Johnny Piancone’s

It’s another Auld Lang Syne and we’re at Johnny Piancone’s, just like we’ve rung out every New Year’s Eve since we moved here three years ago. There’s a special menu tonight at this special place, but it represents the best on offer at this mid-range red sauce joint. Located right on Broadway in Long Branch, this spacious restaurant has 16 tables in their exposed-brick dining room, another eight high-tops adjacent to the eight-seat mirrored bar, and attracts a mature crowd. Our waitress tonight, an older blonde lady Cindy, always treats us great, never making us wait and with no dirty plates left hanging around. She’s at the top of her game.

Johnny Piancone’s is one of my all-time local faves. We’ve been here at least a dozen times for dinner and their excellent Happy Hour at the bar. We even booked our wedding rehearsal dinner in their capacious upstairs banquet space. They treated us like it truly was our special day; I only wish I’d also had them cater the wedding.

The reason we keep coming back is that this family-owned establishment always treats us like family: never judging, always welcoming. The other reason is the food. Chef/owner Rick Piancone makes a lot of the menu items in-house, including their homemade mozzarella, rigatoni and orecchiette, giant cheesecakes and other desserts. But everything is fresh, delicious, and beautiful. There’s an impressive wine list by the bottle and glass, and a serviceable cocktails list. 

Great antipasto items include their Caesar Salad never overdressed, served with garlic croutons and shaved parmesan. They also have an amazing arugula salad featuring either apple or pear depending on the season, generously studded with dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and lemon Gorgonzola dressing. I could eat just that as a meal. They have a tasty Housemade Burrata, creamy in the center with tomato, prosciutto, and artichoke hearts on the side. Their Chef Antipasto is a heaping wooden board loaded with antipasto including prosciutto, capicola, provolone, stuffed cherries, artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, and roasted red peppers. It’s like a first course you’d make when your best buddies come over to dinner. It’s also available as a smaller salad, with grilled veggies, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts.

The hits on the hot appetizers side include their always perfect fried calamari with spicy marinara, and their stuffed mushrooms with broccoli rabe, sausage, roasted peppers, and Asiago cheese. We ordered that. They sometimes have an artichoke and fresh mozzarella tower that is breathtaking and so delicious to work your way through. There are a few other appetizers, including grilled octopus, but I don’t eat that anymore since I watched that Netflix documentary. They’re smarter than some of my family members.

Speaking of family, the pasta dishes are amazing here, each platter fit for a family—but just for you! They rigatoni vodka is tasty; we featured it at our wedding dinner. You can also do rigatoni stuffed with ricotta, with eggplant and (unnecessary) spinach in a plum tomato sauce. I got that for New Year’s Eve dinner, and each individual rigatoni was stuffed with ricotta and sealed at the ends. It was a modern marvel of pasta engineering.

You can get their homemade rigatoni with Bolognese sauce or with seafood like shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, tomato, spinach, white wine, and garlic. They always have a nice ravioli option, like seafood or mushroom, and the wife loves the Zuppa di Clams with the white broth. Although the orecchiette is homemade with sausage and broccoli rabe, we rarely order the dish because I make it spicier and all winter long at home. The Cacio e Pepe with pappardelle is also just okay, compared to their other picks. For her dinner, the wife got Shrimp Cotello, with giant prawns served over delicate angel hair pasta with grape tomatoes, perfect in its simplicity.

But people flock here for the classic Italian entrees, especially the Chicken Parmigiana with linguini, and the massive Sunday Sauce featuring their meatballs, sausage, pork braciola, red sauce, and a dollop of ricotta cheese over rigatoni. It’s famous and everyone loves it. It’s like mom is here for you, serving up the love.

Another big hit is the egg-battered Chicken La Nonna, lightly topped with fresh mozzarella, basil, and prosciutto. They have beef entrees like Filet Mignon Scampi, NY Strip, fork-tender braised short ribs, and a veal chop with linguini, but we usually save our steak eating for the steakhouse. There’s also a salmon and Chilean sea bass. 

I see everyone’s gigantic platters pass our table, and they all look fresh and good. We usually stick to pasta, but we almost always also get a salad, app, and dessert. It’s too good not to, and you know you’re going to have to take home the leftovers anyway so why not splurge? That’s how we figure it, anyway. The best thing ever is leftovers from Johnny Piancone’s.

Tonight, our splurge is my favorite: pistachio tartufo: frozen balls of pistachio ice cream encased in hard chocolate shell, with a maraschino cherry hidden in the center. J’s favorite is their sprawling ricotta cheesecake, savory and sweet at once. All desserts are generous and top-notch in their presentation. 

This is a great Italian red sauce joint with a reasonable (though not cheap) price tag. We eat here at least bimonthly and love it. For a delicious dinner and a feel-good night out, Johnny Piancone’s never disappoints. 

Johnny Piancone’s
591 Broadway
Long Branch, NJ 07740
732-229-0300
http://www.johnnypiancones.com

Monday-Thursday 2-9 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 12-10 p.m.
Sunday 3-9 p.m.
Free parking in the rear

Save a Few Clams

Head to Johnny P’s on between 2-6 pm (or 12-6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday) for the most amazing Happy Hour ever! Beloved by local ladies, this affordable night out offers a ‘Friday Night Lights’ sized pour of featured wines from the scruffy bartender for six fitty while you sit at the high tops in the bar area. You can get half portions of many menu items—including the Sunday Sauce—for half the price. And it’s still a giant platter of food to share with your coworker or art class friend or neighbor, casual midweek style. Featured menu items change weekly, but this Happy Hour is always a great idea.