We’ve been to Nicholas several times for lunch and once for dinner. Never been to Blue Grotto.
Despite the fact that Albariño doesn’t take reservations for outdoor dining, we’ve gone several times. The plus there is that they serve throughout the day. We went once for a very early dinner at 5 p.m. before many tables became occupied (our first restaurant meal in May after we were fully vaccinated). After that, it’s always been for late lunch 3 p.m. or a bit later when it isn’t busy, so never a problem getting an outdoor table.
Other NJ restaurants we’ve been to several times that take reservations for outdoor dining: Il Nido, in Marlboro (5 minutes from our house!); The Frog and the Peach, in New Brunswick; Bistro d’Azure, in South Orange; and Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, in Somerville. We went once to the Bernards Inn, in Bernardsville and twice to Drew’s when he was still doing outdoors. The second time, he had pretty much stopped doing it but did it for us as a favor because we’ve known him since forever (meaning starting when he opened his first tiny location on Broad St.).
