Panevino: Livingston, NJ
When I heard on Mano a Vino that the people who own Naples 45 in NYC (well, the restaurant group who owns Naples 45) had a pizza place in Livingston NJ, I got all kindza excited. Naples 45 makes some of my favorite pizza in NYC. Neapolitan style. Neapolitan pizza, to me, suggests that the crust is just about the most important part of the product: if the crust falls short, nothing can save the pizza. It's really all about the bread, though I'm sure most don't agree with me. Hoping that Panevino shared my philosophy, I high-tailed it out to Livingston that very night.
The good news:
They've got themselves a nice wood-burning oven. It's tough to make
good pizza without a wood-burning (or at least coal-fired) oven. They get real hot, and a good pizza maker can use blast of heat and smoke from the wood to really impart a smoky flavor to the pizza.
It's a casual family-friendly restaurant with some outdoor seating.
The bad news:
The pizza isn't as good as Naples 45. The crust just isn't as good, and that's probably the biggest issue here.
More good news:
It's better than most pizza in NJ. And, it's probably the only Neapolitan-style pizza in northern Jersey.
We had some nice Italian beer, Birra Moretti, which always takes me back to Italy.
Which is apparently made by Heineken, which always takes me back to college in NJ.
Wines by the glass were nothing to write home about. The wine glasses themselves were a bit too small for my taste.
All of that aside, we had a nice time having dinner at the small-ish bar, and had a great discussion with the bartender about tequila, which was right at the beginning of my education on yet another vice, which I've yet to post about.
Panevino : 637 W. Mount Pleasant Ave (Rt 10) : Livingston, NJ : 973.535.6160
Panevino is a nice place, and gets a good bar trade W-Th-F evenings.
I get over there for lunch every few weeks, and it's usually good. Pizza is th emeal of choice, with a few beers.
The kitchen is open fairly late for the suburbs, maybe 930 during the week.
Posted by: Rail Paul | August 28, 2006 at 01:36 PM
Still has the feel of an Olive Garden to me ...
Posted by: Jim | August 30, 2006 at 01:18 PM
it's kid friendly, that's for sure. i haven't been in an Olive Garden in probably 12 years, but this place doesn't have that cookie-cutter feel to me. It's got a family-run vibe, a nice outdoor patio and garden, and funky art on the walls.
here's a pic of the inside
The food, I would say, is a step or two up from the Olive Garden, thankfully.
Posted by: tommyeats | August 30, 2006 at 02:58 PM
You know, I work across the street from here and I only go once a year when I get a coupon from the restaurant group that owns this place which matches the first $30 I spend with $30 on the house. Otherwise, I think they're really overpriced. Great iced tea here but its hard to send someone to a restaurant to drink iced tea. Nice garden for outdoor dining but again the food/value ratio is too out of whack to keep this place on my radar.
Posted by: dbrociner | August 30, 2006 at 10:05 PM
here's the menu.
Posted by: tommyeats | August 30, 2006 at 10:48 PM
Looking over that menu and realizing that I should clarify my statement. I think the place is very expensive for lunch. Since the menu is the same for both lunch and dinner then the prices for dinner are right in line with other restaurants in the area.
Posted by: dbrociner | September 01, 2006 at 06:52 PM
dbroc, please don't make me have to slap you down again.
best regards,
tommy ;-p
Posted by: tommyeats | September 01, 2006 at 10:02 PM