Montclair has roughly 300 restaurants and only about 13 full liquor licenses. This guide sorts the best date night restaurants in Montclair, N.J., by the kind of evening you’re planning, from an anniversary table to a first date to a BYOB dinner. Each restaurant appears with its address and the detail that decides whether it fits.
Romantic Restaurants in Montclair for an Anniversary or Special Night
Four of these five rooms sit on Bloomfield Avenue or Valley Road, and two opened within the past year. Book early, and ask about wine when you reserve.
- Clementina, 627 Valley Road. Adriatic-inspired Italian in the former Saunders Hardware space in Upper Montclair, open since June. Farnoosh and Mike called their dinner unforgettable and the opening one of the most exciting Montclair has seen in years. Chef and co-owner Michele Rocchi’s dream of owning a restaurant began with an unexpected conversation with a guest on a luxury cruise ship, where he worked.
- Faubourg, 544 Bloomfield Ave. A French brasserie inside a former bank and movie theater. Chef Olivier Muller and Dominique Paulin, both veterans of Daniel Boulud’s restaurant group, opened it in June 2019. Several distinct dining spaces, from its outdoor patio to its upstairs cocktail lounge. Ask for the setting that best suits your night. Start with the cheese selections and order the spicy pineapple margarita.
- Campofiore, 664 Bloomfield Ave. Farm-to-table Italian inspired by the Amalfi Coast, opened this spring. Chef Dan Drohan’s menu runs from house-cured salumi, or Italian cured meats, to handmade pastas, and pastry chef Kazmire Puntarovic leans on gelato for dessert. Diners single out the linguine alle vongole, made with clams, and the porcini-rubbed hanger steak. The restaurant has a front patio that opens when the weather cooperates.
- Sayola, 38 Valley Road. Spanish tapas, seafood, grilled meats and paella in an elegant, Spanish-inspired room. A full bar pours Spanish wines, sangria and cocktails, so this is one romantic dinner where you don’t need to carry a bottle.
- Fresco da Franco, 15 Church St. A full Italian dinner with more room to sit than most Church Street spots, which suits a celebration where you want to linger.
If you’d rather keep the evening easygoing, the next section covers weeknight options.
Casual Date Night Restaurants in Montclair for a Weeknight
For a casual date night, pick the room where the food is the point and a reservation doesn’t take a month. All three of these sit on Bloomfield Avenue.
- Porta, 499 Bloomfield Ave. A two-story wood-fired pizza restaurant with imported Neapolitan ovens and a second-floor garden that opens in warmer weather. The bar gets loud on weekends, with DJ nights, so go on a weeknight if you want to talk.
- Nami Nori, 378 Bloomfield Ave. A temaki bar, where chefs build hand rolls, open-style cones of nori (seaweed) filled with rice and seafood or vegetables. Order the spicy crab dynamite, the tuna poke with crispy shallots or the avocado “toast,” and sit at the temaki counter if you want the chef to hand you each roll. The Montclair location is BYOB and serves only non-alcoholic drinks. Reservations open 30 days ahead, and parties of up to three get an hour and a half, plenty for two.
- Allegory, 690 Bloomfield Ave. The MC Hotel’s ground-floor restaurant and bar, built on traditional pub recipes. It’s the right choice when you want a full dinner and a cocktail without climbing to the roof.
Nervous about a first date? The next section picks the three rooms that make it easier.
Best First Date Restaurants in Montclair
For a first date, choose a room where you can hear each other, order without studying a long menu and leave when you want to. These three are the easiest places in town to start.
- De Novo European Pub, 275 Bellevue Ave. A European gastropub inside Upper Montclair’s historic train station. Chef Kenny Mar, formerly of the longtime local favorite Daikichi, runs a sushi bar alongside the pub menu.
- Cafe Giotto, 42 Church St. A small Italian room on Church Street where Chef Luca’s menu runs from fresh-focaccia to pasta. BYOB, so bring a bottle. Church Street is walkable in both directions, so dinner can turn into a second stop without anyone committing.
- Egan & Sons, 118 Walnut St. Montclair’s Irish gastropub, with 28 draught beers and an expanded patio with outdoor TVs for sports. Nobody rushes you out here, which is the point on a first date. Stay for one drink or three hours.
BYOB Date Night in Montclair, and Where to Buy the Bottle
For date night, the plan is simple: buy the bottle first, and ask about corkage when you book.
- Sapori, 9 Park St. Contemporary Italian from a restaurant open 20 years and recently restored. Pasta is house-made, and the restaurant welcomes your own wine. Diners single out the lobster fettuccine and the cacio e pepe. The restaurant also offers a couple night menu every first Tuesday of the month for $49.
- Sardela, 571 Bloomfield Ave. Greek seafood and grilled meats, plus mezze, or shareable small plates, in a room with a blue-and-white exterior inspired by Santorini. Opened in May and BYOB. OpenTable diners praise the fresh fish, including the branzino (Mediterranean sea bass), and at least one warns that the room is loud.
- Sam’s Table, 377 Bloomfield Ave. A 26-seat, vegetable-forward modern American room from Montclair native Sam Stymest. The menu consists of a four-course tasting menu which costs $90 per person. It’s BYOB, but the restaurant sells bottles from Beneduce Vineyards in New Jersey.
- pastaRAMEN, 6 S. Fullerton Ave. Chef Robbie Felice, a James Beard nominee, serves WaFu Italian, meaning Italian dishes cooked in a Japanese style. There is no sign, only a black glass façade. The ramen is among its most popular dishes. It’s BYOB, and reservations fill quickly.
- Terra Modern Cuisine, 300 Bloomfield Ave. Peruvian and South American cooking steps from Lackawanna station, with grilled octopus, lomo saltado (a stir-fry of beef, onions and tomatoes) and a vegan ceviche. The restaurant describes itself as a relaxed spot for casual dinners and nights out.
- Amanti Vino, 30 Church St. Not a restaurant, but the best bottle stop in town. Sommelier Sharon Sevrens has run free Saturday tastings since she opened the shop in 2005, so a Saturday dinner can start with a pour.
Want music with dinner instead? The next section covers where to find it.
Date Night With Live Music in Montclair
Live music changes the rules of a date: you talk less, you stay longer and the night of the week decides everything. Tuesday is the easiest night to plan around, with jazz at one restaurant and trivia at another.
- Halcyon, 114 Walnut St. A seafood and raw bar restaurant, where raw oysters and other shellfish are served uncooked, with a serious cocktail program and live jazz every Tuesday evening. Order the Halcyon Days at the bar before dinner.
- Just Jake’s, 30 Park St. A family-run bar and restaurant open since 1997, with live bands on weekends, trivia on Tuesdays and a dog-friendly patio. It’s the most casual room on this list and the one most likely to have a game on every screen.
- Tierney’s Tavern, 136-138 Valley Road. The same family has run this bar since 1934, when it won its liquor license from 32 other applicants the month Prohibition ended. Order a Guinness, ask for the off-menu Buddy Burger and expect a crowd on weekends when bands play upstairs.
- Pharmacie Bar + Kitchen, 398 Bloomfield Ave. Attached to the Wellmont Theater, this is the default pre-show stop. Two levels of exposed brick and black-and-white tile set the room, and the menu is more ambitious than typical bar food.
- Leone’s, 19 South Park St. An Italian-American BYOB serving classic pasta dishes and brick-oven pizza, with live jazz Friday through Sunday evenings and a Thursday open mic. Bring a bottle and reserve a table for a dinner that comes with its own soundtrack.
Where to Get a Drink After Dinner in Montclair
The Pod’s guide to the best bars in Montclair covers the full list, but here is a quick roundup.
- Bar Franco, 5 Church St. A cocktail lounge with the energy of a side-street Manhattan bar. Outdoor seating is limited, so go early or book ahead if you want a table for negronis rather than a spot at the bar.
- The Splendid, 690 Bloomfield Ave. Montclair’s only rooftop bar, on the ninth floor of the MC Hotel. Farnoosh has compared it to a sports bar on the fifth floor of your Upper East Side townhouse. Server Alani Coni described how the room changes: “You’ll see jerseys during the day, and by 10 or 11, this area turns into a dance floor.” Reserve on weekends.
- Montclair Brewery, 101 Walnut St. The only brewery in town, run by Leo and Denise Sawadogo, with trivia, karaoke and live music rotating through the week. It’s BYOF, meaning bring your own food, so pair it with takeout from a restaurant nearby.
Pick a night, book the table and buy the bottle on the way. If we missed a room that belongs on this list, let us know.
Image credit: Unsplash/Doğu Tuncer
