I made a reservation for 8 PM, someone called me 730 PM to tell me there's an event in the main dining room I have to sit at the bar I was already dressed so I was like fine. I was 5 mns to the place I received a call to let me the kitchen closes at 8 PM. To me that was very unprofessional and disappointing. Had they let me know earlier I could have went to another place or plan accordingly.
Service: 1
Jason Cunas
OVERPRICED and OVERRATED. I visited La Taverna, not because I wanted to try their food or people were raving about it but for The Office Trivia night. To begin, finding the entrance was an adventure within itself. They have a BAR sign marking hanging on a wall but the entrance is about 50 feet away, hidden. We followed the crowd and were able to make it inside. The host was welcoming and greeted us as we entered. The restaurant is on the left, La Taverna is in the center, and the bakery on the right. Once we made our way inside La Taverna, we waited about 10 minutes to be seated, which we expected because of the occasion. Once seated, we waited 30 minutes to actually be attended to. The service the rest of the night was slow. I don’t know if they were understaffed or they underestimated the magnitude of the event. The bar menu had 2 prices on it, the HH, Happy Hour and the regular pricing. We ordered the $19 Neapolitan pizza, which during HH is $10, nearly half the price! Aesthetically, it was beautiful.; but, once you take a bite, all your aspirations of having a decent meal take a spiraling downward freefall into a pit of despair and disappointment. I only swallowed because it was instinct not because I wanted to. I’ve had better microwavable pizza at a quarter of the cost. I don’t think it’s even worth the $10 during HH. We had contemplated ordering the $19 wings, also, but when we asked how many came in the order, they said 7! I am glad we didn’t. They had placed bread on the table which was stale! Stale bread at a restaurant with a bakery attached to it! I was speechless. Sadly, aside from the limes in the margaritas, it was the best thing I ate all night. I’ve eaten at many places, but La Taverna, by far, is the most overrated and overpriced for the quality of food they serve. It is a total rip-off. Would I go back? Yes, but only for The Office Trivia and I would eat before getting there. On the bright side, the $5 margaritas for the event were decent. I did not try any of the $15 + drinks they had. Calandra’s and any of its associated stores, etc. are overrated. Yes, they were once the only name in the bakery business but there hundreds of better bakeries now at a fraction of the cost. I don’t mind paying top dollar for quality food, but this isn’t the case at La Taverna.
Anely Gomez
Nice place
Victor Quijano
Nice upscale atmosphere for drinks and food highly recommended for the grownups.
Garry M
There is a variety to eat here from the bakery to the restaurant. The food was just ok for the price you pay.
Emma Pennino
Quite possibly the most rude wait-staff I have encountered at a restaurant in a long time.. Despite the yummy food and drinks, I’ll be spending my money elsewhere from now on.
Rich F
We are BEYOND ECSTATIC with our wedding cake and all other pastries and desserts provided by Calandra’s Bakery! No other bakery bakes your cake at 3:00AM the day of your wedding and it shows! Super fresh moist and SUPER DELICIOUS! Every guests commented about the spectacular presentation…simple yet elegant carrying our live orchid theme with LIFELIKE piped orchid petals cascading down each layer! What a joy to have such an unforgettable and memorable experience of knowing our family and friends will remember our wedding cake as much as we will! We had the choice of several bakeries but must end by telling this story…we had checked out a couple of bakeries but after a final wedding gown fitting we decided to visit Calandras. Unannounced we asked to see the person who could help us with our wedding cake. Calandra’s is an incredible “complex” and was extremely busy place but we were directed to Aisha Maliki. Aisha dropped everything presented us with an exquisite tray of every wedding cake option in bite size proportions all fresh and delicious. She gave us coffee and tea and gave us time to talk amongst ourselves in a relaxed atmosphere until our decision was unanimous! She then proceeded to take us through the endless design options available and helped us tweak every little detail until alas our vision for the PERFECT wedding cake had come to life! Mind you we did this unannounced but Aisha couldn’t have been more cordial personable professional and most of all friendly! We left SO elated to leave having one of the most important wedding checkboxes checked and feeling we just had welcomed a new family member into the fold! Based on our incredible experience with Aisha and Calandra’s your choice for YOUR wedding cake and pastries should be Calandra’s! You will definitely not be sorry!
Terry lee 58
Awesome
Diruss70
Calandra’s did the cake for our daughter’s Sweet 16. It was exactly what she was hoping for! It looked beautiful and tasted even better! Highly recommend!
I feel like I have walked into a small italian village when I walked inside. There is awesome bakery and the fresh bread is so enticing. There is also a sidewalk like indoor cafe. Rice and Meat balls were tasty. Eggplant rolatini was perfectly delicious when i warmed them up at home for dinner. I have not tried the restaurant section yet because of budget reasons and it was during COVID.
doloren62
I've been a customer since The early 80's my purchases from this Bakery is a Family Favorite ",my children's cakes were always ordered here and my Daughter's 39th birthday is this month guess where I'm going? Thanks for the Love Calandrias
Colt186O
Try to visit this place at least once while up in Jersey with family and friends. The food will not disappoint and you are giving quite a large portion. It can get quite loud, but that’s my Italian family and friends. Don’t forget to visit their bakery section that is decadent. Buon appetito!
Shawn Foley
Awesome atmosphere with great food & drinks! Staff was very friendly!
BrieValentino
Cookies, cupcakes, cannolis, lobster claws are all amazing. I wish I lived closer to this place I would be there all the time I want to try their gelato!
The best
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I made a reservation for 8 PM, someone called me 730 PM to tell me there's an event in the main dining room I have to sit at the bar I was already dressed so I was like fine. I was 5 mns to the place I received a call to let me the kitchen closes at 8 PM. To me that was very unprofessional and disappointing. Had they let me know earlier I could have went to another place or plan accordingly.
Service: 1
OVERPRICED and OVERRATED. I visited La Taverna, not because I wanted to try their food or people were raving about it but for The Office Trivia night. To begin, finding the entrance was an adventure within itself. They have a BAR sign marking hanging on a wall but the entrance is about 50 feet away, hidden. We followed the crowd and were able to make it inside. The host was welcoming and greeted us as we entered. The restaurant is on the left, La Taverna is in the center, and the bakery on the right. Once we made our way inside La Taverna, we waited about 10 minutes to be seated, which we expected because of the occasion. Once seated, we waited 30 minutes to actually be attended to. The service the rest of the night was slow. I don’t know if they were understaffed or they underestimated the magnitude of the event. The bar menu had 2 prices on it, the HH, Happy Hour and the regular pricing. We ordered the $19 Neapolitan pizza, which during HH is $10, nearly half the price! Aesthetically, it was beautiful.; but, once you take a bite, all your aspirations of having a decent meal take a spiraling downward freefall into a pit of despair and disappointment. I only swallowed because it was instinct not because I wanted to. I’ve had better microwavable pizza at a quarter of the cost. I don’t think it’s even worth the $10 during HH. We had contemplated ordering the $19 wings, also, but when we asked how many came in the order, they said 7! I am glad we didn’t. They had placed bread on the table which was stale! Stale bread at a restaurant with a bakery attached to it! I was speechless. Sadly, aside from the limes in the margaritas, it was the best thing I ate all night. I’ve eaten at many places, but La Taverna, by far, is the most overrated and overpriced for the quality of food they serve. It is a total rip-off. Would I go back? Yes, but only for The Office Trivia and I would eat before getting there. On the bright side, the $5 margaritas for the event were decent. I did not try any of the $15 + drinks they had. Calandra’s and any of its associated stores, etc. are overrated. Yes, they were once the only name in the bakery business but there hundreds of better bakeries now at a fraction of the cost. I don’t mind paying top dollar for quality food, but this isn’t the case at La Taverna.
Nice place
Nice upscale atmosphere for drinks and food highly recommended for the grownups.
There is a variety to eat here from the bakery to the restaurant. The food was just ok for the price you pay.
Quite possibly the most rude wait-staff I have encountered at a restaurant in a long time.. Despite the yummy food and drinks, I’ll be spending my money elsewhere from now on.
We are BEYOND ECSTATIC with our wedding cake and all other pastries and desserts provided by Calandra’s Bakery! No other bakery bakes your cake at 3:00AM the day of your wedding and it shows! Super fresh moist and SUPER DELICIOUS! Every guests commented about the spectacular presentation…simple yet elegant carrying our live orchid theme with LIFELIKE piped orchid petals cascading down each layer! What a joy to have such an unforgettable and memorable experience of knowing our family and friends will remember our wedding cake as much as we will! We had the choice of several bakeries but must end by telling this story…we had checked out a couple of bakeries but after a final wedding gown fitting we decided to visit Calandras. Unannounced we asked to see the person who could help us with our wedding cake. Calandra’s is an incredible “complex” and was extremely busy place but we were directed to Aisha Maliki. Aisha dropped everything presented us with an exquisite tray of every wedding cake option in bite size proportions all fresh and delicious. She gave us coffee and tea and gave us time to talk amongst ourselves in a relaxed atmosphere until our decision was unanimous! She then proceeded to take us through the endless design options available and helped us tweak every little detail until alas our vision for the PERFECT wedding cake had come to life! Mind you we did this unannounced but Aisha couldn’t have been more cordial personable professional and most of all friendly! We left SO elated to leave having one of the most important wedding checkboxes checked and feeling we just had welcomed a new family member into the fold! Based on our incredible experience with Aisha and Calandra’s your choice for YOUR wedding cake and pastries should be Calandra’s! You will definitely not be sorry!
Awesome
Calandra’s did the cake for our daughter’s Sweet 16. It was exactly what she was hoping for! It looked beautiful and tasted even better! Highly recommend!
Restaurantji Recommends
I feel like I have walked into a small italian village when I walked inside. There is awesome bakery and the fresh bread is so enticing. There is also a sidewalk like indoor cafe. Rice and Meat balls were tasty. Eggplant rolatini was perfectly delicious when i warmed them up at home for dinner. I have not tried the restaurant section yet because of budget reasons and it was during COVID.
I've been a customer since The early 80's my purchases from this Bakery is a Family Favorite ",my children's cakes were always ordered here and my Daughter's 39th birthday is this month guess where I'm going? Thanks for the Love Calandrias
Try to visit this place at least once while up in Jersey with family and friends. The food will not disappoint and you are giving quite a large portion. It can get quite loud, but that’s my Italian family and friends. Don’t forget to visit their bakery section that is decadent. Buon appetito!
Awesome atmosphere with great food & drinks! Staff was very friendly!
Cookies, cupcakes, cannolis, lobster claws are all amazing. I wish I lived closer to this place I would be there all the time I want to try their gelato!