It’s hard to find decent restaurants open on Mondays in the burbs – especially Italian – but fortunately, Cafe Amici is one of them! As far as decor, the restaurant has a nicely appointed dining room that you could use for a date night or bring the kids – very inviting. They also have outdoor seating which is a big plus.
Let’s talk about the food…
While the menu at Cafe Amici has a bit of everything (not usually a great sign outside of diner-land, but ok in this case), ranging from burgers to seafood, the restaurant is still Italian at its heart. The apps we tried (meatballs and an antipasto salad) were fine, but the real standouts were the Rigatoni Arrabiata with shiitake mushrooms and the Rigatoni Norma with eggplant, ricotta and basil. Both dishes were fresh, generously portioned and incredibly flavorful. My wife and I also managed to get our dining companion to grudgingly part with some of his short rib and it was top notch as well – falling apart into deliciousness with the gentle prodding a fork. Overall, everyone thought Amici delivered a great meal!
We had eaten here before and given Cafe Amici a B/B- based on the average pizza and shoe string fry-like zucchini app, but we’ll be back more often after our latest experience. If you’re local, it looks like they have a nice lunch menu, so check it out. While it may not have quite the ambiance of La Lanterna or Due in Ridgewood, the pasta is better – we heartily recommend.
One last tip before heading to Cafe Amici
And of course… Amici is a BYO. Now that Uber operates in the suburbs, make sure to show up with a nice Chianti or two.