202 Italian Bistro - Lincoln Park

Stop. This restaurant used to excel in service, food, and atmosphere, but now only the atmosphere remains. Greed seems to have taken over; management allows walk-ins to be seated in front of those with reservations (like us), forcing us to wait an hour just for our appetizers—completely unacceptable. I overlooked this issue six months ago, but we experienced the same poor service last night (December 1, 2012). We had to call the owner twice to take our order, and when he finally showed up, his lack of eye contact and engagement was disappointing. He seemed more focused on two large parties of twelve, who were still waiting for their main courses, than on our table. To make matters worse, food runners mistakenly delivered dishes meant for other tables to us—twice. The young waitstaff appeared inexperienced, disorganized, and struggled with English. Waiting an hour for a simple mozzarella and tomato salad highlights the poor management of both the kitchen and front of house. You can definitely find better dining experiences in nearby Wayne, Pequannock, and elsewhere.