I go out to eat A LOT. The service is usually average at best. Ms. Karen … she is a Michelin star waitress. Gordon Ramsey approved for sure. She was quick, present, knowledgeable. She was a mind reader. I mean we didn’t need to ask , as soon as we though oh maybe we should get some bread for the broth ( mussels ) she was strolling by saying let me get you girls some bread for that . She was present but not over bearing which is such a hard thing to master. Karen made our experience feel like we were hanging out with that aunt that everybody loves and always has the best food. She made suggestions that made our overall experience so smooth and perfect. Bravo , thank you for making our moms night out so relaxing and wonderful. I will definitely return for a date night here with a nice bottle of wine....

I have eaten at Pazza several times but this last time I went, I was disappointed in so many ways. I made a reservation for 7 PM and arrived on time. All the tables were full so we were told it would be a few minutes of waiting. After one party departed, the staff started setting the table but it was for a party of 5 which had not yet arrived. We waited for about 15 minutes before they said another table would soon be available. After waiting another 10 minutes, the staff decided to reset the table for 5 for our party of 3. My daughter sat down and felt the table...which felt sticky most likely from the cleaning product sprayed on the table. It took at least 10 minutes for the waitress to come to the table for our orders. While we waited for our appetizer, bread and water were brought to our table. The appetizer arrived quickly. The appetizer we order (which was a small pie) was delicious. Dinner then arrived. I was disappointed in my dinner. The side of spinach I had was overcooked and tasted a little burnt. During our dinner, one of the staff stood directly behind my son while she chatted with the customers seated at the table behind us. When I say she was standing directly behind my son, she was right behind him with her backside only a few inches from his seat and him. There was no way for him to even turn around to ask her to move. She was stood in place for 15 minutes having a conversation with the table behind us. This was my daughter's 2nd time at Pazza and my son's 1st time; both of them were disappointed in their dining experience. Having working in the restaurant industry for many years, I understand the dynamic of a busy Friday night and give leniency when times are busy. As of now, I will not be going back anytime soon nor would I be recommending going to Pazza to any friends or colleagues as a...

I have been stuck with over $200 in gift cards … not an explanation why, not an alternative resolution, NOT even a callback from a manager or owner. I was here 2 years ago after I bought $500 in gift cards. I brought my one-year-old son in for Valentine’s Day with friends of ours. We called ahead of time, made a reservation and confirmed we could use some gift cards. They told us we could and so we came in to eat. After we bought appetizers, bottles of wine, entrees, desserts, etc, we were told we couldn’t use them. I thought maybe it was because it was a holiday (still not explained to us, but fine!) I asked for a manager to come out and speak with me, which he never did and never contacted me. I had written a negative review 2 years ago and the owner threatened to fire the individual who sold me the gift cards. I took my review down out of compassion for this woman, but still never got approached by a manager. I was passing by and decided to stop in this week. Still no manager speaking with me or addressing my issue. I was told I’d get a phone call but never did. I don’t even care much about the money as much as I do the lack of respect and accountability on the businesses’ end. I worked in customer service for a long time and they have really dropped the ball here. I’m not sure why it’s a problem for me to use gift cards that I purchased but apparently it’s a problem to this establishment. I was open to rectifying this issue another possible way but I can’t even get the respect of someone speaking with me besides a host. This has been very poor business dealing and...