La Pastaria — Restaurant in Red Bank

I'm not sure how this establishment still calls itself a restaurant. If I could leave zero stars I would but unfortunately that's not an option. Giving this "restaurant" one star is too generous. We arrived with a party of 12 for an 8 pm reservation and were sat an hour later. On top of that, we waited more than half an hour to get our order taken and another hour and a half to get our appetizers. If I would have known, I would have gotten McDonald's on the way there, atleast it would have been cooked to the proper temperature. The owner was absolutely atrocious, unhelpful and rude. We calmly voiced our concerns to her and she did little more than smirk and walk away. She conveniently went home soon after we first approached her. Next came the manager. He was obviously intoxicated because he reeked of alcohol and almost emptied a plate of sauce on one of our guests. It's convenient that this restaurant has bad lighting because if not, it would be easy to see that half the food they serve is undercooked. Most alarming was the pork that we received that was still oinking. The only person that treated us with any decency was the busboy who looks overworked and underpaid. In addition, our server seemed very apologetic and sincere when she was addressing us but my husband had the misfortune of going to the bathroom and overhearing the manager and the server laughing at us. Worst of all, two people who shared a chicken Alfredo, a pretty hard entree to mess up, ended up with a serious case of food poisoning that night. Overall, this restaurant should be embarrassed to call themselves an Italian restaurant. McPasta from McDonald's would have tasted better and would have been promptly served. Since the entrees arrived three hours after we were seated, we had no choice but to take most of them to go. Following my food poisoning, I had no choice but to throw them out. I felt bad for my trash can, because even my trash can doesn't deserve to have this atrocious, despicable excuse for food thrown out into it. Refer to the undercooked, oinking...

WORST RESTAURANT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN NEW JERSEY!!!! SERVED US RAW PORKCHOPS!! Made reservations for a party of 12 for a birthday, weren't seated until almost 8:40. Sat 12 grown people at a table for 8. The owner is clueless, the manager NEEDS TO FIND a different career path because this guy is CLUELESSSSSSS, nasty, and the whole table was pretty sure he was intoxicated. When I came to voice my concerns on how it was now 10 pm and no one got more the a caesar salad he said to me "the pandemic was hard on everyone" were trying to get back into the swing of things...I can't begin to explain how delusional and ridiculous the whole experience was. He then looked me straight in the face and said.."i don't know what you want me to say, or do" YOU SIR, belong managing a MCDONALDS. I would rather make reservations at my local pizzeria next time. The wait staff is disheveled and messy looking. The service was HORRENDOUS.. Only Italian restaurant in New Jersey to RUN OUT of calamari on a saturday night. THESE PEOPLE DID NOTHING TO even remotely make the situation right. The best part...we heard them disparaging our table and making comments that should have been said behind closed doors...then again if anyone in there had more then 2 brain cells, none of this would have transpired to begin with so it doesn't come as a shock that they would be stupid enough to talk about us next to us. Great management skills bravo. And as a final parting gift, left things on our check we didn't even get...no ones asking to get something for free. But when you completely destroy a birthday, you can try to make things right. SINGLE HANDEDLY THE WORST dining experience i've ever had. It was embarrassing as a person who made a reservation for someone's birthday. You should be ashamed to call yourself a restaurant and serve people this way. WILL NEVER COME BACK, and will make sure others know...

HORRIFIC - If I could put zero stars I would. It was my First Wedding Anniversary and I had made an 8:00 p.m. reservation for 6 people. There was no issue making the reservation. Upon arrival we saw one other table paying their bill and staff began to clean the other table. This didn't bother us initially because we were celebrating a very special day. As we waited for our food the waiters/waitresses cleaned up the rest of the tables. The other table had left and we were the only table remaining. With that being said, you can imagine how uncomfortable it would be sitting with your group, and seeing tables next to you with chairs on top of tables as staff cleaned underneath. This is not my idea of a celebration. As the staff continued to clean, our meals arrived. My meal (chicken franchise) arrived with one piece of chicken on the plate. (We later learned the next day from the OWNER that they ran out of meat). UNACCEPTABLE! We were rushed to finish our meals and by the time we left all tables and chairs were cleaned. Why take a reservation if you were going to clean during that time? Additionally, we informed you that this was a special event. Furthermore, my Father, a regular of the restaurant, called the owner to explain his disappointment, and the owner offer him $25 towards the restaurant. My father, clearly offended, did not accept. The owner offered $50 and my father again explained that amount of money barely paid for the tip of the 6 people who were at the reservation. The owner made it clear that that was "the best that she could do." This was the biggest insult a regular customer could ever receive. We will never return. Not only is the quality of food average, but the customer service is horrific. Do not accept reservations if you are planning to close early, ESPECIALLY if it is a special event which was clearly indicated at the time of...