Diamond’s Restaurant

My husband and I attended a wine event at Diamonds last Friday evening January 15^th. This was our first time dining at Diamonds, but will not be the last. The atmosphere was wonderful, the staff friendly and attentive, most of all the food was fantastic. There was such a family feel to Diamonds, the owners made rounds to each table, and at the end of our evening introduced us to the chefs. Please do yourselves a favor and check out this wonderful restaurant, you won’t be disappointed.

Four of us had dinner there last night.,
Excellent.Season Chicken on the Bone. AsGood As it gets.!Also Salmon & Linguini Garlic & Oil very good. Pasta Sides Perfect!
Very Busy but they handle well!!!
Try It

Went out for dinner for a family members dinner, how did we not know diamonds reopened? The inside was gorgeously decorated for Christmas– and the place was buzzing. We had great seats and the waitress was attentive, however we ordered 2 bottles of wine and she spilled it all over the place while pouring– all over the table all over our plates and on one guest (thank god it was white) and she didn’t even apologize, so weird I never experienced anything like that before. The food was good– I would stick to the main menu, the specials that some of the group ordered were just ok. The chicken portobello was a delicious as I remembered. We will def be back– hopefully with a more cautious waitress.

When Diamond’s and I both resided in Trenton, I was a fairly regular customer to an Italian house that was dark and lined with photos of the Rat Pack and other (in)famous members of the famiglia. I moved out first into the wilds of Bucks County, and Diamond’s followed suit a few years later, finding a new home in exurban Pennington, NJ. A few decades passed without the two of us making contact.
Finally found myself there last week for an office Christmas Party. The space was hauntingly familiar, with more darkness, photos, but appreciably larger than the old joint. We had a private room, but were able to order off the regular menu. The service was excellent, with a full and lively description of the evening’s specials, followed by tag team delivery, refills and replacement flatware all through the night.
While it is true that Diamond’s is «Old School,» in its décor and overall ambiance, that is not necessarily a bad thing. In light of the experience our group had, I would say that if you enjoy listening to Sinatra and watching videos of Italian cultural icons, this is still your place for a full throat blast of Italian-​American Lalapalluzza. The food was up to the challenge. My Chicken Francaise was simple and delicious with two filleted breasts sautéed in egg and light breading, with simple lemon sauce finish. The Roast Potatoes and Broccoli were equally well done, and in no way an afterthought. I was also given half of the order of my companion who had ordered Lamb Chop Tomahawk. These two chops had a large head of medium finished lamb at the end of a very long rib bone (It did look like a tomahawk, especially with the second glass of Cabernet). I am not a lamb guy, but this was outstanding. Tender, tasty; in no way gamey or past its prime. I also eyeballed a huge Lobster Tail Francaise that my neighbor was gorging. (Check photos and see it they move you to a reservation.)
In all dimensions this was a fun and fully satisfying experience. Diamond’s certainly has not lost its touch.
If you desire to be overcome with a pleasant wave of Italian decadence, this remains the place to do it.

Went there today for the first time. The waitress, Donna I believe, was fantastic. She knew everything she was pleasant and very patient as we waited for a four person that was quite late. The décor was very nice although a little dark, could have turned up the lights a little especially because it was lunch time.
They have a very nice menu that is sure to have something for everyone. Many specials were available and Donna knew them all. Everyone at the table enjoyed their meal very much. Service was very timely and everything was cooked to perfection.
I will certainly go back. We may even go back next week for a holiday lunch with the entire office.

Great place for dinner date or drinks. Excellent food and service, only complaint: the roasted potatoes was way to salty.

I love, love, love Diamond’s! I’m going to review them in general as we eat here fairly often. Everything we get is wonderful and we although we usually eat at the bar, the staff is super friendly. I love the gentleman at the entrance (sorry I forget his name) but it always makes us feel special, even if it’s just a quick meal. Reminds me of the Chambersburg Days.

So this just happened. My husband wanted to surprise me and ordered dinner through
. He spoke with Diamonds at 6:30 to ask if order would be ready on time, they said yes it would be ready at 7:15. At 6:45 my husband got a cancelation email. He called at 6:55pm and was told his order was cancelled because they were out of the 2 appetizers– stone crabs and artichokes. Ummmm what about the 2 main dishes? The icing was that they did not offer to place our order at that point, they said to go back on
and check the next available time slot to order. ha ha i think NOT.

If you are looking for a great hangout place and amazing cuisine then check out diamonds.
I had gone with my family to this restaurant and we all had an amazing meal not one of was unsatisfied with what we had. Also the whole vide of the restaurant is so welcoming and comfortable that it’s worth going back for more. I had the thirteen oz slab of steak and I can tell you one thing. This was cooked to excellence, I believe they take time and effort to make their delicious food. The steak was but together so well the seasonings were so well put on to the steak. The flavor of it was also amazing, so juicy and tender just cooked the way you want it. I can tell you that there is nothing better then an amazing night with you family at one of the great eat outs in Pennington.

A far cry from the Diamond’s in «the Burg» I used to frequent in the ‘90s. This Diamond’s is now just another dime a dozen, strip mall Italian restaurant ike so many others you find across NJ; if you’ve been to Piccolo’s, Francesco’s, Amalfi’s, Marsilio’s, etc., then you’ve been here. Half way decent appetizers, mediocre entrees (stick with the «pasta only» dishes), mediocre deserts, sub-​par espresso. The food is even worse when you go with a large group. If you are having lunch or dinner in Pennington, try Avanti or Osteria Procaccini instead… they are both much, much better.
This place reminded me of Francesco’s, except with a liquour license, so I went to read the review I’d left Francesco’s and decided it perfectly described my experiences at Diamonds (three separate visits)… so I cut n’ pasted and did some minor editing.

Visited last night with our six friends. We were seated in the back room at a nice big table. We were assisted by 2 waiters. They were very well versed on the menu specials. After a round of appetizers that were delicious we were served our entrees. Everyone was happy with their food from fish, chicken & pastas. I had the pork chop, cooked to perfection! The only negative would be it is a bit pricey.

Food is the star at Diamond’s. All the dishes we had were well executed. Our server was a bit of salesman, so be aware that recommendations from the staff might be on the high side of the price range. Other than that service was good and food was extremely well done. They have standard Italian fare, but a number of original dishes and a long list of specials that are worth trying.

Went there last week with one of my friends to preview the place for a small dinner seminar I am hosting in April.
I really loved it and so did she. (She is Italian so much more picky about Italian food than I am)
We had Saltambucca Chicken and Portobello Chicken. Delicious. The Buffalo mozzarella appetizer was creamy and savory. Firm on the outside and literally drippy on the inside. Loved the texture and taste. We also had an arugala salad. The house Cabernet was surprisingly good.
Service was great.

nostalgia for the 80’s italian joint. but if you’ve moved on like most of us, this will just be steel-​grill-​everything and dried-​parsley-​dusted-​everything hell.
+ great bar, nice place to socialize and have some bar food and a cocktail or have DESSERT
+ awesome desserts! don’t miss the dessert tray (you can’t because they will put it in front of you no matter what — that’s what we call «suggestive sell»)
* great spot for the «active adult» communities which pepper the rural suburbia out here
# eerie windows-​screen-​saver slide show of pics of ms. loren and mr. grant on the flat screens all over the restaurant. weirdo
But I’m here for the food and the food was MEH
# dried-​parsley-​flake dusted everything
# steel-​grilled everything. that means everything tastes exactly the same and it’s greasy as f#$%
# all food arrived dead. don’t know if it was the server’s fault for leaving it on the pass too long, or the kitchen’s fault for laziness.
sent every course back and it was reheated.
# mushroom bisque. yeah, but it was in 10 years ago. and it arrived almost cold. «is this supposed to be a cold soup?» i asked.
# surf and turf topped with mushrooms. meh. jumbo carrots (wow, haven’t seen those since ’83) and wilty potato wedges. sent back for the dead sides. barely warm steak.
yeah, i know you’re supposed to rest it, but you should cover it! lobster tail meh, bordering bone dry.
# she offers to put fresh ground pepper on everything. even my steak and lobster. was surprised she didn’t offer to pepper the dessert.
# place is overstaffed, but they can’t be bothered to refill my water or watch the tables regularly
I’m out of place. I don’t belong here.

During the 80’s, Chambersburg, in Trenton was the Italian restaurant Capitol of NJ, and the king of all the restaurants was Diamonds Kent Café, on Kent Street. Sadly, the restaurants all disappeared leaving behind memories of great food and times. Through the years, Diamonds had re-​opened at various locations, but they were unable to recreate the magic… until now. Diamonds has re-​opened in the Pennington Shopping Center, and I’m pleased to say brothers Tommy and Tony Zucchetti have finally recaptured the magic.
My wife was the one who noticed this new incarnation, and suggested we celebrate our anniversary there. So glad we did! As soon as I opened the door to the restaurant, I was taken back to Kent St. The ambiance was great. We were greeted by a friendly hostess who seated us right away. The place looked great, but food and service is what it’s about, and we weren’t disappointed. Our server came right over, and after giving us time to look at menus, he gave us the specials, and offered suggestions. To start, I had mushrooms stuffed with sausage, and my wife had a shrimp cocktail. The shrimp cocktail was typical of most restaurants, and was had decent size shrimp. My mushrooms were a nice size and were served 6 on my plate. I find find sausage to be hit and miss. I don’t like over seasoned sausage, and I found these to be quite tasty.
For our entrees, my wife chose a filet mignon and mushrooms. She’s very picky, and insists on well done dishes. She was pleased with how it came out, and when I took a bite, I was surprised by how tender and flavorful the meat was. It melted in my mouth. I chose the chicken Marsala. The chicken was cooked in a light Marsala wine sauce and topped with mushrooms. Nice size portion that allowed me to take some home with us. I highly recommend the bruschetta ala Romano for your table. Just superb.
We finished off our meal by sharing a tasty cannoli.
I need to mention that back in the day, I spent many a Friday or Saturday nights at the Kent St. Café. I was a young guy, and it was a great place to impress my dates. As I sat in this new location, and I looked around at the walls, and I saw Tommy greeting guests at the door, a I was transported back to great times. The fact they are located in the shopping center doesn’t do justice to the great ambience once you step inside. It’s not a cheap date, but it’s worth the visit.

Meh. Dishes that can be found at a decent pizza place for way less money. The pork chop, which was $ 28, was a better value. That said, I’ve had better chicken parms and better pork chops at lower price points. The menu is huge which always gives you a little bit of concern. Service is okay and ambiance is upscale and cheesy. The basic blocking and tackling is there — beyond that they’re confused, old school (not in a good way), and way too popular for what they are. If you think this is good food, you don’t know what good food is — sorry. The bathrooms are tiny for such a large restaurant. Food can come out lukewarm to almost cold as noted in other reviews. Bar is nice. Always packed… might be because it’s the only game in town with a liquor license :/.

If you lived in the Trenton area in the 80s, you know Diamond’s well. They’ve moved 9 miles north and from a row home to a row storefront. The food is basically the same — well prepared; large portions; heavily sauced dishes. They even have the sausage bread appetizer that ensured you’d be full before you entrée arrived. Owner Anthony Zucchetti works the dining room and the crowd, complete with frequent stops to be sure everything is going well and lots of glad-​handing.
They’ve done a nice job disguising the fact that they’re in a strip mall. The windows have dark slatted blinds and the décor helps you forget it used to be a pizza and beer joint. They have TV screens in the dining room that have an odd mix of pictures of Rat Packers and nostalgic shots of the old Kent Street location and random shots of Trenton.
Something is off with the service, however. When we called to say we were going to be a few minutes late for our 7PM reservation because the cab hadn’t arrived in time, my wife was treated to a brusque «How late? We’re pretty busy!» Luckily we got there by 7:10PM and still got a table. Our server Scott was very friendly, but despite the fact that we had two bottles of wine (thus the taxi), never once poured a glass. Appetizers came out quickly, but things got really slow before entrees arrived. We waited at least 30 minutes between salad course and main. We were celebrating the anniversary of our first date (at the Kent Street location), so we ran up quite a bill. Scott came by to say that Anthony wanted to treat us to a complimentary dessert. We asked if there were any that were gluten free as we’re both eating this way now — he immediately responded with «No, none!» A) I don’t think that was the case (no fruit? no cheese & nuts? gelato even?) and B) it was a nice gesture, but because it didn’t fit, couldn’t they have replaced it with something else? A shot of sambucca (which used to be the practice back in the day)? We didn’t expect anything for free, but this turned out to be one of those gestures that hurt the experience more than helping it.
Some of the other reviews mention service issues and «having to work out kinks». We agree — but it has been open for over a year. Hopefully, they will take some steps to get the service to match the food.

Excellent choices. I had the veal chop. It was outstanding. We also enjoyed the lobseter ravioli, the pork and figs had a nice sweetness. The escargot was delicious, especially the gravy. The mozzarella was special. I will definitely go back.

Came here for my admin’s appreciation day and was excited to try a new italian joint. The service was pretty horrendous as we were subjected to a waitress with clearly disproportionate assumptions of younger people. She picked on me the entire service as I was the youngest as the table. Bit my tongue the entire time as even suggested my boss tip her less for the terrible attitude.
The food was mediocre as best. Will stick to Marsilio’s for sure.

Went for Father’s Day. Used to go to diamonds when it was in trenton. Pleased to say that they’ve done a great job. Being inside, it is hard to believe you’re in a strip mall. I was surprised to see them in this location, so far and different from trenton and it’s ‘history’.
food was excellent. Great portions and cooked right. Often, pasta is overdone and bordering on mushy but not here. Even the sides were done very very well.
Was too full for desert but will definitely be back. Great job, guys.