Romola’s Seafood Restaurant Offers Cranford a Taste of the Mediterranean

Romola’s Seafood & Grille Restaurant is Downtown Cranford’s latest addition in food offerings.

The restaurant features fresh seafood delivered daily and all fresh ingredients cooked to order. Romola’s is also only accepting reservations for weekend dining, but since they just opened, they will be taking walk-in diners during the week.

“We’re trying to have something nobody has,” Co-owner Sonny Gjuvakaj said. 

This is the third restaurant Gjuvakaj and partner Mark Ventura have opened together, but it is the first Mediterranean seafood restaurant.  The name “Romola’s” is after Ventura’s mother who is Italian and has a passion for cooking.

Mediterranean cuisine is familiar to Gjuvakaj, whose father had a Mediterranean Restaurant in Albania.

Gjuvakaj and Ventura want Romola’s to be an intimate experience for diners. They are requiring reservations so that diners are guaranteed a table all night and do not have to worry about being rushed.

“We want to make sure we make each customer feel special,” Gjuvakaj said.

Romola’s chef is no stranger to Mediterranean cooking. He has spent years cooking along the Mediterranean Sea in France, Italy and Greece.

Some of Romola’s specialties include, octopus, clam chowder, Chilean sea bass and Seafood crepes. It was hard for Gjuvakaj to choose, because everything is good, he said. View the full menu.

The owners chose Cranford, because there was nothing like it in town.

“Every town should have a good seafood restaurant,” Gjuvakaj explained. “I have always loved Cranford, they are very supportive.”

Romola’s is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Closed Monday). The restaurant is located at 2 South Avenue West between Brooklyn Pizza and Edible Arrangements.