Got food to go here because we were staying in an Airbnb nearby. What a great find! Good, old school Italian cooking like Nonna makes! Friendly service. Feels like it would be right at home in Little Italy. We had the penne in vodka sauce, chicken francese , and pasta primavera with shrimp in cream sauce. Also the house salad and couple of desserts. All winners. read more

Service was quick and friendly. Food was really fresh. None of that tin can after taste. Delicious . We'll come again. Convenient to Sinatra Park too. read more

Cafe Michelina - Eggplant parmagiana - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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After walking passed the Cafe Michelina many times, we finally got a chance to try it. Service was good, food was excellent, and the owner seemed genuinely thankful that we had a nice time. We all got the specials, which were wonderful. It was disappointing, however, that the prices of the specials were not explicitly stated, and all were roughly $35 when we expected them to be around the same price as other entrees ~$22. Aside from that, we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and will definitely be back. read more

My friends and I came here for a BYOB dinner, it was absolutely delicious & the chicken cutlets with vodka sauce were to die for. The space is a little tight, but the staff were very friendly and personable. read more

Cafe Michelina - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

The atmosphere was chaotic. Tables are like on top of each other and everyone is screaming to talk to each other at their own tables. our waiter was not attentive to our table. The food was great although it felt expensive. BEWARE they charge automatically include gratuity for parties of 4 or more. This may have been stated on the menu, but our waiter never told us gratuity was included. it was not stated on the itemized receipt or final one you sign, instead it is hand written on the back of a different check which is very easy to miss considering the final check they give you has gratuity suggestions on it for 20, 22, an 25%! disappointing that a family owned place with good food was not more transparent about gratuity which resulted in us (and based on what I have heard, multiple people) double tipping a waiter that was not attentive. Update: after reading some other reviews on here I would have to agree that the vibe is definitely profit over patrons. read more

I love a cute lowkey restaurant spot! My friend and I came on a Saturday around 7:30 PM and we didn't have a reservation but we were seated immediately. They gave us an option for indoor or outdoor seating and we chose outdoor because it wasn't too hot. Despite being outdoors, the service was excellent and we didn't feel neglected If you and your friend aren't that hungry, ordering one entree to share along with apps is more than enough because the portions are very generous. My friend and I only ate half of our entrees. The calamari was good but I highly recommend the mozzarella sticks. The breading isn't like your normal mozzarella sticks - it's super crispy! It is BYOB which makes the atmosphere that much more enjoyable! Whether it's girls night out or date night, definitely recommend this spot! read more

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Place is legit! Apps were all pretty good (rice balls, fried ravioli, calamari). I've been a few times over the years and the entrees are always great! This time I had one of the specials (creamy pesto linguini with a fried chicken cutlet and a burrito on top) - literally so good. They also make a really good stuffed rigatoni with vodka sauce. No frills inside type of place - giving old school Italian vibes. Waiter was great and service was overall was quick. It's also BYOB which is a plus! If you're in Hoboken definitely check it out. read more

Cafe Michelina - Creamy Linguini pesto chicken cutlet burrata - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

One of the last classic BYOBs in Hoboken. Good food, big portions at reasonable prices. Fun atmosphere too read more

Cafe Michelina - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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Ordered a Caesar salad and the stuffed rigatoni with chicken. I spent $70 on my order and got portion sizes that would be too small for even children. The pasta and chicken came ice cold and the salad had zero flavor to the dressing and no parmasen cheese. My rigatoni looks like someone ate more than half the dish. I called the restaurant to see if they would send me a decent size portion and they said there was nothing they could do. Very disappointed, I always try to support local businesses. read more

Cafe Michelina - Chicken - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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Classic NJ Italian in every way. Fun and lively atmosphere, friendly service. BYO. They don't take reservations - we were there on a fairly busy night and I liked that the host was ruthlessly fair about seating - party must be complete and there when the table is ready, otherwise on to the next. We sat outside which was really nice - felt the atmosphere but it wasn't too loud. We tried a bunch of pastas. Portions are generous, and the food is straight forward. My friend thought the meat sauce was one of the best he has had, and I also really enjoyed the vodka sauce. The arrabbiata had a real kick! I loved the super garlicky garlic bread. My eggplant parm was a little too oily, but I still enjoyed it. The desserts were also nice - a ladyfinger dense tiramisu and very lemony limoncello float. Would recommend if you're in the area and craving simple, classic Italian food. read more

Cafe Michelina - Tiramisu and Limoncello Float - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

Love this little spot. Stopped in without a reservation on a Friday night. They were full, but they kindly sat us as we agreed to be gone before the reservation for their one open table arrived. We had the mussels in red sauce, fettuccine alfredo, and the zuppa de pesce. All delicious. The spot is casual and a BYOB. Make a reservation! read more

Cafe Michelina - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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Cafe Michelins is great and a Hoboken staple! Everything is delicious and the stuffed rigatoni is always amazing. Usually a must order for us. Just be carful, dessert might be pricey!!!!! read more

Fine, even good at times, but not great. Some hits, but more misses. But, BYOB always saves the day. I've been here twice. The first visit was good enough to bring us back for a second, but I don't think the second visit makes for a third. Our first visit - calamari, caesar salad, 2x chicken parm special (stuffed with cheese, and had vodka sauce). The food was good, I thought the salad was tasty, and the chicken parm was nice, except for the price. I'm not sure why the regular chicken parm was $20 something, and this was $36. Same size, just a different sauce and a little more cheese. We didn't find that out until the bill came. It was good, but not $36 good... Hey, let's try it again sometime. Our second visit - calamari (again), caeser salad (again), and a few different dishes - one more chicken parm (the regular one), a veal parm, and a shrimp fra diavolo. Chicken was fine, veal was incredibly tough (honestly, not great at all) and the shrimp in the fra diavolo were really tender, it was just missing some of the fra diavolo-ness I was hoping for. It doesn't help that I'm comparing this to some great Italian spots in Hoboken, Manhattan, and Queens, but on the whole, especially with other choices very close by...hard to give it a better review. read more

Cafe Michelina is a Hoboken staple; their food is consistently delicious, and who doesn't love a BYOB restaurant!? The food is definitely 4 stars, but I'd give it a 3.5 if I could for two reasons: 1. Service here is VERY quick... not somewhere you can linger over a glass of wine. They bring out bread and bruschetta as soon as you sit, and before you know it - entrees are arriving. While the servers don't explicitly ask you to hurry, they clear plates the second you put your fork down and bring the check immediately if you decline dessert. 2. I was happy to see my husband's long-time favorite "special" finally on the menu permanently - stuffed rigatoni with chicken in vodka sauce - but was a little shocked when the bill came and it was $29. This just seemed unnecessarily overpriced compared to most entrees which are $16-$20. read more

Cafe Michelina - Eggplant Parmigiana - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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Incredible food, people and atmosphere. Feels like home. BYOB is awesome, outside seating, good dessert. Best vodka sauce/cutlets

Delicious food, great portions, BYOB, lively crowd inside, casual outdoor seating and incredibly friendly staff. Will definitely be coming back here! read more

Cafe Michelina - Cacio e pepe topped with chicken cutlet - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

Came to Café M Friday night for dinner since I had been seeing lots of Instagram stories/posts about the food and I wanted to try. Its been over a few years since I've ate there. We got there around 7 pm and they helped add a table outside for us since we brought our dog and every table was taken. Service was mixed throughout the meal. Since we were off on the side, we had to really try to track down servers when we needed something. I asked our server what the rice ball special was stuffed with and she candidly replied she had no idea and it was only her second day. We heard the table behind us send back their salad since it was 'stale.' We weren't really sure how the meal was going to go after that. To start, we got the rice balls special. An order came with two - Very tasty and came out nice & hot. Pretty sure they were stuffed with prosciutto but the waitress never confirmed. For our mains, we ordered the stuffed rigatoni with chicken in vodka sauce and the chicken cutlet Cacio e Pepe peppe which was a special. Portions were big. The cacio e Pepe was a bit dry and overcooked; could've used more sauce. The rigatoni dish was very rich and tasty. Plenty of vodka sauce. We left with leftovers that we haven't ate yet. My stomach was bothering me after dinner that night, so not sure if it was the food or not. Overall, it was an average experience. read more

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Love the vibe of this place! I got the stuffed rigatoni with the chicken cutlets in vodka sauce and it was amazing. The Caesar salad and burrata for appetizers were delicious. We had good service and BYOB is great. The pistachio gelato dessert was very yummy. read more

Cafe Michelina has been a go to for the last 2 years now! Amazing service and food. We go about 2-3 times a month and every time we try other places we just wish it was as good as the food and service at Michelinas! Can't say enough good things! read more

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My favorite restaurant in the area! Authentic Italian food with large portion sizes so you're definitely bringing some home. ORDER THE CHICKEN VODKA PARM, You will not be disappointed. The wait staff is always on point. Went on a Saturday night and the vibes are electric. The entire restaurant is swinging their napkins in the air. 11/10 recommend read more

The food at Cafe Michelina is average for an area known for great Italian food. The prices of regular menu items are pretty typical. Chef specials do not have prices posted and these meals are pretty expensive for what you are getting. Same for dessert. This lack of transparency is intentional. Make sure to ask for prices ahead if this is of concern. The real issue with this restaurant is how customers are treated. My wife and I had a 6PM reservation which we arrived to promptly at 6. We finished our meal, had leftovers wrapped, and the check brought just before 7 (6:58 printed on CC receipt). At this time, I topped off our glasses to finish what was left in the bottle of wine (say half a glass each). By 7:05 a member of the wait staff came over to our table and informed us we had 5 minutes to vacate the table as another reservation was waiting. I found this to be pretty unreasonable and asked an employee (I assume the manager) how much time was allocated for two top table reservations. The answer I got was "we don't have a specific time we just ask guests to be considerate"..... Any restaurant that insinuates a guest is inconsiderate for finishing their wine after just 65 minutes (and plenty of $) is not one I can recommend. This is a profits over patrons' establishment with poor management. Walk down the street to one of the many other quality Italian restaurants in Hoboken. Edit: We dined here on 12/6, not a holiday. The owner must be confusing us with another party he mistreated. For context, we dine out once or twice a week. This experience was a first. Be warned. read more

It was our first time trying this place while visiting a local friend that made a reservation for us here. It was a small place with tables kinda crammed together. The food was well worth it though. We ordered calamari, ceasar salad, mozzarella sticks, gnocchi with vodka with a chicken cutlet, and penne with vodka and a chicken cutlet. I LOVE the option of adding a chicken cutlet to every entrée!!! more Italian restaurants should take note. The burrata was a great touch too. We also ordered dessert to go and the tiramisu was creamy and full of flavor. When we come back to the area, we will definitely make a point to stop here again! Reminded me of my hometowns Italian restaurants in PA. read more

Cafe Michelina - Gnocchi with vodka sauce with fresh burrata and a chicken cutlet - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

Great experience, love the stuffed chicken parm with penne vodka. Delicious . I'll definitely come back. The service was good . Thank you read more

Cafe Michelina - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

I have been coming to Cafe for the past 7 years and it is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in Hoboken. The service is great every time and staff is very attentive and friendly!! The food is delicious and comes out steaming. My favorite is the stuffed rigatoni with vodka sauce with chicken cutlets, that's their specialty. I would highly recommend this restaurant to my friends and family. read more

Cafe Michelina - Cacio e Pepe - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

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I've been dying to come here for a long time. It was well worth the wait! It was a nice early spring day so my friend and I sat outside on their little patio seating. I had the stuffed rigatoni in vodka sauce with a chicken cutlet and burrata. WOW. Talk about a top notch New Jersey Italian meal. I was talking about this for days. My weaknesses in one dish. My friend got the gnocchi in vodka sauce and was in the same euphoric state as me. We polished off the meal with the tiramisu which was made beautifully, and the Oreo mousse cake which I would have done without. The staff here was so nice, patient and helpful and the restaurant gives an invitingly cozy atmosphere. I will definitely come back again! read more

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Came here on a Tuesday night and it wasn't too crowded. The complementary bread was so soft and fresh. I ordered the arrabbiata pasta and I was blown away by the portion size. It was huge! The pasta was great too, a little too many peppers for me but the spice was definitely there. It's byob too I would definitely go back! read more

I've been going to Cafe Michelina for over 7 years and it's truly one of my favorite spots in town. The broccoli appetizer, stuffed rigatoni with chicken in a vodka sauce and the chicken murphy are some of my favorite dishes. The reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is the rising prices. I totally get inflation and things are more expensive than they used to be, but for a super casual spot prices to me have felt a bit high as of late. Other than that no complaints. Cheers. read more

Been in hoboken for many years and finally tried out this spot for friday evening dinner. We walked in without a reservation since we were indecisive where to eat that night. The staff is very friendly and efficient! They always check in on you if everything is okay. Every food item we ordered was exceptional. We ordered meatballs, the stuff chicken parm w vodka sauce, pasta arribatta. We are very picky with our Italian food as we go to alot in hudson county and nyc. For dessert rainbow cookie cake and pistachio custard. Would highly recommend and will come back! read more

The food is a 5/5 hands down. I've been meaning to go here for many years and finally made it over there on a cold Tuesday evening. The food quality is actually delicious. Otherwise it's a basic spot,, wasn't too busy at all. They are byob also! To start you off they provide bread and crostini with bruschetta. Yum. We then ordered the Pollo alla Murphy and Pollo alla 'Michelina' to share. Both come with pasta, so we added linguini with one dish and side of penne with tomato sauce. Everything was excellent! The Murphy was a little spicy but it does have got peppers so we knew that. Would recommend, this no frills- local spot. We also ordered coconut sorbet, it was good! read more

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Excellent! We came here on a Saturday evening at around 5:00PM. It was nice to find an authentic Italian place on the east side of the river. The staff was super friendly and happy to serve! Here are a few things I appreciated: 1) Greeted at the door by a waiter. 2) Seated immediately, attentive service. 3) Very good food. I ordered one of the specials, Stuffed Chicken Parmesan w/ Vodka Sauce. The food was super tasty. Flavorful, hot and fast. I ordered a cappuccino and cheesecake for dessert. Both were great. I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 because of the BYOB situation. I think that it would be nice to have a wine and beer selection. Other than that, I really enjoyed Cafe Michelina in Hoboken, NJ. We will be back in the near future. read more

We came to the restaurant tonight for the first time me and my husband my nephews one of them ordered chicken prosciutto and there was a tale of a shrimp inside his food and all we could get is I'm sorry I think that's very wrong you should have at least Compton's meal and for a table of four they put the tip in there I've never heard of that before maybe he didn't deserve all that tip. Or wait up was not a people person read more

The vodka sauce is outstanding. Best I've ever had. I ordered the stuffed chicken parm with penne in vodka sauce. The stuffed chicken parm was good though not worth the $15 extra to have ricotta and other cheese stuffed in the middle compared to the regular chicken parm dish for $20. Price transparency was not there. Most entrees on the menu were $20 which is a decent price. However, the specials are more costly and the price is not listed anywhere for specials. They have also a $5 split fee which no waiter mentioned nor was it listed on the menu that I saw. At the end of my meal, I asked the waiter for a box to take home my leftovers. I had a decent amount of food left. He understood this and even confirmed with me, "you said you wanted to take your food home right?". About 5 minutes later the waiter came by and said he accidentally threw out my leftovers and didn't proceed to comp anything or offer a free dessert as a consolation which was frustrating. Overall, amazing penne vodka but service and staff wasn't great making it an average and expensive experience. read more

Service was very good but food was pretty average. We seemed to be the first table for dinner on a Wed. The complimentary bruschetta seemed like it was made for lunch then re-served to us - bread seemed stale like it had be sitting out for a while. Why would you serve this and was it really too hard to make up some fresh pieces? Main dishes were served up hot and were definitely prepared to order which was good but flavor/preparation seemed pretty standard to me. I also agree with previous commenter that price transparency on specials is pretty bad. You expect alittle more cost on a special but not almost double. Why don't you post the prices on the chalkboard with the specials? Overall, there are better Italian restaurants in Hoboken and the area. read more

Classic BYOB old school Italian spot in Hoboken for 30 years. Best vodka sauce in the area. Great for a date spot or a big group with the family style option. Sal and the crew are always fun. Highly recommend Cafe Michelina. read more

Had a really nice dinner with my boyfriend's family and my parents here for my boyfriend's birthday dinner. Food was very good and service was pretty fast especially for a party of 7 but the reason I'm giving a 3 star rating is because the waitress went up to my 70 year old father, who just paid a $321 bill and told him we need to leave. We weren't even there for the 90 min limit maybe an hour and 15 min tops...but to tell my 70 year old dad after paying a pricey bill.....on top of that charging $15 each for 3 small desserts we need to leave? Prob won't return read more

Amazing staff, great food!! Family ran and so much fun!! Wish I had my birthday here!! 100000/10 read more

Cafe Michelina - 10000/10 - Italian Near Me - Hoboken, New Jersey

I'm a four year Hoboken resident and a frequent Cafe Michelina customer. It's easily the best Italian in Hoboken and the service is great. I'm a huge fan and always recommend it to friends and family when they're visiting. If you're looking for a go-to BYO spot, this is it! read more

Best place to eat in hoboken . Food is incredible, atmosphere is a vibe and the service is top notch!!!. I just moved here 6 months ago and I found my favorite place to go. read more

The positives I have about this restaurant was the ability to get a reservation for 6 on a Saturday night and it's BYOB. Cafe Michelina has been on my list to try for awhile now and what a let down. From the outside and first glance inside, it was typical, hole in the wall Italian restaurant, but it is not your typical friendly one. As soon as our table was sat down, we were rushed to order apps and entrees, even though we asked for a few more minutes. Once we received our entrees, it was pitiful looking. I do not recommend the Chicken Michelina- it was literally boiled, rubbery chicken and raw mushrooms swimming in sauce. My friends got the chicken special that was also drenched in sauce and beyond salty. Then, we wanted to get a birthday candle for our friend and the waiters words were "it's just everyone's birthday tonight, that doesn't seem possible" made our table pretty uncomfortable, including him continuing to ask where we're going out later that night. As soon as our birthday candle came out, we were served the check. There was no asking if anyone else wanted dessert, coffee, etc. The waiter proceeded to tell a group that just walked in that he would ensure our table was gone within 10 minutes. We sat for less than 90 minutes at Cafe Michelina. We have never felt so rushed out by a restaurant. Be wary of your check and the prices that they charge you. I would never recommend here to anyone. read more

Best in NJ. Fantastic food and big portions. As soon as you walk in you are treated like family. Bring friends or family - will be a great time and great atmosphere. read more