Tino's Italian Bistro has opened off Rte 108 in the former space of Strapazza -- according to several comments on a prior post and a mention by Richard Gorelick in the Sun (third item).
Gorelick quotes the new owner who says that he teamed up with the former chef at Strapazza. They're doing pizza, Italian food and a wine bar.
18 comments:
From a quick visit today to their storefront today plus looking at their newly done website, http://www.tinositalianbistro.com/, they will be partially open tomorrow June 8 (Wed) for drinks, pizza, and appetizers only. A sign on the door indicates they will be (fully?) open on June 9 (Thurs).
Looking forward to checking them out!
My husband and I ate there tonite. The food was excellent and so was the service. We will be going back again soon.
My husband and I tried Tino's out last night after reading about it on HowChow. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Fairly nice atmosphere. We could see the kitchen from where we were sitting, and they seemed quite busy. The staff was attentive, and the food was quite good. My only complaint was the garlic bread. It seemed to have freshly chopped raw garlic on top of it. The bread was cooked, but the garlic didn't seem to be. A little too much for my taste buds! It's not the closest restaurant to where we live, but we would go there again if we're in the area.
We ate there last night and I'm happy to see it confirmed on this site that it was the same chef as Strapazza. I thought I recognized him and was sure I recognized the Chicken Vesuvio which tasted just as I remembered. We had a great dinner. My only complaint was that we were seated in the bar area which was a little too noisy for us (two tvs and a lively crowd at the bar). We will return and request a seat in the other section. It's wonderful to have a restaurant back in that location.
Sue
The peach sangria is excellent, food was delicious and the service was friendly and attentive. We will definitely go back soon.
My wife and ate here on Friday night and they had an exhaust problem. My wife had to walk outside. She, of course complained to the owner, and he was nice enough to pick up the tab for our food. I must say that we absolutely loved the placed and the food is awesome. Be sure to try the meatballs. They are to die for. We are making this place our Friday date night.
The owner paid for your dinner because there was an exhaust problem in the kitchen and your wife had to walk outside? Come on now, that's just ridiculous. It wasn't the owner's fault and stuff like that happens. He's trying to make a living also without people complaining about stupid stuff like that. You should go back and apologize to him and pay for your meal!
Today was my second time this week going to Tino's for lunch. The restaurant was busy and there was a wait to be seated. Once again, I had to wait 30 minutes for my food to arrive at my table. They are a new restuarant so once they work out the issues in the kitchen I think this place is going to do well. By far, some of the best Italian food I have had in this area in quite awhile. I will defintely be going back.
I can't believe how much this place changed. I think the food got better though. I heard they are building an outdoor patio on the side too.
Took my Family of four to dinner last night for Father's Day. I was impressed. I had the Murphy Goode Cabernet Sauvignon, my bride and daughter had the special sangria. we started with the crab/mushroom cap appraiser, split among us and it was wonderful, not mushy and good crab meat. I had the Chicken Paesano, chicken and banana peppers in a "Rose" sauce, think creamy marinara sacue.... over penne pasta. Very tasty, the sauce was just as I like it, not runny and not pasty. My Daughter had the Chicken Chesapeake and asked for some changes, such as adding spinach and other things. Changes did not ruffle the wait staff or kitchen in the least. My bride and son's dinners were equally well prepared (she had the veal, not sure what my son had but nothing was left at the end). All the meals were done just right, pasta was not mushy or tough, meats were tender, sauces are (or should be) viewed as their signature.
We ate outside and it was nice to see a lot of our neighbors coming and going but there are comfortable tables and booths inside as well.
Drinks, appetizer, split among the four of us, and dinner came in around $25/person.
If I had to offer any criticisms (and I'm reaching here because it was a wonderful experience) it would relate to the pace of serving, from drinks to appitizer to the main meal, it seemed a little choppy, but it was also clear that the staff was working really hard to smooth those out and am confident that it's temporary, our meals came out hot and the bread was freshly baked. Considering they've only been open for a couple of weeks, I think it's to be expected, pace was not a distraction, just noticeable.
I would recommend this to anyone and am planning on coming back soon and often.
After reading several comments on here I had to try it tonight with my family... Well, everything that was said is pretty much dead on from our experience... Food is definitely as good as it gets for the price... Very high quality at more than reasonable prices. Our waitress suggested the Ravioli Chesapeake which was dynamite. Also, we didn't know that all desserts are home made and incredible (we had the Tiramisu which was the best we ever tasted - literally)... And here is the bad which I'm sure will improve... The restaurant is having too much success too early and the timing of the food is off... We met the owner (Chris) who is loaded with personality and a pleasure to talk to as he came up to the table to introduce himself. We told him of this exact experience that I'm writing about and he agreed that they were new and flooded with business and still trying to work out all the kinks. Once this restaurant works that out - they will easily be among the best in the area for Italian cusine... We are 100% going back and telling our friends
My husband and I ate at Tino's on the 17th of June and had a so-so experience. I am glad to read so many positive comments here so maybe they have worked out some of the slow service kinks. We thought the food was nothing to write home about. My husband had an average Caesar salad with chicken and I had an Italian Cold Cut sub which, much to my surprise, comes only with the Italian meats and not an Italian dressing unless you ask for it; I thought that was odd. Well, we love the fact that there is a restaurant at that location so we will be trying it again.
Strapazza's was wonderful. Tino's Italian Bistro is SUPERB!
I've been there a few times since it's opened and every time has been a positive culinary experience.
Great job Chris,(the owner) and his awesome staff!!
Despite having read some negative reviews of Tino's Italian Bistro I've now made two visits - one for Sunday lunch and one for dinner. On both occasions the food was outstanding and the service could not have been better. I enjoyed the Sicilian salad, pairing marinated grilled shrimp and salami over mixed greens with a house dressing. The veal picatta was also excellent and the DaVinci chianti is something you have to try - it will surprise you.
Tino's had ok food, but nothing special. It was confirmed by the server when we asked that all of the pasta is store bought so for a fast food Italian place the food is what you would expect.
The service however is absolutely horrible. They never filled our waters the entire meal even when requested, it took a long time to get the meal, longer time to get the check, and then the server never came back to get the check. I actually had to walk up to the hostess at the front asking if they could take care of it since we were waiting for over 20-25 minutes just to see her so she could take the check. She completely disappeared, and no other server would assist just simply saying "its not my table I will have to see if I can find your server", which never happened. Then when the server finally arrived she stated she thought we were already taken care of somehow. The servers seemed untrained as I listened around at other tables to see how they were being served, which tells me it may be a management problem along with the staffing.
In all honesty I have talked with several people that have been there over the last month or so and every single one has stated the service was horrible. I wanted to give it a chance rather than take their opinions and make my own opinion, but now I am taking the opportunity to share my experience to hopefully eliminate any potential bad experience someone else may have. I would strongly recommend to NOT go here. The food was confirmed to be mostly store bought, the service is terrible, and there are plenty of much better Italian places all over the area so do not waste your time here.
We just ordered delivery and although the pizza was fine, I'm very disappointed in the order of calamari. For $10.99 an order I expected more than 14 pieces of hardly coated and rubbery calamari. I honestly think the sauce cup and 2 lemon slices took up more room in the container.
Love Tino's and soooo happy the chef from Strapazza stayed on to create his wonderful dishes. Was there last week and had a side salad and was disappointed that the wonderful house salad dressing at Strapazza was not the same at Tino's. Otherwise, I'm ranking Tino's the best for my fix for meatballs.
Husband and I tried this on a rainy Saturday night. At 6:45 p.m. we were told it would be a 30-minute wait. Happily, it was only about 10 minutes. I'd much rather they overestimate the wait time than underestimate it.
The warm bread and spiced-up olive oil were wonderful and, with the generous antipasto platter, could have made a wonderful meal on their own. The wine list was OK, although not a lot of Italian labels, surprising for an Italian restaurant.
The main courses were disappointing however. My husband had the Veal Saltimbocca. It was generously sized but his overall impression was...sweet. I had a taste and agreed that it tasted more like a sweet Veal Marsala. I tried the Chicken Vesuvio which was supposed to be chicken sauteed with rosemary in a marinara sauce. There was NO rosemary flavor and no visible hint of it in the dish. The sauce was on the sweet side, nothing special.
We didn't try dessert so can't report on that. Service was great, efficient, friendly and the pacing of the meal was perfect. We'll give it a try again and try different entrees. There was enough good about the experience to warrant another try.
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