Birravino — Restaurant in Red Bank

I'm going to be generous and give this place 3 stars.

First off, let me start by saying that the ambience / atmosphere is outstanding. The place is extremely exquisite and cozy when you walk in, and you feel right at home. You get attended to immediately and everyone is very courteous and professional.

The lighting is perfect, the decor is very inviting, and the wait staff and service are phenomenal. It's in a fantastic location as soon as you enter Red Bank.

So why am I struggling to grant it 3 stars overall? The quality of the food is extremely low and the prices are outrageous.

I forget the exact name of the dish I had, but basically it was chicken parmesan with some sort of pasta on the side, which I paid I believe $33 for. It was a tiny, and I mean TINY little chicken patty like you would find at a high school cafeteria, and it pretty much tasted about as good. The pasta that came on the side was barely even room temperature, and the sauce tasted like it was bought from a local convenience store. I also had some calamari as an appetizer that was $24 and the portion was no bigger than my fist. It was basically just breading with extremely little actual seafood meat. I could have gotten better quality calamari at a local Mom and Pop diner for about $12. The tiny little bit of sauce I got on the side for my calamari was the same virtually tasteless sauce that I got on my chicken parm, and what I guess was supposed to be tartar sauce was just melted mayonnaise.

I hate to leave bad reviews, and I rarely do, but I have to be honest on this one. The place is extremely nice, the kind of place you would want to take a date to or have some sort of a party. But the food was grotesquely overpriced and of extremely low quality IMO.

If I want quality Italian food at a reasonable price from now on, I'll just stick with Federici's...

My 3 star rating is only because of the waiter. The food was great and the decor and ambiance of the restaurant was beautiful. I came here this past weekend for my birthday with a party of 10, we showed up 15 minutes late because who expected snow and crap weather in the middle of April.

Anyway, we were seated right away and at first the waiter seemed just very talkative and quirky so I didn't mind. After he took our drink and appetizer orders he somewhat disappeared for a while and came back balancing a huge serving tray overly filled with our drinks. Instead of walking on the open side of the table and reaching over to place the drink he went on the inner, more crowded, side of the table where he lost his balance and spilled the entire tray all over my two friends' laps, their jackets, and the table. He quickly escaped leaving the bus-boys to clean up. He NEVER apologized and came back as if nothing happened. (I'm not looking for free-bees, I have a job and have no problem paying for what I want but he never comp'd us the drinks after bathing my two guests in alcohol. Side-note: Isn't comp'ing restaurant/bar etiquette if you spill stuff all over guests?)

Moving along... Dinner went okay-ish. We got over the incident and resumed to having a good time and at the end my sister ordered a dessert and asked for a candle to be put in so everyone could sing "Happy Birthday" but instead he wrapped the tiramisu in a to-go container and slipped it in my take out bag and brought out a bowl of whipped cream with a candle in it. Ummmm I hope I'm not the only one who finds that strange...

I feel this would have been a 5 star review if the waiter was more aware and had...

Phenomenal dining experience at Birravino!

My husband and I came in for a date night, and I was honestly impressed before we even stepped into the restarting. Through the window looking in, you can watch the cooks hand-making the pasta front and center. The atmosphere of the entire restaurant is impressive; upscale yet casual, like you could have a big family get together here but also host a business dinner. We found out the owners/ management team custom did everything custom down to the tables and bar. I LOVED the open kitchen as well; getting to watch the chefs at work and all of the dishes coming in and out was a blast. The food is obviously the best part- both impressive yet simple. We started with Big Vic’s meatballs, the calamari, and the “Pesca” which had whipped ricotta, peaches, mint and jalapeño on toasted ciabatta (this was a showstopper!). I’m not usually a huge fan of tomato based sauces, because they all taste the same wherever you go. It was absolutely delicious here! Our main courses included the Ravioli that was on special and the Rigatoni Burrata. Both were also amazing. Pasta was wonderfully prepared,l and both the cheeses and the herbs served were fresh. The service was impeccable. The serving team were not only but friendly but also fun, making you feel like family (and it was our first time here!). Dishes came out perfectly timed as we were finishing previous plates, and we were never left with empty glasses or plates in front of us.

I can’t wait to try more on the menu when we’re back! Thank you for a lovely dining experience,...