Lubranos 36 — Restaurant in Middletown Township

Hidden Italian Gem. Delicious Quality food that is comparable to nearby upscale Italian restaurant. The portion sizes were midrange; enough to satisfy your hunger, but you probably won't need a box. Our party of 6 each ordered a different entree and all were in agreement that the food was homemade, prepared fresh, and cooked very well. The price was very reasonable. The atmosphere is cozy as it is a fairly small restuarant. We made reservations, which is highly recommended! We ate upstairs which was very roomy yet intimate. The atmosphere is relaxed and all staff seemed friendly and professional. The general attire seems to be business casual. Wait staff all wear black. The restuarant was very clean as was the restrooms. Our server offered us about 5 different dinner specials. They all sounded really good, but I ordered off of the menu. The menu is simple and consists of 10-12 traditional Italian entrees, a standard selection of personal pizzas, a fantastic looking salad selection, and a modest selection of hot appetizers. We decided on the fried calamari, which was fresh and delicious with a nice sized portion for the 3 people who ate it. We also ordered the Vegetable Pomodora which was different then expected. The menu described various vegetables, pancetta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. We were expecting an antipasto, but it's actually a small plate of vegetable parmigiana covered with Pomodora sauce. It tasted fine, but was not suitable for 6 people to share. Luckily, the restuarant serves complimentary bread and oil which was absolutely delicious. I will definitely eat here again. I want to try one of their salads as well as the pizza. I'm looking forward to eating at Lubrano's...

The service was outstanding, attentive, Accommodating and friendly. The chicken Parm was not good and the sauce is extremely acidic and dark. Almost like a diner chicken Parm at best. I would venture to guess that Olive Garden would be better. I’m a third generation Italian American and I can’t understand how anyone can write in the reviews that this is the best chicken Parm I’ve ever had - Quite honestly baffled.

The stuffed pepper appetizer was very good. However I noticed that my friend did not touch her Penne à la Vodka. Another friend had franchise of some kind and they didn’t seem overly pleased. However the one in our party that got the mussels was very happy. They had also gotten Bolognese and they were very pleased - Although I had a bite and it was extremely spicy. This person had also been on a diet for quite some time and had not had pasta lol (So that might need to be taken into account)

For groups paying separately- Beware that the service charge for credit or debit cards is not just charged for let’s say the one party that will be paying with the card for their items only (Even if everyone else paid cash) - Service charges is for the total of the bill and this could easily be an extra $10-20.

For us , this is a one and done and it’s very sad that route 36 still doesn’t have many establishments that are good. If it were not for the goat I think people would completely leave 36 alone. And I say this as someone who lives off of route 36. If there is a business person reading this …specifically a restaurant owner, please come to Route36. You could be part of the new royalty with the Goat. We need better options!...

Selfishly, I hesitated in writing this review.

I figure the more I rave about Lubranos, the more people will go there, and then I’ll have to wait for a table. My honesty, however, won. I needed to write this review.

Go there, eat, and leave happy. Simple as.

We went on a Saturday evening and Tina served us. You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the server. Tina gave us her full attention even though the place was crowded. She offered informed opinions about the dishes and guided our choices. She’d won our affections before the appetizers came out.

For appetizers, we had clams oreganata and fried calamari.

Both were excellent and we’d order the same again, although next time (yes, there will be a next time for certain) I will order the antipasto also. After the appetizers, we were not rushed into the main course. We had the opportunity to savor the experience and space out the courses. This does not happen often enough.

Enter the main course…I wish I could eat the rigatoni again this moment.

The rigatoni bolognese…whew! Pasta cooked to perfection in a rich sauce. Order this. Order this. Did I mention you should order this?

My brother had the veal piccata and his wife had the veal francese. I cannot comment on either because neither offered me a bite. I guess that’s comment enough.

Thank you Tina (and Lubranos) for an amazing dinner.

Like someone famous once...