PJ Rufos Restaurant

Looking around for the genuine Italian meal? Right at P.J. Rufo’s the most satisfying meal is served to you with energetic, nice staff. With all the authentic dishes, the casual ambience makes it great for the whole family with reasonable pricing! Check it out!

Only a few cars in lot, plenty of open tables, and we’re offered a seat at the bar! Really?! Stopped by once before and thought the place was pretentious. Now I’m sure. I won’t return and predict they won’t be here for long anyway.

Service was great but the food was hit or miss. The Italian nachos had a decent flavor and was our favorite. But the sad part was getting some over cooked seafood. Everything else was mediocre. I might go back for happy hour for the nachos and maybe try something else. But it’s a big maybe.

Olive bites and the Italian nachos can not be missed. The chicken cutlet could be the best ever so get the chicken Milanese. And lastly, get the coconut cream pie! I know many coconut haters that love this dessert.

Nice local bar. Just stopped by for a drink and the bar is nice and everyone is very friendly. Will be back to try the food because it smelled really good.

I live in the neighborhood so this is a convenient place for a quiet Thursday night out. I have been coming here for several years and can honestly say the menu and quality of food has gotten better with time. The service is also very good. The owners are on premises and it shows. Recently the outside of the building has been renovated and is a nice improvement. The interior remains unchanged; warn and inviting. Prices are what you would expect for good food and service.

I was hear at least 2 years ago. I don’t remember the pricing but I do know I had a great pasta dish.

Excellent homemade italian food !! Service was attentive. We will definitely be back !

We had our Dine-​A-​Round meeting here the other day; good food good people, good host!
Thanks PJ
North Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce/​Jim Feeney

Went to PJ Rufos to mix it up a bit.
The food and menu is all well prepared. The ingredients are quality, preparation is nice. However, I didn’t find anything remarkable or inspiring.
I was a little frustrated that even though the menu says all entrees come with vegetable & potato, mine (shrimp & beans) came with neither. My other pet peeve was that a vegetarian in our group ordered a salad that said nothing on the menu about being sprinkled with meat… when it came out she was surprised and had to send it back. I’d be worried going here with someone with severe dietary restrictions.
The space is divided into a dining room and bar, but from most of the dining room you can see the TVs. This kind of makes it hard to have a quiet, romantic, evening.
What I find the most frustrating was the service was awful. Distracted, unhelpful & robotic. For the price of our meal, I expected a LOT more.
Overall, I can’t see going back to this place — with all the other choices for good italian food in the area.

Went here for a late lunch the other day with a business colleague. I had the Chicken Sophia which was very good. There were fresh veggies on the side, no pasta. The small salad that came with it was fresh and tasty. Service was very good and we had a friendly waitress who asked us if we could wait on our coffee until she made a new batch.
The place has a nice aura. I was introduced to both the owners who were very gracious.

I dined at this restaurant back in the summer of 07 so MAYBE things have changed based on the few reviews but I still want to give you an idea of how this place was in 07 which i believe was when they added a dining room area (otherwise why would you have a dining area walled in directly across from a large bar?) Since it’s been 4 yrs I don’t remember exactly what we ate but do remember the experience.
First off made an 830p reservation we arrived a few minutes early when the owner (?) greeted us he said something to the effect «oh, the 845p reservation arrived early & asked if they could be seated early» so i said «so, you bypassed an EARLIER reservation who was ON TIME???» so by the time i put something to eat in my mouth it was almost 930p & by the time we left it was after 1130p
he said «you’ll be next» not even offering a free drink or something to munch on during out wait (which we had to wind up standing because the bar was packed)
we did a «2-​for» drinks, appetizers, entrees, desserts – nothing was memorable, service was at best slow (maybe because they just got into this part of the business but not giving a pass either) & total tab with tax/​tip came to $ 125 & that was AFTER decucting a $ 50
gift certificate so definitely overpriced.
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 3^rd 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 ½ I’ll round up or down depending on other reviews.
So my calculations are as follows:
FOOD 2×2 = 4.0
SERVICE 1×1.5 = 1.5
VALUE 0×1 = 0
AMBIENCE/​OTHER 1.0 x .5 = 1.0
Total pts 6.5 divided by 5 = 1.2 which rounds to 1

This is a nice little Italian restaurant. Typical Italian dishes (oreganato, parmigiana) and ‘on the menu’ dishes are your best bet here. Strip Mall location, inside is moderate size, not overly spacious. Has a small bar. Decent moderate-​priced California wine selection. Owners are usually there ensuring the waitstaff keep on their toes.

It’s average Italian food. I’ve had the Putanusca and the Carbonara. Both were average but the carbonara was very watery. Wouldn’t go outta my way to get to this place.

Strip mall exterior, very pleasant interior.
Food fresh, imaginative menu, and consistent, a Very Good thing.
Fabulous well trained wait staff.
Bottom line an excellent local italian restaurant…

The outside appearance of this restaurant is very unassuming. Its nestled away just off 46 in a strip mall. However the interior is very nice and Ive always been seated promptly! The wait staff is attentive, friendly, and the owners are always mingling with the guests. aside from all these thing, the food is really where its at, and it is delicious!
The pork chops balsamico are savory and huge! You will definitely have leftovers for lunch the next day. My two favorite dishes here are the Chicken Moda Mio (Boneless breast of chicken sauted with sun dried tomatoes and shallots topped with fresh mozzarella in a sherry wine sauce) and respectively the Chicken Balsamico (Boneless breast of chicken sauteed with sweet sausage, sweet peppers and shallots in a balsamic vinegar reduction.)
Whenever I go here I print out a gift certificate from
first! They offer discounted gift certificates for lots of restaurants! I love that site, and this restaurant.

Good.
+1 STAR for the owner PJ meeting and greeting us warmy on entry!
more later…