Prova Italian American Deli & Grill — Restaurant in Moonachie

This place is the ONLY deli in the Moonachie/Carlstadt commercial area, and that is the ONLY reason I've been going there for sandwiches (for my son). My child has food allergies and cannot have much, but he does like roast beef and lettuce on a hoagie. As long as I have been ordering sandwiches at Prova, I have ALWAYS ordered just a roast beef and lettuce sandwich on a long hoagie. It's so simple - how could anyone get this wrong? Well, Prova did!!!! The sandwich I received yesterday just had roast beef on it. My son called me later that afternoon and asked if the deli ran out of lettuce. I asked him why - he said there was NO lettuce on the sandwich. You have to be kidding me with this! I contacted Prova right away and spoke to the same girl. She had the audacity to start to argue with me and said that I only mentioned roast beef with nothing else. Clueless staff! I know for a fact that I said roast beef with lettuce and nothing else. I order the same sandwich all the time - why would I order something different this time? I demanded a replacement sandwich and she told me to come back in. I returned today (the following day) only for her to tell me they cannot do a replacement sandwich - I would have to buy another sandwich but she would give me a discount. This is absurd! The back n forth went on for a few minutes only for her to tell me she couldn't make another roast beef sandwich anyway since the roast beef is still in the oven cooking. At this point, I am baffled as to why there was any correspondence about the replacement sandwich in the first place. She continued to say that she could not give me another replacement sandwich cause her boss said so. I'm assuming her boss is Reno - I'm just going by other review posts. Long story short - I demanded another sandwich and ended up with a cheesesteak. I asked for a plain cheesesteak - just meat, cheese, and bread. And this is EXACTLY how I said it to her. About 3 times I repeated myself - just meat, cheese, and bread. As she is making the sandwich, she turned around to me and asked if I wanted any lettuce on the sandwich. What??? LOL So now you have lettuce to put on a hot sandwich instead of putting it on the sandwich I ordered the previous day which was a cold sandwich to begin with. I didn't think it could get any worse, but she then asked me if I wanted mayo or mustard on it. Again WHAT?? I clearly said meat, cheese, and bread only. There must be something wrong with the water they are drinking at Prova! I just don't understand if people are that dense or maybe just having a brain fart in the moment cause maybe I made her nervous. Needless to say, I will NOT be going back there ever!! From terrible service to not making sandwiches correctly, this place amazes me that they are still in business. It has to be the fact they’re the only food spot in the area so people eat here by default. Good luck to everyone who dares...

I have been working in Moonachie recently and asked the employees where is the best place to order from? Hands down everyone said Prova and YES they were totally right. This is an old school Italian family run business. Nicest people ever and during this time you want to support local as much as possible. Everyday I look forward to hearing the fax machine buzz, YAY the specials are coming through. I have been given so many recommendations from people at the office that I have been ordering daily to try them all. I even ordered my dinner one day along with my lunch to bring home. I have been super busy with a project and It has been such a pleasure to know I am going to get a fresh, high quality and tasty meal with no fuss. Nothing has disappointed me. A few highlights so far are Cubano Panini, cheeseburger and fries WOW delicious!, Italian hot dog, several delicious salads with their grilled chicken on top! The chicken has always been juicy but with great grill marks and char broil flavor They have also been very accommodating as I prefer romaine salad over artisanal greens and they switched it out for me when I asked while ordering a special salad on the menu. Caprese panini that I opted for the addition of grilled eggplant added, their pesto on this one is amazing. Eggplant parm dish with a side of their veges of the day which were so good. I wanted an all vegetable option that day. I have dealt with different people who work there and all of them are welcoming and happy to see you. I wish I lived closer so that when my project is finished I could still enjoy their food. I know the office will still continue to order since they all like it so much. I haven't had breakfast yet but a gentleman at the office, Al swears it is the best. I have seen some dishes and they are very generous. Same with the lunches, whether hot or cold I have been very satisfied with the portions. Terrific place, fresh solid food choices, and extremely nice people to say hello to. Give it a try, if you go once you will be back. As a side note, I am Italian and I love to cook. I mention this because I usually would bring food to the office. My "project" made that impossible but Prova has been taking real good care of me! Thank you, best of luck to all of you and I'll see...

LOL so the owner of Prova is now giving away free sandwiches as a tribute to my review! Good luck to anyone who asks for a specific type of sandwich and gets something else! As for the review and comment by Emily Orrego - all I have to say is gfur. It's so cute that Prova's owner had to get one of his friends to write a review and call me "stupid". Emily - you don't even know me and my review was truthful. Ask like a "human being"?? How else is one supposed to order a sandwich. I believe you sound ignorant and unintelligent.

So unfortunately, you cannot reply to original posts - so I am making another post in response to the owners comments. Yes, there are other deli’s nearby but they are not considered traditional like Prova. I have always ordered over the phone so my order would be ready for pick up when I got there. There was never an issue ordering over the phone before for a few years but now all of a sudden there was an issue. I ordered around 11ish so it was past the breakfast rush and before the lunch rush. And it sounded very quiet in the background when I called. It’s too bad that you don’t appreciate my tone or snippy comments- cause the truth hurts the way Prova is perceived then huh? What ever happened to the customer is always right? Funny how you say “I will gladly refund both your sandwiches and ask you not to return.” Didn’t I already mention in my review that I would never go back there? I don’t even want to go back for a refund cause it’s not worth my time! Your last comment of “I hope you find happiness” was a complete dig which is not very professional for a man in business. I hope your business can stop leaving hairs in people’s food - like other posts have mentioned. Lastly, now I know why my company has not ordered catered lunches from Prova in a very long time! Food was mediocre, and the service was even less! Word of advice: when you own a food business, you need to take the good with the bad even if the bad reviews are completely true! ...