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Italian in Rutherford

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Nice attractive town for this part of Jersey-- meeting some folks down there, trying to decide between Paisano's and Risotto House. Risotto House has the more interesting menu, and prices are a good 25% lower than Paisano's. Also, RH got much better overall reviews on Yelp than the other place. Any first hand comments?

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  1. I can't speak for Risotto House, having never eaten there, but I enjoyed Paisano's immensely. One of the better Italian restaurants in north Jersey, in my humble opinion. I can also recommend Angelo's in nearby Lyndhurst, which has great Italian food at a very reasonable price.

    6 Replies
    1. re: legsdiamond12

      Wonder why you never tried Risotto House-- entrees are less expensive than Paisano's, and they have 8 types of Risotto-- looks like it's worth a try!

      1. re: lemarais

        "and they have 8 types of Risotto-- looks like it's worth a try!"
        A very good restaurant excels at making one or maybe two types of risotto in a given evening. A mediocre to bad restaurant makes 8...and not very well.

        Risotto House can get very crowded and loud. I don't remember if they take reservations, but if they do then you should make one if you want to go. I've been there twice and it is OK, but I have always had pasta. Nothing great in my opinion.

        1. re: mangiare24

          Hmmm. Why would making multiple risottos indicate poor quality? A lot of restaurants make myriads of pasta dishes and they are good.

          But are you saying the risotto is bad even though you never had it there?

          1. re: lemarais

            I've had the risotto both times I was there because my friends and I always share our dishes when we dine out. That's why I stick with the pasta dishes.

            Making a pasta dish only requires a quick boil of the pasta and either a quick pan sauce or a precooked ragu or similar sauce that is held in a heated container. Any good restaurant can do multiple pastas with no problem. Making risotto is at least a 20-minute process from beginning to end. To quicken the process, a lot of restaurants precook the rice and spread it out on baking sheets. When an order of risotto is called into the kitchen, they take that precooked rice and continue the process. Most restaurants that do this fail at making a quality finished dish; the rice gets overcooked and the dish becomes mushy, which has been my experience at Risotto House. Not at all what a risotto should be. Of course, this is just my opinion. The fact that the place is always crowded says something else.

        2. re: lemarais

          Although I have family in the area, my dining experience there is limited. Paisano's I picked at random about a year ago, and was well impressed. A co-worker told me about Angelo's, and I was also impressed by that (although I personally enjoyed Paisano's more). I went to a relative's funeral in North Arlington about a year ago, and the meal afterward was in an Italian restaurant on a side street across from Holy Cross Cemetery that was also very, very good (The name of it escapes me now). But I'm intrigued by Risotto House (which I haven't heard of until now) and will definitely check it out. Less expensive is also attractive to me, I have to admit.

          1. re: legsdiamond12

            The restaurant in NA on the side street is Roma Restaurant on Crystal St