Cafe Roma — Restaurant in Saint John

Just walked in to grab a dessert to go. Waitress said she didn’t know if they had 2 left. 20 minutes later after helping 10 other people and pouring multiple glasses of wine she finally pulls the pie out of the fridge and cuts it and puts it in a container with a lid and brings to us where we’re were waiting at the front door and says $23 ok I pay and we leave. And by the way the owner as we and a few other people were sitting by the door waiting a couple walks in and were obviously locals he runs up to them and says do you need a table seats them and and then comes back to all of us sitting by the door and asks if we need a table! And no they do not take reservations. So we get home and open the container and there are 2 1 inch pathetic pieces of pie that appears to be 1 piece cut in half I slice of lime between the 2 cut 3/4s in half. I have traveled all across the globe and have been to St. John. 10 times and have never ordered a piece of pie that small in my life and at $ 11.50 per slice. I even called when we got back and asked to speak to the manager and the woman that helped us said she was the manager / owner / server and said sorry you didn’t like . I asked if that was 1 or 2 slices and she said it was the same size they serve everyone and literally hung up on me. I never write a review but I was extremely disappointed with the whole experience I felt it was justified. Can’t say anything about the rest of the menu because I will never set foot in...

Let me begin with, “I’m sure this is a temporary condition.” The new owners took over 10 days ago. I’m not sure of their previous restaurant experience, but tonight was a disaster. We called ahead and she told me to come on in. 4 of us showed up and was told it would be 1.5 hours. Ok, went to have a drink elsewhere. Came back later, got seated and met a very sweet, hard-working server. We ordered garlic bread with cheese. :20 later we got it at room temp without cheese. We asked her to fix it and placed our orders. Both couples had Caesar salads and a penne sausage bake. :20 more minutes later and we got the new bread. It was hot, cheesy and the marinara was VERY sugary. I “hoped” this was an anomaly and would be nothing like our pasta sauce. :30 later (several patrons left without eating by then) and we got our entrees. Sadly, they were disgustingly sugary. We added salt and red pepper flakes to no avail. It was mostly inedible. We paid full price and full tip, only out of support to the new owners and the hard-working staff. I gave some constructive criticism to the owner and he seemed to take it to heart. REDUCE the sugar by 75%. I suggested he invite 20 local restaurateurs and/or friends to a taste testing. Make 4 sauces from arrabbiata to their current super-sweet sauce and let the group decide. Personally, I think the current chef is the problem and the new owners lack of experience. This can be saved, but it’s critical that they pivot...

Opened 18 months ago and in my opinion this restaurant will quickly become a local and tourist favorite! Food was legit Italian. Owners are from Boston and Italian. Everything is made in house! And what can’t be made in house is imported from Italy! Wine list is fabulous and contains a list that changes! Nate owned the restaurant with his wife, Meghan, and the two of them make you feel like family from the minute you walk in!

Restaurant is small and when we arrived it was full. But we got a table within 15 minutes! We ordered the Cesar salad, chicken parm , shrimp pesto pasta and the sausage and vodka sauce with creamy ricotta! Every dish was amazing. Meatballs were wonderful! Tiramisu is also made in house and the owner takes great pride in how he makes this classic dessert. Watch the board because they make a tray daily and it sells out it’s gone. We pre-ordered ours!! We loved our night here so much, we are considering another meal here before we head home! That good! Thanks Nate for a great dining experience!

We loved our experience here so much that we chose to eat out last dinner on island here! Again, another wonderful meal. We loved Ian! Friendly and helpful! We saw some new friends we met at High Tide and recommended this restaurant to them. They came too and loved it as well! I had the Alfredo this time and was very impressed! Lots of flavor and very creamy! We can’t wait to come back!

See you soon...