South Broad Street isn’t where you’d expect to find a chef with a Michelin star. It’s a side street in downtown Ridgewood, away from the busiest stretch of Ridgewood Avenue and close to the Hudson Street parking garage.
That’s where Massimo Sola opened Sola Osteria. He won his star in Italy, ran kitchens in Manhattan, and now cooks for a Bergen County village.
An osteria, in Italy, is the opposite of a stuffy restaurant. It’s a place for honest food, a glass of wine and time at the table. Sola Osteria sticks closely to that idea. Its own website calls it a meal “that feels special without feeling formal.” The cooking, though, has a polish you’ll notice from the first plate.
The chef behind it
Massimo Sola comes from the Varese area, north of Milan. There he ran I 4 Mori, a restaurant in Capolago. It earned a Michelin star in 2007.
He was also known in Italy for something less glamorous and more personal: cooking for people with celiac disease. A 2009 profile in the local paper VareseNews explained that both of his children are celiac. He became an advocate for gluten-free cooking done properly, and he appeared on Swiss television showing how to do it. In that article he stressed that the hard part isn’t special flours, it’s preventing cross-contamination in the kitchen.
Later he ran the restaurants at Eataly in Rome. Then he moved to New York and cooked in SoHo, first at MAMO, then at his own Sola Pasta Bar in 2017. Today he runs Sola Osteria as chef and owner, with Stefano Bosetti as executive chef.
The restaurant sums up his approach in one line: “Respect the ingredients, honor the classics, and never compromise on the details.”
What to order
The menu moves across Italy, from Liguria and Piedmont to Rome, Puglia and Sicily. It’s short enough to read in a few minutes, which is always a good sign.
Start here
The Vitello Tonnato is a Piedmontese classic you won’t find on many New Jersey menus: thin slices of veal under a creamy tuna sauce, finished with caper oil. The Guazzetto brings mussels and clams in a spicy red broth. Don’t let the broth go to waste.
For something more Ligurian, try the Minestrone “Genova”, made with seven vegetables, rice and pesto. It’s a soup that tastes like the Italian coast.
The pasta
This is the heart of the menu. The Tagliolini Neri combines squid-ink pasta with seafood and lobster bisque. The Cavatelli “Puglia” comes with lightly spicy sausage and broccoli, the way they make it in southern Italy. And the Cacio & Pepe is a plain test of a kitchen: just bucatini, Pecorino Romano and black pepper.
Coming as two? The Lasagna is made for sharing, with a Bolognese-style meat sauce, béchamel and Parmigiano.
Mains
The Veal Ossobuco is served boneless with its marrow over saffron risotto alla milanese. That’s a nod to the chef’s Lombard roots. The Beef Short Ribs are braised in Barolo, and the Branzino comes grilled on a skewer with pioppini mushrooms and leeks.
Dessert
Skip the tiramisù just this once and order the Bunet. It’s a Piedmontese cocoa pudding with amaretti and rum that few American menus carry. Gluten-free diners have their own option too: an apple crumble.
The feel of the place
Sola Osteria aims for warm rather than fancy. Service is unhurried, and diners often mention the chef coming out to check on tables. That kind of personal touch is rare once a restaurant gets busy.
The dress code is business casual. It’s a natural pick for an anniversary or a birthday dinner, but you won’t feel out of place on a weeknight either.
When to go: the kitchen opens at lunchtime (12:15pm) on most days, so a weekday lunch is another way to try it. For Friday and Saturday evenings, book ahead. On Sundays it opens later, at 2pm, which is handy for a long, late Sunday lunch.
Know before you go
Parking. The restaurant has no lot of its own. The Village’s Hudson Street garage is close by, along with street meters. Street meters run Monday to Friday until 8pm and Saturday until 6pm, at $1.25 an hour, with a 3-hour limit. Sunday parking is free. For garage-floor restrictions and other options, see our downtown Ridgewood parking guide.
Gluten-free diners. Given the chef’s background, it’s worth asking about gluten-free options when you book. The menu names only one dessert as gluten-free, so call ahead about the rest of the meal. If you have celiac disease, ask how the kitchen handles cross-contamination.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sola Osteria BYOB? Yes. You can bring your own wine. The menu also lists a few wines and spritzers, so ask when you book what’s available that night.
Where is Sola Osteria? At 17 S Broad Street in downtown Ridgewood, close to the Village’s Hudson Street parking garage.
Does the chef have a Michelin star? Chef and owner Massimo Sola earned a Michelin star in 2007 at I 4 Mori, his restaurant near Varese in northern Italy. The star was for his work in Italy, not for the Ridgewood restaurant.
Is Sola Osteria open on Tuesdays? No, it’s closed on Tuesdays. It opens at 12:15pm on the other weekdays and Saturdays, and at 2pm on Sundays.
Can I get takeout? Yes. There’s a family-style takeout menu on the restaurant’s website, and the site links to delivery through Uber Eats. Some family-style dishes require 24 hours’ notice.
Menu and hours checked October 26, 2026. Confirm with the restaurant before you go.
Reservations: The restaurant now directs bookings to Resy. You can also call 201-857-5100.
Sources
Sola Osteria: chef background and team
Sola Osteria: hours, address and reservations FAQ
Sola Osteria: family-style takeout
OpenTable: restaurant listing, BYO and dress code; bookings now use Resy
VareseNews, October 28, 2009: Massimo Sola and gluten-free cooking
Luxury Travel Advisor, May 10, 2015: MAMO SoHo
UrbanDaddy, September 19, 2017: Sola Pasta Bar
Village of Ridgewood: parking information
More local guides: Where to Eat in Ridgewood and Moving to Ridgewood.
