Don't get fooled by the beautiful Brick Oven as soon as you enter. Wait till you order your food.Broken plates, burnt bread and mediocre food. Also, the appetizers will be served after the entrée. Onion rings took an hour and they are true to their name, just onions and no batter on em. Stay away, if you are in mood for italian, try Janina Bistro which is a little expensive but well worth the price.
Review Source:Nice place, good food, staff is friendly. Â Everything out of the brick oven is phenominal. Â Entrees are very good. Â Place is suitable for business lunch as well as nice dinner out. Â Specials are nothing out of the ordinary but still very good. Â Ive eaten here probably 15 times and have always enjoyed my meal.
Review Source:Service can make or break a dining experience. Â This place has awful service. Â A reviewer mentioned that there are too many servers, yes agreed...just standing around, not friendly. Â There was a comb on the table next to ours, we told our waiter, he picked it up, but did not wipe down the area. Â Wait staff too interested in what they want to eat for dinner, how the Carly Rae Jepson (sp?) song is her favorite or was the driver behind us part of our party. Â I received the wrong entree, waiter said "oh I heard the other chicken dish. I can give you a pasta special". Â Me, no, I want the entree that I ordered. Â But okay we'll take the pasta special to go. Â We get the dish and I guess we were wrong to assume that since the waiter messed up our order, that the dish would be on the house...nope he charged us the $19. Â We told him we weren't paying for it. Â He said okay and took the entree back. Â Wait, what?? Â What was he going to do with it, take it home and eat it himself, give it to the dogs?? Â If it wasn't for such poor service, I might actually like the food. Â Too bad as I live nearby..
Review Source:I love this place. We have been going here for at least 15 years. It is a jewel. You can get a great pizza or a fantastic meal and bring your own bottle of wines for under $50. Most times it is less. We tend to share a Caesar salad and get a pizza and thoroughly enjoy the food. If John has a pasta dish on special, get it!! It will be great.
Review Source:We stopped by Kirsten's one night before car shopping for an early dinner. Â We've been there before and it was forgettable enough that we never really remember it as a dinner option in our area. Â Our visit this time reconfirmed that notion. Â It was good, but really just good. Â Actually, the food is pretty tasty. Â We had the Kirsten's salad, a pizza with shrimp, spinach and roasted tomato and a blackened shrimp and garlic app. Â The appetizer was very tasty, but for $11 we expected either a few more than four very average sized shrimp or at least jumbo shrimp. Â The salad was yummy (though easy...mixed greens, dried cranberries and goat cheese) but the dressing (thankfully we asked for it on the side!!) was awful. Â It was some kind of jarred/canned/pre-made raspberry vinaigrette. Â It had such an artificially sweet flavor that it would've ruined the salad had it already been on there. Â The wood burning pizza was a high light of the meal and we'd really recommend their wood burning pizzas.
So why only three stars? Â Well, it's all average. Â And on top of that, the service was terrible. Â We love local places. Â We want our local places to stay in business. Â We had when independent places go out of business, only to be left with Chili's and Applebee's for choices. Â So if an owner reads this, trust us, service matters!!! Â It was only around 5:30 or so on a weekday. Â We were one of three tables in the entire restaurants. Â We counted four workers, three servers and a cook for the pizzas. Â We sat down and waited for menus. Â Then we waited for someone to come over (and not in the leisurely sort of way either). Â The servers kept clustering up and speaking in another language for quite a long time while the customers (including us) were trying to get their attention. Â Our waiter acted as if he was annoyed that we even had to order our meals. Â He practically threw the things on the table and never once smiled, tried to be social in any way or even be pleasant. Â I don't want a new best friend, but I want to feel like I'm welcome in the place I'm spending money! Â We had to wait to ask for refills, then wait to get them. Â I guess the only bright side to that is that refills aren't free here (even on unsweetened iced tea), so I guess that saved us some money. Â We asked what was in the salad and we were told "it's good. Â It's got everything in it". Â Everything?? Â That's the description? Â Overall, we just felt like we were interrupting the staff's break time and we were definitely the afterthought in their afternoon. Â Maybe on a busy night, they're more attentive....but to me, if you win people over on the slow days then they will come back (with people!) on the other days. Â
I'd love to see them stay in business, but they should probably think about the customer's experience overall if they want people to come back.
Kirstens Italian Grill is a great place to go with a group of friends, family, and co-workers. I enjoyed Kirstens a lot, as the food was very tasty, fresh, and delicious. I went to Kirstens on a Sunday night and to my surprise, the restaurant was pretty empty, with only 2 tables filled. Usually when I see that there aren't many customers in a restaurant ... I make up conclusions such as "this place must be bad for it to be so dead on a Sunday night"... boy was I wrong, I should never make assumptions especially at Kirstens!
That night I ordered a family style Caesar Salad, white pizza, and tiramisu. I must say, I was definitely impressed with what I ordered. Caesar Salad is pretty generic, romaine lettuce, caesar dressing, and croutons... but at Kirstens, their caesar salad is NOT. The salad was very crisp and fresh and the slices of Parmesan cheese on top just make the salad better.
The pizza was very delicious. I love brick oven pizzas and to know that the pizzas were made fresh right in front of you is a bonus! The pizza wasn't too thick nor thin and it was just right, cheese with broccoli drizzled with pesto and olive oil....absolutely to die for!!
The tiramisu was good, nothing too spectacular, but a great way to end on a terrific meal!
The waitress was doll, she was very accommodating and made sure that my guests and my own needs were fulfilled at Kirstens!
All-in-all, Kirsten is a cozy atmosphere with great Italian food!
Normally as I have said in other reviews - if its an italian restaurant, I have a problem going because I can cook italian and don't see the point in paying for it, but Kirstens surprised me!
My husband and I went with another couple on a sunday after church [around 2pm when they first opened]. The staff was friendly, knew the menu and had a very wide selection.!
We got salads and calamari, my husband got a huge pasta dish and we finished it all! It was delicious. Prices were a bit steep, but over all, we would recommend it!
After reading all the good ratings maybe I was expecting better but I have to say overall it was just OK and I've been to many better.
We started off first with the hot rolls which were tasteless. The garlic oil dip did no help. Our sodas were warm and the ice quickly melted in the glass watering it down. Being a French Onion soup fan I had to try it. It rated one of the worst I had in a long time. The onions chopped up in a watery soup. It had no flavor. They did melt a ton of cheese on the top but the soup was just water with chopped up onions in it. The Chicken parm had a fatty chewy piece in it. The sauce was average at best. And as most mentioned the service could of been more attentive. I had no desire to make a repeat visit.
Wow. Â What a disappointment. Â After moving back into the area recently, this is one restaurant my wife and I were looking forward to visiting. Â We used to frequent this place years ago and always had a great meal. Â Well...there were some definite changes, although not positive.
We visited with our two children and ordered a Pizza, Pasta, Chicken Antonio, and the Kirstens Mixed Green Salad with Chicken, and a side of French Fries. Â After waiting a LONG TIME (well over 20 minutes to be served...and with two children, that is not a good thing - important to note...restaurant was empty at this point!). Â After being served, the Pasta and Pizza were great! Â Where they fell short. Â The kirstens salad was too be desired. Â My wife will not order again. Â The chicken antonio came out with undercooked (i.e. raw) vegetables, with a brown sauce that had a 'burnt' taste. Â A definite let down, especially with the young waitress recommending the dish. Â One item, I would highly recommend NOT getting, the french fries. Â Received a small (side dish was the size of your bread plate) of soggy, undercooked, small slivers of salted fries (which they charged $5 for!) Â Unbelievable. Â Very disappointing, and EXPENSIVE!
So in short, after coming back and returning to a restaurant I remembered as being very good, was most definitely let down (in general). Â The positives I would highlight - BYOB, Good Pizza, and Pasta. Â Beyond that, I cannot say anything positive. Â If my family ever goes back, we most likely will only be ordering the pizza...
Although it may not be original or authentic, or any of those "good" things, the food here is quite tasty and always fresh. Â I have never had anything that I didn't like. Â Calamari is fantastic. Â Portions of everything are generous.
If the service were better, I'd have rated it better. Â Although no wait staff there have ever been outwardly rude or inappropriate, they are not particularly attentive. Â You'll have to search for someone to get a drink refilled. Â And it takes a loooooong time for your food to be prepared. Â (I like to think that means that each order is prepared as it is received, and not in advance...but maybe I'm just looking on the bright side!) Â If you're dining with kids, make sure to bring plenty for them to do!
Pretty decent, if predictable, Italian food, but do not stop off here for a quick bite if you get off RT. 78. We nearly had to organize a search party to look for our waitress in the 35 minute gap between when we ordered a small cheese pizza, Caesar salad and eggplant parm and when it arrived. There was no checking in on us, refilling our drinks or acknowledging that things were taking a really long time. We heard rumors of dinner specials from other tables that we had never been offered, but mostly because when the other diners asked about them, we kept hearing the refrain "I dunno, I'll ask." The food was pretty good when it arrived-good marinara sauce- but this place needs to decide if it's pizza joint run by sullen high school kids or a serious restaurant. Right now it has the prices and decor or of the latter, but the service of a snack bar.
Review Source:My wife and I visited Kirstens duirng the extended JCP&L blackout.
I agree with comments from other posters - the wait staff is terrible.
We were seated promptly but waited for about 15 minutes before our waitress - looking about 16 years old - came over and took our order.
My wife ordered a pizza and I ordered cavetelli with sausage and broccoli rabe. Â The pizza was very good. Â And my angel hair pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe was tasty as well. Â I just wondered whast happened to the cavetelli? Â My wife said to send it back, but we waited so long for dinner at that poiint, I just ate what they gave me.
Getting the check was a chore. Â Our waitress was heavily involved in a gab-fest with another waitress and both ignored their customers. Â We could not even get their attention as they were hiding behind a large flower pot.
Kirstens has potential. Â The first thing that needs to change is the wait staff. Â Teenagers are clueless when it comes to serving customers. Â Then the kitchen staff needs to cook what the customer actually ordered.
Once these things are cared for, I think Kirstens will be very popular.
My favorite restaurant! Â It is moderately priced--and Great food. Â We always order the Kirsten's Salad--and split it between the two of us.
There is plenty.  My favorite entree--Chicken Antonio with dried Cherries--is so good.  Unless--the special of the day is Hangar Steak with Mushroom Risotto---that is totally irresistible.  My boyfriend, however; a native jersey boy  orders the Penne w/  Vodka sauce.  Every time.  I have never had anyone order something they did not like.
So--great food, service, and pricing just a few minutes down 22. We're headed there now!
The restaurant is pretty nice the atmosphere we enjoyed, the service was very good.  I wasn't crazy about my meal it was eggplant Parmesan. It tasted like it was frozen and they  warmed it up for me, my wife liked her meal but it was just simply penne pasta. The people were very nice so we are going to give it a try again one more time.
Review Source:One positive thing about Kirstens Italian Grill is that it is BYO, but as others have mentioned, that's pretty typical in New Jersey.
As far as the food goes, I thought it was OK at best, but "Meh, I've experienced better" fits it perfectly.
As far as the service, I thought that they had quite a bit of staff for the amount of patrons. Lots of traffic walking by - a bit distracting. Also, several mistakes with our order - bread came after the appetizers and someone in my party didn't get the chicken on their grilled chicken salad.
Lastly, the ambiance is very...well...I guess it's in line with a strip mall restaurant, but not somewhere I would go back to.
I should probably credit Kirsten's with more stars simply because it's BYO, but that's pretty typical in NJ (whereas in NY it's a gem to find). The brick oven in front looks cute and impressive, but nobody from my party ordered pizza. Maybe we should have and I'd be willing to go back to give it a try, but as far as the other food goes, I thought it was OK. I can't quite pinpoint what it was, but I've had better. Some things were too sweet when they shouldn't have been, my veal seemed a little chewy and very hard to cut (a steak knife would have been helpful) and we walked away a little unimpressed. I will say that we were comparing to a restaurant about 15 minutes away that is a dining delight so maybe there were some high expectations. There are also limited options in the area, which is why I'm saying this place is A-OK for a decent Italian meal, but you might be a little disappointed if you (1) have a great cook at home, or (2) already have a handful of favorite Italian restaurants in NJ to compare to.
Review Source:I know people have issue with Kirsten's, but I've always liked the restaurant. Â
Think about it, they did a really gusty thing taking over the only restaurant in Lebanon Boro -- think back guys, this space was an OK Chinese restaurant before the Kirsten's people came in. Â While you're thinking back, this was the only restaurant in Lebanon -- no, you can't count Rocky's, and the Lebanon Inn was usually closed
Even now, there's limited options in the area. Â Sure there's Chelsea's -- but that's a bar, doesn't count... and the joint on Main, but you'll throw down a buck or 2 for dinner. Â Here at Kirsten's you'll have a nice, East Coast Italian dinner, your own bottle of vino ( which is 2 stars from the get), and super attentive service--and you won't break the bank. Â
You deserve every star Kirsten's -- Keep up the good work !!
We like this place a lot. Â It s a bit out of the way for us but we will be back. Â The pizza oven is in the front of the room as you walk in, so you can see the chef working. Stop by and say hello. Menu gives a lot of choices from pizza to pasta to fancy items. Decor is very nice, bright with lots of natural light, good service. BYOB.
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