Il Vero in Westwood Banned Kids After 5 PM, and Gia Giudice Is Defending It
A week into its life, Il Vero is the most talked about restaurant in Bergen County, and not because of the food. The upscale Italian Mediterranean spot at 166 Center Avenue in Westwood does not allow children at dinner. Adult dining only, from 5 PM, and the policy has turned into a national story.
The flashpoint was a Saturday night reservation. According to reports, a group of eight adults, including two couples with babies in strollers, arrived for a 5 PM booking and were turned away because the restaurant does not permit children of any age. The story spread online, one star Google reviews piled up calling the rule ridiculous, and one reviewer predicted the place probably won't survive long because of it.
Il Vero is Gia Giudice's restaurant. The 25 year old Real Housewives of New Jersey and Next Gen NYC personality opened it with partner Maria Sausa, and her mother Teresa Giudice helped shape the interior and the menu. The website says plainly that the restaurant is intended for adult guests, and the dining room was designed as an elevated night out, the kind of place that makes you want to get dressed up.
On Sunday, Giudice answered the backlash herself in a TikTok, and she did not bend. The first thing she addressed: Il Vero only accommodates adult dining. She acknowledged it might be a bummer for parents, then pointed out that Westwood is a family oriented town with many kid friendly restaurants already, and that adults in town were waiting for something different, an atmosphere built for them.
Her partner backed her up. Sausa said the decision to create an adults only dining experience at Il Vero was intentional, that the area has plenty of wonderful family friendly restaurants, and that not every restaurant is meant for everyone. It is a clean line, and both owners are standing on it.
The counterargument writes itself. Westwood's downtown runs on families, strollers on Center Avenue are a way of life, and turning away a reserved party over sleeping babies in strollers is the kind of story that writes its own comments section. Critics are also folding the policy into early complaints about prices and the overall experience, fair or not, because that is what happens when a restaurant becomes a debate instead of a dinner.
One door may crack open. Giudice said the team may eventually consider allowing children for lunch reservations only, though Il Vero is not accepting lunch reservations yet. For now the rule stands exactly as written: after 5 PM in Westwood, this dining room belongs to the grown ups. Agree or not, everybody in Bergen County is talking about it, and that was probably the point.
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