Serafina Is Opening Its First New Jersey Restaurant in Tenafly Tomorrow
After 31 years, one of New York City's most famous Italian restaurants is finally crossing the Hudson.
Serafina opens its first ever New Jersey location tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14 at 5pm, at 25 Highwood Avenue in Tenafly. If you have ever eaten at a Serafina in Manhattan, you already know why this is a big deal for Bergen County. If you haven't, you're about to find out.
The brand started in 1995, when friends Vittorio Assaf and Fabio Granato opened the first Serafina in New York City. The idea was simple and stubborn: Italian food made the proper way, with 100 percent Italian ingredients. The founders still visit the farms that supply their restaurants to make sure the quality never slips. That formula turned into an empire. Serafina now runs 10 locations in Manhattan alone, plus spots in Scarsdale, White Plains and East Hampton, and a celebrity following that most restaurants would kill for. Tenafly is the first time the name has ever landed in the Garden State.
The space itself has been a long time coming. Signage first went up at 25 Highwood Avenue back in the fall of 2024, and the location has been in development ever since. Longtime locals know the building well: it previously housed a run of Asian restaurants, including Sachun House, Asian Fusion Restaurant and Hong Bo Suk, and it sat empty long enough that people in town started wondering if anything would ever stick there. Serafina is betting big that it will. The dining room has been fully redesigned, with velvet seating, warm lighting and a full bar, which means downtown Tenafly just got a proper night out option.
So what should you order? The Tenafly menu is live, and it reads like a greatest hits album with a few surprises. Start with the truffle whipped ricotta at $14 or the prosciutto di Parma and burrata at $23. The pastas are the main event here: spicy penne alla vodka at $25, lobster ravioli at $27, rigatoni carbonara at $28, and the farfalle al limoncello at $27, which sounds like it was invented specifically to go viral. There is even a spaghetti aglio and olio named after Al Pacino at $19. For entrees, the chicken parmigiana runs $29, the branzino with cherry tomatoes is $33, and the steak and fries lands at $36. And of course there are the pizzas, the thing Serafina built its name on, from a classic margherita all the way to the famous champagne pizza.
Here's the thing Bergen County readers need to understand: this is not some watered down suburban copy of a city restaurant. The menu, the ingredients and the whole concept made the trip across the river intact. That is exactly why a first New Jersey location matters. Chains test markets all the time, but a brand with 31 years of history and a dozen New York locations does not pick Tenafly by accident. It picks Tenafly because Bergen County diners show up, spend money and know the difference between real Italian food and the imitation stuff.
It also raises the bar for every Italian restaurant in the area, and honestly, that is a good thing. Competition is how a food scene gets better. When a name like Serafina plants a flag on Highwood Avenue, the spot down the street has to get sharper, and the diners win.
One practical note before you go: a couple of early local reports floated Tuesday, October 13 as the opening, but the restaurant's own Tenafly page is clear. Doors open Wednesday, October 14 at 5pm. Trust the restaurant over the rumor mill, and if you want a table this week, book it now, because first week reservations at a place like this do not stay open long.
New Jersey has been stealing New York restaurants for years, one opening at a time. This one might be the biggest catch yet. Welcome to Jersey, Serafina. Took you long enough.