Trattoria Uno Continues 25-Year Tradition Of Making Dinner Affordable In Somerset County

BRANCHBURG, NJ — For just about 25 years, Trattoria Uno has continued its tradition of offering affordable dinners for families in Somerset County.

"I feel like people are always saying that times are tough," said Owner of Trattoria Uno Angelo Iacono. "When groceries are pricey, and a new car costs $60,000, dinner shouldn't be like, $200."

Iacono opened Trattoria Uno at 1067 Route 202 in Branchburg in 2001. Initially, he began offering specials every week as a way to draw people into his location.

Specials include every Monday night from 4 to 9 p.m. Trattoria Uno offers half-priced pastas, cash only, on every pasta entrée from their menu.

Every Tuesday night, get three trays of food for $45 cash. It includes salad, choice of pasta(penne vodka, tomato, or baked ziti), and choice of entrée (chicken parm, francese, marsala or eggplant parm).

Additionally, every Wednesday night, every chicken entrée on the menu is half price for dine-in customers. Cash only.

"I see people advertise all the time, $40 chicken dinners and $35 pasta dishes. And I know how much this stuff costs," said Iacono. "I don't want to be mean to the competition, but I'm just like, who spends $80 on a steak? And so my thing was always like, I'm gonna give you a portion. It's gonna be affordable. And on top of that, I'm gonna do specials that mean even more affordable. Because I just could not sit down and purchase a pasta for $40. My soul would be shattered."

The specials were a hit with the community and only grew in popularity during the pandemic when Iacono began offering take out specials.

"The specials were popular, so I always kept them. And then a few years after that, we started our takeout meal, which got really big during COVID. It was crazy, we were doing like 80 or 90 trays every Tuesday. It was out of control."

The Italian eatery also hosts parties, offers fundraisers for community organizations, and offers catering. Delivery is also available.

Iacono's goal is to continue to offer affordable meals to the community for as long as possible.

"I want to make it where a family of four could come out to eat, and the next day they're not like, 'Wow. I spent a lot of money.' I want them to be like, 'That was a great meal. It was affordable. I have leftovers'," said Iacono.

For more information, visit trattoriaunonj.com, call 908-203-8666, or follow facebook.com/trattoriauno1 for the specials.

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