One of the great pleasures in life is eating good Italian food. Sharing this experience with the one you love is sure to heighten this pleasure. A fun way to share the experience of dining is finding a restaurant where the food is not only fantastically good and the ambience romantic, but where the people who own it are like good friends. We found just such a restaurant.

Queen Margherita Trattoria, is located on 246 Washington Avenue in the pleasant town of Nutley, New Jersey. We were driving past one warm day and noticed the outdoor seating area which looked charming and continental. The next night we decided to visit the restaurant for dinner. We’ve been having a love affair with the place ever since.

Margherita, the person for whom the restaurant is named, was queen of Italy in the late 1800’s. It was for her that a very special pizza was created by a man called Chef Rafaele. To honor her, the colors of the Italian flag, red, white, and green, were represented on the pie by tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil. It was in essence food fit for a queen.

But despite its charming brick oven which produces the succulent pizza, the restaurant of the same name is a true “ristorante” in the best definition of the word.

The owners of the restaurant, husband and wife Pasquale and Mirella, are the type of owners and hosts that every restaurant should have. Pasquale is from the same area of Italy as my grandparents and he displays the old world charm of the Italian gentleman. He cannot do enough for you and makes you feel as if you are the most important people to come into his establishment.

The beautiful, and busy, Mirella is never too busy to greet you. She will make sure she visits your table for a chat and, like her husband, never rushes through the conversation. They greet you as if you are welcome family members. All of their staff, James, Joe, Javier, and Dennis, are welcoming and caring. Handshakes and hugs, a kiss on the cheek, are common occurrences.

And the food! It is comparable to dining in the best restaurants in Italy! The meat dishes, chicken, veal, and beef, are tender and flavorful, the seafood is delicate and tasty, and the pasta is seasoned perfectly, with only the freshest of ingredients used. The mozzarella for the delicious Regina Margherita pizza itself, is flown in from Italy. But this pizza is like no other pizza you have ever tasted! It is thin-crusted and superb with fresh basil leaves topping the savory mozzarella and sauce.

The desserts can only be described as heavenly! They seem to be made by the hands of a talented celestial pastry chef.

The atmosphere of Queen Margherita is romantically Italian with Neapolitan songs of love filtering gently through the restaurant as you dine. The walls are painted n soft warm colors reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance and you feel as if you have stepped from the street outside into a romantic restaurant in Italy.

If you like romantic dining and you want to sample the best Italian food in the tri-state area of New York-New Jersey-Connecticut at very affordable prices, Regina Margherita is the place to visit. Alan and I sit, enjoy a sumptuous meal,listen to love songs, and hold hands while drinking an after dinner cappuccino. The experience replenishes our souls and our physical selves.

Marriage needs love, romance, and a great ristorante like Queen Margherita Trattoria, owned by Pasquale and Mirella. What more can you ask for?

Mangia bene,Vive bene!



Sacred Jude in My Life, Miracles Abound!!