Fat Bastard and Son's Restaurant — Restaurant in South Hackensack

I like lasagne. Do you like lasagne? I moved to the area 4 years ago and for 4 years, I have been casting an ever wider net around our house, trying to find someone, somewhere, who knows what lasagne is. Most places have taken it off of their menu (too difficult to make) and those that still have it seem to be doing some kind of 'deconstructed' concept or something. What happened to ricotta? Lasagne is not 2 lasagne noodles with tomato sauce on it. If you like lasagne, you know not to order lasagne at a pizza joint. It's always that same, sad, purchased elsewhere and reheated in the little white casserole boat. You know what I mean. Enter Fat Bastard and Sons. Many thanks to previous reviewers, who praised the chicken parmesan and emboldened me to go ahead and try the lasagne. A good parm might = a good lasagne, I thought. Let me digress a bit about the service. We came later on a weeknight so the seating area wasn't packed. Seated immediately but the energetic young man behind the bar really deserves all the praise. The bar was hopping, but he was personable and patient with my many questions. Friendly, even. When was the last time you had a server was friendly and appeared to be having a good time? Anyway, the patient young man informed me that no, they make the lasagne in house. My husband, usually a chik parm guy, is never able to turn down an interesting pizza. So I can't report on the parm. Instead I will comment that Uncle Judge's pizza was tasty. As other reviewers have mentioned, it's such a delight to find an Italian restaurant that understands that you simply MUST NOT just pour tomato sauce out of a can onto a crust. You must season it. Fat Bastard's gets it. Is there an Italian grandmother in the back? Which brings me back to the lasagne. This is seriously someone's Nona's recipe, I am firmly convinced. Perfectly cooked noodles (so hard to get right!), not mushy, still a tad al dente. Excellent ratio of noodle to ricotta to mozzarella to sauce. And shocking surprise, for that price I expected one serving, and a small serving at that. I received an enormous bowl overflowing, 2 helpings at least. We will drive the 20 minutes to get here, past innumerable inferior Italian restaurants. For the lasagne. And finally, the atmosphere. I gave it a 5 because I think it has nailed what it's clearly going for: welcoming and fun sports bar. A 5 does not necessarily mean 'expensive', mind you. When we came in, there were several parties of folks drinking in the large bar area and having a great time. There are TVs everywhere with sports. Bar chairs look comfy. Lots of cute color on the walls. It all looks lovingly home curated, like what your cousin would do with his man cave. Now, don't ruin it, but I'm telling you....if they opened a 'fancy' restaurant with soft music, a sommelier and pictures of Venice on the walls, they could easily slap a third of the lasagne portion onto a fancy plate, and charge twice what they charge now. And I'd pay it. One last thing - it is clean. So much cleaner than your usual sports bar. Aforementioned bartender/waiter actually noticed and picked up a straw wrapper bit (when was the last time you saw that?) on his way...

Newly opened, everything is brand new and obviously very clean. A little dark inside but we sat by the window, it was a nice atmosphere. Staff is very friendly and the food is excellent and reasonably priced. Great for the locals that crave the "Old Judge" pizza!!! Plenty of seating, a nice variety on the menu. The paper tablecover is, I'm sure convenient, but we found it awkward. I will definitely be back and recommend you to go! I've already spread the word verbally as well. . Update: they added lighting and cut the paper table top more suitable. Introduced the place to some friends that have pizza and mussels once a week from another local place, they are committed to changing they enjoyed it so much. I actually moved to Florida but visit this area several times a year, I will always make sure this is one of my stops! All the food is excellent. Nice, clean, comfortable place to visit with friends, have a cold beer and good food! Several big screens around to watch the games too!! Update 10/2023 I've been hearing a lot of complaints regarding the service, mainly getting orders wrong. I've experienced it myself as well. However, I have no complaints with my recent visit.. New visit, wasn't too impressed this trip. Food wasn't great, I'll stick to pizza here. Update 7/2024 live entertainment! Band was great. Fun place. Ceasar salad with chicken was excellent and of course Old Judge pizza!! Service...

Tried "The Original Old Judge" pizza. Very happy! You can really taste the herbs in the sauce. The crust was perfectly cooked and flavorful. Good cheese, too. But two nights later we tried their Drunken Bastard Pie which is supposed to have vodka tomato sauce, cheese and basil. It arrived with nothing but crust and cheese, as you can see in the photo. Not even a microscopic hint of red. I called the shop and they said they'd make a new one and bring it over. Then they realized we ordered through DoorDash (because we had a discount) and they suddenly changed and said there actually was sauce on the pizza. I asked if I could send a photo to prove there's no sauce and they refused. What kind of business blatantly lies to a customer like that? They offered us a discount but actually said they didn't expect us to order from them again (why would we) so they knew that was worth nothing. I stand my my statement that the Old Judge was a fantastic pie, the other food is good, but order directly from them--don't use another delivery service even if you have a coupon for it. Edit: I'm resetting my reviews to 5 stars. I believe the service incident was a one-off and after all this time, I still remember that Old Judge pizza. Looking forward to my...