Picnic on The Square

The prix fixe menu at Picnic on the Square is wonderful. Each course surpassed the previous one. However, my favorites were the braised romaine salad, the black bass, and the venison. Chef Nunn’s use of herbs and flavor combinations is unsurpassed! Well worth treating your tastebuds to her gastronomic goodies!

I’d give 6 stars if it were possible. Best food, best service, best atmosphere. I highly recommend going at least once. After that you’ll want to go back many times. Never the same menu, changes often. The food is cooked to perfection and professionally presented and served. You’ll leave with a huge smile on your face!

Had a disappointing experience, but will say upfront I cannot review the food. Made a reservation on Friday night. Arrived At 8pm and place was dead, two tables full. Was told by hostess that restaurant no longer had a menu, but only an EIGHTY dollar per person 7 course tasting menu!!! Shouldn’t this be mentioned when a reservation is made, or mentioned on restaurant website??? When I mentioned this to hostess she snobbily answered that is was on their website. I checked on my phone a minute later and it absolutely was not. Or perhaps the menu was, but nowhere did
It say it was 7 courses and $ 80
Per person!!! Promptly left and had an absolutely fabulous dinner for $ 80/​couple at Italia di Gusto!!!

Sat night dinner was rough. Only two for Waite staff. Not well trained or professional. Very inattentive.
Salad was good and plentiful. Main courses we’re good but double cut pork chop was overdone and ordinary. The owner/​executive chef needs to pay more attention to the composition and less on punctuation. Not worth $ 100.00 per couple and still BYOB. Oh well.

Was here on 12÷6÷15. I’ve been trying to get into this place for awhile and finally made the reservation for four last night. We were all very pleased w the service and the food. The ambiance is very nice too. I had the veal marrow app and was in heaven! Also had the duck and it was delicious. I noticed another reviewer was there last night too and also had the duck but wasn’t happy w it not sure what went wrong but I was pleased. It had seared crispy skin and was tender and juicy on the inside. Husband and friends had the pork chop special and were happy with their choice. I’ll be back again.

Very disappointed with picnic tonight. Was here in August and had a fantastic meal. I was really looking forward to coming back but wow what a difference 4 months make! 3 people at our table had the wedge salad and said it was pretty bad (how hard is it to make a good wedge salad??). I had the kale salad and it was dry and bland. The filet was apparently very good tonight (I had this last time and agree, it was good) but my duck tonight was dry and chewy. Not sure what happened tonight but what a bummer, I had such high hopes for picnic!

Not very impressed with the food… Especially for the price. I had the halibut for my main dish, which was pretty much flavorless. My boyfriend has the Arctic char, which he said was sub-​par. We also had the radicchio salad for our appetizer, which left a lot to be desired… barely any figs or dressing. Won’t be going back.

small space, but nice ambiance and the food was very good!

After 3 meals here, I am a solid 5-​stars for Picnic on the Square. The fact that it is a BYOB does not make this a standout, as much of Ridgewood is comprised of similarly liquor license-​lacking establishments. What does stand out about Picnic is the service, the appropriately themed but not too over-​the-​top décor, and of course, the menu. This is not the type of restaurant that my mom would ever visit on her own or even with her girlfriends; she has simple tastes and a small budget for dining out. I love living in a big city, I love living where some of the greatest chefs in the country produce fancy fare on overly pricey menus, but what I love about going home is being able to treat mom to simply great food of exceptionally high quality at a price-​point that I think is more than fair for Ridgewood.
Mom with the simple palate has always ordered the filet mignon; the look on her face when she gets her perfectly cooked rare steak is enough to make me happy. But then, you throw in my meal and my happiness meter is at a whole other level. On our last visit, I ordered the deviled eggs, the delicious crab cake with jersey corn salad (we needed two orders between three of us because one was simply not enough), and for my entrée I had the coq au vin with haricot verts. I’m not typically the person who orders chicken when they are out at a restaurant, but the chicken was absolutely delicious as were the chanterrelle mushrooms in the lemony white wine sauce. Boyfriend chose the duck, cooked a beautifully medium rare served with sweet potato mashed, asparagus, and a blackberry sauce; a clear winner as well.
Our waitresses have been darlings every time we have visited, never rushing you but always there when you need them. Picnic on the Square is one Ridgewood restaurant that we have on our list as a heavy hitter for most consistent in experience with the most delicious offerings. I am looking forward to a late fall/​early winter dinner, as I am positive the menu will be fresh for the season.

Fantastic. Great ambiance. Great staff. Cute bathroom. Nice décor.
Ventilation is great and very clean
First off I could survive on the butter alone for life. Sweet and simple but pulling flavor from all areas of my mouth.
Apps
lobster roll — Perfect.
Wild boar and duck sausage with green apple and diced baguettes with. White wine and gruyère cheese. My taste buds are extremely happy. One of the best apps I’ve had.
Dinner
Duck 3 ways
The chicken
Highly recommended
Most likely the only person in The area
Who knows how to prepare an animal.
Phenomenal
Dessert crème brûlée Without nuts I have an allergy … On point
Great depth of flavor overall. 5 stars would go back in a heartbeat.
Wish they offered private chef tasting. Chefs menu. Would be amazing

Absolutely delicious, fabulous quality that you certainly pay for– but the byob part is nice. I had the scallop special– four plump perfectly cooked scallops. We had the cheese appetizers — nothing extraordinary, though it’s a cheese plate. My guy had the duck, which was cooked medium rare and he loved. One appetizer and entrée each satisfied us and made us part of the clean plate club. One complaint — Mosquitos went crazy since we ate outside. Stupid bugs!

Great meal!!! Lobster roll wonderful. Jessica is fab!!! Atmosphere is charming. Will return.

Was excellent. Excellent excellent. Service was outstanding! We had 4 meals, duck, fish lamb and steak wow Just wow!!!

Yesterday was our first time visiting the Picnic on the Square. We were seated right away. We ordered the Gruyère fondue as an appetizer. It was heaven.
I grew up in Switzerland, and I was still blown away by this treat.
The service was professional and friendly. I had the steak au poivre, which was done as if we were in a Parisian café. This also hit the mark.
Ridgewood is blessed with many great restaurants, but we will definitely come back here.

It was not easy to get a reservation here, and now I know why.
The space is small, but very well designed. The tables are well spaced and comfortable.
The food is amazing. My wife and I shared the fondue appetizer and our friends shared the crabcake. Our main courses were Scallops, Duck and 2 orders of Hallibut. Everything was prepared perfectly and was delicious.
The service was great as well, unpretentious, friendly and professional.
We will be back!

This restaurant came highly recommended and it did not disappoint! The meal and service were both fantastic. We had the White Wine and Gruyère Fondue with boar and duck sausage and the Salted Pear appetizers. Both were amazing!
The Pecan Crusted Arctic Char was one of the best entrees I’ve ever had. The Filet of Beef tenderloin was also fantastic and cooked perfectly.
We are already planning our next trip!

I don’t want to slam this place, but admit our meal was less than stellar. Start off with the good. My meal was very good. I had the kale salad (lovely ! tasty! though kale needed a little more knife work (impossible to get a knife in on that beautiful bowl). Second course, I had the black sea bass with polenta– I loved it all, though thought the lobster sauce a little to oily for my taste and wouldn’t mind the green beans being cooked a little past al dante (i’m of the more done is more better green bean camp)
The bad: my dude had the salad with dates stuffed with goat cheese… in concept, this sounded really good. In reality, it was super lackluster… lettuce was BARELY dressed, with most pieces having no such dressing to speak of… we requested more dressing. Dates were good, but when are dates stuffed with goat cheese not good? and the plating-…i think my work-​lunch salad plating looked better than this-​this menu item needs work
My dude’s second course really sealed the 2Star review. He had the pork chop which, while it looked lovely, came out rare. He had it send it back and back it came, though now seriously overcooked and tough… hoping for Berkshire and got blah. What a bummer.
Service was good, though slightly confusing (we had 3 people taking orders/​serving/​watering us) and ambiance is nice, though they may need to re-​think their bread basket — the french bread served was superstale.
I realize this restaurant is newish and want it to thrive, but to do so in this super competitive ridgewood market, it’s gotta up its game.

what a disappointment is Picnic! From a whole bag of kale tossed in with apples as a salad, to uncooked wild rice (which the waitress insisted is the way it should be served) in her very condescending way to the tepid, insipid, lack luster overall staff.
Don’t waste an evening here– Ridgewood has some very food fares to offer, and Picnic is certainly not one of them.

Just back from visit #3 to Picnic on the Square. Wow, consistently wonderful! Tonight oysters (beautiful little gems from Maine) and Half roast lobster with scallops and shrimp (each cooked to perfection), cream spinach (light as air) and a parsnip purée to die for! While there made reservations for trip #4. Can’t wait!

We were great fans of the original Picnic, and were SO excited to see that it is BACK, and even better than the first one (which is saying a lot, as the original was fantastic.) This new version of Picnic is in an even nicer setting with a menu that combines some of the old Picnic favorites (oh, that lobster roll!!) with a creative selection of new dishes. I started with a melt in your mouth salted pear with blue cheese and candied pecans on microgreens… the perfect combo of tender sweet and crunchy salt. And that’s what I mean by creative — only Chef Nunn would think to combine a pear with salt, but it was simply amazing. My husband had the Parisienne gnocchi — he tries gnocchi wherever we find it on a menu, and he loved them. As in, wasn’t too keen about sharing any of them with me level of loved them.
For entrees, I had the veal short rib borguignion, which comes in a rich wine sauce with the perfect amount of cheese polenta. Tender, falling apart veal… just delectable. The husband had the beef filet, which was cooked rare just the way he likes it, and came with fancy onion rings, creamed spinach and a blue cheese puff that I totally stole from him.
The atmosphere is lovely — the perfect combination of elegance with beautiful lighting, table settings and silver, but just casual enough that you feel completely relaxed. Service is friendly and attentive, just like the charming first Picnic. It’s a BYOB, which I love… bring the good stuff to go with your great meal.
Welcome back, Picnic! We’ve missed you, but you were worth the wait!