"I have been to Monticello a few times in the past and always found the food to be delicious but the service a little on the slow/short staffed side. Unfortunately, last night took that to a whole new level. After being seated and waiting over 10 minutes for our server to arrive we were told they only had 2 servers on (one of which was training) instead of their usual 4 due to some unforeseen staffing issues. It became apparent very quickly that this was not going to be anywhere near enough staff for the full restaurant. It took ages to get the attention of a server and everything moved along at a snails pace. It took 1 hour and 10 minutes for our table to get appetizers, and then an additional 50 minutes after that for our entrees to arrive. The appetizers were absolutely delicious, however unfortunately the entrees did not live up to their usual quality and taste. Two of us ordered the stuffed chicken, which I have had several times before and always loved, but this time both of them came out lukewarm at best. It’s obvious they must have been sitting at the window waiting for a server to bring them out for some time. Very disappointing. We could have said something and had them warmed up however no one ever checked on us after bringing us the meals until well after we were all done eating. When it came time to get the check it took us asking 3 separate times and waiting nearly 30 minutes for it to finally arrive. It was clear from looking at the other nearby tables that they were having similar issues. All said and done it took 3 hours for dinner service and we didn’t even look at or order dessert to prevent it from dragging on even longer. My suggestion to the restaurant is if you plan on being that short staffed then perhaps you should begin calling your reservations and either cancelling some of them or letting guests know it’s going to be a LONG night and letting them decide if they still want to keep the reservation. 3 hours for a dinner with no dessert and cold entrees just isn’t going to cut it."

"I really dislike giving negative reviews because I understand how hard it is for restaurants to stay in business especially with all the competition in Monmouth County. That being said,this restaurant while not bad it is not that great either. I’m not a big fan of restaurants that require a credit card to secure a reservation and, if you don’t cancel by 11:30 the day of,they charge you $25.00 per person. Since that is part of their business model there is no way around this nuisance inconvenience. The good,it’s a BYOB and our server Marissa was EXCELLENT although over worked for a Saturday night with only one other server noticeable. My Veal Milanese dish was top shelf and priced correctly. The not so good, restaurant is cramped and noisy especially for a couple when placed next to a table of 4 that are loud. The other dish we hade was a Seafood something or other that had the least amount of shell fish and shrimp I’ve ever encountered in a Monmouth County Italian restaurant. It was chewy and definitely not priced for value. With so many Italian restaurants in Red Bank with much better value I personally will not be returning here."

"I took my son to what I thought would be a great Italian restaurant, but the food was subpar. I had to send back my pasta with sour broccoli rabe and swapped it for chicken Parm, which was no better than the local pizza place. I won’t return."

"My boyfriend and I wanted to try a new restaurant for date night. After reading lots of great reviews, we gave Monticello a try. We agreed that the entire experience was a 10/10! We sat outside. The outdoor seating area is small and cozy without being crowded. The food was incredible. I had the rigatoni with sausage and broccoli rabe and he had chicken parm. I brought a bottle of wine, and we had the lava cake dessert. (It was amazing.) I’m not exaggerating… I think this is my new favorite restaurant. We will be back!"

"The patrons are too loud. The acoustics make all conversations loud. The waiters are excellent. The food is good."