Great drinks , food, atmosphere! Friendly staff . Everything on menu is always good! Great selection to choose from also many specials that are always top notch! Never had a bad experience. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Prosciutto pizza - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

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Every few years I give this place a shot. Prior times I never thought it was worth a second visit. Today after years of not coming here today I gave it another shot, but everything was TERRIBLE! For the life of me I can't understand why people would want to dine here! We ordered the frisse and Toscana salads to start. The frisse salad was So bad it was INEDIBLE! The dressing on it tasted terrible, and cheese in the salad was low quality. The Toscana salad was fair. For dinners we had the sea bass and the halibut. Neither fish tasted fresh caught and the sea bass dish was AWFUL! The whole dish was bland and the black rice it came with was a pile of flavorless mush! The halibut had a whole bunch of breadcrumbs just dumped on top of it! Everything was so bad that I didn't even bother ordering dessert! Definitely skip this place! read more

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Friday 02/06/26, we went out to celebrate our friend's 34th Birthday at Osteria! My husband & I have come to Ostetia before, my husband more than myself, but we absolutely love the place! The ambiance is private & the perfect setting for a group gathering or even a special date night! We ended up ordering some apps that I did not get photos of, we got the grilled octopus, burrata, & I believe one more dish! I ended up getting the GF pasta dish since I have sensitivity to Gluten now & it was absolutely delicious! Ended up finishing the whole dish & that usually never happens to me with pasta! I also got a side house salad & for dessert I shared the mango sorbet with my husband! All the dishes were absolutely delicious & cocktails were an A plus! Our waiter was very attentive & did a great job with accommodating! Will definitely be back soon! read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Gluten Free Penne Pasta with Lobster in Creamy Sauce - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

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Cleary, this is the most frequent visited restaurant for myself and my family. They never seem to get it wrong. I think this is probably one of the best restaurants in New Jersey from pastas to meats. Everything is just outstanding without question tonight as usual the service was amazing. We started with the hot antipasto that had baked calamari Spiedini and baked clams just WOW! We had classic chicken franchise, pork chop martini, and the aged bone in York strip. It seems to get better every time I go you can't ask for anything more. read more

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If you are a somebody you will be treated like royalty. If you are there for lunch or dinner thinking you are going to get exceptional service, don't be fooled. They cater to high end customers only read more

Awful ! Sat with no food for an hour and a half. And when it came it was AWFUL ! the waiter was very nice but stay away from this disgusting establishment. Food was cold lobster 8ver cooked and empty clam shells in a seafood dish. Just a waste of time and money. Eat anywhere else McDonald's is better than this awful place. read more

If you are looking for a Saturday Night In Spot, this may be the place to check out...Thats about all I can say... Very Busy.. Very Noisy.. Quite Pricey and if you are looking to leave with a headache, this is the place to go ! read more

Excellent Service Mike goes above and beyond the food is to die food love everything about it they make you feel like family Thete great love them read more

We live right around the corner from here but never gave it a try. My mother wanted to come here for her birthday so we made a reservation for 6 PM on a Tuesday night. The restaurant remained mostly empty until around 7 PM when it became very crowded. I would recommend making a reservation. With that being said the wait staff was very attentive up until 7 PM. We ordered the shrimp & calamari as a starter. The squid was tender and the sauce was flavorful. However, there were only rings and I was wondering why not add tentacles. My mother got one of the specials, it was a rigatoni with braised short rib. I think her dish was my favorite. The short rib was super tender, the pasta was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was very flavorful. My husband also got one of the specials which was a truffle veal. The veal was crispy while the truffle melted in your mouth. It was quite a large piece of veal but I do not think that dish was worth $80, I think more around the $50 mark. I ordered the Fuoco pizza as it was advertised as an authentic neopolitan pizza. I was very disappointed with my pizza. The crust was doughy, not thin or crispy, and it had no flavor to it. The pizza was very greasy which is probably why the dough wasn't crispy. The menu said the peppers would be hot on the pizza but it was not spicy. I could go to village maria in the same shopping center for better quality pizza :( Overall, the food was good aside from my pizza. But i believe the menu is overpriced, at least we have some leftovers for another meal. We may come back just to try the happy hour menu and more appetizers. read more

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Wonderful experience every time we visit! The menu is supreme, as is their entire wait staff. We love the cozy atmosphere and dining room ambiance is just perfect. Every birthday celebration has been the best ever because of Osteria! Get their specials- you won't be disappointed!! read more

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Ambiance was a bit louder than expected for a cozy Italian place, service was good and fast but a bit to clingy, when the host is asking if everything is good ever 5 minutes, it kinda interrupts conversation. Food was delicious and very well served. Not a crazy large menu but nice. Great options for wine by the glass. (More then normal) and that's great read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

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Went in in a Wednesday night, sat at the bar, was ignored and after about 20 minutes; I left. I said hi to one of the "friendly" bartenders to let her know I was there. I do know they're very busy and I don't mind waiting for them to wait on everyone else BUT when they then start doing other things like stacking glasses or whatever or having conversations with other customers before they have even acknowledged me, I figure that's their way of telling me that they are doing fine without my business. I will be in Freehold for a few more weeks but this place (which looked nice) is off my list of places to take my customer. I know I shouldn't be like that but once something like this happens to me I just can't go back. read more

They take good care of you at Osteria, and it's no wonder that the service, atmosphere and some standout items have helped it overcome its shortcomings in order to become a stable fixture in Marlboro. The service here is simply superb. Your fine dining experience starts as soon as you walk through the door. The hostesses are very kind and welcoming. We got our table within minutes without a reservation. Throughout our meal, our server made friendly banter, made us laugh, and attended to our every need. Not gonna lie, the best thing I had at this fancy and expensive restaurant was the free bread That, if anything, should tell you how much care and attention they give to the little details. The winner for me was the foccaccia, which was warm, fluffy, and topped with sundried tomatoes. There was no issue when I asked for a few more pieces to munch on while waiting for my meal to arrive; they actually ended up giving me what felt like an entire loaf! They're so generous. For appetizers, a "Shrimp Beeps" was a spicy and surprising way to to start. It reminded me of Gobi Manchurian. The shrimps were perfectly breaded and crisped, and the sauce was so good I ended up putting a little of it on everything I ate after. Without the shrimp beeeps sauce, I'm not sure how much I'd have enjoyed the rest of the meal. The "Bianca pizza" was bland on top and burned on the bottom. It's funny that they even put a disclaimer on their menu about how a little char is authentic to Napoli style pizza - maybe I'm uncultured, but that just seems like a cop out so they can burn your pizza. Similarly, the Pappardelle with mushroom and black truffle lacked some "oomph" in flavor. I would have preferred to have more sauce on it. Now the item that (fish) tanked this review: the Chilean Sea Bass. It was STINKY. As soon as it arrived at our table, we were struck by the overwhelming odor of something foul. I cook Chilean sea bass at home often enough to know that the fishy stink is not normal. Either their fish wasn't fresh or they didn't wash it. In either case I had to plug my nose and eat it fast because not only was it stinky but the whole dish was just tasteless. Luckily, our dessert was fantastic so we got to at least end our meal on a sweeter note. The "Zeppole" comes with a generous number of the fried dough balls, stuffed with Nutella and cannoli cream. Dipped in the creamy vanilla ice cream, it's a combination that will send you straight to bed afterwards. If you're planning on coming to Osteria, dinner time is best because you definitely won't be doing anything productive afterwards. read more

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Outstanding restaurant, fantastic food, wonderful service. Should definitely consider for special occasion and if you want to impress someone! , read more

Went for dinner expecting great food (at those prices) and was very disappointed. Our waiter and the bread was great but everything after that was not. Ordered the special appetizer of Fried Calamari & Shrimps. Dish had no flavor, shrimps were so tiny i had to look for them. The entire dish tasted like it came out of a frozen bag and dumped into the fryer. We were four people and all ordered the Veal Milanese at $65 per dish. The dish was very bland and the veal was tough. Specials - There was a 2 lb. lobster special that came with shrimps, mussels, etc over pasta for $90. The same 2 lb. lobster on the menu (cooked anyway) for the same price comes with NOTHING. Makes no sense. Birthday - Was celebrating a friends birthday. Didn't order desert (frankly they were all boring) but did expect a little something with a candle (after spending $500) but got NOTHING. Will not be going back read more

This restaurant was an excellent experience! The waiter allowed us to create a 4 course meal. For appetizers (not seen in the photos), we ordered the artichokes, insalata di mare, and the eggplant tower. For our 2nd course, we ordered 3 pastas to share. Our entrees and dessert came thereafter. I recommend the gelato for dessert Everything was delicious and beautifully prepared. Our waiter was very friendly, knowledgeable of the menu, and accommodating. It's also an aesthetically appealing restaurant. I highly recommend trying at least one pasta here as I believe it's the highlight of the dinner. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Bucatini Cacio E Pepe, Lobster Gnocchi, Pacheri - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

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Disgusting food. Disgusting service.To start this was supposed to be my birthday dinner. We arrived for our 6:30 PM reservation and did not get served dinner until 9:30 PM. It a group of 10 of person's food did not come out with the rest and everyone's dish came out cold. I personally ordered the lobster tail special with the side of vodka rigatoni. The lobster was cold and rubbery, and the rigatoni was cold and hard. Yes, they were very busy, but our waiter managed to accommodate the table behind us who came an hour later than us in a timely fashion. They arrived an hour later than us and finished eating before we got our dinner. It was genuinely ridiculous. Our waiter went onto an argue with everyone about their dishes. What wasn't wasn't wrong with them and got loud with people at the table. All in all a horrible experience through and through. Disgusting food. Disgusting service. And for that price absolutely ridiculou. Needless to say no one I know will be getting a recommendation to go there. read more

Outstanding dinner. First time back since expansion and loved the lighting and layout of this restaurant. The service was excellent and the food was delicious....top notch experience. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Linguine and clams. - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

Nice restaurant for a dinner with groups or a date! I went here tonight for the very first time with two other friends. Parking was very easy as this stand alone building is located in a strip mall complex (not attached, and standing alone in middle of parking lot). You have plenty of parking spots to choose from. When you walk in there are lots of beautiful decor for the season. We had a reservation and were seated promptly. The restaurant temperature was perfect as I wasn't cold nor too hot. Once we sat and were greeted, someone came over and filled our water glasses (you are asked what kind of water and we chose tap). However, our waters were only filled up once throughout the evening and it wasn't until the end when we had been trying to savor our last sips of water we asked for more water. It got very busy around 7:15pm I will say but still should watch the water glasses. The bread we were served was also excessively dry and the sauce on top was too. I would assume they were not baked that day. Otherwise the menu was great with lots to choose from. There is also a verbal menu which my table agreed could have been spoke a bit slower as it was hard to remember that fast. Our server was nice though. The entrees, however, were phenomenal. I got the Chilean sea bass and it was scrumptious! I'm talking melt in your mouth delicious. The black rice it was served over was great! The orange glaze was mostly around the side of the plate and was an excellent addition, and not anywhere near overpowering. My friend got the filet mignon and I tried a piece and it was one of the best steaks I've ever had! My other friend got the whole chicken and it was also very delicious. We got the warm chocolate cake at the end and it was wonderful!! All in all, great food, great atmosphere, and I'd definitely come back! read more

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Came for dinner on a Tuesday evening with friends/clients. As usual, it was busy. We can't say enough good things about our experience. Service was professional and attentive. We had drinks first and and a capris salad and after the porterhouse steak for two. Our friend had the sirloin steak and the other Fera's the halibut. We were all satisfied and delighted. We were all too full to have dessert. We love Osteria in fact, we had my husband 70th birthday party in a private room two years ago. It was a huge success even though this was a Tuesday night it was crowded with plenty of people having birthdays and anniversary celebrations. This is an upscale place to enjoy. read more

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It's a hot mess. The place is beautiful, no complaints. But it went downhill from there. If you're trying to have a conversation, forget it. Server at a table next to us was literally screaming specials to be heard through the decibal level. It's just loud, to the point it's physically uncomfortable to one's ears. The cleanup helper spilled my drink all over the table. No harm done, but wouldn't an apology be in order? Nope. No "sorry", and five minutes to get rags for cleanup. Server never apologized for the mistake. Simply rude. In terms of food, it's supposed to be Italian but it is only in name. Risotto was dry, vegetables undercooked, fried calamari soggy. The drinks were good, but the whole experience was disappointing. read more

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So if you're from this area good pizza isn't hard to find. HOWEVER if you're looking for great pizza and a bartenders that know how to make a great drink then you should check out this place. The pizza is really a star here and it's not an important part of the dining experience ! I wasn't that hungry so I sat at the bar had a Campari and a prosciutto pizza, it is authentic as Rome, Florence and even Naples Italy.A really good grown up pizza experience. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Prosciutto Pizza - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

Good Night with meal. My strip ate as k was well prepared and seasoned. Where the hit antipasto which included clams, calamari and spendino. Service was excellent by waiter Mike. Warm atmosphere. read more

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This is by far one of the best restaurants in NJ. Everything from ambience to the food and exceptional service. Mark served us tonight. I had NY strip which was simply lights out delicious. My date enjoyed the crispy bronzino. We had a burrata app that was amazing. The owner of the restaurant owns several places in NJ and they are all soooo good. I highly recommend Osteria. I want to give special thanks to Michelle behind the bar, Mark table side and the culinary geniuses in the kitchen. Scale of 1-10.... This place is a 12. Enjoy. read more

The service was great, since we look young I often feel rushed at restaurants and we did not get that here at all! We were debating which steak to order and the waiter brought out the selections to show us to help us decide. The food was delicious. I would love to try something other than steak the next time I go and focus on their specialties. It was very nicely decorated for the holidays which was very homey! We particularly enjoyed the shrimp and calamari app! read more

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Probably one of the best Italian restaurants in Central Jersey . Food and service are top notch!

This is a great place to go! The food and drinks are great. Michelle is a great bartender. Mike is a great waiter. I had the snapper tonight. It was amazing. Steve the owner even offered to debone it for me himself. This is why we come back time after time. If you have an owner that will do all job himself and hold everyone to the high standards, then everyone should come here. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Drinks - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

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Food and Service were great. Good menu selection! My only note is the ambience was very noisy. Not the best date place but good for families. read more

BEST FOOD staff was so kind and was always paying attention the service was the best I've had in years. the place was really giving the ambiance it promised. read more

Just ate dinner with friends here tonight and literally had the worst customer service experience we have ever had at a restaurant. We had 7:00 reservations. It literally took about an hour before they finally took our order, and another hour and a half to get our food. There were no apologies, just one or two explanations that there was a large party and the kitchen was backed up when we would inquire about the food. Once we got our food, the food was mediocre at best. The fish had so many bones that my husband had to spit it out, and there was no appreciable seafood stuffing, even though it was advertised to be a crab and shrimp stuffed branzino. The dish was bland, and my husband literally said he would be disappointed if he made this at home. My pasta was also terribly bland with incredibly salty bacon on top that I couldn't even eat. After the long wait, my husband tried a few bites of his fish and then decided he did not want to eat anymore and did not want to pay $50 for lousy food after a two hour wait. The waiter took it back and my husband just ate some of my dish. We were then informed by the waiter that because he ate some of his dish, the owner would only give us half of a refund on the fish. When we said that we had never heard of such a thing, the waiter just said "well take it out of my tip then if you think it's my fault". He then brought us back our checks after we gave our credit card and threw the checks on the table. On the way out, we asked to speak to the owner Steve. He was incredibly rude and said that he only refunded us half because he would not be threatened with a bad review, which we never did. This was a total lie. I am not sure if this was a lie told to him by our server or if he made this up himself to try to justify his decision. He just kept insisting that other people had the fish and thought it was fine and he's not going to refund us because there was a "couple bones in the fish". This was overall literally the worst restaurant experience we have probably ever had, even though it is an expensive restaurant, which is supposed to be good. read more

Osteria is one of my go to spots. Their drinks are great. Most of their bartenders really know what they're doing! My favorite on the menu is the Osteria Sour. Some favorites on the menu are the grilled pulpo, shrimp beeps, paperdelle pasta, fusilli Al forno, and the stuffed bronzini. read more

Osteria Cucina Rustica - Italian Near Me - Marlboro, New Jersey

Stadium dining well. At first entrance I'm turned off. It's big, it's noisy and feels like a disco vs a dining room but the hostesses are lovely. Inviting and accommodating They brought us to the " new room " a cavernous and loud room with a roaring fireplace which keeps those in its proximity feeling cozy. Others are in the dark Its noisy here I nearly left from the piercing shrill until I met Mike. This server was such a bright and sensitive man who knew I was uncomfortable but has an intuitive ability to comfort us We stayed and I'm glad we did. The cocktails were ok although the jalapeño margarita wasn't all that spicy not had much alcohol. In fact it tasted like fresh lime juice on the rocks. But the food !!!! Awesome The buratta was so creamy and the clam's oreganato were juicy , flavorful and tender very nice ! We ordered polenta which was over the top smooth and creamy. The hanger steak perfectly grilled and juicy. We finished with Italian cheese cake which was moist, and light. I gotta say the food is great! Overall a nice meal but I'd go later once the noise softened Fairly priced as well. go ! read more

Food is excellent, service fantastic and decor is rustic. Great spot. Not my first time going and wont be my last. Our server Vito was amazing. Tried the Fig special it was over watermelon! The meatballs are great! Then I had stuffed Bronzino, my son had the Tomahawk, my other son had a lobster Gnocchi, and my husband had a stuffed pork chop over spicy rigatoni. (Pork chop was a little dry) but otherwise everything was phenomenal. Even the desserts. Highly recommend this place read more

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Let me make this easy, the food selection was good, quality of food we had was excellent, portion sizes on entrees was good. Had a great server( Felix) and ambiance was nice. However the background music was so loud table conversation was impossible. I would return here on a weekday night and walk thru to see if the noise and music level would be lower. We were in a rear dining area, and the front area was even louder. read more

After searching for a restaurant to dine, we are overly joyed that we chose Osteria. From the service to the food, everything was exceptional. We had a 7:15 reservation, and we arrived a bit early. They seated us right away. Water and bread were served almost immediately, followed by my martini order. The martini was delicious, and they had stuffed olives which made it even better!The bread was delicious, and also came with focaccia and crostini and a garlic oil. Since this was our first time dining here, our waiter was super helpful explaining popular dishes to us. He also read off a lieu of specials- and even told the prices, which I thought was rare and helpful as well. For appetizers we had the calamari and shrimp fra Diavlo- I am still dreaming about it! It was cooked perfectly and the fra Diavlo sauce was exceptional! We couldn't even finish it, so we took the rest home! We also got the finocchio salad which was absolutely refreshing and delicious. For entrees, the waiter recommended the fusilli il forno- it was delicious and huge. Just very heavy- even my husband couldn't make a dent in it- so we took that home as well! I ordered the hanger steak. It had a great char on it, but could have been a little less chewy- I would skip it next time. We were too full for dessert! Cannot wait to go here again and try new dishes. The prices are fair for the quality of food. Only complaint was the tap water. It was actually undrinkable. My husband asked for the bottled water so we could actually drink something with our meal. They didn't even charge us for it, which was very nice. read more

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I have been to this spot a few times but this is my first review. So I made reservations to meet my parents with my boyfriend for 2pm. When we arrived we parked in their parking lot. We walked in and they took our temperature and they sat us where my parents were. Vito was our server and he was really nice and very attentive. For drinks my mom got a bottle of wine for the table and I got a vodka tonic for myself. My mom and boyfriend liked the wine. I enjoyed my drink as well. For my entrée I got the short rib rigatoni, my boyfriend got the chicken with potatoes, my mom got the halibut and my dad got the shrimp with spaghetti. My mom loved her meal and so did my boyfriend and dad. My meal was just ok, I added spice for a little something extra. The bill came to about $250 for everything. All in all we had a good experience. read more

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I really like this place. First of all, the decor is very well done. This place isn't that old, but it feels like the old world. At the same time, it's very clean and well-kept. The food is classic Italian fare. I've had the vongole, bufala, torre, insalata di mare, tuscan wings, and gamberi e capesante appetizers. All we as advertised, and they are generous with ingredients (ex. plenty of crab on crab salad.) I've also had almost all of their pastas. I like like they use just the right amount of sauce, whether it's tomato sauce or olive oil & garlic. The only "secondi" I've had is the Bronzini. It was tender and flaky with flavor evenly distributed throughout. Service is always extremely friendly. They take care of you and are quick to joke around with you. They even bring out sparklers for birthdays (in a non-obnoxious way). I ate at the bar one time, and that was great, too. Didn't order drinks, and it was perfectly fine. Bartender was great although she didn't know what a malibu breeze was (not sure if that's one they're supposed to know but they're yummy). read more

Dined here on Ash Wednesday and we all ordered fish dishes. This was our first time dining at Osteria. There were three people in our party. The restaurant has a nice ambience and the service was very good. No complaints there. Now for the food. Osteria has been on my list of places to try and to be honest, the food was a little underwhelming. It was good, but I was expecting to be blown away. Especially when a restaurant charges $48 for Halibut special. It's not an expensive fish. The shrimp over risotto was a little over cooked and the Halibut oregante could have been seasoned better. It was very bland for an oregante dish. The only dish that was done really well was the Seabass. I liked the fennel and orange salad but not sure the $17 price was justified for such a small portion. I go out to eat often and have no problem spending money when the quality is there. That being said, maybe I just went on an off night because I feel it could have been a better dining experience. Furthermore, I did not appreciate being charged a 3% fee for using my credit card. This is something that should be disclosed upfront. As I said, I dine out 2-3 times a week on average and I've never been charged a fee to use my credit card. You're already charging top dollar for your dinners and your competition is not charging a fee. You may want to change your policy. read more

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First impressions sometimes really are everything! After my initial visit I had zero desire to return and didn't until recently. After some convincing from friends I decided to give Osteria a second chance to make a new first impression. I'm very happy to say I had a much better experience this time around. I made a reservation for four and we were promptly seated. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable and checked on us throughout dinner. Never at any point were we rushed. Everyone really enjoyed their dishes. They were delicious and well prepared. Our apps were excellent. Drinks were well made. I definitely would not hesitate to return after our much improved second visit. read more

Even thought I have lived in Marlboro for over 20 years and currently live just a mile down rt 79, I have never eaten here until this Friday. While the restaurant is a bit pricey, we had a great time and meal. I thought the octopus appetizer might be the best octopus I have ever eaten. Polenta appetizer was also very good. Gnocchi with Lobster was also excellent. Everyone else enjoyed their meal as well. Would definitely return. read more