Bruno's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Parsippany-Troy Hills

This was our first visit to this restaurant. I will start off by saying this is a nice restaurant .. good decor, friendly and boisterous (but not loud) atmosphere. The portion size relative to price is decent .. making it good value, so no issues here at all. Our table was ready and waiting for us at the reserved time when we arrived. Unfortunately though our visit was disappointing because of some issues with service. It took around 40 minutes for our entrees to arrive after our appetizer plates were cleared, despite other tables around us getting entrees far quicker. (We think that the server or the kitchen made an error and fired up the wrong entree for my wife because the server came to the table after about 20 minutes to double check what she had ordered, without any comment or explanation.) When the entrees were eventually delivered there was no apology etc. for the wait (just as there had been none during the entire wait itself) .. just the plates of food. (Again, credit where credit is due .. my pasta special was delivered fresh and hot, and it was very good. My wife's protein was very good) ... however the pollenta that came with my wife's meal was dry and crumbly .. not creamy as pollenta should be served (perhaps the pollenta had been held over under the hot lamp waiting for the re-fired protein?). Nobody came back to check on how the entrees came out after we eventually received them (nor did anyone stop by during the entire time we were eating the entrees), and at this point we just decided to eat what we had been given as it had already been some time since we arrived at the table. As I said, my wife's protein was very good .. she just could not eat the lumps of pollenta. Our plates were cleared when we had finished, and the hostess did come over to apologize for the pollenta .. but our meal was over at this point. From clearing our entree plates to a server coming with the dessert/coffee menu was another almost 40 minutes. (It seemed we were the forgotten (or avoided?) table). By this point we had eaten appetizers and entrees, and it had taken basically 2 hours, so we just asked for the check. The check was brought back to us with a portion of complimentary dessert, but by that time unfortunately the 'damage' was done, and we just wanted to head home. The dessert offering was appreciated (as was the visit by the hostess as we were leaving the table), but unfortunately it was too little, too late as many other opportunities to make things 'right' during this time were missed. We drove 45 minutes each way to dine at Bruno's for what was our first (and unfortunately last) time .. and will give our future business to the many restaurants that are nearer...

Had 5:30 reservations for 3, at 5:40 our third had not yet arrived. "Terry" the seater came to our table and rudely commented that our third was still not there and we had only 60-90 minutes to dine. Immediately following her remarks our third arrived. We ordered promptly and were served nice dinners, the waiters were excellent. Terry continued to hover, then personally deposited our bill on the table. There were times throughout where we waited for wait staff but took no issue with this. As we left Terry asked how everything was, I told her that due to her rushing us we would not be returning. She attempted to offer a feeble excuse and we left. The three of us remained outside talking for thirty minutes and noted that only two other diners arrived and the table we had been sitting at remained empty. Had Terry not been rushing us we would likely have had appetizers before dinner and dessert afterwards, apparently we were expected to dine and dash. We did not see Terry bothering other diners and felt targeted. About an hour after we left my friend who had made the reservations received a call from an angry man making bizarre comments regarding my conversation with Terry. All of the information he blurted out was incorrect. I believe Terry fed him a line of bull regarding our exchange. Either way he contacted my friend, made rude remarks and was hung up on. My friend has his cell phone number but nothing more, she did find the call odd and disturbing. WE WILL NOT...

We were a party of 8 on Saturday, 12/11/21. The average meal was $30. One guest in our party was dissatisfied with her dinner & we expressed that to our waiter & asked that he talk to the manager. The salmon was overcooked & the risotto was dry & not tasty. We received our bill, apparently the waiter did not discuss with the manager, so we paid our bill & left not to cause anyone to be uncomfortable or embarrassed. Further, in response to the owner's reply - you visited our table early when we had just received our meal & as discussed on the phone, the guest only tasted the risotto & the salmon was partly eaten. So your waiter is incorrect. We weren't looking for a free meal but at $32 for a salmon & risotto dinner we expected a little more. That evening I called the restaurant & spoke to the female owner about the salmon dinner who seemed uninterested, said she would talk to the chef, also saying she never had a complaint in 4 years. We would think that good business woman would come over to talk with us, offer a discount on the meal, a complimentary dessert or something in "good faith". Additionally, I ordered flounder dinner for $30 & was charged $2 extra for pasta instead of mashed potatoes & vegetable!! Yet pasta costs less than mashed potatoes & vegetables! MONEY GRAB! Since there are many other restaurants to choose from will dine elsewhere...