Gabriella's Italian Steakhouse, Red Bank, NJ:
A Restaurant Review

Gabriella's Italian Steakhouse, Middletown, NJ. A restaurant review

Gabriella's Italian Steakhouse
447 Route 35
Middletown, NJ

Gabriella's Italian Steakhouse: Restaurant Highlights

Fare: Steakhouse with seafood and Italian dishes

Price: Very Expensive

Food Quality: Well executed, artfully presented menu prepared with fresh, quality ingredients.

Service: Professional, warm, and attentive. Very responsive to requests.

Ambiance/Decor: Upscale, casual with a modern, softly lit, tastefully appointed interior. The vibe is upbeat and energetic

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Note: Four star Rating System from 1/2 Star = poor to Four stars = Best in Class

Noise level: Moderate - loud on busy evenings

Recommended For: Diners who enjoy a trendy, upscale, yet casual setting with a well-executed menu of steaks, seafood, and Italian dishes.

Not Recommended For: Diners who prefer "Old World" fine dining, or a BYOB with a traditional menu served in huge portions

Recommended dishes: When available, The Bistecca alla Fiorentina 45-day dry aged porterhouse steak (For Two), with steak fries, preserved lemon; The Pasta Di Petardi Maine lobster with rock shrimp, calamari, bay scallop, spicy Calabrian chili, & spinach fettucine; and The Halibut with Clams, mussels, nduja, tomato, lobster, stock, fennel pollen, crostini.

Liquor: Full-service bar, with specialty cocktails, beers, and a good variety of domestic & Italian wines by the bottle and glass. Note: For Martini lovers, blue cheese stuffed olives are not freshly stuffed. They come purchased out of a jar.

Gabriella's Italian Steakhouse is a high-end restaurant with a well-executed menu, set in an upscale, contemporary, yet casual setting.

The restaurant is owned and managed by Frank Brusco and Gabriella Varshavsky, who also own Patricia's of Holmdel, a highly-rated Italian BYOB.

The kitchen is run by Executive Chef Michael Tarnas. Chef Tarnas, a self-taught chef, presides over a well-executed, artfully presented menu influenced by his Greek and Italian heritage.

Chef Tarnas developed his love and career in the food industry from the bottom up when he began washing dishes at the age of 17 and eventually worked his way up to executive chef.

Before coming to Gabriella’s he was co-owner and Executive chef of Free-Range Restaurant in Seaside Heights, a farm-to-table eatery with a strong commitment to organic and local ingredients. A proponent of fresh produce, Tarnas uses fresh, locally sourced ingredients to inspire, by building the produce around the protein.

While Gabriella's is primarily a steakhouse, they offer a variety of well-executed seafood and Italian dishes.

The interior is tastefully appointed, upscale, with an exposed ceiling, and a softly lit, yet vibrant atmosphere. However, on busy evenings, the indoor dining area can get very noisy, because of the walls and flooring hard surfaces, and the absence of sound-absorbing fabrics.

During the warmer months, there is outdoor dining on the attractive patio with an outdoor bar and linen-covered tables.

The service is friendly, professional, and attentive. The charming and cordial owners, Frank Brusco and Gabriella Varshavsky, often walk the dining area chatting with dinners to ensure the dining experience is enjoyable.

Gabriella's is open seven days/week for Lunch & Dinner.

(Updated: September 2024)

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