I had ordered clams which looked like they were broken open and not steamed open and they did become sick on them. Other said that their food was cold or undercooked. This is not Don Pepe. It's been sold to someone at a younger section of Newark so are you looking for a dumb peppers? It sure is an in Pine Brook. I do not recommend it. read more

Don Pepe II - Paella A La Valenciana - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

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Delicious Portuguese cuisine with abundant portions and fairly formal, but not stiff, service. The Paella Valencia was huge, as they often are, and delicious, with plenty of shellfish in the dish as well as other accouterments. Also, we had a Chilean sea bass dish that was excellent. For appetizers, we had the Clams Casino, which were spectacular, and the Octopus Gallega, which was somewhat of a miss, seemed a bit overcooked and lacking in the nice spicing that makes this such a special dish. Overall, a very solid dining experience and would recommend. read more

Don Pepe never disappoints! Their food is absolutely amazing, and the prices are very reasonable for the quality and service you receive. I ordered a calamari to go, and the bartender (a super friendly guy) was fantastic. He was incredibly nice and even threw in a huge piece of bread--easily 10 inches long! Definitely enough for leftovers, which was a nice surprise. The little details like this make the experience even better. I'll definitely be back! read more

I absolutely loved the food and drinks. The sangria could have been better and the only downside is they serve everything but soda in a pitcher. Service was great and attentive to a party over 10 people. And if I said it once I'll say it again food is delicious. read more

Don Pepe II - Camarones en Salsa de Ajo - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

Food: My honey and I decided on having lunch at an authentic Spanish restaurant since we haven't had that type of food in a really long time. First off, I have to say that the portions at this restaurant are absolutely humongous! My boyfriend ordered the sirloin steak (Entrecot a la Gallega) and I really was surprised to see such huge piece of beef on his plate. I actually thought that he had received the wrong order. I asked the waiter if that was the correct entree. The menu didn't say how many ounces the steak would be so I just thought that for that price the steak would have been on the smaller side. The waiter told us that it was no mistake. All of those steaks are actually about 2 1/2 pounds, roughly 38 to 40 ounces. Mind you, the entrée was only $44 and it included three sides that were served family style to share with me. I was in disbelief! My entrée was was also a good size considering the price. I had four chicken cutlets in garlic sauce which came with the three sides that I shared with my boyfriend. That entrée was only $27. Can't beat that. My boyfriend's steak was cooked medium rare. I had some and it was really flavorful. My chicken was tasty. For me, the sauce had a little bit of a "kick" to it though my daughter said she didn't notice any spice to it. I guess I'm just very sensitive. I'm like a delicate flower. LOL! We had so much food left over that we were able to feed the kids when we got home and still have leftovers for the next day. My boyfriend and I enjoyed everything we ate there from the appetizers to the desserts! The high point of the meal for me was the Crab Cakes. They were definitely one of the best I've had, and I've had many. Of course I also had a glass of sangria. How can you go to a Spanish restaurant and not have sangria!? It was very good as well. Service: Our waiters and bus people were very attentive to us. The manager even came to our table and chatted with us a bit. Also, when we were seated, a little black rack was placed next to me so that I could hang my pocketbook on it. I had never seen this anywhere. I thought this was really convenient and wish they had this at other places. Ambiance: Typical Spanish music was piped in the restaurant, mostly instrumental. Some of it was in the flamenco style. It fit the theme and decor of the dining room. I enjoyed looking at the murals on the walls because it reminded me of my many trips to Spain as a child and young adult. Ahhh....the good ole days. Final impressions: I definitely will be returning back to this location in the future. My mom has been asking me to take her to eat paella and I think that this will be the perfect spot to bring her! read more

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Excellent service and quality of food. We enjoyed the fried calamari appetizer. It was cooked EXACTLY the way I wanted it - crispy and tasty. The complimentary bread was wonderful too. Everyone enjoyed their meals. My daughter had the 8oz filet, no seasoning and she ate most of it. I had the paella and it could have easily been shared between three people. Entrees came with rice, broccoli and chips to share. Dessert looked good, I didn't have any but all other guests at the table said it was delicious. My decaf cappuccino was incredible. We can't wait to come back for lunch! read more

Don Pepe II - Paella Valenciana - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

Took mom out for a special lunch again and it didn't disappoint! We went at around 11:30 on Saturday and arrived shortly after they opened. We were seated right away and our service was superb throughout. I love that their servers are professionals (older men verse kids) and they work in teams so there's always someone to fill your water, clear plates, etc.. we LOVE their bread & butter. Crust is just crispy enough and bread so fresh and soft. Real good Portuguese bread! My mom had seafood mariscata in red sauce, my spouse had seafood paella and I had scallops and mashed potatoes from specials menu. EVERYTHING was excellent! 2/2 the mariscata and paella came home as leftovers and was just as good re-heated. The paella rice with seafood "juice" / broth is amazing! My scallops were perfectly grilled. Simple yet delicious! Overall we had an excellent lunch although slightly more pricy than our average lunch spot - mom is turning 94 so worth it!! read more

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The porterhouse steak was the best steak I ever had! Pricey but worth every penny! The Chorizo appetizer is a must try also! read more

Don Pepe II - USDA Prime Porterhouse!! Amazing!! - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

I have looked forward to dinners at Don Pepe in Montville for years. Went for dinner with family on Sunday. The menu was not the same. That raised a alarm. The offerings were different. The menu is now heavy on steaks and lobster. The Portuguese offering are minimal. I always order Paella. It is a pain to make correctly at home. Then the seafood paella arrived to the table. The lobster was cold, the rice was watery and starchy. Needless to say, it was horrible. To their credit the pricy steaks served were good. The service was good and the staff friendly. Therefore the two stars. They act like a five star restaurant, switching out the silverware; without training or understanding a a five star restaurant. If you are good with lobster or steak, you might enjoy the restaurant. If you are desiring a Portuguese meal, avoid this restaurant. read more

I went there for lunch and the place was literately empty, I have eaten multiple times here and they did not want to let me in because I was wearing shorts. A bald guy was super rude, and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I ended up leaving as they didn't really want to accommodate me. Horrible attention, sad because in the past I had good experiences. read more

Un cookeed food been coming to this place for over 20 years often having business lunches and dinners. I have however notice changes within the pass three months. The food simple not having the taste that it once had and the portions being cut back by a lot. As well as an increase in prices. Today I decided to give it one last try just to make sure. My go to plate is always garlic chicken with rice. I decided to take it home this time and share with the family. As I sat and bite into the first piece of chicken a rush of a liquid covered the interior of my mouth. I subsequently discovered that I just had swilled a large amount of blood. The chicken was not cooked. Completely terrible, I examined the other pieces and found the other pieces not cooked also raw. I ate the rice and threw out the chicken will never return I did reach out to management simple to advise but nothing positive was said other than ok. read more

Don Pepe II - Un cooked garlic chicken, bloody which filled my mouth - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

Took 25 minutes for server to even stop by There was sand in one of the appetizers After a slow start, they tried to rush the clean up. Not yet finished and bus crew taking plates away. This was once a favorite go to but after the re-fresh it now disappoints read more

Honestly the food was delicious service and staff were very friendly and helpful drinks were very good the Shrimp and garlic delicious and the slice chorizo were amazing cook to perfection read more

Don Pepe II - Mojito - Spanish Near Me - Pine Brook, New Jersey

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We were there this thanksgiving and I was impressed. The service was good. The ambience wasn't like that of a date night but the food was amazing and expensive. For starters We had pulpo a la gallega, in the main course was paella a la valenciana, and langosta Al horno . Everything came with complimentary bread and butter. I just have one thing to say " will visit again". read more

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Great food. Service is slow, but it probably is typical for any authentic European restaurant. We had garlic shrimp, fried calamari, and Spanish sausage for appetizers. They are all very good. Seafood paella is very good. Garlic Chicken is very tasty. I wish they give us more chips. For dessert we had tiramisu, cheesecake, flan, and coconut flan. They are all good. There is a huge party room. We came here for a rehearsal dinner years ago. Overall a very great dining experience. read more

Excellent tasting food and very attentive service. The garlic soup was outstanding. Great flavor and served at the right temperature. The 3 lb. steamed lobster was unbelievably tender, tasty and perfectly prepared. The seafood Valencia was just as good. The red sangria (as always) was great. No room for dessert on this visit. Easy parking. After all these years of this restaurant being here, it's nice to see the service and quality of the food and beverage has not deteriorated. read more

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Delicious food as always & and excellent service. My husband & I drank red sangria & shared the fried calamari. For dinner I had the filet mignon medallions with mushroom sauce & my husband had the veal Marsala, both were so good & plenty of food. Came with vegetables, saffron rice & sliced potatoes. Valet parking, no fee you just tip what you're comfortable with. The restaurant is clean & dimmed lighting which is romantic & comfortable. read more

Great food and great service. They know what they are doing. Haven't had a bad meal here in ages.

Have not been in awhile, but decided to go last week. I have been going there for as long as I can remember , but my visit last week was an extreme disappointment! Looked thru the menu online as i always so and knew what I wanted. However, when we arrived we found place was a little different, a little brighter, but the food was no where near the same and the menu was completely different from online. The quality of food was not the same, even their sangria was more like fruit punch and Don Pepe always had great sangria. On a Friday night, usually filled but many many empty tables.Found out they are new owners same as the one renovating the steakhouse down the street. I definitely will not go back ! read more

The food was delicious! Our waiter, MIGUEL was FANTASTIC! He was very attentive and made us feel as though we were the only ones there!

This place deserves 0 stars but it won't let me choose 0. I haven't been here in over 25 years, and there's a reason why. Only went because I was invited to a birthday celebration. Not one person enjoyed their meal. This is on my list as the worst meal I ever had. Food is terrible and overpriced. I ordered the grilled octopus appetizer for $26 and I couldn't eat it. It was slimy and tasteless. They brought me the wrong dinner entree, which I was lucky because another person at the table got my order and he said it was disgusting. It was swordfish and it was bad..the smell was awful. The veal dish was also inedible. I don't know why this place continues to be packed. People must not know good food. Service is terrible. Staff is rude. They look annoyed with any request. Much better choices in the area. Pass on Don Pepe II. read more

We have been going to Don Pepe II for the last 8 years on or around Valentine's Day. This year on Thursday after. We were pleasantly surprised that they had a Spanish guitar player and Flamenco dancer! They were great. Our food was very good as always. We started with Clams Casino which were excellent. My honey had the Twin Stuffed lobster, while a little pricey, well worth it on this special occasion. I had the Seafood Paella. Soooo much food. The seafood was done perfectly. Tender and delicious. And as always the Chips! My only disappointment, no more Tortoni for dessert. While there are some changes, I think the food was the same high quality it has always been. The atmosphere a step up. Enjoy! read more

I am so disappointed with the new owner. This was my favorite place for many years, not any longer. The portions are smaller, the food is executed poorly, over salted and not prepared like before. We also used to be able to park ourselves, now valet is required all the time. my car was parked right by the entrance, could've gotten it myself!! read more

This is my second time coming here and only because it was for my aunts 60th birthday. I told my family before hand that i had food poisoning from this place about 2 years ago but decided we would go because my aunt wanted Paella. Got there and from the beginning the staff was rude and seemed annoyed accommodating a party of 16. The food and service was horrible and don't understand why this place is always packed. they gave my husband the wrong fish dish which was tasteless with no flavor. My mother had the veal which was just tasted like brandy poured on top. She is bathroom with diarrhea now... We asked bartender to take a picture of all of us as we were leaving and he seemed annoyed and was rude just like everyone else there. overall, bad service, overpriced tasteless food! Don't have any pics to post as it wasn't a memory i want to remember. read more

I've been going to Don Pepe's II in Pinebrook since the 1990s. But after my last Don Pepe's II experience, I will never go back again. I received a gift certificate of $150 as a gift, so I went to Don Pepe's to use it. When I went up to the bar and presented the gift certificate, the bar tender tells me that that I have to spend the whole $150. Anything I don't spend I would lose. I spoke to the manager about the gift certificate issue. To say the least he did not provide any help. He actually said that the reason why I would lose any money not spent on the gift certificate that day is because he ran out of gift certificates. I asked him if could he just cross off the original amount and put the amount not used in it's place with a signature verifying the new amount? He said he could not do that. Is he kidding? Do the words theft, or fraud mean anything to him? How about thief or con artist? Does that ring a bell for him? Here's the deal with gift certificates. Someone pays a restaurant money for a gift certificate, then the person who comes in the restaurant at a later date who holds the give certificate gets that entire amount in food and service. If there is anything left over on the gift certificate, a new gift certificate for the remaining amount is given to that person to use at a later date. If you don't honor the entire amount of the gift certificate for all it's worth, then that's STEALING. That manager is no better than an employee stealing money out of the cash register. So to the manager at Don Pepe's II. The restaurant had a loyal customer since the 1990s who spent thousands of dollars there over the years and would have continued in the future, but because of a few lousy bucks you did not want to make good on, this loyal customer will take his business and money elsewhere. Nice going buddy. Way to run a business. read more

Food was very good. The waiter Followed my daughters outside c/o about the tip No class in my book , I won't be back read more

Been going to this restaurant since it opened. Back then it was as good as Down Neck. That was then, what we encountered yesterday was disappointing and sad. There was a large party 20+ in the back and all servers were paying attention to it . . . not to anyone else. Took too long to order, we asked "a bald guy" who was standing by our table regarding a dish and he gave us incorrect information. Expensive without reason. Their "signature" dish (at least it used to be) shrimp in garlic sauce, the shrimp weren't cooked enough, the garlic sauce was pedestrian at best. The Chorizo sausage was bland, darnit! I had the Mariscada in Green and the scallops/shrimp were tasteless, the mussels had a very strong (unappealing) flavor. Lobster was rubbery, the clams were good. The yellow rice was good, the Halibut/shrimp special was a good choice and the salmon was good. The Snapper though, was inedible. It was a crime scene, tough, chewy, DRY . . . we could not imagine a chef would have even let it out of the kitchen. And we had to wave down a waiter TWICE to get water (which matters when consuming garlic-based food, right?). This used to be a solid restaurant, now only the memory is good, what a shame. read more

My father introduced us to Don Pepe Steakhouse years ago and we loved it. In-fact after he died we celebrated his birthday thereevery year till covid. My uncle brought me a gift certificate for Christmas last year and they closed shortly after the new year. I went Don Pepe and they refused to honor the gift certificate. A bad move on their part as I have patronized both for years. I will no longer patronize any of their properties and will further make sure I spread the word to my family friends and acquaintences. A big bomb of a policy and I'll be sure to pass the word on. read more

We came here for my moms birthday and a wonderful time. We made reservations and we were accommodated quickly. We got the Sangria Pitcher which was ok. For appetizers we got the calamari, red bean soup, octopus and sausages. The calamari was terrific, the octopus could've been cooked a little more, sausages were good too. For dinner, the lobster special 100000000/10 it's a must! The steak was well prepared and the chicken was falling off the bone. For dessert we had the cheesecake and carrot cake which were very good!! I would definitely come back. read more

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A lot has changed since the last time I was at Don Pepe 2. The restaurant has a fresh and bright, new look. The staff was extremely friendly and were very attentive. The menu has also changed a bit since my last visit. The waiter was helpful with the knowledge of the menu and answered any questions we had. My child has many allergies and he made sure she was taken care of. The food was delicious and I can't wait to go back! read more

Service was great.. not overbearing but always there for you. They were happy to answer all our questions. The food was phenomenal.. I could not put my fork down Can't wait to go back read more

Don Pepe has been around for years. The positive is that their food is consistently prepared and you know the favorite dish that you always order will taste and look the same as it did in the past, which is a positive. They have their own parking lot and offer Valet parking as it can be a walk to the door. Reservations are recommended for large parties, but they do have plenty of tables. My favorites are the Garlic Shrimp and Stuffed Lobster. If they offer the Chilean Sea Bass on the menu or as a special, I highly recommend ordering that as well. Delicious! read more

Great bartenders Place is tired so is food I ordered veg paella-starchy yellow rice with some veg thrown in Not real paella Service was fair Guitar player was talented but really loud He was playing in the dining room He did drown out the bad ambiance however Heard they are redoing the place That should be on the menu read more

Not the 1st time here. Probably the 3rd...always delicious food & good service. Tonight was my little cousin 24th birthday. We had an array of appetizers & fresh hot bread. Never disappointed when eating here. I ordered the kids chicken tenders which were so light & not greasy. We ordered the surf & turf & 3 lobster dinners. Also a pasta with shrimp & clams. A dessert was brought out for my cousin & they sang happy birthday. A great dinner. I think my only complaint would be a perfectly cooked medium rare steak with no seasoning. It had no flavor. Everything else was up to standard. I will continue to eat here & suggest them to others. read more

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We went there to have the Paella but it was so bland and lacked any flavor what so ever . The clams appetizers were ok .

Took my parents to dinner at Don Pepe II for their 60th wedding anniversary. We did not leave disappointed. Wonderful meal. Service was professional. Garlic shrimp appetizer left my mom wishing she knew how to make it. Huge one-pound lobster tails - sweet and delicious. Surf and turf was perfect. You get nice portions. Prices reasonable. A meal befitting a special occasion. read more

If I could give this place Zero stars, I would, but Yelp doesn't let you. Anyway, I came to this restaurant last Thursday night with my family. I was really looking forward to this dinner. We ordered two appetizers - the fried calamari, which was good and the shrimp. Then came the main courses. I ordered the pasta with seafood (clams, mussels and shrimp). My mother's caretaker came with us, too, and she ordered the grilled salmon, which she shared with me. The food, I thought, wasn't very remarkable, but that was all about to change after dessert. After we shared a few desserts, I started to feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I excused myself and went to the men's room, where there are no toilet seat liners, and had the most violent and explosive diarrhea imaginable. This went on for about twenty minutes. My family paid the bill and were getting ready to leave, but checked in on me, and I needed more time till I felt human. I spoke to our waiter and mentioned that the pasta dish made me sick. His response: "That's surprising". I left and barely made it home in clean clothes. I was up all night with stomach pains, followed by some very concerning tell-tale signs that resulted in me going to the ER, the next morning, where I spent five hours of my life. The doctor's diagnosed me with Colitis. While I was sitting on the gurney in the hallway, I learned that my mother's caretaker was violently ill, last night, too. It must have been that "delicious" grilled salmon. After getting home, I called the restaurant and spoke to the manager, who was apologetic and said he would talk to the owner and get back to me. That was three days ago. I'm not holding my breath, and nor would I go back to this establishment. Avoid at all costs! read more

food is amazing, service was great. Very good prices. Best shrimp in garlic sauce in the world. I will definitely recommend

I found that the negative reviews on Yelp are totally inconsistent with my long experience at this fabulous restaurant. We eat there 1-2 times per month, no one has ever gotten sick and the food is consistently excellent. The service is attentive, the portions enormous, the refillable sides amazing and the sangria to die for. read more

This place has no vegan options. The waiters are very difficult to talk to, they have no idea what is in they dishes. I asked for no onions in my dish and they brought it full of onions. When I sent it back, the waiter rolled his eyes and had a terrible attitude for the rest of our stay. ‍ They won't let you take dessert to go. read more