Among the many restaurants flourishing in West Milford, Tuscany Brewhouse located on Rt. 23 North, is fairly new, opening only two years ago. From the beginning, the owners put their hard work and time into combining a family-friendly environment while having a lounge/ bar for adult entertainment. Ms. Maryann Harris, the owner, is actually a special education teacher here at the high school and actively participates with student activities within the school community. With her patience and determination shown, overall Tuscany Brewhouse aims to create a comfortable atmosphere while providing a great place to eat, drink, and converse.
Tuscany Brewhouse has several lunch and dinner specials as well as a “Touch of Tuscany” Mondays and “Kids Eat Free” Tuesdays. “Touch of Tuscany” offers a complimentary glass of house wine with any pasta dinner. On “Kids Eat Free” Tuesday, a free kid’s meal is offered with any adult entree purchase. The Tuscany Brewhouse aims to accommodate all customers by even having a frequent buyer’s card, which serves as a rewards card, that once a certain amount of points are reached, you get a reward.
Now on to the food. Tuscany Brewhouse offers numerous food options to appease all potential customer palates. From seafood to steak, even offering a gluten-free menu, appetizing salads, and delicious desserts, you will find yourself having a hard time deciding between all the options. When I went to Tuscany Brewhouse I was with my mother and my two friends. My mom got a penne vodka with chicken pasta dish, one of my friends got a Tuscan bean salad with chicken, the other friend got a cheeseburger, and I got a pesto pasta dish. The service was surprisingly good considering how packed the restaurant was and our waitress, as well as the staff in general, was very helpful and friendly. Before our food was given, bread and oil was placed on the table to snack on before the side salads arrived. For our main dishes, my pesto pasta was a bit cold and the pesto sauce was overly creamy and eventually gave me a bit of a stomachache. My mom agreed since she got the penne vodka with chicken that the vodka sauce was too heavy giving her a bit of a stomachache as well. On the bright side, my friend loved the Tuscan bean salad with chicken and I even tried some and thoroughly enjoyed it. The waitress had suggested it since Tuscany Brewhouse has just introduced a new menu of salads and appetizers. My other friend said the cheeseburger was cooked well and tasted delicious. Once finished, after our stomach bulges subsided, we could not resist the indulgent dessert menu. From chocolate lava cake, brownie ala mode, gelato, assorted cakes, and delicious cheesecakes, the dessert was easily my favorite part. We all shared the pistachio cheesecake and the chocolate lava cake. Out of all the different cheesecakes I have from various restaurants, Tuscany Brewhouse has the best cheesecake by far. Later on the owner told us one of the waitresses makes all the pies herself. The chocolate lava cake was delicious as well but the cheesecake takes “the cake.” Overall, the food was good and the desserts were amazing. I would love to go back to try all of their desserts.
The actual restaurant layout is well organized and comfortable. The only problem is judging from how busy they get, there aren’t many places to sit while waiting for your beeper to buzz for you to be seated. If tables or seats are available in the lounge or bar they encourage the customers waiting to go sit in there for the time being, but it still is a bar and if you are with a bunch of children, it isn’t suggested. The only other problem was with the seating in the dining area and how close the booths are to the tables in the middle. When it is busy, it is a bit too close for comfort but there really isn’t anything you can do about the size of the restaurant. When you walk in you either can go to the left where the dining area is or to the right where the bar/lounge is. Since it was a Friday, the restaurant was packed, so we had to wait a while since we did not have a reservation. The parking lot size is way too small considering it took us about fifteen minutes to park. The parking lot size seems to be a big problem for the restaurant since the location of the restaurant is in the strip of land in between the North and South Rt. 23 highways. We received a pager and waited about thirty minutes to be seated, which shows that if you are looking to go to Tuscany Brew house on a Friday or Saturday night you’re better off with a reservation especially if you are going with a large party. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant gives off a very “homey” feel, with candles lit everywhere and the lights dimmed. They even have a brick oven which adds to the cozy, warm feeling. What I didn’t mention was they have brick oven pizza which looked delicious and I have to go back to try it! The restaurant’s atmosphere and setting is great for the cold winter days, and when summer comes there is outside seating so you get a nice summer cool breeze. It was said that they have a generator so even in the winter when the powers out Tuscany Brew house is still open. Reviews online can be accessed to give a better advertisement for the “Brewhouse” part of the restaurant but overall I thought it was a very good restaurant, which is very busy for only being open just under two years. The staff is also very friendly and helpful which adds to the whole restaurant appeal. Another good part about the restaurant is around the holidays they do cute events for them. For example, just this past Easter, they had an Easter bunny come around to give out small gifts to the children, which again is another feature that is good about the restaurant. I would completely suggest this restaurant to anybody and we will surely go back.
Rating: 1-5 (1 being the worst)
Atmosphere: 3.5
Service: 4
Friendliness: 5
Food: 4