Acanto Ristorante

We were there Wednesday at around 5:30. Only two tables but our appetizer came after 30 minutes. Our main course came 25 minutes after. My tuna tartar was so so, my black ink pasta with lobster was ugly! The pasta was so doughy and lobster was over cooked. Will not go back there.

Food was definitely good; fresh, soft buffalo mozzarella (perfect taste, texture, etc.), black linguine w/ 1/2 lobster (nice sized lobster pieces, excellent flavored sauce), cavatelli w/ porchetta (a little light on the meat, but otherwise good), and tiramisu (fair; we've had better, we've had worse).

However, ingredients could have been fresher (pasta was not house-made and the dessert tasted like it had been made a few days prior and was becoming stale).

I think the lobster may have been pre-frozen as well, although it was hard to tell. As noted, the mozzarella was absolutely perfect (and very fresh).

All told, the food was on par w/ what one can expect for this area. Not mind blowing like the Italian food we've had in Italy. Not close to perfection like the rare ultra authentic Italian gems we've stumbled upon in NYC or Chicago, but, a good meal nonetheless. Far above and beyond what passes for "Italian" food throughout most of middle America.

Ambiance here is decent, they've got a neat terrarium area to sit in, however, no major change from the interior of the previous establishment (Sidebar Steakhouse).

Staff was generally friendly, but, I have some major concerns about professionalism:

1) The table nxt. to us had two elderly patrons who had apparently shown up more than once since the fairly recent opening (approx. 1 mo. ago) of this restaurant.The chef/owner (?) made a big show of repeatedly bringing free food and drinks to their table. There was only a couple other tables at the time and I believe he could have put more a lot more effort into showing some appreciation to other patrons/making other new patrons feel welcome. While he may have been working hard to secure the repeat patronage of the aforementioned elderly couple who've graced his establishment twice since it opened, he was haphazardly tempting other new patrons never to return.

2) Another couple (not the aforementioned prized repeat diners) tried to use a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> certificate (valued at $25) towards their bill. The cert. reads that you must spend $37.50 (per table)...I know this b/c I had the same cert. in my wallet and was planning to use it as well. The chef/owner (?) argued with this couple for over five minutes about the cert. insisting that they needed to spend $37.50 per person. This exchange motivated me to speak up as I wanted to avoid going through the same thing when our bill arrived. Together two couples (previously unacquainted) had to explain to this gentleman how <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> works.

Ultimately he honored our certificates, but, the damage had already been done. Our bill was over $80 and it's not as if we were trying to skip out on it. We were trying to use certificates that we'd already paid <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> for - we'd come by these cert.'s honestly and shouldn't have been made to feel as if we were doing something wrong.

This proprietor would be well advised to keep his grievances w/ <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> to himself and not extend these issues to his patrons. If he doesn't want to use <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> anymore that's his business, not our problem.

The whole concept of <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> is to attract people who will hopefully become regulars - he has obviously missed that concept entirely through his petty short-sightedness.

Restaurants in this area are very expensive (generally overpriced for what you actually get) and competition is fierce. Diners here spend a lot of money and they expect a lot in return. We have so many options for dining out (in northern NJ alone, not to mention NYC just over the bridge) that a restaurant must be on point to win us over as repeat patrons.

Acanto needs to think about offering more specials to attract new patrons. When these new patrons do come in, it would be wise not to forget the forest for the trees.