Quick Bite

Red-White-and-Green Royalty: Queen Margherita in Nutley

Queen Margherita, a popular Italian restaurant in Nutley, offers a lot more than the famous pizza style created for Italy’s Queen Margherita in Naples in 1889.

Jumbo shrimp in butter and garlic sauce.
Jumbo shrimp in butter and garlic sauce.
Photo by Jacqueline Klecak

Queen Margherita
Nutley
246 Washington Avenue
973-662-0007

Open: Lunch and dinner daily

Price: $$ BYO

Style: Trattoria with red linen tablecloths, pizza and large-portioned entrées. A portrait of Queen Margherita, the 19th-century royal for whom pizza Margherita is named, hangs in the bustling dining room.

The Scoop: Inspired by their ancestral connection to Naples, brothers Pasquale and Nicola DiPalma opened the restaurant in 2004. Pasquale is the manager, Nicola the chef. Pasquale sometimes serenades diners from behind the cash register. The DiPalmas also own Aromi Di Napoli, the adjoining bakery, and Blue Eyes, an Italian eatery on the Hoboken waterfront.

The Menu: A basket of fluffy bread baked in the wood-burning oven promptly arrives at your table, along with a dipping sauce of olive oil and finely diced vegetables. Start with the sweet mussels or one of the 13 pizzas. Mains range from jumbo shrimp in butter and garlic sauce (pictured) to chicken Regina, stuffed with spinach, roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta and mozzarella, in vodka sauce. Entrées are served with a side of salad or pasta in red sauce. For dessert, try the Nutella pizza or a pastry.

Heads Up: Dinner reservations recommended; the place is molto popular. The weekday lunch special is just $12.95.

[justified_image_grid exclude="featured"]

What are Quick Bites? Short takes on casual, affordable dining.

Restaurant Details

  • Cuisine Type:
    Italian
  • Price Range:
    Inexpensive
  • Ambience:
    Trattoria with red linen tablecloths, pizza and large-portioned entrées
  • Queen Margherita
    246 Washington Ave
    Nutley, NJ 07110
  • Reservations:
    recommended
  • Hours:
    Mon - Thu:
    11:30 am - 10:00 pm;

    Fri - Sat:
    11:30 am - 11:00 pm
Required
Required not shown
Required not shown