Pappardelle Ristorante — Restaurant in Montclair

I apologize for this review, I'm normally very understanding and accommodating with customer service. I overly use please and thank you. I'm always extra nice to service people and always tip extra.

But this place was highly, highly disappointing.

I had made a reservation for 6pm, showed up at 6:02pm, walked in and no one was at the host kiosk. I waited 10 mins and then had to flag down the nearest waiter. I let him know I had a reservation at 6 pm, he proceeds to say "We are full, we don't have any tables for you", I didn't understand and repeated that I had a reservation for 6 pm for 4 people and that my name was first in their notebook they left open on the kiosk. He then says " we have no tables, that group walked in before you so we had to give it to them". I was getting so upset at this point, it was Mother's Day! I didn't just walk in, I had a reservation. So then the incompetent waiter walks away, this lady comes over who double checks their book, sees my name FIRST under the 6pm window, and proceeds to tell me I have to wait 5 mins. While I'm waiting, the manager comes over, I asked him the first waiter's name. He was hesitant to tell me but asked why. I told him what happened, he then calls over Luis (the waiter) to confirm my story as if I was lying. The waiter denies he said anything. The manager then says "he's just a kid, he's my boy, he's just here to help out". I told him that doesn't matter, you don't treat a guest who has a reservation this way, it's unacceptable. If Luis didn't know, he should've said let me double check. Instead of just saying we are full, we can't seat you. My family and I didn't get seated until 6:40, well past our reservation.

The service and food was good. Food was actually delicious, the waiter (not Luis) was funny and nice. At the end, the manager came over to take our dessert order. Proceeds to say "sorry for what happened, he's just a kid" and offers coffee and dessert on the house.

Although I appreciate his apology and coffee/dessert on the house, the initial interaction ruined the first part of mother's day for me and my family. If someone is new, you train them. It doesn't matter if it's your family member. Customer service is spotty at this restaurant. It seemed like their priority was the 40 people table since the tip would be bigger. I still left...

The service was very disorganized and the food was not even good. I first had a reservation for 4 but I called and I asked would it be okay for 5 and was told yes. We get there and we were seated at a table for 4 but there were 5 of us! Then we had to wait at least 10 minutes to get only 2 menus! They told us that this was all they had at the moment. Once everyone finally got a men, we tried to put in an appetizer order and the waiter was very quick and said no I need the table’s whole order and then he walked away. After 10 mins later he came back and we basically needed to beg him to take our order. My friend wanted fish with linguine and the waiter looked at her like she was crazy and then made her felt bad for wanting it. I ordered vodka rigatoni and I received a very small portion that was salty. My other friend got a paella dish and the lobster was disgusting. I head the couple behind me say they will never come back here again. They had people who wanted a table standing there watching everyone eat making us feel uncomfortable and then you could hear them getting me too. I also thought it was a quick walk to the Wellmont but I was wrong! Overall very expensive for a long wait, small tables, and not good food....

I was invited to PR by a close friend to celebrate my birthday. Parking is limited. We dined at 6pm and would recommend reservations. Service was very professional, a rarity in most dining these days. PR is BYOB. My friend first ordered a palmito green salad which she said was excellent. I selected the octopus with white beans from the evening's "special" menu. It was very tender with a nice spice; great appetizer. For our entrees we selected fish from the special menu. Her choice was the branzino filet and I selected the blackened red snapper topped with a generous helping of crabmeat served with a small portion of tender mixed green vegetables. Both were excellent. We shared a side dish of sauteed spinach. Desserts looked excellent but neither of us are dessert people. Excellent meal. The only negative for the evening, which was certainly no fault of PR, was a group of about 10 diners who's boisterous, loud and inconsiderate behavior detracted from all dining guests. I would definitely recommend to friends and family and will...