Marzullo’s Restaurant, a Taste of Southern Italy

Southern Italian cuisine is alive and well and being served daily in Montclair at Marzullo’s Restaurant at 117 Grove St.

The restaurant, located in a storefront, features takeout and eat-in service and a deli. Marzullo’s also features a party room.

The menu consists of a full range of foods – including chicken, fish, beef and veal and it is difficult to make a selection with all the wonderful choices available.

Immediately after we were seated, we were served individual portions of bruschetta and a basket of two types of breads – a foccacia and a crusty Italian bread.

One guest ordered a Caesar salad ($8.95) for an appetizer. The salad featured an abundance of crispy lettuce and Caesar dressing with a touch of anchovies.

I ordered the tomato and red onion salad ($8.95), featuring a large portion of ripe red tomatoes cut in quarters and onions with fresh garlic, basil and imported extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil dressing was too good to waste, so I used some of the leftover Italian bread and soaked up the remainder of it.

Another guest ordered a bowl of beef barley soup ($4.95). Although the portion was large, my guest said the soup tasted starchy and bland.

After our appetizers, one of our guests walked into the deli/takeout area and was smitten with a stuffed artichoke stuffed with breadcrumbs ($7.95), served with hot marinara sauce. She insisted we order one and it was a good choice.

The artichoke was served hot and the breadcrumb stuffing and marinara sauce were a good combination along with the artichoke leaves. The artichoke heart was pink and tasty, but took a bit of work to get to it.

For our entrées, we decided to mix things up a bit.

A woman in our group ordered the hot antipasto for two appetizer ($15.95). The dish consisted of eggplant rollatini, shrimp, clams, stuffed mushrooms and calamari served with marinara sauce and my guest said it was a dish that “if you didn’t know what to order, it included everything you wanted to eat on one plate.”

The calamari was a huge hit because they were crispy, nicely fried and fresh, she said. The shrimp also were a hit because of both their size and flavor, featuring a fried batter coating. She mentioned the clams were small and a little salty probably because of the prosciutto.

Another guest ordered the chicken parmigiana and was served three abundant breasts of breaded chicken with lots of sauce and cheese. Her dish came with a choice of side salad or pasta, she chose spaghetti.

Order a soda at Marzullo’s and you’re in for a treat. One guest did just that and got a bottle of orange soda with a Marzullo’s Restaurant label painted on it. It was a nice touch and totally unexpected.

I ordered a dish of angel hair pasta with grilled chicken, sausage, broccoli rabe, diced tomatoes in a white wine sauce ($16.95). The grilled chicken was perfectly seasoned and the flavor was offset by the spice of the sausage. The dish included generous portions of the broccoli rabe and the fresh garlic added the perfect finishing touch to the flavor.

No meal is complete at Marzullo’s Restaurant without sampling the ample dessert selection. There must have been approximately a dozen different types of desserts available.

We decided on the chocolate cheesecake ($4.95) and a Boston Cream torte ($4.95). Both desserts were topped off with homemade whipped cream. The desserts were creamy, yet light and a sweet finish to an outstanding meal.

Some other items to note:

• The restaurant is family friendly. We arrived around 5:30 p.m. and within 15 minutes nearly every table in our section had filled up. The crowd is diverse from young families with children to couples on dates and senior citizens.

• The restaurant is BYOB.

• The restaurant features two unisex restrooms. The restrooms are clean, well-maintained and well lit.

• On-street metered parking is available.

• Lunch specials are offered and half-off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday pasta specials are available.

• There is a $4 charge for plate sharing.

Marzullo’s Restaurant

117 Grove St., Montclair

Phone: 973-744-6663

Hours: Sunday, noon-10 p.m.

              Monday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

              Friday, Saturday 11 a.m.-12 a.m.

BYOB