BYOBguide.com : Restaurant Profile

Bistro Di Marino


Name:	Bistro Di Marino
Address:	492 Haddon Ave
City:	Collingswood
State:	NJ
Zip:	08108
Phone:	(856) 858-1700
Fax:
County:	Camden
Cuisine:	Italian
Region:	South Jersey
History:	Collingswood native son James Marino and Villa Barone alum has opened a cozy 40-seater byob in a former Chinese restaurant along haddon Avenue in Collingswood, New Jersey.
Location:	Haddon Avenue in Collingswood
Entertainment:	Cooks liquors is up Haddon Avenue. Downtown shopping in Collingswood is steps away.
BYOB only:	Yes
Smoking policy:	No smoking
Outside dining:	No
Attire:	Casual and Cozy
Handicap accessible:	No
Corkage Fee:	no
Payment options:	American Express - MasterCard - Visa
Reservations required:	Suggested
Catering/Banquet services:	No
Stemware offered:	Yes
Kind of stemware	So so wine glasses
Stemware charge	no
Parking:	On street parking
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The BYOB restaurant Bistro de Marino of Collingswood, New Jersey offers dinners yet another opportunity to try tasty Italian fare. Bistro de Marino joins the ranks of Sapori, Nunzio’s and Villa Barone in offering Italian dishes to the Collingswood dining scene. The restaurant was opened by a Villa Barone alumnus and has only been open a few months, with the focus being dinner only, no lunch yet. The restaurant occupies a small, strip shopping location several blocks West of the main Collingswood business district which has its pluses and minuses. A plus is that on street parking is plentiful and the minus that you are a several blocks away from the downtown shopping district. The minis are not as much as you would think, since Collingswood businesses have not yet realized that the restaurants in town bring in diners and stores need to stay open past 5:00 p.m. to capitalize on diners desire to shop before and after dinner. The restaurant has been neatly, if not blandly transformed into a smallish dining space, that is reminiscent of Philadelphia BYOB restaurants. An exposed brick wall and neutral wall coloring provide a backdrop for the restaurant, but the walls lack any kind of art or focal point to entertain a diner. Perhaps the food is meant to be the focal point, or the owner is still coming to grips with the cost of opening a restaurant that currently is flying under the radar. If it wasn’t for several users suggesting we review the restaurant, we may never have heard a word about the place. Multiple web searches yielded no results and the Collingwood web site (www.collingswood.com) doesn’t even include the restaurant in their presumable free directory. Still it maybe early onto critique the bareness of the walls, so I will try to stick to the food and the service. Our hostess that took our telephone reservation was polite although a bit slow in determining if a table was available for a Friday night. This may be due to staff inexperience or difficulty in gauging volume for a new establishment, although it did help explain two rather unhappy diners that were turned away from the restaurant as we were walking in. They didn’t have any reservation (shame on them, I told them to hit Sapori), although the restaurant had four two tops open. Two of which remained open 45 minutes later. The point is either bad punctuality on the part of diners or bad table management on the restaurant. (FYI, two tops turn over the fastest and normally welcome and desired at most restaurants with short notice. Larger groups take longer to serve and to turn the table over. The higher the table turnover the higher the revenue the restaurant can make.

Our review consisted of a party of four on a Friday night. The menu offers your traditional and expected Italian fare. The calamari appetizer was lightly breaded and well received by all in our group and that was the only thing everyone agreed on. Of the four entrees tried, two were very well received and two almost got sent back. One of the almost send backs was a veal dish that was lost in a sea of spinach greens. In reality it appeared to be more of a salad than a veal dish. The greens were haphazardly tossed across the plate as if dropped from a precut bag purchased in a store. Two of the truly great entrees consisted of a pasta and a seafood dish, which were both top notch and worth going back for.

Desserts consisted of mainly off site purchased delicacies that were fairly broad in selection but wouldn’t blow you over in flavor. We have been spoiled lately with homemade desserts from other BYOB’s that off premises made desserts just seem to lack the flavor and freshness we like. Now I may be wrong that all desserts are bought off site, but this was the information provided by the server. Service seemed to lack refinement and experience. Although I believe our server had the best of intentions, it was probable his lack of experience that made the difference.

Our word is the restaurant has potential but has to step up to the plate with a more consistent presentation of the food and spend some time in the refinement of the servers. Our review is two bottles, with the intention to revisit the restaurant in the Spring. As a side note, the heat in the restroom has to be turned down, two of our diners complained that the rest room was like a sauna.

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304 of 598 people found this review helpful
admin : Cherry Hill, nj
Reviewed on: Bistro di Marino of Collingswood has steadily grown since it opened. Last year they broke open the wall to the adjacent space and essentially doubled the size of the restaurant. They now offer lunch, which is a sign that business is building. The food is consistently above average for Italian fare. The restaurant's recent decision to offer desserts from Miel, was an excellent decision since it allows the kitchen to concentrate on the meal at hand.

The service on the other hand suffers from a lack of training or experience, take your pick. The ability of the hostess to manage the placement of diner's at set tables needs serious work. During our recent visit, the staff seemed confused to the point of being brand new or disinterested in being at work. Since winter is upon us and the restaurant has no waiting area or vestibule (hey few BYOB restaurant's do, so this is not fault of the restaurant) cold air blasts diners in the the dining room. A suggestion to install a curtain and create a barrier for the cold air, which other BYOB's have installed would be a welcome addition. Since suggestions are at hand, the installation of some wall art might add some substance to the restaurant space, which it desperately needs. The restaurant has a stark feel which can dampen the whole dining experience. These are not fatal flaws simply deficiencies in the execution of the restaurant experience for diners. Diners go to a restaurant for the food and the experience and the bistro is 50/50 right now.

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355 of 652 people found this review helpful
khtonka : collingswood, NJ
Reviewed on: This has become one of my favorite weeknight resturants. It's located in a more residental are of Colls and has a nice neighborhood feeling to it. They are a little off with the scheduling of reservations but I've always had attentive service with none of the cliches that seem to happen when new resturants. Many of the staff followed John from Villa Barone so there are several familiar faces.
A few of my favorites are the Artichokes in Gorgonzola, they're lightly fried and served on a creamy and not overwhelming sauce. Another notable is the monkfish Pizziola, something a little different and a great combination. The Penne Vodka is also wonderful the sauce is flavorful without being to heavy. All dishes come with a side of your choice of pasta or potatoes and the chef is very willing to accomodate special requests, veggie instead of starches etc... The house salad is huge definitely big enough for two. I would highly recommend making reservations or at least calling before you decide to go. It is a small space with no waiting area and is frequently booked even during the week. You can check out the web site @ bistrodimarino.com

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276 of 528 people found this review helpful
Freakinfit : Medford, NJ
Reviewed on: I can't say enough positive things about this gem of a restaurant! Our large party of 8 occupied a table for several hours on a recent Saturday evening - and I must commend the staff for their attentiveness and superior service. The food was amazing and a summary of our courses follow:
- Superior appetizer selections of fresh seafood were fresh & tender. There is an amazing scallop appetizer that came highly recommended by other customers in the restaurant and it did not disappoint.
- Our salad selections ranged from the Caprese Salad with balsamic & olive oil and the Roasted Pear w/Feta. Phenomenal.
- The entrees ranged from the homemade pasta to fresh veal & seafood. We were impressed with the penne vodka, the homemade gnocchi melted in your mouth, the sea bass was by far the best we've ever sampled - and the veal saltimbocca quickly disappeared on the plates !

We brought our own birthday cake which the staff cheerfully served - and we were impressed with the extra service we encountered. From the elegant touch of replacing our silverware for our entrees with warmed silver - to the individualized coffee service at the end of our meal. Truly a delight !!!

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225 of 412 people found this review helpful
akmrpm : medford, nj
Reviewed on: A very pleasant meal to say the least. Our server was quite attentive and informative about menu selections.Our table of 4 had a variety including beef,veal and shrimp.All were tasty and presented pleasantly.The penne side was excellent and one of us took all the leftovers home.The spinach and asperagus served on the entrees were done perfectly, not overcooked as so often found.
As a finish, the desserts were supurb. Though we were all full, the dessert tray could not be resisted.An excellent ricotta cake called Mt Rosa was sublime and the terramisu very creamy. A very enjoyable meal at a very reasonable price.

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18 of 29 people found this review helpful
lastnight : Voorhees, NJ
Reviewed on: This was our first and last visit to Villa Barone. We were seated properly and had the usual glass of water poured and served. We then had a small dish of olive oil and peppers for dipping placed on the table. The homemade doughy-like bread came about 15 minutes later. We both had appetizers. My wife had the Spinach De Avellino: Spinach Sautéed with Portabello Mushrooms, Topped with Grilled Shrimp - $9 (stuff mushrooms) which were OK (aside from Portabello being misspelled on the menu the shrimp apparently diced and lost somewhere on top, the mushrooms did require salt for taste). I had the Asparagus Bella Nona: Sautéed Asparagus, Garlic and Oil, Topped with Prosciutto and Melted Sharp Provolone for $9. Well for the $9 I got 8 very hard Sequoia-like Asparagus (I wouldn’t even buy these in a grocery store and Nona meaning nine in Italian had some hidden meaning). Yes it was topped with prosciutto of a low grade with much fat throughout. The sauce was yellow and non-descript. Out main meal arrived in a timely fashion. I had the Margharita (misspelled?) Classic Italian Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Basil and a Touch of Olive Oil - $13. The pizza was doughy (like the bread) and the fresh mozzarella took on a gummy-like texture. I had to leave half of the pizza behind. My wife had the pork special- $22. It was dry, and conveyed to our waiter as such (he just said, sorry). No one from management came or any reduction on our tab was reflected as such. She left half the meal behind. Now I must say with all candor, the entire time before and during our meal we had our water glasses refilled. The person refreshing our water glasses had the most redolent , cheap, violent-stinking, lingering perfume smell we had ever smelt. Other guests next us agreed. It just made a horrible meal even worse. I did speak up and tell the waiter. I think he thought it was OK or plain just funny. I was the good Samaritan, paid my bill and left my tip never to return. What a cheap crappy want-a-be Italian restaurant. This could easily make book for Kitchens Nightmares.

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