Excellent meal and low key, attentive service. From start to finish, beginning with the wonderful focaccia the meal was delicious. My friend and I shared 3 small plates, shishito peppers, pork belly and chicken liver mousse, and a main dish hangar steak. Everything was beautifully plated, including the steak with fingerlings which they split for us before serving. All of this was wrapped up in a low key, comfortable dining room suitable for date night. Definitely going back! read more

One of the best meals in NJ. The food is reasonably priced and super high quality at this Italian byob. I recommend any seafood course:oysters, octopus and scallops were all excellent. The oysters were briny and tasted just like the ocean. I failed to get a picture of the octopus but it was very tender and served with potatoes and cherry tomatoes. My mom raved about the scallops, which were cooked perfectly and served on a bed of fresh corn and peas. It's a light main course and goes well with their rosemary foccacia (bread doesn't come free, order it eparately). The pastas are excellent too. The portions are generous and the squid ink pappardelle is topped with shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce. The housemade fusilli is served in a rich oxtail sauce. The meat has been braised for hours, so it literally melts in your mouth. The restaurant is short staffed (I think there was only had one waiter for the entire dining room) but still provided exceptional service, ensuring water glasses were filled and dirty dishes cleared. Overall a terrific dining experience! read more

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Great service, very pretty and modern interior decor, food was up to par! No need to go to Manhattan for a descent restaurant. read more

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I really tried to give this place a chance but unfortunately there were too many things that were disappointing. Biggest issue was the portion size for an appetizer or dinner was what you would get with a tasting menu. I was so hungry after, I had to fill up on bread. The corn ravioli was so tiny (we ordered as an appetizer), the octopus was overcooked and mushy, and my fish was dry and bland but thankfully the pork chop my husband got was really good although small as well. The reviews I read were great but this night was not a good experience for us. read more

This place was good, but not dying to go back. Some of the dishes were tasty, but nothing blew us away. For appetizers we tried the focaccia bread, wagyu beef tartare, beet salad, and oysters. Our favorites were the beet salad and oysters, which were delicious. The beef tartare was too salty and had an off texture. We also split some of the pastas, which were all homemade. We tried the ricotta gnocchi and rigatoni. The pastas were just OK. For entrees we tried the hangar steak, branzino, and scallops. The scallops were delicious as was the branzino. The risotto that came with the branzino was not cooked properly. The sides that came with the hangar steak were not fully cooked either. The flavor for the steak and branzino was great. Overall we were satisfied with the food and enjoyed our meal. read more

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The restaurant was nice and the service was quick. However, I was really disappointed with how small the portion for the octopus was. The portion size wouldn't have been that tiny even at a restaurant in nyc! I also ordered the squid ink pasta which was pretty bland and they only gave me as little as 6 shrimp. read more

Gioia Mia - Squid Ink Pasta - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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The service and staff is consinstantly lovely and on point. We have been here four times and the food is overall high quality and prepared well.The pork chop one week was thickly sliced like a steak and incredibly delicious but the next week was slightly undercooked and came as a chop.Nowhere as good. We we're here on a Friday with a foursome.looking for a nice elegant dinner to catch up we were quickly surrounded by 3 large groups of women including a table of 10 obnoxiously loud drunk partygoers.We could not hear ourselves think and gave up trying to converse after the apps. All of us left with a headache and a bd taste in our mouths because as we were leaving through the foyer most of the very quiet front room was EMPTY ‍ Why they would fill the room with large loud groups I cannot figure it out. Never go on a weekend.It will be a while for us to return-too many other considerate places to spend your $$$$ on. read more

I selfishly hate posting these reviews because I am giving away one of my secrets. Montclair has many good BYOB restaurants however, for me, Gioia Mia is one of the best. If you know the Montclair food scene you would understand how tall of a statement this is. Last night I enjoyed the Tuna Crudo, pork belly, & Chicken liver Mousse (a must try) to start. The Wild Boar Garganelli & Bucatini Pasta dishes. The Heritage Pork Chop & Braised Shrot Rib (Special) for mains. All were outstanding. I met Steven, our waiter, who I didn't recognize, turns out he is new to Gioia Mia, but clearly not new to service he was excellent and his service was top notch. Do yourself a favor and make a reservation you will not be disappointed. read more

This restaurant is now Gioia Mia and the experience is a "joy"! The menu is a fresh and seasonal array of Italian and Mediterranean dishes which are beautifully prepared and equally delicious. Service was friendly, attentive and accommodating even to our table which asked for extra decanters and wine glasses and several questions about the menu. Putting this restaurant on our short list of favs. read more

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Good friendly service, nice interior. Went for early dinner on Thurs. Not crowded. We had the focaccia and wagyu beef meatballs. Both were good. Meatballs had good texture but were alittle mild on flavor. Sauce was good - not too strong and complemented meatball nicely. I had ricotta gnocchi. These gnocchi were lighter and not dense which is how I like my gnocchi. Sauce was very flavorful and I thought was a perfect dish. My husband had lasagna rotolo which he also really liked. He particularly liked the basil pesto that was on the side which added a huge amount of flavor that you could add to your liking. Had zeppole for dessert. Overall, a great meal. read more

I have always regarded this Montclair establishment as a high end dining experience. It saddens me to downgrade it by a full star. But after two meals there within the last several months, I am convinced that changes should be made to elevate it once again. The service was beyond slow. Our first course (only three of four of us ordered) took 45 plus minutes. Our entrees took another 50 plus minutes. So having sat at 7:30, placed our orders around 7:50, we didn't eat our main entree until 9:35. Our waitress seemed a little off her game. The soup was delicious. The half pasta of squid ink rigatoni with seafood was delicious. The romaine prosciutto salad looked pretty on the plate and I was told tasted pretty good. The scallop entree was underwhelming. The mollusks themselves were tasty and tender but the accompaniments pedestrian at best. The veal tenderloin garnered good reviews from our friend. Two of us had the Black Sea bass which was not very flavorful. And the abundance of chick peas underneath the fish was clunky and not very good. It just didn't work all together. The vegetable sides were some of the best I've had in a long time. The time before this, we arrived at 8:30 and had to have our meals packed up to go as it was 10:45 by the time they arrived to our table. I don't usually harp on slow service but between declining food and surely service that needs tweaking, Fascino is slipping. I do hope they'll address some of these concerns because I really do love to come here. The civilized ambiance still garners an A+ which is why I would like to return again soon. It's not a trendy place but it always has a crowd and it always is a pleasant atmosphere. read more

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Great meal from start to finish. The DePercio family is unafraid to try new things. So they've changed the menu, offering new items and featuring more "comfort food" choices. As always, the food was excellent, prepared so that the many-layered tastes were able to show through. The mains like Bucattini, the 1/2 chicken, shrimp over risotto, and the bronzino livornaise were all excellent. We also had the aroncini (rice balls) the creamy polenta, which were outstanding. Don't skimp on dessert.... The gelato, biscotti, and zeppoli (we ordered a double, they were so good) finished a lovely meal. The service was excellent, the family welcome we received was well appreciated. On other note, the restaurant volume level was perfect, so you could actually hear each other during dinner. I hope you enjoy as much as we did. read more

This was our first time dining at Fascino. We ate inside at a table. The service was excellent - our server was attentive. The inside was rather small with tables as well as booths. All of the servers were wearing masks. For appetizers, we ordered the romaine wedge with prosciutto di parma, roasted garlic dressing, ricotta salata... I would pass on this. There wasn't much dressing and it wasn't impressive. We also ordered the mascarpone polenta fries with gorgonzola fonduta - these were amazing. The polenta was soft inside but crispy on the outside, and paired perfectly with the gorgonzola dip. For our dinner, we ordered the buttermilk baked chicken with broccolini, olive oil roasted mashed potatoes, and black truffle pesto, & the pancetta wrapped pork chop with baby eggplant, white sweet potato puree, fontina béchamel, and jus. I enjoyed the chicken but probably would try another dish next time. The pork chop was simply WOW with the fontina béchamel - this is something I will be craving to order again in the future. For dessert, we ordered the pistachio bread pudding with mascarpone whipped cream. It was so light and fluffy rather than dense. Really delicious and not too sweet either. read more

Gioia Mia - buttermilk baked chicken, broccolini, olive oil roasted mashed potatoes, black truffle pesto - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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Restaurant is at the former Fascino location with same chef and waitstaff (but new owner and renovated space). Food is as fantastic as ever! Very attentive service. The pastas are awesome. The pan seared sea scallops with smoked cauliflower is to die for. BYOB. read more

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Delicious food, waiters and staff were welcoming, restaurant was very open and soft lighted with nice ambiance

We had the pleasure of coming here for our 4 year anniversary last night! To start, they had a special theme this month as an ode to the chefs grandma and we could truly feel that in every bite! The food felt soulful and rustic - an absolute delight. Our favorites from the night were the calamari with cornmeal crust that was light and left us wanting more. The steak was also very well cooked, it was a perfect medium! The star of the show was the desert - the deconstructed cannoli cheesecake. It was fluffy and not too sweet! We will definitely be coming back again! read more

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It was a nice treat to try some place new for Valentine's Day and I'm glad we made reservations here! We were aware there was a prix fixe menu as we were able to view it online originally. Everything sounded yummy so we were ok with not having a regular menu to choose from. As an off the menu starter, the chef sent out oysters on a bed of salt and peppercorns. I don't remember which kind they were, but they were fresh and delicious! We each got to choose an app, a pasta, an entree and a dessert for $99 each. BYOB too with no cork fee! (I believe they offer a prix fixe for non holidays for $79) I mistakenly chose to go with the wagyu beef tartare and quail egg app. I was trying to be adventurous and challenge my taste buds, but this wasn't for me. Nothing wrong with the taste or freshness, it was just the texture bothered me. My hubby had the king crab and avocado bruschetta. That was delicious and loaded with crab! Next we chose the seafood pasta (casarecce verde) and the rabbit ragu (red wine tagliatelle). Again we were challenging ourselves with the rabbit and surprisingly it was pretty darn delicious. I could only eat a small portion of it though as the flavor of the spice (nutmeg?) they used starts to become overpowering. As entrees we got the bone marrow crusted beef tenderloin and the pan seared swordfish. Both dishes were delicious and our faves until we had dessert.... 50 Shades of Sweet and Baby, I'm Misunderstood.....WOW! An ambrosia pavlova and a dark truffle torte with ice cream. I have no words... Just out of this world. They ended our night with a gift of various biscotti to take home. Another scrumptious treat! Overall, they made my day more special and I certainly would come back....even if just for dessert! read more

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Overall: good, not great If they had half stars I would give it 3.5 stars Service: average, not great. The waitress didn't come by during the meal to see how we were doing. Our glasses of water were empty for awhile until the manager came by and asked how everything was and we had to ask him to refill our glass. Food Grilled octopus: the octopus was tender but a little on the salty side Polenta fries...cooked well...sauce was too creamy for me Gnocchi: signature pasta dish per the waitress...was good...sauce had a lot of flavor and the gnocchi was cooked perfectly Pappardelle bolognese...the pasta was cooked well, al dente but the sauce didn't have much flavor and didn't absorb into the pasta, so it was quite bland Dessert Chocolate lava cake: cooked well and not too sweet. The hazelnut ice cream wasn't great, was icy and had ice chips in it Ricotta filled zeppoles: take a pass on these, was too doughy and the sauce didn't taste great. read more

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If I could give it six stars I would! The atmosphere was very elegant, tables not too close together and not too loud. Great artwork all around the restaurant as well. The service was top notch, I never had to wait for a refill on water and even on a Friday night, apps/entree/dessert came in an hour, perfect timing. The food itself was outstanding. The wagyu meatballs are a must try. But the lasagna stole the show. Don't leave without someone getting it! It doesn't come out like you'd expect it to look, but the taste will blow you away. The only thing I have something to say about is the calamari, it had a little bit of an odd crunch. Still a 8.5/10, but everything else was a 10/10. And shout out to our waiter. We went for our anniversary & they gave us complimentary ice cream and a hand written card. Will definitely be back! read more

Gioia Mia - Lasagna (top) & rigatoni (bottom) - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

First time visit and was impressed. The risotto and branzino delicious. What can I say about the bread pudding??? Definitely will return. I cannot forget to give a thank you to Felipe. Every suggestion he gave us was spot on!!! read more

Gioia Mia - Entrance - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

Fascino had been on my list for a while, on a neighbor's recommendation. So glad we finally went out to dinner here! The pasta dishes here are unique and extremely tasty. I loved the arancini as well. Presentation of all the dishes was elegant. The highlight was the ricotta gnocchi - the tomato sauce in this dish was divine. The gnocchi was very light and airy, different from others I have had. Fascino's ambiance is romantically lit and closed off from the happenings of busy Bloomfield Avenue - thick curtains muffle the noise from outside and make the restaurant feel like a sanctuary from the outside world. Love that the restaurant is family-owned and the service is attentive and personal. The dishes came at the perfect pace; we didn't feel rushed but also were not twiddling our thumbs. If you are getting appetizers/desset, I'd recommend the half portion option for the pasta entrees as an individual. Those were filling enough to not feel overstuffed but still leave you very satisfied. read more

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Decided to take my boyfriend to this restaurant for his birthday and it was delicious! I had the the ravioli stuffed with pork and he had the ricotta gnocchi. The ambiance is beautiful. The staff is welcoming and warm. To top it off I ordered him a desert which was flourless chocolate torte with mango gelato which included a handwritten happy birthday card from the chef himself. So sweet! My only regrets is that I didn't know about this place sooner and I didn't order the dessert for myself. If I could give this place a 10 starts I would. 10/1000000 read more

Gioia Mia - Ravioli Del Giorno. ( The filling was Pork ) delicious. - Italian Near Me - Montclair, New Jersey

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Fabulous seasonal menu. Take your time to enjoy each course. The only mistake you could make is not ordering enough.

This is the place that used to be Fascino. Now that Ryan DePersio is gone, the menu is less innovative and more traditional Italian. Food is still very good. Burrata and Hamachi crude appetizers were fine. Ditto the bronzino, hanger steak, and pork chop. Service was cordial, but spotty (read: slow). The table next to us was actively and very loudly consuming 6 bottles of wine -- not the restaurant's fault, I know, but not consistent with the experience at these prices, which are high ($200 for 4 people before tip). Parking, as always, is a problem, made doubly so on this particular Saturday by the Montclair street fair, which the restaurant had to know about, but did not warn us. BYOB. read more

This place came so highly recommended that my expectations may have been skewed. Everything looks so much better than it actually is. The menu does a great job with their descriptions and the photos on Yelp/Instagram are better than the dishes themselves. I did enjoy the polenta fries as a big fan of polenta, but I don't feel like I have to come back here any time soon. Also, may be pandemic related but the service left a lot to be desired. read more

We had a wonderful meal! My husband and I enjoyed a delicious meal this evening. The kale salad was fresh and very tasty. The strip steak was savory and done to perfection. Thank you, Mary, Philipe and the young lady at reception. See you soon! read more

I'm writing an honest review bc I want this place to improve and succeed really badly. For the first 30 minutes we were at the restaurant I was contemplating leaving. Thankfully, once the food started coming it was so good that it fully saved the evening. The not so great stuff: The hostess appeared unpolished to the point of wearing casual, open-toed slides. For a restaurant that is trying to make a name in fine dining, and is as pricey as this one, I was surprised by this. The tone was further set when it took over five full minutes to be greeted by the server once we were seated. It became clear that this poor server was the only server for the entire restaurant on a busy Thursday evening. Amateur hour to work your staff like that. We had been waiting for 15 minutes to grab her attention to give our order, when the hostess came over and jumped in to take the order. From there our dinner was smooth sailing. The good stuff: The food was all so so good. The oysters (both types) were real standouts, as were the gnocchi, the burger and the pork chops. The coffee desert and flourless cake were both great but the coffee one is particularly impressive. The one thing that is sorely missing is a bar. For a restaurant like this, I would've loved to pair my food with good cocktails or a curated wine selection. There's even an empty bar in the restaurant! I really don't think you can be fine dining without booze, so I hope they can get on that! Otherwise, a lovely evening that started off rocky but truly saved itself! read more

Great food. Only thing I would have to say. The portions are very small for the price. Otherwise. Great place

Went downhill. Went on a Monday evening close to 6 and it was empty. No diners. Red flag. Ordered their trout and couldn't eat it. Frozen and caked in tomato sauce. Ended up ordering from Fauburg instead. Avoid. read more

What an amazing nice little gem of a restaurant! A must try! The pasta is handmade and definitely one of the best in NJ read more

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This was my first time visiting Fascino, and I'd had high hopes considering it's so well-regarded. Unfortunately, I found this place very underwhelming. My fiance and I went there on Friday night and we were told we needed to sit side- by-side in our booth due to social distancing protocols, and yet there were tables for two available where we could have sat face-to-face. Sitting next to your date in a booth is really awkward and uncomfortable, and there was no other party seated in the booth closest to us. I ordered the bronzini and my fiance got the buttermilk baked chicken. The menu does not explicitly tell customers this, but the littleneck clam stufato contains pork belly. I do not eat pork and was upset to realize this after I'd already eaten all my fish. *Fascino, PLEASE point out that the dish contains pork. I never would have ordered it if I'd known that. I generally assume if I order a plate of fish that I'm not getting any additional meat in there. The baked chicken was fine, but if you're envisioning a fully breaded chicken breast similar to upscale fried chicken, this is not the entree for you. It was just a baked breast with a small amount of the black truffle pesto crust on top. Our waiter was wonderful and very attentive and apologetic about the pork belly in my entree and couldn't have done enough to make it right. Oh, and the music wasn't great. For such a nice restaurant, maybe don't play Maroon 5. read more

We wanted to come here for a long time. Finally, we got to try the amazing food served here! Last night we went there for our anniversary. The staff was very friendly and we got to put in our order in fast (we looked up the menu online because we were nosy:D ) Both of us had the tasting menu. I attached some pictures of our food but we sadly forgot to take pictures of the octopus, the crab stuffed zuccini and our dessert - it was just too good to pause and take a picture ;) Besides that we got a really cute envelope with best wishes from the staff for our anniversary- which was a very nice detail we thought! All around a great place for a quiet date night with amazing food! You can BYO or order from a local liquor store. read more

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Very disappointed. Previous visits were great. Most recently for a special occasion we experienced an inattentive very slow server, a not so fresh meal and we were rushed out at closing. Not our fault it took forever to take our orders and bring deserts. read more

3.5 stars which is just ok in my book. I dined here before awhile ago, and I found it much better before. Tonight we ordered the kale salad and the honey nut squash soup. Both were good. For entrees we had the burrata ravioli and the black squid ink pappardelle. The burrata ravioli sounded much better than it actually was. It ended up just being ok. The black squid ink pappardelle wasn't good at all, but not horrible either. The pappardelle was a whole bunch of mushy pasta! It wasn't al dente. The sauce was flavorless and the octopus in it was mushy as well! We also order focaccia bread to go with our meal which was good. I didn't stay for dessert because the last time I ordered the bread pudding and it wasn't good all! They didn't have the crostata on the dessert menu tonight which was good! The food was much better a year ago when we previously dined here. The menu was very limited too tonight. Our waiter was great on a positive note. Overall it was just ok. But, when you dine out ok just doesn't cut it. read more

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An outstanding meal at Fascino. The focaccia bread appetizer was the best focaccia I've ever had. The meatballs were solid, although I thought the sauce and meatball could both use a touch more seasoning, my only nitpick with the meal. The lasagna was just outstanding, rivaling Don Angie's in NYC in my opinion. The gnocchi entree was also excellent. And the zeppole's for dessert were just off the charts excellent. What a great meal! read more

The meal we received did not match the price, but most importantly it did not taste good. The octopus from our appetizer was not well grilled and had gummy/slimy parts. I usually love octopus but this dish was hard to enjoy. The duck that came with my rigatoni tasted old, I wonder if they reused duck from a previous night to save money. The overall dish did not taste like much so I found the old/stale duck quite overpowering. If you're making a dish with subtle flavors and nowhere to hide, each component has to be well executed. The pork dish, while well prepared could have used a carb or some more food, it was so small, but at least tasted good. Instead of a latte, I received regular coffee with warm milk. From start to finish, very disappointing. Hope they can get their ship back into shape. Just a very sad meal. read more

The food was delicious , the plating was stunning. Everyone was very attentive to food allergies. Definitely going back.

Just as delicious if not even better than the first visit. Really enjoy this restaurant. Always tasty, beautiful presentation, preparation and service! read more

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We hadn't been here in a while so to get acquainted with them again we chose the 5 course tasting menu. Everything was fantastic. The restaurant is still very intimate and not too noisy. The staff was great as well. Could be a hair brighter in there for my taste. The food comes out perfectly timed no rush and no lapses in waiting on courses. They are BYOB as well, which is my favorite anyway. I am very happy we did the tasting menu but loved the fish I had for the Piatto course so much I wish I had that as a full meal. It was that good. The tasting menu so would argue was small but I feel it was portioned perfectly for the total amounts and giving us the ability to experience the menu without eating too full. I definitely recommend this spot if your in the area. Get a reservation unless your going late and remember parking is challenging, it is Montclair. read more

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My BF and I came here for dinner for my birthday last night. We both had the tasting menu. We pleased that we could do the tasting menu because it normally is off limits for us - he doesn't eat shellfish or pork, and I can't eat potatoes or tomatoes. There were plenty of options for us, many of which sounded delicious. You do, however, needed to BYOB, something which I do not prefer. They do offer "emergency delivery" but we did not avail ourselves of the service. [I normally have a glass of wine but he doesn't, and it wasn't worth the trouble] Here is what we ordered: First course: Tuna Tartare and Polenta Fries. Both were very good. I don't think the polenta fries are worth the numerous accolades afforded by prior reviewers. The tuna was quite good though. Second course: Squash Soup and Foie Gras: Both were delicious. Third course: Truffle Rigatoni and Braised Short Rib & Taleggio Ravioli. The rigatoni was average but the ravioli was absolutely stellar and one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. It was reminiscent of what I enjoyed during visits to Northern Italy. The filling was well cooked and seasoned, the pasta was delicate and sauce was sooooo good. I could eat it every day and not get bored. This was the highlight of the night. Fourth course: Duck breast and Seafood risotto: The duck breast was quite nice; delicious and cooked beautifully. The seafood risotto was OK. The rice was slightly undercooked (no, not al dente; undercooked). Some of the seafood was overcooked (scallop was great, octopus good, shrimp was slightly over) and was served with unnecessary foam. Fifth course: Molten chocolate cake and Bread pudding - both good but wished that the bread pudding was served warmer. Service was friendly and efficient, and the ambiance was charming. I would go back again and recommend it for a special evening for dinner. read more