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Trovato's Italian Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Located across the street from Empire City Yonkers Raceway & Casino, Louie & Johnnie's is a casual family restaurant with a beautiful granite martini… read more »
13 reviews for Trovato's Italian Restaurant
13 reviews in English
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Review from Erin J.
Chicago, IL
8/2/2011
Definitely the best Italian food I have ever had! We were driving through from Newark Airport up to NY and looked up local restaurants. This one came up, so we stopped.
We looked at the menu and instantly all our mouths were watering. The server came around, brought us bruschetta on the house and took our orders. Every single dish we got was AMAZING. By far the best italian food ever...not to mention there were 5 different people serving us, but none felt over bearing or annoying. Best food. Best customer service.
Would definitely recommend this to anyone!!! -
Review from John A.
Brooklyn, NY
12/21/2011
Authentic and Tasty.... their arabiata (not to be confused with my name - i'm not very spicy) is very good!
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Review from Stephen F.
Edgewater, NJ
11/18/2010
I went here for lunch today and I was quite happy when I came out. It does not look too fancy from the outside but being in a sweater and nice jeans I think I was under dressed. Oh well. The menu was quite appetizing and the specials were very appealing as well. The only problem I saw was that on the specials menu that they did not list the prices. I can not stand when that happens, so I did not order off the specials menu.
I had a nice appetizer, the octopus and escargot in a fra diavlo sauce. It was delicious, and I wound up dunking the bread in the sauce to get it all before the waiter came back and took the plate. It was spicy but not too spicy, just enough to give it a great taste. For the main course I had the veal with crab meat and a white wine butter sauce. The veal was cut with a fork it was so tender, and the crab meat adds a great accent to the dish. Once again, I found myself soaking up the sauce with the bread.
After dinner the waiter came around with a jar of grappa and pears. They had a small metal ladle and gave a tiny glass for after the meal. A great finish to a great meal.
The prices were quite high though. $11.00 for a small mixed drink is very high, and the rest of the meal was not cheap either. It was great food, but for the amount I paid, I am still hungry 5 hours later, which usually happens, but for lunch, thats why people have greasy hamburgers.
I would go back, for a nice dinner. -
Review from Michael D.
Jackson Heights, NY
Sandwiched in between a Dunkin Donuts and a some other conglomeration on a particularly unattractive and homogenized stretch of Hwy 46, Trovato's stands proudly in it's own building surrounded by an often full parking lot. Know by area locals, Trovato's is a few miles down the road from Lodi where the fictional mobster haunt from the Soprano's, Vesuvio's was located. Lodi also was the location for the also fictional Bada Bing and Satriale's Pork Store. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that Trovato's hosts Mafioso on a daily basis, but without all of the Hollywood pomp and circumstance. Lacking the elegance and glamor of its fictional counterpart, Trovato's is still an attractive place to eat.
My father was for many years the Borough Manager of Lodi, and ate lunch here on a weekly basis. Over the last fifteen years or so I have accompanied him on many occasions. I had not been to Trovato's for about six years until last night, since he and my stepmother moved to south Jersey. Last week when my father told me that he and my stepmother would be making a rare trip up to North Jersey and that we would be going to Trovato's, I was as excited as a six year old going to Disneyland.
I, My father (who the family has always called Uncle Junior), stepmother Ginney, cousin Kathleen and husband Mark, my aunt Zina and uncle Joe arrived at Trovato's at about 7 o'clock after beating the Friday night traffic. My father was greeted by an older waiter that knew him from years past. They exchanged pleasantries in Italian and we were all quickly seated at a large round table.
Scanning the menu I made sure that they still had one of our favorite appetizers, Escarole and Beans (listed under vegetables). I was very happy to see that they did. We ordered two carafes of the house wine, one red, one white. For house wine it was more than adequate, but if I were choosing I would have selected one of their many other wines. Fresh warm delicious bread was delivered to our table with garlic infused olive oil, as we looked over the menu and sipped our wine. The waiter placed a complementary plate of the best Bruschetta I have eaten on the table, along with five excellent house salads.
To start we ordered the Escarole and Beans, Fried Calamari and Fried Zucchini. For main I ordered the Linguini with Shrimp and Wild Mushrooms. My father went with the Rigatoni in Vodka Sauce. My stepmother chose from the specials, ordering the Penne with Escarole, Beans and Shrimp. Mark got the Shrimp Scampi. My Aunt ordered the Filet of Sole. After that I lost track of what everybody was having.
Our appetizers arrived and I was worried that all of the anticipation that led up to this moment would now let me down. When you remember something so fondly it is most times hard to go back, and it is rarely as good as remembered.
I squeezed lemon over the Escarole and Beans and lifted the fork anxiously to my lips. The first thought that came to mind upon tasting was, "How can escarole and beans sauteed with a little garlic and olive oil be as magnificent as this?". It was not as good as I remembered, it was better. The calamari dipped in their chunky medium spicy red sauce was also perfect. The fried Zucchini was delicious, but I mostly kept with the former two.
Our main courses arrived in massive white pasta plates. The first things that I noticed were the four huge shrimp that adorned my pasta. Large, juicy and flavorful, I had not seen their like since dining by the Mediterranean. The Pasta itself was perfectly Al Dente. This all came in a wonderful light red sauce with scrumptious wild mushrooms. I don't believe that this dish could have been better.
I tried my father's Rigatoni and it too was perfect. As popular as vodka sauce has become, I think it is hard to find a truly excellent one. Look no further, Trovato's has achieved excellence. I then tasted my stepmother's Penne with Escarole, Beans and Shrimp. The flavor is similar to the appetizer, but with the same afore mentioned giant shrimp. Though wonderful, I would always probably go for the appetizer over this main dish, so I could try other flavors when I have the opportunity to eat here. My last taste test was of my aunt's fish. To me Filet of Sole has always seemed to be on the boring side of the culinary rainbow, my aunt Zina's meal being the proof contrary to this opinion. The fish was a buttery marvel, erupting with flavor.
Like a man in the desert, I knew if I didn't pace myself I'd never make it out alive. So, I didn't try the other three dishes. They all looked very good and everyone was more than content, minus my cousin who mistakenly ordered a red sauce.
In the end we sat there, sipping wine, the table littered with doggy bags, and the older waiter brought over a large glass tube leaned against his shoulder filled with Grappa and two whole fresh pears, and as he had always done, filled a small snifter with a metal ladle for each of us, on the House. -
Review from Robert R.
New York, NY
2/14/2008
I think that Trovato's food is very, very good. The only reason I will knock it from 4 stars down to 3 is the location on US-46 (which I appreciate, but I think others might not like) and the decor, which is surprisingly similar to a ton of other Italian restaurants in NJ.
It has been a little while since we went, so I cannot remember exactly what we had, but I remember the food being great. The portions were extremely large, but I think that is fairly common at Italian places outside of NYC.
I would not go here for a super-romantic dinner, but the food is worth a trip. Do NOT go here to meet people or hang out. If that's the goal, head into the city. -
Review from Mike D.
Wyckoff, NJ
4/6/2011
The food speaks for itself. Amazing. Great restaurant been going here for years.
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Review from Northern N.
Teaneck, NJ
8/30/2011
The food is pretty standard Italian, but what makes me a fan is the incredible service that really makes it stand out from other restaurants. The portions are also large - probably too large. I'd rather a bit smaller portion and lower pricing. Prices range from reasonable enough $17 for chicken dishes to some that seem overpriced like $35 filet mignon. Wine by the glass is decent and reasonably priced, and they brought over some complimentary bruschetta along with the bread basket, which was a very nice touch. This is a great neighborhood place to check out.
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Review from Jarrett M.
Rockville, MD
12/8/2010
Trovato's is a hidden gem! I've been coming here for years with my family and I look forward to eating here every time I'm in New Jersey. There's lots of great Italian food in North Jersey, but Trovato's is my favorite.
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Review from Joy B.
Fair Lawn, NJ
4/16/2009
I absolutely LOVE Trovato's! I often order one of the specials instead of looking at the menu. And I have yet to be disappointed. Everyone gets a free bruschetta and salad with dinner and both are great! I think it's the best Italian food in the area.
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Review from ian m.
Fair Lawn, NJ
4/25/2011
Excellent food and great service. The chicken sorrentino was outstanding. Highly recommend.
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Review from MIGUEL S.
New York, NY
11/12/2009
Isn't being in the know about a great restaurant in non-descript digs on a major highway (17? 9? 1? in this case, 46) a quintessential New Jersey experience? If so, then it doesn't really get much more Jersey than Trovato's, an exceedingly good Italian restaurant tucked between a cheap motel and a Dunkin' Donuts on a blah, congested westbound stretch of Route 46, just west of the Garden State Parkway, just south of Route 80 and somewhat west of Route 17. Blink and you'll miss it, and then you're in for a series of U-turns if you want to attempt to get back to it. But, seriously, this is one of those rare occasions where it's worth your while to look for the U-turns. New Jersey has a ton of good Italian restaurants, but this is one of the really good ones. If return trips yield as much satisfaction as my first experience here a few weeks ago, I will have no trouble at all adding the extra star.
Trovatos' menu is somewhere between an upscale, somewhat more authentic Italian restaurant, and the typical offerings from an Italian-American red-sauce joint. Everything was very good to excellent on the day that we went. The strongest of our starters was a melt-in-your-mouth escarole and beans. The weakest was the calamari -- nothing really wrong with it, but it didn't taste as tender and fresh as the best that I've had elsewhere; possibly, it was merely overcooked. Still good, though, especially with that great tomato sauce.
The entrees were mostly excellent. I had the Sunday Special (home-made rigatoni with meatballs, sausage and bracciole and home-made ricotta) and it was awesome. The shrimp fra diavolo was a superlative rendering of the well-known classic (the seafood in general was excellent and fresh-tasting, though the shrimp may have been slightly overcooked) and all of the chicken dishes were excellentt. All of the accompanying sauces were high-quality and flavorful.
Portions were huge. Trovato's isn't cheap, but considering the size of the entrees and how good they are, the food is a bargain. Service was generally attentive and polite. The interior is clean and pleasant, but also maybe a bit sterile. I want to go back soon. -
Review from Jilleyn G.
Oradell, NJ
2/28/2010
I went to this place for Valentine's Day with my husband and 6-year-old daughter. We ordered the broccoli rabe salad, a Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, the surf and turf, and rigatoni with vodka sauce and seafood. The food was fine--no complaints except that my pasta dish could have had more seafood in it. The broccoli rabe was excellent though, and our cocktails were good. The service was cordial, reasonably attentive but not the best (we didn't get water until halfway through our entrees) and not actually friendly. I felt like I was in a Valentine's dinner factory. Also, from where we sat in the main dining room, the restaurant was completely charmless. I had been told by a customer at the restaurant where I work that the owner walks around and checks on you, that it's all very homey, which is why I chose it and was therefore disappointed. The portions were big but the prices warranted it. Also, there was nothing appealing on the dessert menu... we went to Friendly's across the street. Basically I thought it was fine but wouldn't seek it out again.
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Review from EP M.
Stamford, CT
3/14/2010
Went here for fathers day, the rest had delicious traditional food and service. The location could be better.
