Salute Brick Oven Bistro — Restaurant in Montclair

Long review but worthwhile… Our church group decided to meet here as a culminating activity for our Bible study group. When I tell you this was a test of all I’ve learned about the love of the Lord please believe it. Let’s start with the hostess. She was not welcoming at all on definitely acted like we didn’t belong there. She questioned us multiple times about our reservation as if there were that many parties of 12 at the same time. She didn’t walk us to our table. Instead she POINTED towards the back tables that were set up and we walked ourselves to the table. This was just an absolute omen for what was to come. We had appetizers family style and they were definitely mediocre at best. I didn’t have high expectations because this was a restaurant with 3.5 rating on Yelp already and I think the apps were a perfect 3/5 so it was right on target. I saw a review of someone saying their steak was doused in balsamic vinaigrette, I definitely can cosign that. Even for a medium steak it was was too chewy and if it wasn’t for the dousing, it wouldn’t have any taste at all. Huge disappointment. Things just got worse…. We had a pre-fixe menu that was completely misrepresented when our reservation was made. So when we received the bill we had a huge problem with the total. The issue wasn’t something that could not be resolved but it’s how we had to arrive at the resolution that made us the most uncomfortable. I understand the manager was simply doing what he told, and we were a church group so we were absolutely mindful of our tone and approach. We asked for the owner’s contact information because he lied and said the owner wasn’t there. HE WAS SITTING AT THE TABKE NEXT TO US! Thank you Google! Too bad we didn’t know until after we paid. Long story short, they misrepresented the menu, intentional or not, and we had to work it out. We met at a place that didn’t necessarily make us happy as customers, but was better than where we started. The unfortunate part was when he threatened to call the police to resolve the bill, a weak negotiation technique that he saw didn’t work. The next sad part was the way waitress (who I am sure is the one referenced in other reviews talking about the terrible disposition of a waitress) decided to add her two cents to a situation she knew nothing about. Not like she was even our waitress! She pulled down her mask, so we would hear her loud and clear, and said in her most judgmental tone “you should have known better when you come here”. I can 100% guarantee you she would not have said that if I wasn’t a Black man. I don’t say that about people often, but IF YOU KNOW, you know. She didn’t stop at that, she made childish gestures towards us, you know, the customers, without being told to stop by anyone. Deplorable behavior. You never know who you are treating a certain way so treat everyone with respect. I say that because our church group members include people with 100k followers on social media and we love to share our experiences with the world. We will let the Lord sort this one out but a review sharing our experience at this place is a must. Long story short….mediocre food, unconscionable prices, horrible customer service, and an unpublished credit card usage charge (who does that aside from gas stations??) is all you need to know about this restaurant. I can’t help but wonder if this is what contributed to the demise of Gerry Cerrigone’s other restaurants in the area. My advice is to stay away. Plenty delicious restaurant’s serving the same cuisine in the area. Really makes us miss Nauna’s and Marzullo’s...

Rude Server. Today, Oct 20th 2017, I had lunch @ Salute Brick Oven Bistro in Montclair NJ with my colleagues. There were about a total of 30 people in our group. When they started serving the main course, the very first plate that the server brought to our table was CIOPPINO, and he placed in front of the person sitting one seat over from me (the person who was sitting next to the person on my right). He then served a few more, and then came back the very first person (that he had severed CIOPPINO), and said "Sir, you actually had ordered a Salmon", and he changed his plate. That person had already begun to eat his dish. Now he moved that same CIOPPINO in front of me, because I had ordered CIOPPINO. When I said to the server, that you should have more careful in remembering the orders, he very rudely lied to my face and said that "You gave that dish to this other person, not me". This was ridiculous. It is one thing to make a mistake, but lying to cover up your mistakes and being rude to the customer is totally unacceptable. I told him to take that dish away and get me another one. He did take that dish away, but I have a feeling that he brought back the same plate to me after 10 minutes, as a supposed-replacement. Since I was with a big group, and I did not want to make a scene and ruin other's lunch as well, I did not say much, but I did not each that dish at all. .....That other person (in our group) was in this restaurant for the first time, and was not sure what had been served to him in the first place, and had some dietary reasons for taking the actual dish that this server brought him...

Loved dinner there last weekend. I simply adore the atmosphere, it just feels so cozy and makes me happy. And I love when they have tables outside in the summer too, it's adorable.

We went on a Friday with a party of six and no reservations. Luckily they fit us in! I got mussels and greenbeans (love combining apps/small plates). The mussles were the best I've ever had, the broth was just amazing. I love mussels! Most people at the table got chicken milanese and loved it. Boyfriend said it was the most tender chicken he's ever had, and he's had A LOT of chicken milanese to judge.

Our waiter was very attentive, especially with water and the million bottles of wine we brought (it's BYOB). We didn't finish one bottle and they gave us a cork so we could take it home without carrying an open bottle down the street like a crazy person. You can order wine from a store up the street and they will deliver for free (lots of options at all prices!). They give you a menu so you can call them. It's such a great service if you forget wine!

The only reason I am giving 4 stars is because I went there over the summer and I did not enjoy it as much. I had been dying to go there because I walk by it all the time and we got a table outside. But the food just wasn't enjoyable unfortunately. We had a salad and bolognese pasta. My second experience was enough for me to be happy, but for the inconsistency I have to...