This classic Italian restaurant in Red Bank is outstanding

Walk into Buona Sera in the heart of Red Bank, NJ and you’ll get a great vibe and a true feeling of a traditional Italian restaurant.

In a recent visit, I finally got it. Buona Sera is a cross between a New York and Rome restaurant. The menu is full of great choices and the food is outstanding.

While I have been to Buona Sera many times it’s been a while since my last visit. Shame on me. My date and I sat at the small bar, my favorite, and had outstanding bartenders. Chris the bartender mixed a couple of classic cocktails followed by my request for him to recommend a great Italian blend wine for dinner. He picked out a very good super Tuscan wine that went so well with dinner.

We split a clams oreganato, which was a perfect way to start the meal. The clams were tasty and the breading on the clams wasn’t overwhelming so the flavor really came through. I ordered a pasta course for us to split: it was the tortellini carbonara, which was in a great cream sauce with some small pieces of pancetta, and it was good, very good.

The special that night was a New York strip steak and it was cooked to a perfect medium rare. We got some dessert and an after-dinner drink and the night was perfect. So many of the customers at Buona Sera eat there first and head to the Count Basie Theatre which is right around the corner. This is the epitome of dinner and a show.

Owner Chris Mariani is a hands-on host who is constantly greeting and catering to his many customers that come into his fine restaurant. The restaurant opened in March of 1999 and Chris has expanded the restaurant to accommodate the many people that have filled the seats ever since. His staff is so attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu and importantly the service is just great.

Some say that Buona Sera is too expensive. It is expensive but the portions are large and they serve outstanding food. This is a place that you want to go to enjoy a special occasion or grab a bite before a show at The Count Basie Theatre. The meaning of buona sera is “good evening,” it was.