A Visit to Fratelli Trattoria

If you look at Fratelli Trattoria's reviews online, you may not go near the place.  Some are on the nasty side. 

One common complaint is service. And we have to confess to avoiding Fratelli’s for the last couple of years because of poor service, and the fact that the wood-burning oven, imported from Florence, never seemed to work when we wanted pizza at lunch or dinner.

But we were surprised on a return trip one Friday night when everything went the way it should.

Fratelli’s, which opened nearly 16 years ago, has a prime location, a pleasant space across East Ridgewood Avenue from Van Neste Square. In the summer, it’s a fun place to sit outside and people watch while you wait, sometimes too long, for service.

It is apparent that the space was originally designed so that in the summer, doors could be opened and the indoor space could flow into the outdoor dining area, just the way many restaurants in New York or Paris do.

But owner Oscar Riva complained that the “town of Ridgewood would not permit the doors to be opened,” and described the culture here as “primitive.” We hope he just meant unsophisticated since he said he has lived in New Jersey for 52 years after leaving his native Italy.

Whether it is local or state law, the doors stay firmly closed, separating indoor and outdoor patrons, not to mention the wait staff. But that is no excuse for the poor service we have had there over the years until our Friday night surprise, when the service turned out to be excellent.

We started with the calamari fritti and bruschetta. The calamari was not as crisp as some we’ve had, but better than a lot of the rubbery excuses for calamari that we’ve tried at other places over the years.

Like the service, the bruschetta was another surprise. It was served warm, not cold, without a heavy load of spices, but with a light sprinkle of Pecorino cheese. The warmth brought out the tomato flavor and turned a routine appetizer into something special—something we’d like to have again. 

Next we tried an avocado and grapefruit salad, an interesting combination that made me wish we had ordered two instead of one to split.

For main courses, my partner chose that Northern Italian standard, veal Milanese, which tasted as good as the presentation. I tried the pizza to make up for the times I had tried to order it in the past.  

I choose the quatro stagioni—one of my favorites—with mozzarella, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, red peppers and mushrooms. These are generous pizzas that could be shared, but not as gigantic as the ones served at Trattoria Dell‘Arte, near Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.  

The prosciutto on Fratelli’s pie, however, far surpassed the prosciutto I’ve had on other quatro stagionis. It literally melted on the tongue and, in fact, all of the toppings tasted very fresh. The crust itself was good but not excellent.  

We brought our own wine, but Fratelli’s, thanks to a loophole in New Jersey laws, has a wine list, albeit consisting only of New Jersey wines. It appears restaurants without liquor licenses can serve wine as long as it is not shipped out-of-state. 

My partner, the wine expert, feels New Jersey wines are not up to par, certainly not for prices that ran to nearly $32 a bottle. We didn’t try any.

We haven’t taken children there for dinner, only for lunch, but Fratelli’s is a spot that seems to welcome the kids.

And for anyone who hasn’t been there, we’d say: Give it a shot. The food is good, and the prices are not exorbitant. And you just may get good service, too.

Food: Good

Service:  Might be good

Entrée Price Range: $17-$24

Atmosphere: Pleasant

BYOB/Limited Wine List

Credit Cards Accepted