Romana European Tapas — Restaurant in Newark

I would like to express my satisfaction in seeing a restaurant of this caliber in Newark. There is a noticeable scarcity of such establishments in the area, making its presence particularly welcome.

We will begin by discussing the location. Excellent location. There is parking available next door for $25, which alleviated any concerns I had about my vehicle.

Now, let’s begin with the service: The host did not meet our expectations. Regrettably, it appears that individual requires additional training. Lack of manners is evident. He was so focused on an event taking place on the second floor that he completely overlooked his responsibilities as the host of the restaurant. No assistance was welcomed. We didn’t know if we had to be seated or if the place was a walk-in and find yourself a table. No one asked how many attendees?! No one said; Please proceed this way.

Since we entered the restaurant not knowing where to go- we seat in an area that was not accessible to the public. A bartender came out to said “sorry we don’t serve in that location”. We experienced some confusion and disappointment, to be candid.

I anticipated a higher level of service from the host or the manager, whom we encountered on a few occasions. This is not your regular local restaurant. Our bill was almost $400 dollars. Because of that experience I would rate it a (5/10).

The location is stunning, and I will definitely be returning; (10/10).

The waitress was exceptional; her service was outstanding. Perfect score; (10/10).

The drinks are exceptional. Perfect score; (10/10).

The quality was satisfactory; (8/10).

Music was AMAZING. They play all type of music and that’s a plus. (10/10).

No one mentioned anything about Hookah. We happened to see it almost at the end. It would’ve been nice if someone said “hey listen we have Hookah”. Just saying. For that (5/10).

A note for Management: Regrettably, the Octopus did not meet our expectations. We communicated with our waitress in a courteous manner, and she assured us that the matter would be discussed with the chef. The black ink that accompanies the Octopus has a distinctly bitter aftertaste, which is not particularly enjoyable.

Overall, the Restaurant rate for me...

Went on 31/01/2025, and the dj was great, he realy created a vibe and the place looked good but that's were it stopped. Unfortunately, the service was poor from the start of the night. After having been sat down by the security, we were not acknowledged by any waiters/waitresses despite the place not being busy. They were hanging around not doing much - some were on their phones, chatting and lounging at the bar. After a period we just went up to order at the bar and were told we'd be attended to at the table, so we went and sat back down only to wait again before flagging down a waitresses who appeared young.

I believe the waitresses name was Whitney and she was very lovely and polite.

What really let the night down was the exceptionally rude waiter Victor. When it came to paying the bill, being Brits the card requires the pin to allow payment after a certain number of contactless payments So when the waitress took the card to the payment booth to swipe it, it wouldn't go through. My sister explained to both her and Victor that she needed to put her pin in and Victor asked her what her pin number is. So she said I'll come and put it in and he responded by rolling his eyes and saying you're gonna get your card back. He then proceeded to make faces behind my sister's back, roll his eyes and make a comment to the waitress.

I'm unsure why Victor carried on as he did because it's common knowledge you do not share your card pin number with anyone. Everywhere we've been to in New York and needed to enter our pin, just handed us the card machine to enter it.

I wouldn't recommend this place...

Unfortunately, Romana European Tapas Lounge did not live up to its presumed expectations. I attended an event that a good friend of mine was hosting along with her colleagues, and while my friend and her colleagues curated a beautiful event, it was hard to enjoy the entirety of the event due to the lack of effort on Romana's part.

Starting off with the servers, they only did a couple of rounds when the event began, however, as the night continued (and that was for several hours), there were no servers to be found. When trying to look for food, I ended up finding it in the kitchen window sitting, with under zero food warmers, just cold. There were also no napkins, no utensils to grab the food, and no plates. On top of that, the chef and servers were eating the food, as guests were just sitting there. Very unsanitary, very unprofessional, and very unserious.

Moving on to the bartenders, the lack of knowledge and attentiveness of the drinks/beverages being served was very transparent. There was only one bartender that provided good customer service, however, an event that is curated with an open bar should not only have one attentive bartender considering the demand for drinks while be high that night.

My friends and her colleagues deserved better service considering they put their hard earned money into this venue, management needs...