Rudy’s Restaurant

Ol’ reliable. Never a bad meal. I had the Veal a la Rudy on my recent visit and it was fantastic. All the ingredients were perfectly balanced. The veal was oh so tender. It wasn’t hidden in a flood of brown sauce or smothered under a heavy blanket of mozzarella cheese. Just perfect and delicious, as are all the items on the menu. The menu is not a mini-​novella. It has the list of all the meals you need to choose from. Nothing fancy, just reliable dining at a fair price. That’s the reason Rudy’s has been around as long as it has. Dina is a wonderful hostess.

We went to this restaurant because friends wanted it.
I started by ordering the Caesar salad. The salad greens were crisp. But all it was was a salad with some shaved parmagiano cheese and lemon juice squeezed over it. The strong taste of the lemon juice made it almost uneatable.
For an entrée I made the mistake of getting the linguine with white clam sauce. Instead of being a light sauce, as this dish should have, it tasted like clam juice with a lot of flour added to it to make it thick and almost gravy-​like. In addition to being gloppy and heavy it was bland and tasteless.
Instead of serving the nice Italian bread you get at many better Italian restaurants all they served was dinner rolls.
If the food wasn’t bad enough, the service was worse. When serving dishes, despite being at a round table in an open area, the waitress was too lazy to walk to the individual places. Instead she served by reaching across the table which resulted with her arm in your face.
I agree with other reviews here that state that this restaurant was probably good 40-​years ago and still tries to cater to that demographic. However, I will not be returning to it.

Had a catered lunch from here today and as I went to take a bite of my sandwich, I found a BUG sitting right on the meat. NO THANKS.

This is an established restaurant. Quiet and refined. Yes, there are many older patrons here but that’s because they know they are getting a good meal and a good deal. It has been here for years and is a bit stuck in time. I have to admit the décor is a bit old fashioned but this place isn’t for everyone. Dina and Spiro are very welcoming and treat everyone as a friend. We come here with friends and family and we can have a conversation without having to yell over the crowd. Every one we have taken here has liked it. Every meal we have had, has been great. Our only disappointment was with the lobster my wife got with the Surf and Turf. It was over cooked and dry. Spiro made good on it. The steak was great.
They offer a great take-​out deal called 5 for $ 30. We have enjoyed that many times. It includes Eggplant Parmigiana, Baked Ziti, Chicken Special of the Day with Potatoes, Garden Salad with Bread and Butter. This serves 5 people. This all comes in catering type aluminum trays. It’s a quick option for friends coming over and beats the usual pizza.
If you are looking for trendy, loud and crowded, look some place else.

This has to be one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. Had a reservation for 3 people @ 3 for Thanksgiving. It also happened to be my Mom’s birthday and she decided not to cook this year. She along with myself and my wife surely regret that after this horrendous experience. We got there on time and we were seated fairly quickly in a corner spot. What we did not know was that we would be assigned a server who was otherwise working in another room. We ordered baked stuff clams, shrimp cocktail for appetizers. The bake stuffed clams were just all breading (like Matlaw’s frozen) but they weren’t the worst thing we had. The shrimp cocktail I believe was frozen and must of been sitting in watery ice, no flavor, just wet, we all agreed. Two turkey soups and 1 lobster bisque for our next course, my mom and I had the turkey soup and found it to be bland, my wife had the lobster bisque and it was $ 9.00 for a cup and it was inedible (she didn’t eat it). The salads were pretty decent lettuce, radish, carrot, cucumber and 1 cherry tomato in each, the vinaigrette dressing seemed to me to be a half a cup of balsamic and a half a cup of water. It took the waitress and hour and ten minutes to bring us our dinner, what happened my mother was cramping from sitting and stood up at that moment the elderly waitress (who I think could probably get lost in a closet) came in and when she looked over at our table said «oh» and went back to the other room, where she came from and brought us in our food. Two surf and turfs and one turkey dinner. All of our food was served cold. My mom had the turkey dinner and said it was «disgusting». It had turkey with gravy completely covering the plate with something black underneath which we think was supposed to be stuffing. Just plain gross. They advertised seven ounce tails and I believe it. The Tails were big and came out clean, too bad they were way overcooked and cold. The filets, which we ordered both medium rare, were extra rare and cold, dry with no au jus, the vegetables although cold were okay. When the waitress checked upon our meal I had been waiting to get another soda and when it finally did come she brought me the new one in a wine glass, while the first one was in a tumbler. Thankfully what I did not see that both my wife and mother told me after I left was that both times she brought the soda over she had her fingers inside the rim as she was holding it from the top. Also she rubbed her nose with her fingers twice while at the table. Thankfully I never saw it as I would of started screaming (I stayed subdued through this entire ordeal) Finally when the check did arrive my mother insisted upon seeing the manager about the check. The waitress said there is nothing I can do, but you can take off the tip, we said no we need to speak to whoever is in charge and she said okay. after 20 minutes she came back and said no one will be coming but they will remove the turkey dinner, which they did. We paid the check and even left her our forced 18% gratuity (which she said earlier we did not have to pay) We left the tip because it was thanksgiving and we didn’t feel right about giving her what she deserved because it was a holiday. What a disaster I would never go back. One other thing I also noticed it seems as though the very majority of the customers were very elderly.

I took my husband and daughter out for Sunday dinner here (previewing the place for my daughter’s bridal shower). We were so pleasantly surprised! Although the décor is «tired», the food was fresh and delicious! Chicken Marsala was so tender, I cut it with my fork… chicken parmesan was delicious, and the vodka penne was good (but a little overcooked for our liking). Service was prompt (water glasses refilled) but not overbearing… We wer so pleased… booked the shower that day! Can’t wait to welcome my guests to Rudy’s!

Gross… dont waste your time… parking lot and dining rm. were empty and the few people in there prob dont have any tastebuds they are so old. Even the bread was bad. Pasta was drowning in disgusting sauce and I think I ate plastic in my calamari.

I stopped in here looking for a good meal and beer for a break from listening to the GPS lady while navigating errands around this town. The restaurant was much more formal than I was expecting however the hostess was very welcoming and reassuring that I was not out of place. I chose to sit at the bar anyhow which was offering their own bar specials that made me feel more at home. The bartender was very hospitable and all about the Yankees. I finally started to feel like I was somewhere on the east coast. Conversations with him and the other patrons went on way beyond my meal, which is always a great sign that you found yourself a great neighborhood spot. The two dogs and fries paired perfectly with the sports memorabilia adorning the walls, I do hope to make it back to try their Italian off of the full menu though, as I saw some of the awesome looking dishes coming out.

Had a party catered here. We chose this place because of the price and convenient location for our guests. Rudy’s did a wonderful job. We were very pleased. Although the place could stand some renovating, they set it nicely and once we added our own decorations for the party, it looked very classy.

I’m not really sure just how this restaurant stays in business.
The food is bland & boring, sort of like diner food.
This place may be good for the seniors of Hackensack that have been coming here for years & enjoy the food & 70’s décor… doesn’t work for me.

Quiet Italian place with old world charm. Nice bar area and very comfortable to eat and drink at. Quality food at a good price and the drink pour is generous. Seems to have a lot of regulars as each time I had dinner everyone at the bar knew each other. They were all very friendly. Worth a try.

The internet era has led to a gigantic food boom; where common folks and restaurants now have access to the greatest of recipes at their fingertips, and exotic foods and spices can be shipped anywhere overnight. This food boom has caused the large growth of ‘foodies’ among the general population; people whose passion for new and creative dishes have developed their pallets to a sophistication that was once rare. Our grand-​kids won’t believe we once ate macaroni and cheese without black truffles, pancetta, and gruyère.
This restaurant brings us back to the way good American Italian restaurants used to be before the food boom, and frankly I do not miss it at all. The meals are served quickly with sides of starches like rice or potatoes and vegetables; just like Mama used to make, with a nice cup of rice pudding for dessert. The food is bland and uncreative. The veal Marsala was no more than passable.
I don’t want to be too critical, because this restaurant has a clear market to which it caters well; the elderly who grew up with this food. The service was very good, quick and friendly. There are many choices on the menu. The dining room was large and comfortable. There is plenty of space in the parking lot to park large Cadillacs. It just isn’t my thing.

Not my favorite of places. but has its redeeming qualities.
Small restaurant off a side street in Hackensack. Mostly american and french fare.
When you walk in there’s a board w/​specials of the day that are very reasonably priced including steaks, lobster, seafood pastas and special desserts
You start your meal off w/​a nice array of breads including some bread sticks, sweet breads.
Not impressed by their soups or salads. One thing I’ve had there though that I really enjoy are their breaded pork chops. They’re enormous! I never order pork chops ever, but when I tried this here, it was just so tasty, juicy and mouth water. Pic to prove it :)
If you do end up coming here, I recommend that or the veal.