With an Italian restaurant a stone's throw from most any location in Montclair, Palazzo stands out. Nice decor, service is terrific and the food (we tried the salmon dish and the bolognese sauce pasta dish) was better than some other offerings in the town. read more

Went here yesterday for lunch with family. Beautiful, tasteful and elegant ambiance. Friendly, attentive wait staff. Everything we ordered was cooked to specifications, and was top notch. My entree came with spinach, which I rarely like, but was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, THE BEST I EVER HAD. I ATE IT ALL (my mother would have been so happy). There was a food allergy issue with my great niece, which the chef/owner came out to discuss. Handled efficiently and in a relaxed, matter of fact, friendly manner. We had salmon, chicken Marsala, the pasta special and a sandwich special. All excellent. The varied offerings - and there were surprisingly many specials (for lunch?! ) - included something that would satisfy every type of food preference. The cost was about a hundred bucks for the six of us. There was also a three course plus coffee or tea prix fixe for twenty two bucks. We did not have this, and ordered a la carte. I saw some deserts served, and they looked pretty good, large, too. (There's enough to me already, so I avoid deserts, but looking at them one would be tempted). This is absolutely a come-back-to place. Please note that we were there for LUNCH, and the costs, noise level, and kid friendliness may be different at dinner. read more

Great restaurant. Food very tasty. Wait staff very attentive to our needs. Very romantic looking. Would definitely return.

I really enjoyed the food. I'm surprised with the other reviewer's ratings. Anyhoo, I had the blackened salmon on vegetable risotto, mussels, fried calamari, tiramisu and creme brulee. I enjoyed everything but the tiramisu. It tasted kind of "dry". Overall, the service was great and the food was good. I'm a fan. read more

Avoid this place at all costs! My husband and I have been here quite a few times and the experience tonight was just not what it used to be. I ordered one of the specials and there was a long hair baked into my food. I'm pretty sure the goat cheese on my husbands pasta was on its way to being spoiled... and I love goat cheese! Unfortunately we had to go around the corner to dine elsewhere. The kicker to all of this is that we still were charged for the pasta dish. Even after I said that it did not taste right. I went inside to pay for the uneaten food and witnessed the waiter yelling at the hostess. There are just too many excellent places in the the area so definitely skip this one! read more

I visited Palazzo's a few weeks ago on a Friday during the end of a snow storm so I have to admit from the beginning that it was unusually slow because of that. It's off of Bloomfield and I can't comment on how the crowds, the wait or the service usually are on regular Fri or Sat nights. Our service was excellent. They sat us in a secluded area by the window and the closest people were a few tables away. The privacy was great. The waiter was perfect, in that he wasn't hovering and wasn't MIA. He had a great personality and answered all our questions. The ambiance was excellent. Music wasn't too loud or obnoxious, decor wasn't tacky or cheap. The menu was excellent. Entrees were $15-$21 and they had great specials. What we loved about the menu is that it wasn't "typical" italian, where the only things on there were baked ziti, lasagna, and ravioli. Actually, none of those things are on the menu. The menu was unique and modern and the food was very impressive. It was clear that the ingredients were fresh, not frozen, not wilted, not dry, etc. I had whole wheat fettuccine with artichokes, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. My boyfriend had two huge chicken breasts with mushrooms and sausage. Both of us brought the left-overs home, which is rare for him because he usually finishes it, but it was too much food! We brought out own wine since they do not serve (common to many Montclair restaurants). Highly HIGHLY recommended, but call to find out about reservations and wait times. read more

I don't understand the poor ratings given to this place! We liked the food, the pianist, the service, and the price! For dining in Montclair, I was very impressed that two appetizers, two entrees, coffee for two and one dessert only came to 86$ - I have no problem recommending this place to others. Also good ratings for the restroom as well. read more

Yikes! Didn't announce the specials. Took 2.5 hours to get out of this place. Manager had his head up his ass while we suffered. Food was sub par. Service was terrible. So much waiting, even for water?? If the goal was to make us feel unwanted, nailed it! read more

Spaghetti Puttanesca was cooked poorly, there were a couple large clumps of spaghetti in my dish.

We went there last night to celebrate my 55th Birthday . We had the acorn soup with toasted pumpkin seeds which was fantastic. I had the duck with the spinach and mushroom risotto and my companion had the swordfish with sthe sea food risotto special which she also loved. For dessert I had the carrot cake and she had the cream bruelle . It is a BYOB so I brought a nice bottle of wine. I recommend this place. There is the parking garbage right across the street from the place. read more

Well, I came back for a second time on the spur of the moment on a Saturday night. The restaurant was not crowded and I easily got a table near the window. As an appetizer we had the black bean soup. The soup had the necessary saltiness that it needed and it was accompanied by home made tortilla chips. But for my taste it needed to bring some heat. Once the hot sauce was added, it was perfect. We also had the balsamic calamari which was decent. I have certainly had better renditions of this dish. But this was fine. For the Main course I had the codfish with mussels and clams over linguini. This was terrific. So much flavor and the fish was done perfectly. My gf had the filet Mignon which was cooked perfectly to a nice medium rare. Overall a very good meal. My last review I gave it a three star this is a 4 star review. The average is 3.5 which may be the right rating for this restaurant. This is A very solid choice. read more

What a great lunch!! Dined with four friends and the lunch deal for $22.00 was so worth it! The portions were a good size and the quality was perfection. I had the pumpkin ravioli which I could not stop eating. It is a BYOB which is a plus. The staff especially John were so professional. I will definitely be back soon. read more

Atmoshphere is a bit outdated, service somewhat slow, kitchen overcooks food when the owner is away, management not accommodating. Half-empty on nights you cant get tables elsewhere. You can do so much better in Montclair, why settle? read more

Have been coming here for years. Always lovely, always excellent, great food. They have some nice wines. Not easy to find a liquor license in Montclair. A go too place, nice for a first date too. read more

Went there with my pregnant and hungry wife for a special lunch and was very impressed with the food and service. The portion sizes were plentiful, but not oversized. I had one of the daily specials -- a chicken and mushroom ravioli with a light garlic sauce, and my wife devoured her rigatoni with vodka sauce and said it was the best she had ever tasted! The desserts are excellent -- try the carrot cake! For those saying it's overpriced, you had to go for lunch -- the prices are less than half than that of dinner. Very friendly service and quaint surroundings. We also overheard several conversations of those around us who were all saying how great the food was. A must try in the crowded field of Montclair's culinary center! read more

A consistently delicious go to place for me when my friends come to town. Great food, excellent and FRIENDLY service. Atmosphere is cozy as well............ Just go! read more

When in with a friend for quick bite, it started with service very slow.the placed looked depressing .ordered steak that tasted like it was sitting outside for days pasta and appetizers no flavor at all , before leaving when to the rest room it looked like it was falling apart never go back, my suggestion hire someone that knows the business !!!!! read more

Excellent Food and the wait staff is wonderful! Some weekend nights there's piano music which is enjoyable.

I've been 3 times. The service is excellent. The food just fair. I've tried 3 different entrees and none were very good. The chicken was chewy and bland, the seafood spinach linguine was decent but far from others I've had, and the chicken mushroom ravioli was plain poor. The excellent staff is the only thing great about this place. The men's room could use some cleaning too. read more

Service is attentive and exceptional. nice greeting. Food served hot. Good price points. Enjoyable, and will return

Just had a penne vodka with shrimp and chicken...simple + tasty...cappuccino + tiramisu was ok (had better hence the 3 stars)...will I come again yes love the ambiance... read more

This place is one of my favorite places in Montclair , service great , food great , atmosphere great , oh and price great ! What more can you ask for .. cozy and a piano to add . Worthy of a 5 star review . read more

This was my very first time to the Palazzo Restaurant in Montclair, and certainly won't be my last. It seems very upscale, although the prices are not as expensive as you would think. When you enter, you see a very elegant dining room with a piano player along with a trumpet player. The food was absolutely scrumptious. I had a very succulent chicken limon. My friend had a veal dish. We were bowled over with the graciousness of the waiters, busboys, busgirls, and much much more. I usually don't write such glowing reviews, but this place sure deserved it. The service was more than adequate. They deserve such wonderful recognition in a very competitive Montclair restaurant atmosphere. read more

I had a delightful experience at this staple restaurant of Montclair. I was particularly curious to try out Palazzo again simply because it's gone under new management multiple times over the years, but it's never gone away. That's always a good sign. First let me say that they offer a limited selection of California wines but you can also bring your own bottle. The atmosphere is quiet and romantic. The servers are attentive and insightful. This is a great date restaurant but I also see lots of families as well. It's versatile in this way. It's also very accommodating for large parties. I had the tri-colore salad which was fantastic. The dressing was light and refreshing and the greens and apples were very fresh. They also give you focaccia bread to start and it's truly delicious...but don't fill up on too much bread before you have your entree...which brings me to my entree. It was filling and fantastic! I had the salmon (why do I always have the salmon? lol) with the vegetable risotto. The risotto was rich and filling in just the right way (hey the veggies count for some nutritional value, no?) and it complimented the perfectly cooked salmon. Unfortunately, we had no room for dessert. But, I look forward to returning for a second round. read more

Great place to eat, Chef John Giglio is very talented

My boyfriend and I ate here on a Friday night. To start, the host in charge of seating was very pompous and rude. When I said we didn't have a reservation, he turned his nose up at us and made it seem like we were crazy for even walking in (despite over 5 empty small tables). They somehow fit us in though and I'm glad they did. We shared a mussels appetizer which was delicious and perfectly steamed. I had a blackened salmon which was seasoned perfectly over mushroom risotto which basically tasted like pure butter, so I was a little unimpressed. My boyfriend had the swordfish over a seafood rice and he really enjoyed that. We spilt the apple tart dessert and it was yummy but a little too rich, pretty soggy, and the ice cream was half melted when they brought it to us. The service was kind of slow, they forgot to bring us water, but she did keep refilling our wine glasses which was a plus. Female jazz piano player was very talented and really set the atmosphere. Overall, we might give it another shot but it is not at the top of our list for places in Montclair. read more

I chanced upon this place when I was looking for a bite before the movie started. Classy, elegant fine dining but not snooty. Great place for a quiet date night or meeting friends. Upscale crowd. I tried the lobster risotto and I liked it a lot. The waitress Candy is so professional and knows the menu well. A good place to impress someone at. read more

I have passed by many times but never made it here until the other day. The service was wonderful and the food very good. There were 6 in our party and everyone was happy with their meal. The bread and butter served at the beginning of the meal, to me, were the only negative. Bread was bland and tasteless and the butter salty and oily. Their cheesecake was great. read more

Excellent service and food!!! No complaints at all about this place. My fiancé and I went to this place last night and we both enjoyed it. The food was delicious and service was on point! We will definitely be going back again:-) read more

Wonderful dinner and service. The CIOPPINO and penne Palazzo were delicious, as was the bread pudding. Live piano rounded out the experience. Will return soon :) read more

1st time visiting this place as I have a friend in the area. My friend lives just a couple of blocks away so we walked(yesterday was sunny & near 50 so a nice day to do that). It's a pretty busy area so if you dont want to pay for parking(btw a place on the other side of Bloomfield ave was charging $5 when we walked past to get to the restaurant by 5p & then on the walk back(around 7p) the amt changed to $20(you can't park on the street after 2am so I'm figuring that's the reason for the jump. Restaurant is easy to find with it's bright blue awning. Inside it's not as large as you would think due to a bar area & a piano(not in use as it's played on Fri/Sat). We were 1 of about 3 tables occupied but at 5pm on a Sunday not too surprising--there were about 5-6 tables occupied by the time we left. Bread was warm but unevenly sliced so pulling it apart 1/2 the times it came in pieces. Butter in a bowl--could be made on premises as it had a greasy texture but tasty. We both just had tap water(which they have in their own bottle & leave the bottle in an ice bucket ala wine but do NOT charge--you can choose Pellegrino which I'm sure would incur a charge). Everything we wound up ordering was from the specials menu. Appetizer was the zuchinni fritti(btw they misspelled Pasta Fagioli on the online & printed menu). It is cut into long semi-thin slices. It was ok but the breading kept falling off so it may have been better eating this with a spoon. The "garlic dipping sauce" had no detectable garlic taste but a definitive vinegar taste which hits you as soon as you put it in your mouth but not overpowering to the point where it lingered once we finished it. Entrees were Beef short ribs with mushroom risotto & sauteed spinach. The ribs were very tender(almost didnt need a knife), sauce very tasty, risotto pretty good but didnt see/taste mushroom & I dont care for spinach so that was removed. Friend had the Chilean Sea Bass in a butter/lemon sauce with asparagus & a couple of greens. She said it was very fresh, tasty & well presented(& this was her first time trying this fish). For dessert we shared a caramel apple tart with vanilla gelato. Both tasted fresh(I believe at the least the tart could be made on premises). Finished with cappuccinos which were hot but not strong--could have used an extra shot of espresso. Service was very good, water glasses kept filled, good pace(again keep in mind late Sunday afternoon). My only slight quibble would be our waiter(he looks like the character Norman? on Seinfield the short dark curly hair who lives in the same bldg). He talks a bit too quickly(not to be confused with fast talker) so a couple of times I had to ask him to repeat what he was saying. The owner/mgr stopped by a couple of times to see how things were going. So for 1 appy, 2 entrees, 1 dessert & 2 caps with tax/tip $93 which is reasonable. I prefer to give a detailed rating as opposed to just saying I liked it or I didn't. For me I rate a restaurant in 4 categories in order of importance: Food Service Value Décor/ambience/misc If you're wondering why this is the order for me I rather have great food & so-so service than the other way around. You can always plan around a slower evening to make it just as enjoyable but not around mediocre food whether it's fast or slow paced. My 3rd item I call value instead of price because based on the taste & serving portion of the item compared to similar items at other restaurants tells me if it's a good value. For instance the best steak I've ever had to date runs about $44 but besides being delicious(a way to tell is it stands on its own w/o adding any sauces) it is boneless & about 24oz so you get two good meals. Food(2.0), service(1.5), value(1.0) & décor/ambience/misc(0.5) I then take the # stars for each category & multiply by the # in parentheses then divide by 5 to get my final rating. If the final average is exactly 1/2 I'll round up or down depending on other reviews. So my calculations are as follows: FOOD 3.5. x 2 = 7.0 SERVICE 4 x 1.5 = 6.0 VALUE 3.5 x 1 = 3.5 AMBIENCE/OTHER 4.0 x .5 = 2.0 Total pts 18.50 divided by 5 = 3.75 which rounds to 4 **NOTE** My next visit I plan to come on a Fri/Sat to better gage the service & try other items so if that change the star rating I will edit this review. read more

Friday night dinner with my wife. Had a 25.00 Restaurant.com certificate so that helped. The fact that the waitress forgot to charge for the wine was good for me! Didn't realize it until we left. They didn't give a regular check only cc receipt. Maybe because of the gift certificate. Food was good. Entree of chicken shrimp and veal was good but could have used another shrimp and maybe larger piece of veal. Wife had wholewheat pasta and shrimp dish that she loved. Very tight quarters with little room between tables. Piano clarinet duo were a nice touch. read more

Dinner was Excellent! The Calamari in Balsamic was perfect, my steak was cooked to perfection and my friend's Tuna was perfect! Bravo! Jeremie, Tony and all the staff made us feel right at home. You can not go wrong with Palazzo! If you want something made to order, it is never a problem! read more

This a great restaurant with great service. There is variety of options on the menu. Tuna tartare and beef carpaccio are my favorites as well as the pumpkin ravioli and garlic soup. All the entries are great too. Our service was great and very friendly. You can tell Chef John Giglio takes pride in his food and has come out to greet us as well! You must try the sangria!! read more

My wife and I had dinner here last night for the first time. Very nice atmosphere but the piano player, while talented, played elevator music as opposed to, well almost anything else. Very decent focaccia bread was brought to the table along with nice EVOO. We ordered the calamari with balsamic glaze to split as an appetizer. Tasted like cardboard with balsamic glaze. Very dry and overcooked. Glaze was fantastic. I had the seafood with black pasta. Very good sauce. Rich in flavor. But, while the seafood was cooked perfectly, including the calamari, the clams and mussels were sandy. Very tender, very flavorful, but I couldn't get past the sand crunch in every-single-one. Clams and mussels need to be washed and scrubbed before cooking folks. I added a split lobster tail to mine as an option and it had little flavor. The black pasta was aldente and delicious, but was a stuck together mess at the bottom of the plate. It had to be cut with a knife to avoid gathering up the entire serving on my fork. You can't throw pasta into boiling water and hope for the best. It needs to be tended to. My wife had the sea bass special with seafood risotto which was well prepared and delicious. She was very happy. They offered a special dessert that night of a tartufo, one of my favorites. Easily the best part of the meal. We may or may not be back for a second chance. read more

Great local BYOB Italian restaurant. The food is right up there with any nice restaurant you'd find in the city. I particularly enjoy the outdoor seating. You can tell the entire staff is really passionate about creating a great experience for you. read more

OK restaurant. Cozy atmosphere. Great, friendly service. The option to bring your own wine. The food was just OK - I don't recommend the beef carpaccio - it was sliced very thick. A salad on the specials - kale with sliced apples, walnuts, etc. came out very dry, I think they forgot to toss in a dressing, our server accommodated us quickly with a side of dressing. I order cod over risotto that was on the specials, the sweet pea risotto was incredible, the cod could have been cooked thru a bit more, it was gelatinous in the middle but overall it was good. The seafood boullabaise was very good, a huge portion. If you haven't tried Palazzo's yet, I'd say give it a try, based on other reviews here, its a hit or miss depending on what you order. read more

This restaurant is a diamond in the rough. It may not be on Church Street where the action is BUT it is a gem. The food was amazing. We had a group of 6 and it was a great time. We had The garlic shrimp which was incredible. The calamari with balsamic vinegar was delish. You cannot go wrong with the entrees. I was able to try the other dishes at the table. We had Duck which was cooked to perfection in a orange sauce. This is a restaurant to be tried. You'll enjoy everything from appetizers to desserts. read more

My husband and I went here with another couple on a Friday night. I ordered a creamy pesto pasta dish which was incredible - I would definitely order the dish again if I return to Palazzo. My husband ordered a chicken and shrimp dish which was very good, but he was not blown away. The servers were very attentive throughout the entire meal. The fried calamari as an appetizer is not breaded, but it has a balsamic drizzle, adding a level of sweetness to the inherent savory nature of the calamari. The restaurant has a piano and live jazz style music, providing a calm and mature ambiance. Palazzo lends itself to a more mature crowd. read more

I was here for Christmas eve dinner with my family and it was absolutely lovely! The live music was an added bonus to our evening. I had the Caesar salad as my appetizer the presentation was beautiful and the salad was crisp and fresh! the tuna steak and risotto entree was magnificent; the portion size and presentation were perfect. The service was excellent our waiter was attentive and charismatic which just added to our fabulous dinning experience! I highly suggest this restaurant for a good time and great food!! read more