Chef Vola's

"Reservations at this Rat Pack favorite are a notoriously tough get. Once you secure a table at Chef Vola’s, a timeless world of red sauce goodness reveals itself. Linguini with clams and a plate-sized veal parm are accompanied by family-style chopped salads and garlicky sides of broccoli rabe at this BYOB." - Ernest Owens, Eater Staff

"There are a lot of places to eat excellent Italian food in the great state of New Jersey, so the bar is high when it comes to veal parm and pasta. Chef Vola’s meets and exceeds those expectations, and has more than 100 years of experience to back it up. You’ll enter into a single-family home and sit in someone’s dining room for a literal home-cooked meal, and will likely leave with plenty of leftovers even if you order conservatively. Reservations and cash are both essential, and bringing a nice bottle of wine is highly recommended. " - anne cruz

"There are a lot of places to eat excellent Italian food in the great state of New Jersey, so the bar is high when it comes to veal parm and pasta. Chef Vola’s meets and exceeds those expectations, and has more than 100 years of experience to back it up. You’ll enter into a single-family home and sit in someone’s dining room for a literal home-cooked meal, and will likely go home with plenty of leftovers even if you order conservatively. Reservations and cash are both essential, and bringing a nice bottle of wine to enjoy is highly recommended." - Michael Sinatra

"There’s an “air of secrecy” surrounding certain establishments, then there’s Chef Vola’s. This unmarked, cash-only feasting hall has no advertised phone number, email, or website, equated by one New York Times food critic to “a game of hide and seek.” The space comes by it naturally: It was likely once a speakeasy. Before it became a restaurant in 1921, the building that now houses Chef Vola’s was a rooming house owned by brothers Joe and Pina Vola. Joe took to cooking nightly dinners for their tenants while selling liquor in the basement, the restaurant’s current owner told the Press of Atlantic City. With infamous mayor Enoch “Nucky” Johnson—the true-life figure of Boardwalk Empire fame—living a block away, it’s likely he paid a visit or two in his time. Ironically, the restaurant today is B.Y.O.B. After decades of selling consistently outstanding Italian classics in monstrous portions in their no-frills location blocks from the boardwalk, Chef Vola’s now requires patrons to place reservations months in advance to get a table. If it’s become exclusive, it’s only by virtue of its own popularity, the restrictions of a 65-seat dining room, and its loyalty to longstanding customers. Run by the Esposito family since 1982, the husband-and-wife-led team won a James Beard “American Classics” Award in 2011 for upholding a menu and ambience that would make an Italian-American grandma feel right at home. For those who do manage to get a table in the bustling and tightly-packed dining room, the veal parm stands out as Vola’s marquee dish, while the crab cakes sprinkled with olive oil and the cannellini green bean salad with provolone are close contenders. And for what it’s worth, legend has it Frank Sinatra asked to be buried with one of Chef Vola’s banana cream pies. None" - Collector of Experiences, blimpcaptain, lukefater

"The truth is, you’re probably not getting into Chef Vola’s. Diners drive themselves crazy calling the number for a reservation at this cramped basement joint, but if the stars align, it pays off in unbelievable amounts of veal Milanese, linguini with clams, chicken scarpiello, bone-in veal parmesan, and other classic red sauce fare. The restaurant, open since 1921, is BYOB and cash only, so if a reservation is somehow procured — the most guaranteed way is through someone who regularly goes — come prepared." - Stefanie Tuder