Caffe Buon Gusto — Restaurant in Hoboken

Absolutely wonderful! We happened to be in town for my son's 18th birthday and I was looking for a place to celebrate (he is a foodie). After scouring places in Hoboken, I happened upon Caffe Buon Gusto with some great reviews so we gave it a try. I mentioned, in my reservation, that it was my son's birthday. When we arrived, they all greeted him with a "happy birthday" and THEN... on the wall behind him at our table, they placed an "18" balloon behind him. It was absolutely the sweetest. We're in town moving in our other son into his 2nd year at Rutgers but this made my youngest feel special and we were here just for his big brother.

That was just the service. Now...the food.

DELICIOUS! It was absolutely delicious. We had dishes on their regular menu as well as specials and it was all fabulous. I don't think we left anything on our plates! For appetizers we had the burrata as well as the prosciutto and melons. The cheeses were so delicious that we gobbled it up in record time. My husband also ordered an arugula salad (can't remember the name) and we all stabbed our forks in for a bite. For dinner, we had the seafood linguine, linguine & vongole, ravioli special (with lemon butter/truffle), and the papardelle special (with sausage, mushrooms, with a truffle-based sauce). I can't tell you how delicious everything that. When you go, make SURE to order something on the specials menu because they really are delicious. For dessert, we had the ricotta cheesecake and creme brulee although I don't know how we managed to get any of that down since we were already stuffed. And... of course, they brought a slice of tiramisu for my son's birthday and sang to him. It was so special.

This place is described as "uniquely Italian" and it certainly is. We live near Little Italy in Chicago and have been to Italy so we know what great Italian cuisine is like. You'll definitely find it here with a warm smile...

My wife and I come here often and will definitely continue to. The staff is incredible, but you’re going for the pasta. I grew up around great pasta and Italian food, so I don’t like to go out for pasta because I’m constantly comparing it to what I grew up with…but this always does the trick for me. The homemade orecchiette and fresh pastas in general are fantastic, and the desserts (which I don’t typically order) are great too, especially the tiramisu and pistachio cake. My wife did a birthday brunch here and they always let you order off the full menu which is a huge plus…we’ve done larger parties as well as regular date nights here and it’s become a great go-to for us. We really hope this place continues to do well, they always seem crowded on weekends but the weekdays are fairly quiet when we walk by. I feel like it’s hard to make it in Hoboken especially as “another Italian place,” but truthfully their food is better than most, particularly the pasta, but they don’t market themselves well enough. We’re big supporters, and where can you get a full course meal for around $100 anymore? It’s byob which I feel means most bake that into their prices, but this is such a fairly priced menu with what seem to be such honest and genuine staff. If you haven’t, give them a shot. The only bit of constructive criticism here is they may be apprehensive to invest a little extra into little things like having uniform tables (there are one or two that don’t match the rest of the restaurant)…but really I don’t blame them. I feel like once they know they’ll become a neighborhood staple they’ll feel more comfortable to do so, so we’re rooting for them and will continue to...

The ambience was calm and inviting, and the service was spot-on - polite, attentive, and genuinely excellent. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives ended.

We were a group of five and ordered a range of appetizers and main courses, but dish after dish was a letdown. The prosciutto melon arrived as little more than dry, salty slices of prosciutto tossed over a piece of melon, uninspired and unbalanced. The salads lacked both flavor and freshness, almost as if they were just an afterthought.

Then came the pastas, and this is where things really went downhill. Every single one was a disaster: bland, lifeless, and tasting of canned tomatoes. The veal in my pasta was dry, overcooked, and far from fresh- hardly what you’d expect from a restaurant trying to impress.

Dessert was the last chance for redemption. We tried the pistachio cheesecake and the chocolate cake. They were… fine. Not memorable, not offensive , just average.

Overall, despite the pleasant ambience and excellent service, the food completely missed the mark. None of us enjoyed our meal, and sadly, it’s not a place I’d return to...