I sent friends here for a birthday celebration. I remember when they 1st opened the food was Awesome. My friend reported that this dinner was atrocious. Services were horrible. The food took a long time and the risotto was inedible. Absolutely not worth the expense. Disappointed at best. read more

Best Food! Best Service! We had a great time and enjoyed a great meal with a beautiful atmosphere! Definitely recommend this place !! Angie Qassis Samgigi1 read more

I've only been to Axton's once. I ordered a steak, I can't recall which steak it was. It came out sliced already which annoyed me. That's the end of the complaint. The steak and entire meal was fantastic. Apps, bread, salad, dinners, all excellent. I'm actually trying right now to get my wife and friends to change our reservation elsewhere and go here tonight instead. I went on yelp to get the number and felt they deserved a good review. So here it is. Enjoy. Oh it's byob and they can do some gluten free options too, just ask in advance. Oh and the service was great too, for all you yelpers obsessed with the waiters and busboys. read more

The food was fantastic, but the service by Francesca was poor. She was rude, and she rushed us through our meal. I would not rush back to this restaurant. read more

My friends and I were there this past Friday night. We made a reservation for 7:30 pm, we were not seated till 7:45 and then were ask to share menus, as they didn't have enough. There were 4 of us. We asked to put in an appetizer order, then forced to place our dinner order as we were rudely told by the waiter the kitchen is backed up and we should put our order in right away. We did. 45 minutes later we asked where our appetizers were to be lied to and said they were coming out now. Another half hour went by when I called our waiter over ne turned his back on me. That is when we decided to get up and leave. They were so unprepared. This was my 60th birthday celebration that we never got to celebrate. My friends drove up from Bergen County as your restaurant was recommended to us. No one came over to apologize. Their attitudes were like, we could care less. The food may be good, I will never know as I would not recommend this place for the way we were treated. Here is an idea, do a couple of trial runs before you open and hire enough staff to accommodate customers. So disappointing. Madeline Byrne Pompton Plains, NJ read more

Tried the Crab Cakes and Seafood special. Bad choices. Couldn't find the crab on the appetizer and the main dish sauce was not good with 1 shrimp, 1 scallop. Best part was the bread. read more

I Heard great things about this restaurant We were sadly disappointed. We arrived and was told it would be a 45 minute wait. We went around the corner for drink at thatchers magees and came back 35 minutes later only to sit waiting for another hour with another couple in the same situation before we were seated. We should have stayed at thatchers. When we were seated we were served bread that not only wasn't warm, it was cold in the center almost frozen. Our meals were good, but we have had just as good at plenty of non white tabbed cloth restaurants in the area. I would never recommend this place and would never go back. How can you serve frozen bread at a finer dining establishment? And how are you so inconsiderate of your customer's time? read more

This place could easily be five stars if it wasn't for the pricing. After dinning there yesterday we were blown away with the amazing service from Jerry and the entire wait staff. The ambience was perfect, and your water glass never sat unfilled. To start we ordered a Caesar salad without chicken. The salad was heavily dressed and topped with a ton of cheese. It was average and satisfied the crazing for a Caesar salad, but was nothing special. The real complaint we had with with dish was the price. The menu price for a chicken Caesar salad was $12 and our starter salad without chicken was also $12. It was a real disappointment to be charged $12 for a started Caesar without any forewarning. For our entrees we got the chicken risotto and the grouper. Both were amazing and highlighted the chefs amazing talent for creating the most luxuries risotto dishes around. For desert we were again let down by the price transparency. We ordered a piece of cheesecake (not made on site) that was decent, but was $12 for a small sliver. If you are going to charge $12 for a small desert you need to warn your customers. If we had known this up front we would have not ordered the dish and left the restaurant happy and ready to return. Overall if you stick to the menu entrees and don't customize your order we would recommend this restaurant. We wish we could give this place a more glowing review but the shock when we received the bill still stings too much. Good food but they need to improve on their price transparency. read more

Axton's got it all wrong. You call this Italian? Everything is the same raisins on top of raisins on top of bacon on top of more bacon. This is more like dog food then anything else. Matter affect won't even feed my dog this so called "food". read more

Quaint little place with amazing food. The dishes are creative, but not too crazy, which creates the perfect blend of flavors. I tried a couple of different apps before getting my entree, and was not disappointed by anything in front of me. I recommend calling to make a reservation to make sure you don't get shut out. Definitely will be going back! read more

Dont order take out. Girls who answer phones are rude and stupid. They cant understand you. Treat you like they are doing you a favor. Put phone down, talk to other workers while you are ordering. They would be better working at McDonalds read more

I will say this. The food is amazing .. BUT .. it was about 90 degrees inside the restaurant .. took 20 mins or so before the waitress came back to take our order. Reservation was 6:45 and we didn't leave until almost 9pm and we didn't have appetizers or dessert/coffee only dinners. But the insane heat in the restaurant made our wonderful meals unenjoyable. Word of advice. Try this restaurant after the summer! read more

Really wanted to come here & enjoy the food. Well I didn't think the food was that impressive. The service was great. Clams casino was very muddy. The calamari wasn't fresh..no tentacles at all which is my favorite. The risotto dish I ordered was so rich to rich in my opinion. My gf ordered a special which was shrimp & filet mignon it was $50!!! Really? but honestly a little pricey for what you served. The food serving took way too long. Which was a disappointment. I guess when you are on tv contestant you upcharge more which is typical, but make my mouth water & want it again. I wasn't again not that impressed with what we ordered. Unfortunately not that great. :( read more

Ordered: Appetizer: Caprese Entree: Swordfish on a bed of risotto, Penne Vodka Dessert: Lava cake The appetizer was good however there was no balsamic glaze on top so we used the balsamic from the bread. No big deal. The swordfish fish was incredible and the risotto was perfectly flavored and cooked. The penne vodka, a very standard dish, was ok. Dessert was ok, only drawback is the lava cake was not molten in the center. Atmosphere was nice, we were among one other couple in the restaurant so it was special to be "alone". The hostess and waitress were wonderful and truly made our dining experience 5 stars. read more

Nice atmosphere. Excellent food. Had the shrimp bisque and salmon risotto. Desert was a beautiful cannoli stuffed crepe. Presentation was 5 star elegant. Portions sizes were generous. This is a gem of a restaurant. Highly recommend! read more

Best food and service! Our favorite local restaurant! We love to order the specials and now they offer outdoor seating! Axtons never disappoints! read more

My shrimp risotto was way too salty, waitress said you should have said something before eating it-I literally had maybe 2 shrimps-that I picked out. The cost of dinner was $28. The calamari was not so good either! read more

Terrible disappointment Wait staff was completely inept, waitress actually left our table in the middle of taking the order. Apps arrived at different times for a table of 4. Chef was far too interested in making sure everyone knew he was on Hell's Kitchen than he was in getting good food out Ordered stracciatella soup which should have been called garlic soup, I even joked with my table that I could hear Chef Ramsey yelling "THERE'S TOO MUCH F%^KING GARLIC Entree was Cod over Risotto, Fish was completely flavorless and the risotto was bland and mushy. Far too expensive for the food and service I experienced read more

The menu appeals to everyone! A group of us went and everyone raved about their meal. Fabulous food! Definitely coming back!

Have tried Axton's twice now and want to award a higher rating but just can't. The food isn't hitting the mark and that can't be overcome by nice ambience and BYOB aspect. Service is inconsistent; Fran is great and definitely knows what she is doing but other front end staff don't seem to get it. The unfortunate reason I'll never return to or recommend Axton's is the food. Food experience had a few positives: Jekyll Hyde calamari was tasty and unique (albeit a little dry), my chicken scampi was pretty good and the homemade bread was good quality. Serving the bread warm would have been a nice touch. Other dishes though were very disappointing including the scallops (no taste), steak special (sent back to be cooked to the requested medium well temp, even after that many portions were still rare) and vegetable pizza (lacking taste, very doughy). We also had a forgettable chicken entree which lacked in taste. Finale was desert where we ordered two different crepes (one apple, one strawberry) and waited 20 minutes for the manager to eventfully bring two cold and messy versions of the exact same thing. The restaurant looks great but sadly has too many misses on the food side to recommend it. read more

We were very excited to try this place but were sadly disappointed. Service: We made a reservation for 7:15 and were told we would be seated in the covered patio area. We arrived to small tables squished under a couple of umbrellas. Fortunately it stopped raining but definitely expected more coverage for the outside seating. We were given only one menu for three people to share, until finally we went inside to ask for more. Although they were busy, it seemed as if our own server was too busy for us. We asked someone else for assistance and she said she wasn't our server and couldn't help us. Food: We ordered the Jekyll and Hyde calamari. The sweet/spicy sauce that is poured over the top was really good, but there wasn't much of it and many pieces were left plain and dry. I would have asked for a side of sauce if anyone came to check on us before we were done with it. Fortunately, after the appetizer and a small side salad we were not as hungry, so the super long wait for the entree wasn't terrible. My mom and I ordered two different risotto dishes and my dad ordered the skirt steak. The risotto was way undercooked and crunchy. Although the sauces were flavorful, it was really heavy (a lot of cream). The shrimp risotto was greasy (could have been from the bacon but it settled on the top). My dads steak was not cooked to temperature and none of us were really satisfied. Overall, the portions were huge, and the flavors were good, but the undercooked risotto ruined it for us. Pricing: Although the portions were good size, we didn't feel the overall experience was worth the price. We were there for 2 hours and were maybe checked on 2 or 3 times. I am not sure had it been less busy if it would have been different, but we don't eat out enough to take a chance on this place again. read more

This was my first time at Axton's. I will give it another try mainly because the food was amazing. But the service left a lot to be desired. There were 4 of us dining. Three of us got our food and we're patiently waiting for the 4th dinner. About 5 minutes later the waitress finally comes over and tells us the order was inadvertently not placed. She said it will take 15 minutes. I said it was unacceptable that this happened and she immediately snapped back at me that 15 minutes is more than acceptable. Well I have two problems with that. First of all you don't snap back at a customer whose order you just messed up and second I was not talking about the 15 minutes to cook the food I was clearly stating it was not acceptable that this happened in the first place. We finally got the 4th meal after all of us were finished eating. In the meantime 2 large parties came in and clearly our table was forgotten. No one ever asked how our meals were. We only got water refills when were able to get the wait staffs attention. Dessert was delivered but our empty wine glasses and bottle were not cleared from the table. They did comp us one (1) dessert but I would have preferred better service throughout the meal. Like I said the food was delicious but that can only take you so far if your service is mediocre. I suggest they focus on the front of the restaurant!! read more

I am a professional chef as well.....so anyone who undertakes the monumental endeavor of opening a restaurant has my absolute and complete respect. Opening a restaurant is the greatest leap of faith any chef can ever undertake!!! I decided to celebrate my son's BD with a 5:30 reservation on a Saturday night at 6 week old Axton restaurant in Pompton Lakes-you can observe a lot more at 5:30 than you can at the height of dinner service 7:30-9:30. Our server was wonderful what she lacked in skill she made up in personality - I would choose happy and unpolished service over flawless and rude any day!!! As Axton is a BYOB we brought a bottle of chilled champagne to start with and 2 bottles of chilled white for dinner- none were put in a wine chiller- bucket or in the fridge during the entire service--I also did not see any other table with chilled wine service so maybe floor stand wine buckets are forthcoming. One of the first things I ever had that Chef Anton made years ago was his mussels in green sauce-- still to this day one of my favorite restaurant meals!!! Tonight however -- dinner was good -- but just good-- sadly nothing really amazing--portions are enormous -- actually too large-- calamari appetizer was tough and chewy - spiedini - too much bread not enough cheese-egg batter or sauce- crab cake on toast points- cakes were more like the consistency of a hot dip rather than a crab cake you can pick up.....but everything had good flavor and was served hot. We ordered 4 entree's and each plate had enough food on it to serve at least 3 adults. My dad loved his scallop entree -- beautiful, large, dry not wet sea scallops- chicken parm --truly enough for 4 - lasagna with a side order of meatballs declared delicious by our selective eater and the chicken scampi risotto - fine but not one of the best 5 chicken dishes in NJ. Again all good but nothing I CAN'T wait to come back and eat again. Dessert - chocolate fondant cake was good but too perfect seemed like a frozen Restaurant Depot cake and cannoli crepe was actually the only thing that was not good at all-- crepe had no butter- sugar - pan seared flavor,,,,,tasted like raw pancake batter. The restaurant is really quite nice inside- warm welcoming atmosphere on a chilly winter night- hostess was lovely, charming- well thought out guest to staff ratio-- never had to wait to have a glass or dish removed from the table-- the restaurant is small -- maybe 14 tables-- but there is just the right amount of space so that your table is not right on top of your co-diners table- floor plan was also well planned. Nice local restaurant,great staff, would come back -- fun, casual place for a girls night -- BYOB -skip apps and dessert --split an entree. read more

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We decided to go here for a girls night and we were not disappointed. The staff was warm and friendly and the open kitchen is so cool. I also love a restaurant that is BYOB and does not have a corking fee. We were told about Chef Anton's challenge to put your cell phones in a bucket on the table so you can enjoy the company and not be on your phone the whole time. He makes a donation to charity for every table. We ordered the crab cakes as an appetizer and were not disappointed. They were so flavorful and delicious. The bread that comes to the table is also not to be missed. We all ordered different entrees and everybody's looked amazing! I had the seafood marechiara and enjoyed every bite. I will definitely be back again with my husband for a date night!! read more

It was a Friday night and we were looking to try something new, after reading some Yelp reviews on this place we decided to give it a try since it was fairly close. We ended up parking in Thatcher's lot, because the parking area for this restaurant is quite small. Bare in mind it was freezing, but we had no choice. We made a 7:30 reservation, and were seated within a few minutes. There was a balsamic spill from the start but the bus boy apologized and had a new table cloth on in a matter of moments. The whole staff was very accommodating throughout the evening. With that being as I read in other reviews the amount of time between appetizers and dinner was on the longer side, but I personally like that. I hate sitting down to only have courses shoved in my face so they can turn the table over. If I'm out it is because I want a dining experience. BYO open your bottle of wine and enjoy really great tasting food, because that is what we were served here. We started with the Jeckyll and Hide Calamari and it had just the right amount of kick. It stated it was server over arugula, but ours was presented over chopped Romain, but let's be serious it was all about the calamari. It was tender and thin not thick rings and not overly fried. For entrees my fiancé had the Chicken Scampi Risotto special with a side of meatballs, which he said was fabulous. He said the meatballs were not too dense and filled with breading, but actual meat. I had the penne with vodka which is pretty basic, but it was delicious. My all time favorite it Angelo's on Mulberry in Little Italy and even though they are still my #1 this was very good. I say try it if you haven't done so already! read more

Axton's By Chef Anton Testino - Italian Near Me - Pompton Lakes, New Jersey

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I have to say this place is by far the best italian restaurant I've been to period. Last night was the third time I've been there in in 3 weeks and every time tops the last. This is the first time I've been to an open kitchen restaurant and I love the experience. To those who don't know what an open kitchen means, it means that you actually can see your meal being prepared in the kitchen. Here is a breakdown of what I love about axton's 1. The food is phenomenal. The first time i was there I ordered the Gordon ramsey pork dish, it comes with a horseradish crusted crab cake, sautéed spinach and thin pasta. The pork was so tender and honestly the crab cake is probably the best crab cake I've had, and I've been to some of the best seafood restaurants in New England that are known for the thier crab cakes. My fiance had the shrimp and scallops. The shrimp and scallops were so succulent that they almost melt in your mouth. There pizzas are out of this world and the penne and,vodka sauce is to die for. For appatizers, we have tried the jekyll and Hyde calamari and like I said above about the crab cakes, best I've had in years, not too salty and very tender. The zuppa de clams are delicious as well as the speidini. 2. The service is great, the servers are polite and respectful and answering our numerous questions about menu items. Definitely 5 star service. 3. Axton's is byob which I really like. 4. The atmosphere is great, who doesn't enjoy eating great food, drinking some good italian reds while being serenaded by the greats like frank and the boys, you know what I'm about, luck be a lady tonight. All in all axton's has found a customer for life, never have been so impressed with a restaurant like I have been with axton's, if I had the power to hand out michelin stars I would give them 5. To end this review I just want to say kudos to chef anton and his staff, keep up the good work and maybe you'll really get a michelin star one day read more

A rare find - fine dining and BYOB. Even better - BYOB and no valet parking! It's all about the food. You will find preparations here you haven't seen before. The dishes are COMPLICATED - many, many ingredients in everything. Listening to the specials leaves your head spinning. But the creative combinations seem to work. Everything we have tried so far has been really good. If you are the least bit adventurous, this is a great place. read more

Everything was really good. Try any of the risottos! Service was excellent as well and Anton spent some time with us chatting. Good luck man! read more

Axton's By Chef Anton Testino - Place is very inviting and well decorated! - Italian Near Me - Pompton Lakes, New Jersey

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Service was outstanding so that helped. The menu was limited which is fine because we were told they change the menus often, so you could expect a different set of choices on future visits. The problem was the featured item was shrimp and they ran out of, you guessed it, shrimp! It wasn't like we showed up at closing time and asked to be seated, we had an 8 pm reservation. This meant every order at our table had to be changed. We all had to settle for other choices or substitute items, very disappointing. The meals we did get were good. I had pan seared branzino and unfortunately it tasted like every other pan seared branzino I have had so for a "famous" chef prepared meal I got something rather basic. Two people in my party had meals with scallops and they were well prepared and our last party member had a pasta dish that s(e was really good. I would go back to give them another try and hopefully they will have their menu issues corrected. read more

Eh, do not go. The food is overpriced and you can hear constant yelling from the kitchen. read more

OK first and foremost I have to say that when I read some of these reviews the negativity started to worry me. This was my first time at Axtons. I just had dinner at Axtons with a friend of 16 years. We had a great experience. Our waitress was fantastic and extremely attentive. We had adequate time between the appetizer, dinners and dessert. No one rushed us to turn the table over. The hostess even came to our table multiple times. We started off with a calamari appetizer special. The calamari was cooked perfectly. It was cooked in a way I have never had before with apples and like a mango glaze. VERY flavorful. Then came a standard salad. For my meal I had the scallops oreganata over spinach and risotto. For those of you that complained about the risotto, REALLY? So it was slightly al dente. So what? Its rustic flavors were delicious. The scallops were cooked and seasoned perfectly. My friend Julie had the shrimp and scallops over spaghetti in a marinara sauce. She said the pasta was fantastic and shrimp and scallops were very good. For dessert we shared the yogurt with fresh berries and whipped cream which came in what looked like a highball glass. At the bottom was some type of strawberry syrup. Incredible. I had tweeted the chef prior to dinner and he replied. At the end of the meal he came to our table, VERY nice guy. You can tell when you chat with him that he is extremely passionate about his food, his cooking and his patrons. Chef, thanks for a great meal and we will be back. We are going to bring family, friends and significant others. Lisa (from Twitter) read more

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We had dinner here on a Friday night. Loved we could bring our own wine but could also get wine there too. Appetizers we got calamari and crab cakes. It was amazing. My entree was the swordfish special with shrimp and risotto. It was to die for. Our guests also loved their dishes too. My husband said it was the best risotto he has ever had. The portions are huge. Our waitress was great too (can't remember her name. Sorry). We loved everything about eating at Axton's. We will be back. read more

Axton's By Chef Anton Testino - Italian Near Me - Pompton Lakes, New Jersey

Great food, great service and great people. I ordered pork chops and they were amazing cooked beautifully. The service is so kind I loved it here and I will be back soon. read more

Quiet beautiful ambiance, very romantic, love the Sinatra music. The bread with balsamic and olive oil was some yet delicious. For appetizers we had the garlic bread and calamar special. Both were amazing with bursts of flavor that were not overwhelming but savory. For dinner we had the chicken scampi risotto, the scallops and the chicken parm. All were delicious. And dessert was pumpkin cheesecake which we clearly dug into before I could get a picture. Service was a little slow but otherwise very happy. read more

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We celebrated our 6 year anniversary here and it was amazing. The atmosphere was elegant and quaint, but vibrant as we watched the chefs prepare our food through the glass window kitchen. The flavors of our food were fresh and complex. The chef offered a complimentary after dinner cordial which was also delicious! This is definitely our new favorite place! read more

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The food is delicious, especially the mussels and the bread. I had the grouper with artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers, which was cooked perfectly. All of the food is so rich that it's so hard to finish. Axtons also has great staff that are very accommodating, friendly and professional. For sure we will be back! read more

Axton's By Chef Anton Testino - Steak was very tender - Italian Near Me - Pompton Lakes, New Jersey

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In spite of the mixed reviews we gave Axton's a try and had a great time. The attractive layout with an open kitchen and oil bar give the space a casual and kind of bistro feel. We were promptly seated and the server was very sweet and helpful. A loaf of home made bread was hot and fresh. The entrees come with a very nice salad that had a sweet and tangy balsamic dressing. My wife enjoyed the shrimp over risotto and loved the herbs and seasonings. I had the sword fish special which was over artichokes and kale? with mango, amazing. The portions were large and beautifully presented. A lovely crepe served as a cannoli was perfect. Prices are in line for this level of quality and service. Very glad we gave Axton's a shot and we will return. Richard read more

Okay this is why im giving them 3 stars. The waitress sucked, there wasnt wine glasses she made us drink out of small water glasses and she made us get sparkling water to buy (beware) The calamari was good im not gonna knock it but it shouldnt be tampered with, it wasnt bad just to weird for me. My boyfriend got rigatoni but it wasnt rigatoni it was penne and had no flavor and sauce was burnt. I got the "famous chick n scampi meal" hmm i had 2 bites, tasted like mush. Im not here to bash anyone but come on, at least u can do is have the waitress give us 2 wine glasses and 2 plates to eat our bread on. I came tonight despite the past reviews but i have to agree with them all. read more

We've tried to have a meal here 3 times. The first we had just noticed the place and wanted to check it out. Without reservations we couldn't get a seat. That's fair and an indicator of good food. The second time we had reservations but a few hours before seating we were called and asked to change them. We decided to go somewhere else. The third tome we had early reservations, showed up early and the place was almost empty. We were told to sit at the worst table. We asked for a better table but were told other reservations "might" come in. We left again. We don't plan on coming back. read more

This was our first time here. I made reservations for 7:45 and was offered a table right near the door (which I passed on because it was 13 degrees and snowing out and I didn't want to be near a window or door) or I could have waited for another table which we did and we did not get seated until 8:20. The waiting area is not convenient and only two people can actually sit, nothing was really done in terms of decor from the pizza place it once was, and everyone else has to stand. When we were there 12 people were standing in a 4 by 6 area. Also I was unaware it was a BYOB. On the website it shows a bar and says "wine bar" so one would assume they had a bar. My husband had to run across the street in the snow to get a bottle of wine. No mention of BYOB. As soon as I sat down I sat in some sort of pasta sauce that was all over the seat. I was somewhat annoyed but no real interest was taken by the hostess. My husband gave me his napkin to wipe off my hand and my pants and he had to ask for a clean one. Bread dipping sauce and bread was awesome. Jekyll and Hyde Calamari was "ehhhh" totally not something I would order again, I was expecting it to be more flavorful. If it was supposed to look like the picture on the top of the yelp page then that's not what we got. Ours was normal calamari with a thick sauce. Entrees were awesome, Shrimp risotto and Gordon Ramsey pork chop. Service was VERY SLOW. Only two waiters and had to wait for them to finish serving their tables before someone would come over. They need a food runner. Ended the night with the waiter accidentally kicking a chair into my husbands knee. I probably would go back but service was slow and I would have liked them to do something for sitting in the sauce. Like maybe a complementary desert would have been nice but even those were nothing special or out of this world considering. I was not going to wait any longer especially for a tartuffo. read more