ITA Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Jersey City

3 1/2 stars

For me at least, ITA did not meet the hype. I stopped by here for an early dinner yesterday with my chum the Shanimal around 5:30pm. I've noticed several other reviewers have mentioned that this isn't a restaurant you can really walk to - having walked here from the Liberty State Park & Ride, I can tell you that what that actually means is that you'll have to stroll past some low-income housing and a few possible chop shops. It's honestly not something I'd recommend when it's dark out (the sun was going down on my way back and there was definitely an uptick in groups of people swigging out of airport bottles of vodka on the street), but it just seemed rundown when I went through. And I noticed multiple cars blasting Daddy Yankee, which was honestly a bit of a selling point for me. Anyway.

I love the vibe and interior. The Shanimal was happily drinking a beer at the bar when I came in, and I had no issue staying right there. It's weird to describe a bar as spacious, but it really is - the bar counter is super wide, with I think a marble top. Very comfortable, and I'm pretty ambivalent about eating at the bar (I do think you tend to get better service, depending on how crowded it is).

One of the reasons I wanted to come was to take advantage of their March free app deal on Yelp, so we ordered the calamari (normally $16 I think). Delicious, and the highlight of the meal for me. Cooked perfectly, great seasoning, and since the Shanimal apparently has moral qualms about eating them due to a poignant documentary she watched, I got all the octopus ones. Would absolutely get that again.

I was famished, fresh off a long hike earlier in the day, so I went with the Rigatoni Bolognese ($27). It was very solid, though honestly not the best I've had. The selling point for me was the meat, which was flavorful and also cooked perfectly (that seems to be an encouraging theme). I also liked the generous inclusion of the pecorino, which I think always adds a nice zip to a pasta dish. Personal palate-wise, I'm not crazy about chunkier tomato sauce, and that is DEFINITELY this; it literally has halves of baby tomatoes in there. I'm probably in the minority on that one, but I ate around a lot of the tomato chunks and focused on the meat chunks, which I feel good about in hindsight.

The cocktail situation was unfortunately a little underwhelming. I was intrigued by the Love Bomb ($14), which I believe included mezcal and hibiscus. The presentation was indisputably top-notch - you can see per the attached that this is one of the best cocktail pics I've ever gotten - but I don't think the flavors paired well at all; it ended up tasting sort of like a leathery sweet tart to me. And while the egg white foam works visually, in this instance it's too overwhelming. Inevitably you end up with half of your sip being the foam with the actual cocktail ingredients fading into the background. I'm a big proponent of adding egg whites to cocktails, but it DOES have a stronger scent that you need to be super cognizant of so it doesn't become too dominant. I would definitely cut the foam situation in half, at least.

The service was pretty good for the most part. We both really liked the bartender, who was very personable and clearly knew his way around the mixology table. I don't recall having to wait a particularly long time for anything we ordered (and in fact, when he realized I was very hungry, confirmed that it was okay to bring all of the food out at once). The only issue was at the end, when we paid the bill. We gave both of our credit cards, with the intention of splitting the bill, and he didn't notice the second card right underneath and just charged mine. Not a huge deal (God bless Venmo, etc.) but a little annoying/inconvenient, especially since it wasn't a $20 charge, it was about $90.

Definitely not a bad experience but I can honestly think of at least two other Italian restaurants in Jersey City that I...

An Italian gastropub joins the food scene of the McGinley Square area at Jersey City, New Jersey. The owner, Maksym Rudenko stated that his love for Italian cuisine is what inspired this restaurant. With an expertise in Italian cuisine, the head chef Dylan Golden also expects to utilise his experience working at Michelin starred restaurant. ITA boasts of using fresh and local produce for all their dishes, so you can expect one of the best dining experience.

With the new outdoor dining regulations due to COVID in mind, they have set up some tables with patio umbrellas following proper social distancing guidelines. They have a special brunch menu on the weekends and the regular menu on weekdays. The bartender Kevin suggested us his favourites from their seasonal special cocktails menu and we decided to go for the “Italian Black & Tan” and the “Summer Tonic”. Within no time our drinks were ready and we absolutely loved them both. The Italian Black & Tan is a beer infused cocktail and perfect for a warm sunny day. The Summer Tonic as the name suggest certainly beat the heat with a sweet orange/hibiscus taste.

For appetizers, we got ourselves the Crispy Potatoes with Salsa Verde and the Stracciatella and Peaches Salad. The Crispy Potatoes were an absolute banger of a dish. The garlicky kick of the salsa verde flawlessly complimented the crispy potatoes. On the other hand, the Stracciatella and Peaches Salad had a sweetness from the fresh peaches but the Stracciatella and the generous amount of EVOO didn’t let it overpower the salad.

For mains, we were really excited to try their authentic Neapolitan Pizza and their in house made pasta. Among the huge list of pizzas we went for the “Pizza Rossa”. The sauce, the crust and the toppings were all on point and we can’t stop raving about it. Next up, we got the “Chicken Parmigiana” which is served with a hearty portion of spaghetti. Firstly, the spaghetti was simply outstanding and the breaded chicken was nice and juicy.

Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience at ITA and would definitely recommend this place for anyone looking for some authentic Italian cuisine and...

My daughter (age 25) and I enjoyed a delightful dinner at Ita on a cold Friday night in January. I try to follow online reviews for trying out restaurants for the first time, and they did not fail here!

The restaurant is cozy but not cramped. Calmly lit, super clean, very attractive, and smelled so good! We walked to Ita, just minutes from my apartment - there is lots of street parking however.

The service was well above excellent from the moment we entered. NOTE: Make a reservation! Ita fills up quickly. When we arrived for our reservation at 6:30pm, surprisingly only a few tables full. But by 7:00pm! Every table was full and new patrons without reservations were gonna be real hungry! A few tables are there for five or six; most were for two or four - but could be connected for larger parties.

We started with drinks. I had a tasty IPA draft beer and my daughter a Strawberry Limoncello cocktail. Both were fully enjoyed! A very nice beer and drink menu at ITA honestly.

We also started with the calamari. Fresh and not over cooked; not at all rubbery. Delicious and not over fried. Two sauces for dipping. Highly recommend.

I was hoping for a side salad to precede my dinner, but only the very large dinner salads were available. They did look delicious and very nicely presented nonetheless.

I ordered the Squid Ink Malfadine. Oh my! Sooo good! It had giant shrimp and even more calamari in it. You could tell the pasta was fresh and the sauce homemade. I would highly recommend! My daughter had the Fettuccine Alfredo with added chicken. She too said it was delicious. Creamy - not gloppy or pasty - with fresh noodles. It was a large portion so she took a bit home. She too would highly recommend.

After dinner, we were tempted by my favorite - Carrot Cake - and a fresh Brownie topped with Vanilla Gelato that my daughter fully enjoyed.

Throughout the evening, we noticed the pizzas coming out - and they looked wonderful! Next time perhaps…

Dishes were promptly removed. Payment was by a portable handheld device at our table - without hovering waitstaff.

A wonderful experience from beginning to end! We would...