Crowded Local Italian Joint: Great Pizza, Lackluster Entrees

Trattoria La Sorrentina

http://www.sorrentinanb.com

7831 Bergenline Avenue

North Bergen, NJ 07047

(201) 869-8100

If you have ever driven down Bergenline Avenue in North Bergen on a Friday or Saturday night, you will see people waiting outside of Trattoria La Sorrentina. We had ordered pizza as take out from here before and it was very good! Thin crust and great toppings. Seeing the line outside, how could we resist?

We gave our names and were told about a 20 minute wait. We noticed returning customers seemed to get special treatment, which we think is a very nice way to treat returning customers, however we could see other patrons becoming irritated. When we were eventually seated we were quickly given menus, bread, and water. A waiter soon came over to ask what we would like to drink.

To start, we ordered the La Caprese salad, which consisted of homemade mozzarella with tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and a little basil. The mozzarella was extremely creamy. The tomatoes and basil were fresh and sweet. Simple and divine.

For another appetizer we ordered Agiolata E Gamberi, a white bean salad with grilled shrimp and olive oil. This appetizer was very oily, but the flavor in the shrimp was good and together the white bean and shrimp were a great pairing. 

For our main courses we ordered Penne Belvedere, penne with proscuitto and onion in a vodka sauce. The pasta was cooked well, but the sauce was a bit too much on the tomato side and not enough creamy vodka goodness. 

For our other main course we ordered Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, a homemade gnocchi with fresh tomato and mozzarella. The gnocchi were big and fluffy and the sauce was well seasoned, but there was a little too much of it.The gnocchi was much better then the sauce that came with it. 

We will definitely order pizza from here again, however we will not wait for a table again here. The appetizers and entree's were not on the same level as the pizza and there are simply too many other extraordinary Italian restaurants in northern New Jersey to revisit here again.