Nettie's house of spaghetti - tinton falls, nj

Regional Dining Discussions New Jersey
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We hadn’t been to Netties in a while and I have to say, they blew us away with the quality of both food and service. Also, the new bartender made one the the best Boulevardiers I had.

The restaurant was packed this past Friday night. We started with their homemade mozzarella which was soft deliciousness. We paired that with domestic prosciutto and roasted eggplant. While we didn’t love the prosciutto, the roasted eggplant was killer!

Our pasta course was spaghetti with crab sauce. I have to say, we don’t often order pastas with seafood, but this was was excellent. The crab is in the sauce so you get crabby goodness in every al dente bite.

Onto the mains: The sole Milanese was perfectly cooked. We loved the tomato carpaccio the the sole was set upon. And then…we had an order of meatballs…super tasty little crispy meatballs…and finally, Chef Chris has done something very different…homemade al dente pastina Cacio e Pepe style! We couldn’t finish the meatballs and the pastina…they made a splendid breakfast!!

The service by Marisol, (and the rest of the staff), was professional and friendly without being overbearing. The prices at Netties are really fair for the portion size and quality of the food.

If you haven’t been to Netties in a while, it’s time for a visit…Very highly recommended!!

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144

Well, to quote @NotJrvedivici I think my cover is blown here too. We had some good parts, some eh parts and some downright weird parts in last night’s dinner.

The good:

  • Drinks and appetizers (brussel sprouts and eggplant) were all both tasty and arrived promptly after ordering.

The eh:

  • Long wait between apps and entrees. At least 30 minutes. They brought our toddlers pasta at least 20+ minutes out before ours which was not what we asked for or wanted.

The downright weird:

  • Nettie’s posted earlier in the day about an all day happy hour on Instagram. I saw this while we were sitting waiting and I asked the waitress. She said that only applies to the bar but the post didn’t say that. She said she spoke with the owner who confirmed this is not valid but they updated the post to clarify. I retorted that it is a bit of false advertising but whatever. The owner arrived and said they corrected our bill but that nobody does a happy hour like that anywhere and we should known this because it is posted on their website. This made me annoyed. My husband said she said something about how they know I post here but I was hung up on how the responsibility is on the consumer to read through what is actually listed to know the ‘true’ message?
  • My husband asked our waitress on the status of our entrees because we had been sitting for quite a while and my toddler was totally done. I wasn’t at the table then but someone (another owner?) came out to the kitchen saying rudely that it was coming and asked him what his problem was… uh…
  • Both entrees were a bit too salty for me. He liked them so 50/50 on the review there.

I’m not in any hurry to come back. I know they read this and will comment.

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Hi Gracie,

I’m glad you enjoyed your drinks and apps. Just to clarify the facts - your entrees took 22 minutes and 54 seconds.

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Your server fired your daughter's spaghetti earlier because kids usually get antsy and typically parents want their kids' food to come out before theirs, so she assumed that was the best thing to do. Sorry if that's not what you wanted (although she did say that you thanked her for doing so).

Accusing us of “false advertising” felt a bit extreme - I would NEVER falsely advertise anything, and we have zero intention of ever ripping anyone off at Nettie’s. I simply forgot to write that detail on the instagram post… I have written about happy hour on Instagram a few times, and I have always written that it’s at the bar. It’s also listed as being at the bar only on our website. I honestly just forgot - it wasn’t for customers to figure out the “true message” on their own. I honored the price of your happy hour drinks because my server said you were extremely upset about it, which is never something that I want to happen, obviously (and for the record, you didn’t even say thank you, although your husband did).

I have zero interest in arguing back and forth on a food blog, so if you have anything else that you’d like to discuss with me feel free to shoot me an email - tania(at)nettiesrestaurant.com.

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Ha, this is actually comical to me. If you don’t want a dialogue then don’t respond on a public forum and expect this is the last word.

We arrived for a 5:30 reservation a few minutes early. At 6:50 we were still in the restaurant. I suspect your time clock was reset after my daughter’s food arrived and the rest of the entrees and that’s how you arrived at 22 minutes.

If your server thought that was the best thing, then ask the table. What was I supposed to say when a plate for food is dropped on the table?

Ok, misleading advertising? Is that a preferable term? My point was honor it and don’t make your patrons do the work to figure it out. Again, saying I should know your terms or follow each Instagram post is absurd. It was a simple question if you would honor what was stated on the post.

I would take grievance with saying “extremely upset”. This is actually ridiculous and I am laughing as I respond to this. We ate, tipped 20% and left.

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Was enjoying the irony of Tania’s reply also. Scroll up in this conversation for other examples of zero interest in arguing back and forth.

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Every time we get ready to give this place a try I read things that just turn me off. It’s a shame because we are very close and would like a place to add to the rotation.

Whenever I see someone argue with a customer It just turns me completely off. There are many better ways to handle problems and they don’t seem to know any of them.

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Have to agree with you… in 2019, you just can’t expect all posts on FB, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or even on hyperlocal sites to be 100% full of praise (and when they are, I’m VERY suspect). It’s the way these comments are handled that tell me even more. HT: Danny Meyer.

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Disclosures: 1) I am a fan of Nettie’s; 2) I am a partner in a local monmouth county restaurant (no, not Nettie’s).

Here’s my take: the restaurant business is the hospitality business. The goal is to deliver good product (which includes food, drink, ambiance, and service) and generate a loyal fan base to get repeat business and additional business via word of mouth.

Restaurants can be a chaotic place with a life of their own sometimes. It is a people business that involves countless interactions between managers, employees, customers, suppliers, etc etc. Incidents anywhere in the chain can cause ripple effects that reach the end customer. The goal is to minimize those ripple effects. Sometimes things are beyond your control (oh, no those two servers called in sick AGAIN!), but some are in your control. Like everything in life, and like any therapist will tell you, control what you can control. Here is where an owner or manager worth their salt can make or break a situation. You need to err on the side of “the customer is always right” and forgo the extra $20 of revenue and your own ego to make the customer happy. I know myself, that if there is ever a situation a a restaurant where I am unhappy, it goes SUCH A LONG WAY when the manager “makes it right”. Example - if it entrees took FOREVER to come out after asking for stuff to get fired immediately because we were in a rush… manager should offer to take something off the bill, or maybe buy that previous round of drinks. Whatever. Just apologize, let the customer know that you know service was subpar, not typical of the restaurant’s high standards, and you appreciate their business. in that scenario, I will come back every single time. They cared. It is a cost of doing business in the restaurant industry.

I am not saying that is it always an easy thing to do. Most people are honest, upstanding patrons, who are happy to shell out hard earned money on a good meal. Some people are not. The stuff I have seen/heard ranges from arguing that happy hour specials should be honored in the dining room because a patron bought a drink at the bar beforehand, to the stacking of clearly stated non-combinable offers (Groupon customers are terrible violators), to an accusation of finding a tooth in a dessert so the whole meal should be free (debunked).

The point is, make the easy stuff right, and deal with the tougher stuff as graciously as you can.

And as for Nettie’s, I have to say I do like the food (I am a pasta freak). My only gripe would be that the pasta portions are inconsistent. The “a lot” portion many times just looks to me the same as the “a little” portion. Now i just get “a little” and save the extra $10 per dish.

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I hope you can hear me applauding LOUDLY, @misterc71 – and I’m betting others will do the same. Thank you for chiming in ‘from the other side’ and confirming that there are still people/places focusing on hospitality!!

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Bravo. This applies in all walks of life, not just the restaurant industry.

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AGREED! Just imagine what the world would be like…

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Not to belabor the point, but on Oct 20 Nettie’s posted on FB-- “We’re bringing #sundayfunday to the next level with all day happy hour! All cocktails on our menu are $9”

Honestly, it seems like all cocktails would be $9, not just at the bar. And seeing how they just had a miscommunication with a customer, why not clarify it?

btw I want to go here but now I am afraid, lol.

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THANK YOU! Yes, exactly how I read it too (obviously ha)

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I made a mistake. I corrected it on Instagram and forgot to correct it on Facebook (it automatically posts to Facebook from Instagram, but apparently edits don’t sync). I am running a restaurant - social media unfortunately is not where I spend most of my time. I am human. Business owners are human. We make mistakes. Apologies to all. I honored the happy hour prices for @gracieggg for both rounds of cocktails that she and her husband had sitting at a table.

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It’s ok. Don’t let the internets get to you :slight_smile:

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Tania, I dont know how else you might approach marketing away from social media, but I can tell you (and you may already be well aware) that there is a large pool of potential clientele that congregates all days of the week at the Capelli soccer complex just a few minutes away. I believe that Woody’s has some advertising banners and might even be the “official restaurant sponsor”, but you might want to look into that too. I do know that families come from all over monmouth county and beyond for practices and games, and those that come from far away sometimes just kill time in their cars for 1.5 hours waiting for practice to end. Wouldnt it be better to kill time at the bar at Netties with a plate of carbonara? Not sure that soccer families are your audience, with your place’s retro-chic feel, but hey, a dollar is a dollar, no? Especially if you are open for lunch (not sure you are).

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Thank you for the suggestion! Our soccer crowd is getting bigger - we have some players and coaches who come in and they’ve been spreading the word. There’s also a hockey rink nearby with the same situation. We aren’t open for lunch yet, but it’s something we’re considering in the near future. :slight_smile:

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soccer- esp travel soccer seems to rule the roost around these parts. Getting in with that crowd would prob be a hyperlocal market that would offer big upside (sponsoring a team/banner/etc).

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I often go to Bonefish Grill for early dinner, and there, happy hour drinks are available in the dining room as well. $4 wines and $5 martinis and cocktails, depending on day. Their house wines aren’t bad.

I wasn’t trying to aggravate Nettie’s, just adding that I probably would have misinterpreted that post as well. There were assumptions on both sides, which have now been made clear, and so now everyone can be friends! :unicorn::sparkling_heart::rose:

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