Corrections or additions?
This feature was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on October 21, 1998.
All rights reserved.
On Princeton’s `Restaurant Row,’ A Family Place
In 1990, after years of owning and operating various
pizzerias, brothers Tony and Joe Vitella opened what was then an
unusual concept for a restaurant — casual, affordable family
dining in a bistro atmosphere. The first TJ’s Trattoria was in
Pennington, followed by another in Morrisville. Undeterred by the
propagation of chain eateries with a similar target market, the
Vitellas have opened a third TJ’s Trattoria, this time in the high
rent district of Witherspoon Street, helping solidify that street’s
reputation as Princeton’s restaurant row.
Tony and Joe Vitella grew up in Mountain View until the family moved
to Lawrence, where their father, a pharmacist, owned the Lawrenceville
Pharmacy and their mother owned the health food store next door. The
brothers went to high school at the Pennington School and worked in
pizza places at the shore. In 1976, when Tony was 18 and Joe was 22,
they bought a restaurant.
That first TJ’s was a pizza parlor on Main Street in Lawrenceville
(which they later sold). There they were among the earliest to serve
Pizza Verde, a white pie with fresh broccoli, garlic, and mozzarella
cheese. Now all three trattorias serve moderately priced lunch and
dinner daily with generously-sized dinner entrees from $9 to $20,
including a salad and bread and butter. Daily specials might include
grilled swordfish for $17, and the $13 vodka rigatoni is a house
favorite.
You can also get sandwiches, pizza, chicken, veal, pasta, and fresh
fish, and there is a children’s menu.
Those who frequented the Athenian Restaurant will hardly recognize
this place; it’s been totally redone in rose tones with comfortable
booths and seats about 65 people. The entire restaurant is no smoking,
and credit cards are accepted. Though the Witherspoon Street edition
does not have a liquor license, a liquor store is right next door.
The two others have full-service bars.
609-688-9300.
Also at 25 Route 31 South, Pennington, 609-737-7166. And in
Morrisville,
215-295-8585. Tony and Joseph Vitella, owners.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
Facebook Comments