Catherine Lombardi

My first impression of this place was not great. The entrance was musty and smelled of mildew. However, the service was great in the begining. Unfortunately, everything started going down hill from there. The food was ok and the wine pairing recommendation was not great. But what really bothered me is our waitress disappeared after desert. We were waiting for the check for 20 – 30 minutes before we asked the hostess for our waitress when she informed us that she left for the evening. This really upset me, as we spent nearly $ 200 for just 2 people. I expect better service than to be forgotten because my waitress couldn’t wait for us to finish desert.

Very disappointed. 8 pm on a Saturday night and there were only a handful of tables. I see why now. Service was bad. We waited long periods of time for drink orders to be taken each time. Ordered the mozzarella carroza and it was over cooked and bland, almost burnt. I had the seafood fra Diablo. Lobster was way overcooked. So much so that it was difficult to even cut. Mussles were gritty and filled with sand. Waited almost a half hour for the check once our dishes were cleared. Spent over $ 200 for two people and left unsatisfied. Would not recommend.

Don’t be scared off by less than rave reviews. The cocktails were between good and excellent, the service was between good and excellent, the food was between good and excellent and the prices ranged from average to pricey.
The management was very visible, warm and eager to please (The owner offered and hand-​delivered extra Wild Boar Ragu to take home with my Pappardelle, which I highly recommend).
Some dinner highlights included:
Cold Antipasti of White Anchovies in olive oil, Calamari with Lemon and Shrimp and garlic and olive oil. All delicious! The hand made fresh mozzarella was warm and fresh as promised. Other meals in our party included the Garganelli and house made Tortelloni. Sorry, no review on desserts since we were all quite full and satisfied. I was a little disappointed that the Buffalo Mozzarella was sold out but I’m looking forward to trying it next time, and yes there will be a next time!

Came with a group, and while there was a bit of a wait to get seated, the food made it worthwhile. The Mozarella in Carozza with Prosciutto is delicious and filled as an appetizer, and the Seafood Fra Diovolo tasted fresh for my main course. Also has a great atmosphere, would highly recommend.

Upon entering the steep stairway you can’t help but notice the worn red carpeting. At the top of the stairs you will find an unmarked steel door that is uninviting. Immediately upon entering you get the feel of a frat house with lots of employees who I assume are all Rutgers students.
The décor is in need of an update and overall I get a sense of uncleanliness.
The food is terrible and overpriced.
Never have I experienced eggplant parm like it is served here consisting of three slices of oil drenched eggplant covered with cheese and not in a traditional stack. The meatballs are soft and tiny and appetizers are small as well. The place was empty for a Friday night except for loud tables of Indian cutomers who were extremely misbehaved.
Long have I wanted to try this place but oh what a mess.
These kids all should be working at Friday’s or Applebee’s.

Got scallop as entrée and arugula salad for dinner. Nothing that I can praise about them. Scallop way too salty and unremarkable, certainly not worthy of 26 dollars, neither was the salad tasty or refreshing, how can it, just drenched in dressing with no subtlty. Only came here because my other fav Restraunt in town closes early at 9:30 on wed. Never again, CL. Oh, don’t bother trying the arugala prosciutto pizza at the bar, worse than what you can imagine.
BTW, the manager talks only to man at the table. Can’t even look at the woman in her face, simply ignoring her. This even when she ended up paying, cause she’s the boss. If you want to see how an old fashion patriarchical style of service feels like, come visit CL.

Great service, attentive staff that went above and beyond for my Grandmother’s birthday. Owner came up personally to wish her a happy birthday and checked up frequently.
Garlic bread was great, too bad it is a la carte at $ 7. Veal was average, but salmon risotto dish, eggplant parm, and scallop entrees were cooked well. Food is overpriced in general but great service and atmosphere.

Three price is much higher than the quality. The broccoli was bitter. The salmon over cooked. The ice cream store bought. It was all done but much less than what I expect for such an expensive restaurant. Oh, abs I’m disappointed that they made the garlic bread an ala carte item. Should cone with the meal.
The, ambience was very nice though.

Unfortunately a very disappointing experience, although maybe it’s because my expectations were high. If I went in expecting less, they might’ve scored a 3 star review.
Service was very spotty. We made reservations for 7:15PM, which was the wrong time for it. A suggestion for non-​theater goers. Wait until 8PM to make reservations because the restaurant COMPLETELY cleared out at that time.
Because it was so busy, our server took a good 10 – 15 minutes to greet us and take our drink orders. The drinks took another 10 – 15 minutes to get there, and THEN our dinner orders were taken. It was a very long wait, and if we were in any hurry at all, it would’ve been frustrating. As it was, we were completely at leisure so the long wait for drinks and ordering didn’t bother us TOO much. Besides, the server was very friendly and took her time when she DID get to us, so that took the edge off.
Food: We ordered the fresh mozzarella appetizer and the stuffed mushroom appetizer. The mozzarella was in fact fresh, and pretty tasty (though for the price — 10.95, I’m not sure it was worth it). The stuffed mushrooms were delicious!
Entrees: Seafood Fra Diavolo (special) — Fresh seafood, and an «OK» dish, but my partner found the sauce to be not that spicy, but full of too many spices, if you get my meaning. Too spiced and not spicy enough, basically. My entrée, which I order at as many italian restaurants as I can, was the Pappardelle Bolognese. SO disappointing. The sauce tasted like undercooked tomatoes and the meat was lumpy and tasted basically like chunks of meatball. Underwhelming.
We also ordered some special cocktails, which were just fine.
Overall, it didn’t live up to expectations sadly. We had waited for a special occasion to try the restaurant out, but next time we’ll have to try somewhere else.

I’ve been here several times during college and can tell you that their dishes are average at best– ridiculous for the prices being charged. The service, ambiance, and décor are very good however.
My advice– take your money and go across town to Clydz. Intimate yet less stuffy, the food is 100x better, and they have some crazy good martinis.

Such a GREAT dining experience!!! The service, staff, food, atmosphere was all amazing. My husband and I had such a great time on our date here. We hung out at the bar for a while & had a few drinks before our reservation. The bartender, Chris, made perfect drinks. He was very clever and friendly and super attentive. Once our table was ready, they never rushed us. They made us very comfortable. Our server was very sweet and was able to answer any questions we had regarding the menu. And the food was just out of this world delicious.

Party of 3
Second chance for Catherine Lombardy restaurant
Order of salmon on risotto «an Italian restaurant risotto an edible» please just kill me now even server admit it and say sorry ten times.
I order filetmignon with wild mushroom
It was not filetmignon they said sorry again
But we still paid the price of them.
Thank you but not again I may go for drink but not to eat

Came here with some friends from out of town. Maybe 25 percent full house they asked if we had a reservation… why? Who knows.
Staff is incredibly inattentive and forgot our wine order. Didn’t bother to take our food order for 40 mins and didn’t do so until I brought it up to them.
Food is subpar and NOT worth the ridiculous price. This place puts on a façade and tries to be fancy, but fails to do so to a great extent.
Price: ¹⁄₅
Food: ²⁄₅
Service: ⁰⁄₅ waiters attitudes need a check
Never coming here again. Suck.

Is it me or is this a weird name for a restaurant? You know what, who cares, because this place was great!
We dined here on a Saturday night with a party of about 23 people. We had a reservation and good thing we did because we may still be waiting to be seated. This restaurant was busy!
We really liked the atmosphere. Warm fireplaces, inviting décor, and a pretty nice bar area. Managing a group of 23 is never an easy task, but the servers did it with ease. Our wine glasses were kept full and the pacing of the evening was perfect. Appetizers varied from calamari to cheeseboards to cured meats. Our entrees ranged from seafood (Sexy and me) to steak (Jill P and Ralf P) to pasta (Amy P). And did I mention that they have house-​made Limoncello?
This place is a bit on the pricey side so be prepared for a slight case of sticker-​shock. But the experience makes it all worth it. And the food was amazing.
Catherine Lombardi is located right in the heart of the downtown New Brunswick area and well worth making a visit to.
And don’t forget to order the Limoncello!

Came across this place when I was in town for the Gipsy Kings concert at the State theatre. My mom and I went in for cocktails before the show. They have a lovely cocktail menu with plenty to select from. Everything divided into different spirits, wine, sparklers, and beer. I had the stormy weather and my mom had the killer bee. Both delicious and well made drinks. The bartenders were very nice and seemed very knowledgeable in their cocktail making. We went back after the show for some more drinks. We wanted to try the food but by that time there was quite a large crowd, so we didn’t get a chance to. Only two bartenders working the evening, and we understand they were busy. The late night bar menu looks very good and also a decent amount of foodies choose from. We also enjoyed the music playing at the bar. I would love to come back here for dinner or even hit the bar early evening. I enjoyed the cocktails plenty, so definitely give this place a try :)

The two others in our group liked their meals. I was not impressed. The chicken and asparagus in my pasta were very overcooked. The truffle pasta sauce was good, but it didn’t make up for the rest. Garlic bread was ok.
I won’t go back unless the girls want to go again, but I doubt it.

The atmosphere in the upstairs dining room is lovely.
The garlic bread is amazing and well worth purchasing. I had the linguine with truffle cream asparagus and panchetta. It was good and priced reasonably for the quality. I found the panchetta a little too salty but I think most people will enjoy it. I was disappointed in the sticky toffee pudding, I have had better but it wasn’t awful. Overall I would recommend this place.

The black spaghetti with spicy sopressa mint and shrimp is one of the very best pasta dishes I ever had in NJ, NYC or Italy. The basil fettuccini with shrimp is different and excellent. At $ 25 – 27, they are not cheap, but…
Fried calamari better than last time, with excellent red sauce.
Excellent team service. The quartinos of wine offer a good alternative for light drinkers.
If they were in my town or BYO/​a little less expensive, I would eat here weekly.
Very nice atmosphere and very comfortable seating.
I cannot believe any negative reviews about this place – we are not regulars and dress casually but have always received outstanding service here.

I threw a little party here over the weekend and was pretty happy with the service!
A couple girlfriends and I arrived earlier for dinner and had to rush before the rest of my party got here. Our waiter was very friendly and accommodating. I even had a suitcase with me and the hostess offered to check it for me along with our coats.
We then brought the party over to the bar when the rest of my friends arrived. There were about 15 of us altogether and we had a good sized area to ourselves. A bit on the pricey end but happy with my experience overall!
PS I had the most fantastic glass of Cabernet… I forget the name but it was from Napa Valley ;)

I guess the only reason why I haven’t been here during the past three years at Rutgers is its bad Unilocal reviews.
A friend spoke highly of their cocktails and we came here on a Monday evening to have some birthday drinks.
I couldn’t figure out what I want from so many options. The bartender asked what I like and normally drink and suggested a double rum+apricot nectar+something else that I don’t remember. It turned out super delicious!!! The spice was delicately balanced with the fruitiness of apricot nectar.
The atmosphere was nice. I would totally come here with my boo when I have one LOL. Will come back to try more cocktails and maybe food!