Vitales — Restaurant in Teaneck Township

Vitale's is consistently an excellent dining experience. The restaurant has a polished Italian feel to it, from the classy light fixtures to the pristinely clean tabletops. I'll start off by saying that Vitale's tomatoes are always of the highest quality and freshest flavor. I like to joke that the chef gets such delicious tomatoes by raiding his neighbor's tomato garden; might be true... Anyway, the Mozzarella Caprese sublimely delightful: the vinaigrette complements the soft mozarella and fresh tomatoes well. The Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad is also of the highest quality. It consists of four large shrimp bathed in an array of mixed greens, wonderful tomatoes, and sliced avocado with an almost creamy lime dressing. The complementary bread is served warm and with a diced onion and tomato topping on the side, which is so good it can be eaten on its own. The lobster ravioli has a smooth interior and actually has real pieces of lobster. The sauteed broccoli has a mouthwatering butter and garlic sauce; it's the best thing here besides the tomatoes. The roated potatoes are the only menu item I've tried that was not above average. They were overcooked and a bit dry. The Seared Grouper has a delicate texture, much more tender than grouper generally found in restaurants, and juicy on the inside. Overall, the food is of excellent quality all around. Parking is available, though a little tight. Waiting staff is occasionally absent, but never to the point of becoming inattentive. Prices are very competitive (low) for the area and for a restaurant of this quality. Did I mention the tomatoes are great? Anytime I'm in the area and hungary, Vitale's is always near the...

Very old fashion restaurant where all the older locals come. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but the decor is definitely dated... We have to walk through the bar area to get to the dining room proper.

The service was good. They bring everything in a timely manner. Water and complementary bread after you are seated. Your drinks and meals.

The complementary bread and the Bruschetta are very good! I could eat it as an entrée hehehe.

Linguini with White Clam Sauce was meh. It tasted like the white clam sauce was from a bottle and sautéed with real clams before putting it over the pasta. Someone was heavy-handed with the sauteeing, and there were so many little broken shells I almost broke a tooth....

Short Rib over Polenta was delicious! It was a special of the day, so definitely get it when they have it. Short Rib was so tender, no knife needed. And Polenta was so creamy good.

We came back a 2nd time because hubby really wanted pizza. It was really good pizza! I ate the crust. Usually, I throw out the edge crusts that are never covered by sauce or cheese. LOL. We ordered it with fresh mozzarella and wow delicious, it really makes the pizza so much tastier.

I will go back but I will avoid the...

We are a party of nine that come in every other month or so.The past couple of times we had fun,the ambiance was fine and service was very good.Sunday night we had bad experiences with 4 steak dishes.The sizzling skirt steak was consistently overcooked and of poor consistency,more like pot roast,than sizzling steak.The 2 dinners of skirt steak were ordered med.rare and the 2 other steaks also medium.We couldn't eat the skirt steaks,1 guest said forget it.The waitress insisted on bringing me another.The 2nd one was more pasty and overcooked than the FIRST!!!.2 of us could not eat our steaks.We told the waitress we were taking them home for the dogs.The other 2 steaks made brave attempts to eat theirs.To say we were disappointed would be a major understatement! These meals are relatively expensive and no attempt was made to compensate us for totally inedible food.The kitchen just COULD NOT serve proper temperature steaks.The cast iron skillets must be overlooking the steaks en route to the table orr a change of staff is needed in the kitchen.We told the waitress we expected to be compensated for at least 2 steaks,but much to Vitales disgrace nothing was done. We were shocked to...