This is a mediocre Sports bar pretending to be a Pricey restaurant which it is not. You have to ask for bread and I had to ask twice. Service was very slow and he forgot items. Drinks were served in glass and I only mention this because we sat outside and asked for water which came in plastic cups? Ordered Grey Goose and OJ and the OJ was the watered down frozen type not fresh like they do in a pricey restaurants that this place is pretending to be. My Veal Parm was dry and not tasty at all. The Spaghetti, was okay at best. The Pork Chop was at least good. We asked for oil and vinegar on the side with the salad. The Salad came and it was mixed in!!! Chicken Marsala was ordinary. Three people and the bill came out to $236 plus tip plus valet. I do NOT recommend this place at all. It wouldn't even be a good sports bar. Stay Away and spend your money elsewhere. read more

Here's the deal: Great Italian restaurant that is no secret to locals! They have an inside restaurant area and a bar area as well as a nicely designed outside closed-in dining area as well. The outside has plenty of tables for large groups or couple(s) Food was very good ( app meatballs & pizza were yummy) the chicken parm was spot on and the portions are enormous! The services was attentive and helpful as well!! The only thing to be mindful of is parking. The restaurant parking lot is small. However you can park across the street. This is a place to seek out on a nice night and enjoy the outdoor dining experience read more

Food and service - A- ; the mere fact that this place has to nickel and dime you on the bill and charge you a processing fee for using your credit card; F. Nothing like spending +$150 on dinner, drinks, and desserts and then having to pay a processing fee for using a credit card. First time here and the last time. I find it hard this place is struggling to make money. read more

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Waited over an hour past our reservation time. Finally seated, took 45m minutes just to get bread on the table. Hour and a half-appetizers and finally THREE HOURS after our original reservation time, entrees! Three entrees never even came out. 2/3 steak entrees were over cooked. Owner came over with his phone flashlight to inspect steak- how embarrassing! We skipped dessert and booked it out asap after being there for over 3 hours for dinner! Truly worst dining experience I ever had! To be fair- drinks were good. My eggplant was good. read more

I want to say that this restaurant is beautiful and the ambience is on point. Everyone is polite. These are my positives. Party of 12. We were celebrating my sister's bday. When she made the reservation, they told her that she was going to be in the outdoor area and she said if it was cold, it would be a problem but if it's warm out there then no problem. They assured her it was going to be warm. We were all cold. Like freezing cold. Because it was like 30° outside, and the only thing that separated us from the outside was a piece of plastic and I guess it wasn't a thick plastic. They finally brought another heater out, but my poor sister was closer to the plastic and it was absolutely like a freezer by her seat. Not cool at all. We had health compromised people w us and being in the cold like that was ridiculous. They took appetizer orders first but I thought they were taking the whole order. My one sister and I were sharing the app, salad and then were gonna share a pizza. Well it all came out at once so they told me they were gonna make a fresh pizza when it was time for dinners. Yeah right. Blow a lil smoke up my culo. The pizza was cold and the bottom of it was wet. It was tasty but seriously... u guys couldn't reward it at least. Smh. The apps were better than the meals. Had a salad that was very good. Arugula goat cheese pistachio nuts and figs. Good dressing- White balsamic. Clams were chewy and cold. Not so good. Stuff Mushrooms were good and clams casino decent. Branding was ordered. Halibut came out instead. The food runner tried to give it to us and he called it halibut. The waiter came out w the same plate and called it sea bass. The bronzino finally came out but by then my BIL already ate some of our cold pizza bc he was the only one without a dish. The branzino was not served traditional style. It was already filleted and it was ok but needed a lil something as far as flavor. Two people got penne vodka and liked it, chicken parm was good, chicken Marsala and chicken francaise okay. But $30 a plate for each is Highway robbery. It wasn't spectacular. I wanted the chicken Milanese but I know it cost less than 10 bucks to make and it's $28 here. Why?!? Although this place looks like fine dining, given the service we had it definitely is not. Don't get me wrong- our server was kind and sweet but he let me sit an hour without my drink - seltzer. I actually got my martini quicker. Drinks are $12 and up. Espresso martini was good. Pistachio martini was not. lol. Cappuccino and coffee were good. Tiramisu was near frozen. Mousse was anything but mousse. Gelato was great. Service :(1) seltzer took an hour (2) dinner came out wrong (3) when the dinner came out wrong the server forgot that there were three dinners on a different table so we served ourselves the dinners, and even when he came back, he didn't remember that he had left dinners at that table and hadn't served it smh. I think I served half of the meal. I got us napkins and utensils from another table and got side plates from the outside bar. Like u guys owe me a tip seriously. I didn't come to work. I came to eat. (4) I asked them sing, happy birthday to my sister and for some reason the desserts came out super fast like I went to the bathroom and when I came back, they were already done singing. This pissed me off. I wanted to sing to my sister (5) I don't think grated cheese was even offered for the pasta dishes (6) we waited a long time for them to pick up the check/ money. The owner who was a very nice man w a good personality- came to see us and he asked how everything was. We said it was OK but I kind of made a face and he started to inquire more but honestly I did not wanna make a complaint on my sister's birthday. I think if he would've just asked the server, he would've known. What killed us was how he talked about this heater that he had outside and how it warmed up the whole place and here we were freezing our asses off practically sitting outside. It wasn't until they brought the heater that one side of the table was warm, but my sister was still freezing on the other side. I have no idea why they put us next to the plastic, instead of maybe moving us a little away from it there was no one else in the outside area. And I honestly do not understand why there's an outside area that is being seated in the middle of freaking winter. A party of 12-$830 and that was w the branzino taken off the bill (gratuity was added which sucked bc we had shitty service and forced to pay for good service). In a nutshell- overpriced and not worth another visit despite how pretty it is there. I will NEVER return here again though. Ever. Almost a thousand dollars to be shivering w cold food and no drink and mediocre service w a smile. If I get a cold, I'll send you guys the bill. read more

This is by far the worst Italian restaurant in Matawan Nj. Service is terrible, staff not friendly, food was so salty and small portions. Such a shame. We had high hopes for this place. Save your money you'll regret coming here. Not worth the $. read more

This was hands down the BEST Italian I have had anywhere in NJ/NYC. The best outside Italy and my grandmother's kitchen. The Sunday gravy brought tears to my eyes because it tasted so close to my Italian grandmother's, which I've not had since she passed away years ago. Everything was 10/10. The ambiance was beautifully unique and the staff were friendly and accommodating. Food, service and ambiance all 10/10. So fortunate to live close by, this will be my new spot if I want the real deal Italian! read more

A Salute Restaurant - Sunday gravy - Italian Near Me - Matawan, New Jersey

We came here to grab a drink outside. Loved the atmosphere! Great live music, the decor is so cute, it really doesn't feel like you are in matawan. We only tried the fig pizza and wow, absolutely delicious. We will definitely be returning in the near future for an entire meal. Everything passing by looked so delicious I can't wait to try everything. Also we didn't wait at all, and our waitress could not have been nicer and checked in on us often. Love this place! read more

A Salute Restaurant - Pizza with fig goat cheese arugula and balsamic - Italian Near Me - Matawan, New Jersey

Food was wonderful, our waiter Gregory was excellent, polite and friendly. Decor is delightful, repurposed church but open and not too loud either! read more

The pre meal bread was a massive disappointment, it was barely edible. But thankfully it got better, the pizza there is fantastic and the chicken parm dish was pretty good. Cool vibe there too, outside is nice, will have to try more food there. read more

My wife and I have been to A. Salute a few times but won't be going back. Our last visit was 2-4-2024 and the food and service were horrible. It wasn't very busy for a Saturday night and we decided to sit at the bar. Since it wasn't very busy it was a mystery why the girl behind the bar made us wait for so long before taking our food and drink order. I had the meatballs for an appetizer and they were really bad, leaving a horrible after taste. How does an Italian restaurant screw up meatballs? For my main course I had the Bolognese Pappardelle which tasted terrible. I hardly ate either of my selections. My wife had the baked clams appetizer and a salad for her main course which had a ridiculous amount of onions on top. Neither of our meals tasted or smelled good and we couldn't wait for our server to clear our plates. Unfortunately even that took way too long. There really wasn't any excuse for the slow service since we sat at the bar and the bartender who wasn't very busy was our server. We each had one drink. My wife had a Cosmo that was ok but I could hardly taste any alcohol in my mixed drink. Our bill was $130 with the tip plus another $3 for the valet which they make mandatory on the weekends. We felt pretty silly valeting our vehicle which was literally parked 30 feet from the front door. We left feeling very ripped off for so much money and won't be returning. read more

What a great evening! From the warm welcome as walk-in guests, to the amazing cocktails prepared by Hani who doubled as our wonderful server for the evening, as well as the perfectly prepared food, we couldn't have asked for more. But then we met Chris, the restaurant manager, who clearly takes ensuring your highest level of satisfaction to heart. Highly recommended for the most discerning guests seeking a great evening of food and drinks! read more

Such a shame place used to be amazing. Place is in an old beautiful church but they Sat us outside in a make shift tent was freezing asked to be moved and had to hear snarky jokes the rest of the night , Horrible slow service, Detroit pizza was the only good thing about dinner. Wife had seafood pasta, shrimp was not deveined which is just lazy and nasty rest of the fish was not fresh. Small portions on my chicken for the price, Even the cake at desert tasted like freezer burn. Not sure if they are under new ownership or management but it's clear that it's going in the wrong direction, evident by the empty bar at 9pm on a Saturday night. I can no longer recommend this place unfortunately. read more

Excellent ambiance. Solid food. Great service. I loved it. Apps were off the chart.

While the interior of the restaurant was cool and waitress attentive, the experience disappointed. How do you run out of an item on your pre fix? The sauce was too sweet for me. Overall, an underwhelming experience. read more

Nope not for me. Went here on a weekday night and there just wasn't anything special about it. Ordered an appetizer, the ravioli and a pizza. When we were eating the appetizer our waiter came up and asked if he wanted him to put in the main meal yet. To me, I don't think a waiter asks that question. Like you should study and see how we're doing. Are we almost finished with the appetizer? Are we taking our time and catching up the whole time? Or are we there for a nice meal and then to leave? My ravioli was $30, please use your judgment. The food was not anything special at all. For two people, we got an appetizer, ravioli and a pizza, it came to $70. I also saw they charge a covid charge or something after they run your credit card. Very strange to add that on. The inside is really cool, thats why it has 2 stars. read more

My BF and I went here on a date night and the food was amazing. The Scungilli was my favorite item all night. Perfectly spicy and tender. Our waiter recommended a peach martini that was delicious! My BF is on a low sodium diet and they accommodated his requests with ease. We will definitely being going back. read more

Went there tonight four people over rated and over priced.wife order skirt steak medium well came raw in certain places .portions small never go back read more

Hello again Frank V. I had dinner last night at Salute and the service was excellent. Calley our server did a very good job. Attentive, friendly, and gave us recommendations to certain dishes. The food again was excellent and the desert which was recommended by Calley was very good. I definitely would recommend this restaurant The only reason why I did not give it 5 stars was there were dirty dishes in a tub on the floor the entire time we ate dinner. Not a good thing to see also no manager on premises. A lot of young people running around no one busing the tables and no direction Good food hope they last read more

Went to A salute for my first time to celebrate my birthday! Had an amazing experience. Food was amazing our waiter did a phenomenal job in taking care of us. I don't recall his name but definitely a sweet gentleman. I also enjoyed the environment of how half of the restaurant is a bar chill vibe. Then you have the white napkin restaurant section. Definitely great experience! Thank you A salute read more

A Salute Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Matawan, New Jersey

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Restaurant was ok. Food was good. Service was good. we were originally going to eat in the bar area, but the music was very loud. We asked to be seated in the main dining room, and it was better suited to us with old school music which was not as loud as at the bar. The lamp at our table did not work. The portions of the entrees were quite small considering the very high price tag. Eggplant was served in a less than elegant presentation- a cast iron skillet. It did not include a plate, pasta or sides- just the skillet eggplant. The temperature was lukewarm at best. I asked for it to be heated up again. The mushroom ravioli included 6 small ravioli and 15-20 peas and I think cost $34. Highlight of the whole experience was dessert- the lava cake was a good portion and wonderful. However, because of the main courses, we were disappointed in our experience. read more

Very underwhelming. I came here for two reasons. One, this restaurant is in an old church which I thought would be cool. Two, I had read that the cocktails were great. To address the location, it is only cool if you are seated in the main dining room. Otherwise, it resembles every other bar. Two, the cocktails were seriously lacking. Sure the names were cute and on theme but the flavors were not there and there really wasn't anything unique in the list of like 6 cocktails. Now on to the food. They were out of everything. Penne pasta- don't have it. Clams- oops we are out. Arugula or any lettuce other than romaine-sorry not today. Oh did you order the Milanese that comes with caper berries? Well that's too bad because the caperberries didn't show up today. What we did get was okay but nothing noteworthy. In terms of service, our waiter was pretty terrible. Might have been his first time. He was inattentive and not very knowledgeable. Another waiter definitely stepped up and apologized for the lack of food. He even noticed a few times when our waiter was MIA and checked on us. My drink was at the bar waiting for 5 minutes before the waiter came to pick it up and serve it to me. Not to mention, the men's bathroom was locked from the inside with no one in it but no one attempted to fix it. Speaking of fixing it, they were even doing some work around the bar and outside during business hours. With one guy even yelling to the employees not to put anything on top of the amp so it can breathe which is good information but literally no employee was around to hear. So it was like the guy was only telling me and my husband. It was disappointing to say the least. The place was certainly not crowded. If only one of the above issues had happened it would not be worth mentioning but added all up led to an unpleasant experience. read more

Came here for a family party, food was yummy and ambiance was awesome! Loved the outdoor vibe!

Horrendous place Had a reservation this afternoon and they put us outside because the said they had a Bridal Party. No Problem but when they put us out there they forgot about us being there and after the 3rd request for service they finally sent a waitress out as we were getting up to leave. I would not recommend this restaurant to my worst enemy!!! I hate I have to even give one star here read more

The food is ok. A typical red Italian menu. Not very inspired. Service was good. An effort made to section off some of the tables with plastic barriers. But, the space is small and it was very crowded. In a non Covid time, this would of course be a non issue. But the infection rates are spiking again in this area so it felt like being at a super spreader event. And the music is just way too loud. read more

I booked this place for mothers place well in advanced to be seated in the main dining room. When we got there we were seated at the bar I stated we booked main dining. They said we are at capacity. I had my grandmother with me and she couldn't sit at a high top table. The only other option was to sit outside in a cramp table. Ordered the clams casino that came out burnt. Calamari was ok, Bronzino was flavorless, drinks came in plastic cups, short rib pasta was mediocre. Th servers were pleasant even though they switched servers during our time there. I felt so bad for my mom and grandma because I'm known for picking out great restaurants especially for occasions. read more

The only thing I thought was cool about the visit was how they converted an old church into a restaurant. Other than that, food at the Olive Garden is better. read more

Food is average, how do you have terrible uncooked hockey pucks as your bread in an Italian restaurant?! Yuk. A candied pecan salad with no nut, raw walnuts thrown ontop, you're a restaurant running out of candied nuts is a poor excuse, it takes about five min to make them. Too many great Italian restaurants, probably pass on going back. read more

Where to start, we were seated on the patio and within 20 minutes everyone was freezing cold. If you are going to have patio seating in the winter, it is important the customers know to dress for the arctic or have proper heating equipment. So with that start we ordered appetizers from Pizza, salads, meatballs, mussels and Mozzarella & Carozza. Nothing and I mean nothing was worth the price, but more importantly was very good and to top it off, it took almost 40 minutes to be served. So, the pizza was thick and doughy, the meatballs were an embarrassment to any Italian being small and made more of bread then meat, THe salads were average, the mussels were cold with more then 4 or 5 of them not open, and finally the Mozz was overfried and soggy. By the time we were ready for dinner, we were so cold, and it now almost an hour and 45 into dinner, we were offered to move into the dinning room at 9:05. While it was a bit warmer, it was not much better. We ordered, a Chicken PArm, Chicken Francaise, a spaghetti carbonara, gnocci carbonara, orechietta, sausage and rabe, shrimp Oreganata and Branzino. Both carbonara dishes were way over salted and not worth eating. The shrimp 3 I might add were not bad but at 36 dollars way over priced, the fish and pasta dish was average at best, Chicken Parm which is difficult to screw up for any Italian restaurant was fine but the tomato sauce tasted like jared sauce. The only dish that was actually good was the Francaise. Desserts nothing special and while we asked for the coffee to be served with dessert, that failed also. Service was extremely slow and dinner took almost 3 hours, totally unacceptable. For all the review we read ahead of time, we expected much better and were completley dissapointed. While I and the guests usually give most restaurants a second chance, I am pretty sure we will never go back here again. read more

We made a reservation for my parents anniversary. There are two places to park, one of which is across the street. There was only one waiter working the night we went but he was excellent. (-1 star for short staffing) I really enjoyed the eggplant rollatini. As someone who really enjoys cheese, this is a dish to try! I absolutely loved the calamari and the clams as well. Would recommend this place! read more

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Started off with getting our drinks in plastic cups ( martinis ) antipasto had maybe 6 slices of meat chicken parm over cooked / no cheese on a portion on the chicken and clumped up pasta waiter disrespected the buss boy i. Front of two tables for making a mistake. never even offered a portion of the bill taken care of for also bringing out one dinner twenty mins prior to another will never come here again. read more

A Salute Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Matawan, New Jersey

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New restaurant that opened up in downtown Matawan is amazing. As soon as you walk in you get a great vibe. Friendly and professional staff. It used to an 18 century church so has a unique ambience. Our cocktails were on the spot. Arancini aka rice balls...I would have preferred a little more ricotta. I ordered pork chop guambotta and my wife ordered Brunzino. Possibly the best pork chop that this 60-something man has ever had...at least 1-1/4 inch thick and juicy. My wife loved her Brunzino. For desert the decadent Nutella Pizza. OMG. We will be back. read more

A Salute Restaurant - Nutella Pizza - Italian Near Me - Matawan, New Jersey

We Come for dinner often we like to sit in the bar area The food is always delicious especially the Veal Parm also the Service is wonderful along with the cocktails we love the dirty martini The bartenders are friendly Danielle and Angelina are so friendly and really make our dinner experience special read more

6 of us went and were a bit nervous about mixed reviews. The service was excellent as was the food. Our waitress Marisa was a real pleasure and added to the fun time. Between us we had halibut, sea bass, clams, lobster risotto salads and lots of shots and cocktails. We had a great time and the food and service was very good. The manager came by to ck and thank us for coming. We will definitely be going back. read more

We were seated right away. We sat in a private area alcove. We were table of 7. Waiter was very informative and attentive. Food was very good. Try the Thai calamari for app and everyone enjoyed their dinners . Waiter even brought out sparklers for my daughter bd even though she was full for dessert overall I would come back in warmer weather to sit outside in the patio read more

I'd like to find some good things to say about this place though it's not easy. The positive was the ambience of this place was great, though that in itself is not worthy of ever returning. 5:30 reservation for 8 people, though the party was 9 people. Not their fault at all, though they could not accommodate us by adding another chair so we had to wait for a short while to get a larger table. In the end the table wasn't any better their accommodating 9 people was to add a small round table at the end of a square table isolating 2 people from the party. Our orders were taken quick however we didn't see our entrees until about 8pm. Other tables had come after us and were already paying the check before we were served. Despite multiple apologies from wait staff and someone who could have been the owner, who assured that our patience will be awarded with top quality dining, yea ok fine. The appetizers calamari and stuffed mushrooms were ok, nothing over the top just ok. The entrees however were a different story. Half everyone's meals were served cold, not warm, not hot but cold. Then half the orders were wrong. Ordered the salmon but with no opinions waiter happily put down plate said here's your salmon with no opinions. Asked waiter what the pile of onions were on the salmon, he looks, and said oh so sorry it's opinions. Was this his first day? Did he not serve this dish before or not look at the dish to confirm there were no onions? Again, nothing but apologies... Others had their food sent back and had to wait yet another 20 mins to be served. Granted this was Mothers Day, and at 5:30 they seemed quite busy. But I'm not sure what it means when the wait staff says it's busy today and the kitchen is busy??? As a business owner, don't you want your restaurant busy? Don't you staff the place accordingly or know that if you book too many people at the same time the kitchen will get backed up? It comes down to not caring about your guests. On the topic on this "amazing" food we were promised. This was the biggest let down next to the prices. I've never had such bad chicken marsala in my life, the very small piece was dried out, chewy and lacked any resemblance to a real chicken marsala. The chicken breast (1) was small enough to fit on a bun. This wonderful dish was 34.00. I can overlook some things going out to dine, though today with how much things cost these restaurants should be held accountable for what they pass off as fine dining. The last punch to the gut was despite waiting hours for cold food, wrong orders, small portions, this place was kind enough to automatically add a 20% gratuity. This place left me in shock with the high prices, less then average food and seemingly dazed ownership and management. I wanted this place to be great giving the prices and the ambience.. though save your money, there are so many other places to go that actually care more about their food and customers. I would call this place a 1 and done... read more

Great food, awesome staff and a beautiful restaurant. Everything our group ordered was delicious. From the burrata to the calamari to the amazing non bitter broccoli rabe, penne alla vodka and eggplant caponata I was a very happy pescetarian. The meat eaters at the table raved about the steak, pork chops and chicken. The service was top notch and the owners are super friendly. read more

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They sat us under the AC and I left with a cold lol. Asked them 3 times to please lower it and they never did. Food was okay.

Excellent restaurant ... was an old church circa 1850 ... very special place ... staff was amazing from the hostess to Chad our server ... so friendly and knowledgeable... and the food... OMG we shared penne vodka and chicken parm with a side of spaghetti and dark chocolate gelato for dessert... it was delicious!!! Malibu Bay Breezes are the best here too! Entire experience was amazing... so good!!! Highly recommend this place - you will not be disappointed! Can't wait to go back and try other items on the menu! read more

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Never again. After giving it a second chance, I'm done. I had a bad experience during COVID when we were packed like sardines and the staff refused to wear masks. The prices are expensive and if that's the case you expect a certain level of service. Now giving it a second chance a year later, our group was asked to leave after a sizable bill and not even two hours at the table. You're bad planning is not my responsibility. Tack on the 4% credit card fee and it's a strong no from me. Would avoid. read more