Osteria LK — Restaurant in Maplewood

What a great addition to Maplewood Village! Newly opened Osteria LK (sister restaurant to Montclair's Laboratorio Kitchen) is a casual yet elevated Italian BYOB, which sits at the former Arturo's location, on the corner of Maplewood Avenue and Baker Street.

The restaurant has a nice vibe, both indoor and out with tables for 2, 4 and 6 and on this Tuesday September evening it was pretty crowded. We arrived around 5:30 and were promptly seated. Our waitress was very friendly and offered us water and an ice bucket for our white wine. The tables are close together but far apart enough to have a conversation and not overhear your neighbor.

The menu is succinct with a variety of everything - appetizers, salads, pizzas, house made pastas, meat/seafood and side grilled vegetables.

Complimentary olives are brought to the table, bread if you ask for it (fee), and you get an option of still or sparkling water. The fact that the restaurant is a BYOB is nice, as you get to bring your favorite wine, while the restaurant concentrates on specialty food dishes and not trying to impress you with a wine and cocktail list.

We shared the large Insalata Verde, which had large leaves of boston lettuce and mesclun greens, some herbs and endive and a light sherry vinaigrette. The salad is big enough to be shared by two.

Then our party of two had the spaghetti carbonara and lemon crab fettuccine. Both dishes were large enough that we took a portion home. The carbonara had nice pieces of guanciale that weren't overpowering and a sauce that was quickly absorbed by the pasta. The crab pasta dish had a nice lemony flavor, also not overpowering. We finished off our meal by sharing the tiramisu.

The restaurant does not take reservations so a busy evening may have a wait. Outside tables are under a roll-a-cover roof which also had fans for those hot evenings. Open for lunch and dinner. I can't...

Perfect. My new favorite restaurant in the US! I never use the word perfect in a review, but this place is beyond outstanding. Incredibly creative, delicious and healthy food in a clean and comfortable environment with impeccable service. We loved it so much we returned again the following night. Don’t even know where to start with regards to what to recommend as everything was excellent: fresh fish, succulent shrimp, chicken parmigiana and perfectly cooked pastas. Don’t miss the creatively prepared and scrumptious vegetable dishes like squash carpaccio, broccoli rabe, and grilled zucchini. This place breathes authenticity as well as deep, caring and dedication from everyone involved in this operation. You simply can’t make and serve food this good without a lot of experience and relentless focus on the goal. Congratulations to the owners, chef, his team, and the entire service staff. I just wish I didn’t live so far away! But we will...

The service complete ruined the amazing food.

My aunt and I arrived before they opened, decided to walk around until 5pm. We were the first there, first seated. We ordered tap water and lemonade while looking over the menu, a few minutes later a family of 3 walked in and sat right next to us. They ordered a bottle of wine and sparkling water.

Their drinks were served and they took their order and we were overlooked. After a few more minutes, more patrons entered and were seated. Still no water or lemonade. After about 15 mins, we finally received our beverages at the same time the family next to us were being served appetizers. It took us an hour to get our main entree.

We were the only obvious people of color so I believe it was prejudice.

Won't go back even if the food...