Buona Sera Ristorante & Bar

JOHN F.

Joined 4 months ago

This place is not even close to being a classy place..The help is marginal at best...If you have a complaint & take it to the owner,don't expect any resolve..The man obviously does not take much pride as to who he hires..But what do you expect from a guy who walks around with a lit cigar..There are many nicer places in Red Bank to go....Leave this dump to the undesirables..

Recommends

louis b.

Joined 1 year ago

Red Bank's Finest/Count Basie Friendly. Huge portions of delicious food. Bartender Mike simply the bomb! Free Parking adjacent to the theatre. Enjoy this gem of Red Bank

Doesn't Recommend

Frank L.

Joined 1 year ago

A horrendous experience.... Our experience here was horrific.

I'll start with why I use such strong language. Toward the end of dinner, my girlfriend decides to use the restroom. The rest of us eat our desert.

After a while, we start wondering where my girlfriend was. She had been gone a while.

She comes back nearly in tears. She explains that while she was downstairs, a bus boy groped her. She tells the owner about this, and his response is, "I'll have a talk with him."

After nothing is done, I demand to speak to the owner. In the interim, several employees apologize to us about what happened. I'm still demanding to see the owner.

After about a half hour, the owner comes upstairs. In a nutshell, he accuses my girlfriend of lying, conducts his own "investigation" wherein he determines the bus boy did nothing and says that there's nothing that could be done.

After being dissatisfied with his response (amidst having to hear that we were being rude for bringing up the fact that my girlfriend was inappropriately touched by one of his employees) , I ask this buffoon whether he would like me to call the police. He urges me, "they're right next door."

We exit the restaurant and I call the police. Now, the idiot wants to talk to me. At this point, I tell him, "you had your chance to resolve it; you basically had no interest; hopefully the police can help; goodbye."

The police promptly arrive and arrest the employee for criminal sexual contact. It was amazing how the only English the employee knew was the alleged alibi the owner had told us, i.e., he couldn't have done this because he had dishes in his hand. The employee had no problem uttering these words, but apparently, "Hi, my name is...." was too difficult for him--that required an interpreter.

Long story short, an absolutely disastrous night out.

With respect to the food, it was average at best. We order four separate appetizers for the table, only two of which were any good. The veal I ordered as my entree was rubbery. I couldn't enjoy my desert because that's when the above happened.

One of the worst wastes of $300 per couple that I've ever experienced. The only positive from the place is the decor; very classy. Too bad the class from this place ends there. Don't go. There are far better Italian restaurants.

Doesn't Recommend

NJJIM

Joined 2 years ago

ARRIVEDERCI BUONA SERA. 6 PM SAT.SEATED,RUBBER ROLLS,FLAT WINE & 4 OZ.DIET COKE PRESENTED QUICKLY.SMALL DINING ROOM 1/2 EMPTY.BASIC DISHES ORDERED.6:30 WAITER SAID 10 MORE MINUTES.645 ASKED FOR A NEW ETA..GOT A GUY IN A SUIT TELLING ME I SHOULD EXPECTHE WAIT & THEN A LECTURE ON HOW HE MAKES RESERVATIONS.BEGGED HIM TO LEAVE,HE WOULDN'T .SO WE LEFT $10 & HEADED OUT 7: PM EXIT GM TOLD ME I WASN'T BUYING A CAR,IT'S NO BIG DEAL & NO REASON TO GET EXCITED.MY OPINION OF BS,NO BIG DEAL & NOTHING TO GET EXCITED ABOUT. OR NO PLACE TO GO TO..

Recommends

RAYDIETRICH

Joined 2 years ago

the best. One thing I know being married to an old school Italian is great food. The service is outstanding. We booked two dinners for 19 people in the last 2 months here both experiances where top notch. We are trying to come up with another special event so we can return again. The decor is classy. You will not be disappointed.

Doesn't Recommend

lookout4u

Joined 3 years ago

A Very Bad Expensive Restaurant. I took my family to dinner to celebrate my daughter's first communion. It was a total disaster. The food was lousy. Worst than the food was the service. The waiters and the management team was not very professional to downright disrespectful. The place is not very well maintained. It was dirty to the point that I questioned how it could pass an inspection if there's such thing in Red Bank. There are probably mice and cock roaches all over that place.

Doesn't Recommend

kugirl

Joined 3 years ago

Do yourself a favor.......STAY AWAY!!!. Red Bank is a great town and I've always enjoyed the local dining whenever I'm visiting the Jersey Shore. I've traveled extensively through Europe, and in particular, Italy and I'll say without reservation....this food is NOT Italian! The owner is arrogant and rude and intimidates his employees. We were a party of 8 and I ordered the Seafood with linguine - it came out like soup (almost boiling) which makes the pasta go from 'al dente' to mush in a matter of seconds. The seafood was so over done that the shrimp was chewy and hard. It was terrible! So, I asked to see the owner/manager. He came over so I explained that this food was unacceptable and told us to LEAVE!! Yes, you're reading this correctly .....he told a party of eight to LEAVE!! His words were, "Leave! Get out! No one comes in here and tells me my food is bad!" If I knew I wouldn't get arrested .....I'd have dumped that entire bowl of boiled seafood soup w/ mushy noodles in his arrogant New York head!! NEVER NEVER go to this place!! Tom at Gaetano's Restaurant - 10 Wallace Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701 is 10 times better food and he's a nice guy! Spend your money $$$ wisely! Good Luck :)

Doesn't Recommend

deepfeet

Joined 3 years ago

Owner should be ashamed of himself. We ate at this place a few weeks ago and we were absolutely blown away at the arragance that the owner of this establshment had. I think his name is Chris. He seems to enjoy treating his help like crap. This is the second time we experienced this. He was yelling at a server and actually said you should be working at Outback...actually Outback has better food then this place and the management is professional and makes your experience pleasant. The women who was serving us looked horrified and left our table crying. Who does this ass thing he is. What is his qualifications. Mine CIA grad, chef 20 years exp. Never seen anything like this in my whole career. This clown was sitting at the table smoking, yes smoking a big fat cigar with his friends inside, thats against the law. Do your self a favor...Don't go here. YUKKK

Recommends

nyforlove

Joined 9 years ago

Loved the Food and Service!. I'm surprised at the many negative comments...We are "foodies" from Manhattan and decided to try Buona Sera this winter---have gone twice so far and have been impressed with the quality of the food, the selection, the service, AND the prices....did not find it particularly expensive, even compared to NJ restaurants. In addition to many meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, the pastas are varied and creative and the pasta portions are huge....I generally value these anonymous Internet reviews, but I suspect that perhaps someone has "an axe to grind" with this place and is generating multiple complaints.....

Doesn't Recommend

tlcw

Joined 6 years ago

Worst Italian ever. We have about 50 people group party on Jan 2010. The placed was on second floor but was so cold, they keep open and close the Back door next to our table. The food was cheap, It was a dinner but the style and dish like lunch. The service is very bad, never fill up your water unless u ask for it. we were waiting for more than 1 hour before the main course to come in. Worst Italian ever, very disappointed, will never go there again.