Stella Artisan Italian — Restaurant in Ridgewood

This place has the potential to be a Ridgewood Rockstar. The Saturday night, jazz band outside ,the BYO , The incredibly delicious food , The location is just wonderful. The biggest problem is the waitstaff… young kids w no experience and just doing time. I hate to leave anything Under 20%, And I feel that they don’t deserve 20%. The service is good. I leave way more. I have a solution for Stella. Take these kids to a really good restaurant and let them see how real waiters serve their customers. Take them to Fire And Oak , The Oak House or Bacarri Grill. Let him see how real waiters know what to do. Here’s my review of Saturday night. Got a nice table outside with a view of a terrific jazz band. Took a while to get a waiter who kinda like didn’t really seem happy to serve me and my wife. They took my bottle of wine into the restaurant to open it, then brought it back 10 minutes later. I brought a really nice French red wine and they gave me white wine glasses. When I asked for red wine glasses, they laughed and said “oh fancy.”. They brought out the water and a nice cork bottle perfect. They brought the bread delicious but the butter was those little tabs instead of a pat. When I said, could we get a couple extra butters they never came back. We ordered two Caesar salads which were terrific. Normally when you service Caesar salad, You bring the fresh black pepper. I had to request it and after we ate 3/4 of the salad they came back With the pepper. We ordered two spaghetti dishes for the main course. I gotta say it was probably the best pasta I’ve had in a long time again asked for fresh pepper this time no-show. I also asked for two spoons to 12 the pasta. Five minutes later it came. They also voluntarily brought some grated Parmesan cheese, which was a nice touch and left it on the table. We shared the chocolate mousse dessert, which was fantastic. And when he brought the dessert a minute later, he brought the check . I try not to complain, but this is a fine restaurant and I’m paying good money and the service should be better than a pizza parlor. I will come back like I have been for many years. , enjoy the music and have the best pasta in my opinion...

I stumbled upon this little gem while walking around Ridgewood with my family. We walked into the Cafe and were greeted with smiles and hellos by all the staff. And not the ( I'm at work so I have to be nice smile ) these were genuine smiles in a warm atmosphere.

Stepping into this Cafe immediately took me back to a small town Cafe in Italy, where you are welcomed with warm hellos and friendly faces. While many resturestau and cafes claim to be Italian, they are equivalent of eating at a taco truck and calling it authentic.

NOT here, the food is authentic and DELICIOUS ! One of our many friendly waiters was Jack. I asked Jack about the desert I ordered because of a food allergy. He was very polite and addressed all of my concerns. Again true Italian Hospitality. He went on to explain how the baked goods are baked fresh every morning by a top notch Baker who's specially bakes their deserts among other food.

My family and I shared a bottle of authentic imoorted Italian Water. But not before we each ordered some cafe.

I ordered a single shot of espresso. Jack made the espresso fresh in front of us using a typical machine you would find in any good Italian Cafe . Jack was also helpful and recommend cold brew coffee for one of my family members. It was also fresh and crisp.

I've had coffee, espresso, and baked goods from many places but none like this one. All of the staff was friendly and helpful. I did not get the names of the other members but rest assured they did check up on us a few times making sure we taken care of.

Bottom line : Great staff, Great food , Great coffee, And authentic Italian. ! Highly recommend...

Let me start by saying I never write reviews, but our experience was so unbelievably bad I felt obligated. We went for dinner and to enjoy the live music, the place was practically deserted – just one other couple. We seated ourselves and were told that we would be served by a different server. We then waited over ten minutes, while a couple who arrived after us was immediately waited on. When the young server finally came, she had a serious attitude problem. We had to ask for wine glasses, which took 5 minutes to get, and then she brought two empty water glasses without water. Then, to top it off, we saw her pointing at us while gossiping with coworkers inside. It was incredibly uncomfortable. We decided to skip dinner and just order dessert. Eventually, a new server named Lewis (who was at least nice) came to take our order. We told him we were only having dessert, and he brought menus. But then, while we were looking at the dessert menu, another employee stood at the window staring at us! She then came outside, introduced herself as the hostess, and took our order. This place looks like it has potential, but the staff (with the exception of Lewis) was unbelievably rude and made us feel completely unwelcome. Save your money and go...