I have been here 4 times and have noticed a trend - the quality varies greatly depending on what you order. It seems like the kitchen lacks quality control. There is always one person in our party who is unhappy because their food is awful. The first time I went with my family everyone loved their entries but my puttanesca was drenched in salt and inedible.The next time my parents ordered a ravioli special which resembled rubber and was hard to cut and chew but my entree was perfect. The restaurant is cute and the service is okay. read more

Made a reservation for 4 on a Wednesday evening at 7PM. We arrived at 7:10 and were initially told it could be 10-15 minutes. 15-20 minutes later we were told it would be at least another 25 minutes but we had to ask to find this out. They obviously gave our table away! They took my cell# when I made the res but did not call to let us know and were not going to apparently. It was embarrassingly awkward for us and our dining partners. We did not stay to stand around outside and not be addressed or spoken to. Montclair has plenty of other options where they know us and treat us far better than this experience! One star was not earned on this day, they did not honor our reservation. read more

We love Da Pepo! Everything we've had is delicious. My daughter eats every piece of pasta on her plate. Not inexpensive but well worth it for the quality of the ingredients. Other people have commented on al dente pasta and under par service. We just asked for the pasta well cooked and don't expect over chatty pleasantries. We've never had any bad experiences in about 5 times of eating there. You can buy really delicious finishing olive oil by the bottle. read more

Excellent lunch with a good friend today. Everything from salad thru entree to lemon tart dessert was fantastic. Definite do-over. Only negative was the $30. parking ticket for being longer than 1 hour. Since parking nearby was mostly By Permit Only, hopefully store owners will try to get town to get 1 hr changed to 2 hrs. U cant enjoy this delicious food in 1 hr. read more

The food is outstanding , as is the service and atmosphere. Chef Orrico is one of the absolute best chefs in Jersey. The food is fresh and pastas are all homemade. The prices are also very good . I have never had a bad experience. read more

Very wonderful outdoor seating and atmosphere. Accommodating my vegan ways and my friend (nonvegan) loved her meal. Will be back to taste the vegan ice cream. If it's as good as their mozzarella I can't wait. Actually, will order some right now. read more

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This place is great! Its located in a bookstore but dont let that detract you. The food is amazing. The menu online seems innocuous but they have many specials that rotate and are made with fresh ingredients. The service was very good as well. Our waitress was friendly and after we ordered many small dishes she paced them well. We will definitely be back and cant wait for it. read more

This one of the best restaurants in town. Dinner menu never disappoints, always something new to try. Reservations are required for dinner! read more

This is my brand new yummy spot Every time I come home there's a new place to try I like to give them a while, I'm just not the band wagon type! One of the best salads I've had in a while forget which one maybe Farro? but it had arugula corn heirloom tomato it's nuts! I also had the Gnocchi absolutely divine what I like most everything is fresh and CLEAN and WELL SEASONED even their chicken is bell and Evans which I will try later! Very very good family owned good vibes operated! But the iced tea #notsomuch other than that? Mizz Penwah is #isallaboutit read more

Tasty regular and special items. I had a sausage, potato spinach soup. Hearty but just a tad too much salt. Olive oil they serve with bread is deliciously infused with pepper, sage and something else. Sinatra gently croons over the hifi. A welcome addition to Watchung Plaza. Service was a bit slow but place is casual so just a 1/2 star penalty for that. Will return. read more

Da Pepo - Home made tiramsu. Very nice. - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

Great food & great waiting staff however was super turned off by the terrible greeting of either the owner or manager. Not only was she head down in her phone but also when she did pick her head up just to say "kitchen opens at 5" and then when we asked her a question she completely ignored us and proceeded to the kitchen. Again, good food but as a business owner just super turned off by the service from the owner herself. Or manager. read more

Everything here is made with care. I don't think you can go wrong with anything at Da Pepo, but I would suggest going with the specials. I've eaten here for dinner but have heard lunch is also great read more

Finally got to try this spot with a friend. Unbelievably good quality. Our pasta dishes were delicious and fresh tasting. I wish they would give larger portions though for the prices they charge. Very expensive for dishes with no meat in them. But the taste is so good. read more

I had been looking at the menu and daily specials for the last couple of weeks. I finally pulled the trigger and ordered. Boy was I glad I did! The bruschetta was outstanding - ramp pesto, whipped ricotta and baby tomatoes on a fantastic hunk of bread! So delicious! There were 2 very significant pieces....would have been plenty for a meal for 1. Next was the special pasta - Spaghettini with anchovies, capers, hot peppers, garlic with a sprinkeling of toasted bread crumbs. This dish was excellent! The flavors were perfect and I was so genuinely happy with my choice. Thanks to all the Da Pepo staff for helping making this girl very happy during these uncertain Coronavirus days. What a lovely meal. read more

Big points for the regularly updated special menu, which gives you interesting options like wild boar ragu. In the Before Times it could be a challenge to get a table, as there are maybe 20 seats. Nowadays they're offering family meal takeaway, which has very generous portions and affordable prices. Some of the menu items have one too many ingredients, so I go for the simple things and it doesn't disappoint. read more

The food is amazing! You will not be disappointed with any dish on the menu. I have followed Carl from each restaurant he has ever owned and love every dish he makes. If you go and they have "malfatas " on the special menu be sure to order them, it's the most delicious meal you ever will have! Oh and the atmosphere is such a plus, who doesn't love a book store? read more

Fantastic food! Everything on the menu is delicious. Give it a shot you won't be disappointed.

I wish we could have experienced the food.. when we came, it was not a busy weekday night around dinner time- 7/7:30. We were greeted and told that a table would be ready for us right away. There were several open tables that just needed to be cleaned. So we stood, awkwardly hovering over other guests near the doorway (because there's no where else to stand) for not 5, not 10 but for 20 minutes. No further eye contact. Nothing to even acknowledge our existence. Even after we asked about a table again, we were brushed off. Meanwhile, the empty tables were still...empty. Needless to say we walked out, and will never return. They clearly wanted to shut down for the night. We were happy to take our $ elsewhere. read more

This was an amazing experience! The food was delicious and the atmosphere is very cozy. The wait staff is very warm and friendly. I had the kale caesar salad, and the pork ragu. The kale caesar was wrapped in a big crouton, which is in the photo below, and it was amazing! The ragu was flavorful and aromatic. I thoroughly recommend coming here, and I hope your experience is as wonderful as mine! read more

Da Pepo - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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wow! i've never been more disrespected by the staff in my life.....i've been there before on multiple occasions but when i even made a reservation, they had my table late and then sat me outside and then BLAMED me for not specifying i needed to sit inside. i wouldn't eat here again after being mistreated like that. awful. there's so many better italian resturants in the area that won't blame customers! read more

My husband and I love Da Pepo. We adore all the waitstaff and appreciate the wonderful specials they always have. In fact, I believe the last several times we've dined there, we've ordered only from the specials menu. They are so accommodating with our baby whether he is in our stroller or a high chair. The food is like none other in Montclair. read more

Very surprised to find this little gem hiding inside a book store. Yup. Apps are great - I had two beet salads cuz the first was gone in five seconds. the bruschetta w/ onions/blue cheese was excellent as well. Re: Pasta, seems to be hit or miss. Very fresh ingredients, shrimp cooked to perfection, but the porcini ravioli sauce could use a makeover. was a bit bland. Other than that, the orechiette w/ sausage was excellent, as was the spaghettini w/ shrimp/clams in fra diavolo. Will definitely be back. read more

Fantastic! A wonderful - real- Italian bistro. We had the gazpacho, zucchini blossoms and the pasta special. My son loved his fresh pasta with tomato sauce and tiramisu. A table outside is the perfect thing. read more

I've dined in for dinner and had pickup during COVID The food is good, not great. Honestly, I think they get good food reviews because they're just so few Italian restaurants in the area any more, I don't count pizzeria as restaurant :) It's a cute place, a little on the cramped side but nothing we haven't experienced in the part of the world. However the service and attitudes in my 2 experience have been terrible. Our server was busy with another 2 or possibly 3 tables, she was actually abrasive! We were in no rush so we ordered starters while we decided main course. Despite being very small and waving several times, it took our server a good 30 minutes to come back for our order. Weeks passed and now in middle of COVID I decide lets try pickup. First attempt line was busy for a good 15 minutes, I get through and got told order would be ready in 2 hours, it was late so I decline. Try again knowing the lead time and they are busy, place an order for 2. They say 45 minutes! Great! get there and waited over an hour! They obviously lost the order. A F'ing hour and not a word about not misplacing the order or apology and ask to come back later. Nope, every 10 minutes the waitress would walk by and say they are working on it! A total of an hour and 45 minutes it took to boil water and throw some pasta together. And not even the time to apologize. Montclair has way to many choices to be treated like this I highly recommend not trying da Peppo, there is better food, friendlier service and better value out there read more

This is where you go when you want pasta for dinner and tiramisu for dessert. The gnocchi is the best I've ever had. read more

Looked fun, interesting menu, 5 pm and all tables are empty. Decided to try them on the spare of the moment. I was told in the rudest way possible that they couldn't possibly seat me for 3 hours. The person stating this couldn't be bothered to look up to even see I was alone. No pleasantries, no sorry, no explanation of why they didn't have a table when it was 5pm and all their tables were empty. I would be shocked if they had a full set of 530 reservations. No offer of take out. Just rude. They really need to rethink their attitude. I will never go back, will tell everyone who asks to avoid them. read more

For the same reason as the low ratings on here for Da Pepo, I was also ready to leave the restaurant before eating because of poor treatment by the staff. I'm glad I didn't. This restaurant is one of the best hidden secrets of Montclair. The precision in the food preparation truly feels like the food is coming out from your home kitchen. The meatballs are juicy and cooked well. The pastas are blended with different ingredients that make them stand ourrom other Italian restaurants. They even have drinks imported straight from Sicily. I am so excited to bring all my friends and family here, but I truly hope the staff stops getting so overwhelmed and starts treating all their costumers the same. No one likes waiting around, feeling like they are being overlooked and underserved. read more

I can't say enough good things about Da Pepo. We've gotten their family meal kits a dozen times, a la carte takeout every other week, and dined outside a handful of times since Covid started. I've yet to have a meal that was less than exceptional. Their meal kits feed 2 adults (who both eat) and two ravenous children for dinner, with leftover pasta to go with dinner the next day. The chicken piccata is a favorite of mine, and the arancini are a must have as well. If ordering a la carte, we almost always order from the specials - the bruschettas and pastas are fantastic! Oh and the kale Caesar salad is amazing! The takeout is always ready on time and they are very conscientious about their covid precautions! Support this Watchung Plaza gem! read more

Incredible spot right next to the Watchung Ave train station. Awesome atmosphere and every meal has been a deliciously authentic Italian experience. read more

Food was delicious but way too much salt. It's unfortunate because the flavors, quality and execution were there, but it was hard to taste anything because the food was so salty! To the chef/owners, please ease up on the salt..we'd love to come back and try it again! read more

Adding an update.. while I haven't reserved a table or attempted to since the last review, the quality of food here continues to be top notch and one of the few local restaurants looked forward to by my international-palated teenagers. The soups are nuanced and interesting, the pastas tender, flavorful and thoughtfully plated. read more

Da Pepo - The kale caesar - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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We love this quaint family owned restaurant! Try the Orrechietta Barese. It is wonderful!

Came here today with my mom for lunch since we were both in the area and I have to say that the food was amazing. Super delicious and would definitely return. I didn't want to give anything less than a five star review because of how much I loved the food and the atmosphere of this place. however, unfortunately, the service is not the best. I could tell that the girl in the front was a bit overwhelmed but when she had free time, instead of checking on her tables, she stood behind the counter. other than that, she ran around profusely and didn't even pick her head up to see if anyone needed anything. My mother and I sat for about 25 minutes trying to get her attention so that we can wrap up our food and after we finally got her attention we still waited another 10 minutes for her to wrap our food. We asked for the check, another 15 minutes. And this is no exaggeration. At this point, I started feeling a little bit annoyed because I had to leave to be somewhere. and I myself am a server and would never criticize another person but it was a little bit disappointing considering the place was so good. I think that the servers just need more training or even some more staff working. other than that I would like to see that this place was great and I'd love to return read more

Lovely little spot next to a great bookstore. Great homemade Italian cuisine. Went here with the family and was very pleased with how everything came out. Delicious espresso and desserts as well! read more

Small neighborhood restaurant with limited menu (e.g., salads, panini, pasta) but service is very good and food is excellent.

This is our favorite restaurant in Montclair. Pasta is homemade and the ingredients are all fresh. Pre-Covid we ate here at least once a month. I hope they survive the pandemic and come back better than ever! read more

Very nice vegetarian options, a few vegan options. Roasted cauliflower lentil soup was delicious, as was the creative salad with apples, pomegranate, brussel sprouts, candied pecans, and butternut squash. read more

Food was delicious but the service left a bad taste in our mouths. Soon after we had received the check, the manager asked us to hurry up with paying in order to seat other customers. We had only been there for around 45 minutes and almost all of the other customers had been there before us. Seeing as they do not take reservations, to rush paying customers still finishing their drinks seemed very rude. read more

Super cute local restaurant with delicious Italian food. I highly recommend it. We've been ordering the take out for two at least 2x/week and look forward to what they serve each time. They give generous portions and the food always taste fresh. Highly recommend! read more

The porchetta panini - heaven !! Great bread with a nice crumb, inspired combination of ingredients. Wish I had room for a second.