Il Castello's — Restaurant in Woodbridge Township

Asked my dad for a restaurant recommendation to meet up with a friend. This place came highly recommended and my dad said he’d been coming here since 1995. I figured it was foolproof. Boy was I wrong. From the outside it’s a very nice restaurant and the inside is beautiful as well- but that’s about all the nice things I can say for this place. I’ve never felt so disrespected and confused from a waiter in my life. My husband and I came there super hungry after work and were meeting a friend who arrived 15 mins late. Before he arrived I asked waiter #1 to put in a Caesar salad and a mushroom app. Waiter 1 takes the order and leaves and we never see him again throughout the night. Waiter #2 (an old very rude italian man) came over and said “we all help each other out”. So I informed him about the apps I put in and asked for another Caesar salad as my friend was just parking. He walked away in a huff making it a big deal that he has to ask the kitchen to put in some apps because he “has to” to put the whole dinner order in together “due to covid”. Apparently the kitchen approved this difficult task because we received our apps. Next we ordered dinner. Their menu offers a “home made”pasta in the pasta section that’s rigatoni so I asked if I could have chicken parm alla vodka with a side of rigatoni but if it’s possible to do the homemade rigatoni one. He proceeds to argue with me that rigatoni is never homemade and from a box. Ok- well that’s not what your menu says. I didn’t want to get into a second argument with him so I said whatever just give me the rigatoni on the side charge me extra I don’t care just make it all alla vodka sauce both chicken and pasta and confirmed he understood me. He CONFIRMED and took the ordered and walked away. Next during the dinner wait I saw on their menu for dessert they had chocolate soufflé. I have had it many times throughout my life and you always order it well before dessert as it takes time to prepare. So I intended to give him enough time. He tells me I’m thinking of chocolate lava cake and that chocolate soufflé only takes one minute in the microwave and laughs at me. This is when I’d had enough. He then tells me after that they’re the same thing. I tell him please just forget it as he continues to argue with me and never apologizes for his mistakes. Now we wait 45 mins for our dinner (ok fine it’s a Friday night we can deal with it) and then the food comes out and my chicken parm is not alla vodka. I try to tell him this and he’s arguing with me that it is. I have to TAKE THE CHEESE OFF to PROVE that it isn’t to this man and then he goes “oh well you can’t do it alla vodka cause that sauce would burn”. As a seasoned vet of this dish from real Italian restaUrants in Hoboken and making it myself i can assure you this is not true. So I said whatever I will eat it because there’s no use arguing with this pig headed overly masculine old man who can’t seem to handle a woman who knows good food and service. I will never go back. I called my dad immediately to tell him about my experience. I hope he never goes back either. Worst dining experience I’ve ever had. At least the...

BLUF: Food sucks and manager doesn’t care enough.

One of the worst Italian food I have had in a while. Thought there would be good Italian food here in Jersey but I guess I went to the wrong one. The calamari and Caesar salad was not bad but the pastas were not good a single bit. The linguine noodles were still not cooked and a bit hard. The clams were like a salt bomb. The ravioli was very grainy but the red sauce was pretty good! Felt like the same quality from Costco Kirkland brand microwaving type.

For the most part the servers were great and helpful. Yes we were a bit louder than other guests we apologize for that

One of the customers there at the restaurant for some reason started pressing my friend and I at the bathroom asking us if we’re here for the party in a very aggressive tone. We told him we’re not here for the party and just here for dinner but the guy was like “u didn’t answer my question”. My friend felt disrespected so we explained that we’re from California and if he had a problem with that. After that the guy walked up to us and said “u tryna press me right now?”. I don’t think we were in the wrong here, just tryna use the restroom but guy pressing us for being at a restaurant. Whether there was a racial motive or not, that’s totally not okay for some random stranger to press people in the restroom and asking us if we’re here for the party. It wasn’t even in a friendly tone. I get that 4 Asians dudes eating at a local Italian restaurant in Woodbridge can be bit offsetting but u don’t gotta be all investigative in the restroom when we just tryna piss and wash our hands and go back to enjoying our time together with friends.

Additionally the manager was so non chalant about our feedback to them when we told them that we didn’t start anything.....

Went there for dinner at 4:15 on a Saturday night. By 5:15 my husband and I had ordered 2 drinks each and an appetizer when the maitre d’ came over to our table and asked us If we were ordering dinner, even tho we had asked the waiter if we should order a dinner to go during our dinner order or during our coffee and he responded during our coffee would be fine and had not approached us to order our dinner or advise us that we needed to order dinner by a specific time. The maitre d’ preceded to tell us that the table was reserved for 7:00 to a regular even though out of the 10 tables in the dining room only ours and one other was occupied. My husband and I have never experienced anything like this and immediately called him out and said he was so rude and yes we were going to order dinner and one to go, as discussed with our waiter. He immediately bought us a drink and apologized, but already had ruined our dinner during a time in the world when everyone should appreciate people coming to dine out in a COVID world where some people are too afraid to even dine out in a restaurant! Needless to say, free drink or not, we have NEVER been treated like this anywhere, when we were quietly enjoying our time out and the food is no better than most Italian restaurants! I will never patronize this establishment again after we spent 150$ for one appetizer, drinks and dinner. We did not stay for coffee nor dessert! We left at 6:15, 45 minutes before the so called regular was coming in with still 6 tables opened in our room besides more in the bar and other dining room! There are better Italian restaurants in North Jersey rather than traveling here to be treated like this in a restaurant at 4:30 with one other table...