Excellent rood and service. Portions are large and it's BYOB. Reservations a must and you should plan a week in advance
Joey L.
Words can't describe how good this place is. I drive 1.5 hours just to eat here. I've been to hundreds of restaurants, and Spanos is the only one I have ever been to that consistently provides the best hospitality. Chef Joe Spanos greets every table with a warm smile and some house appetizers. The food is out of this world... can't wait to come back again this summer!
L S.
Delicious food and service was excellent The Atmosphere is old style Italian decor. The eggplant meatballs on the table was surprisingly delicious. The serving size is alot brought home left overs, that was better the next Day. The shrimp parm was very good. the apps where also large sizes feed 6 people no issues
Richard H.
Hands down one of the BEST Italian Restaurants in all of New Jersey. The food is magnificent and there's a lot of it. The wait staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. I've brought my entire family here from New York and they raved about the food and ambience. Hard to get in, but well worth the wait.
Joe B.
Best chicken parm ever! Potato croquettes were great too! Will be back soon. Happy birthday to Joe too.
Mary T.
Always excellent food and service. Veal was excellent and chicken was excellent. Will definitely return.
Francine Brescia
Been a long time customer of Spanos. Due to a family loss, it's been about a year since we were last in. We came in last Wednesday March 27 for a 430 reservation. I hate to write a review of disappointment, but the food was jiat not on par. We ordered clams casino and they use to be my favorite. The class were burnt and no taste. We ordered zucchini flowers and in all fairness that was pur first time having them, sp perhaps it's just us and we didn't care for them. For dinner we ordered chicken parm because my favorite manicotti was not on the menu that night. The chicken parm was oitstanding. We also ordered chicken Marsala and that is where the issue was. It was tough, I mean really really tough. Overcooked. The potato leak soup, no flavor. The service was excellent. Our waiter was outstanding very attentive. I'm just not sure if this was an off night (I hope) or things have changed in who is cooking. I did not see the big guy Joe who is always a gentleman. Anyway, I wish that I could leave five stars but we spent $114 for what I posted her and two glasses of soda and the food just was not there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Joseph S.
I finally went to Spanos. The NJ Chix Parm facebook page is like a cult of Spanos. First the reservation system is horrible. You call and leave a message and then they have to call back to confirm. This took multiple messages before it worked. We had to get an 8:30pm for 6 people reservation on a Sat Night 2 months in advance. When we arrived place was packed and was about 15 mins behind. Meal started off great with pizza bread and eggplant balls - which are complementary to all and were great. However, was not a fan of the vinaigrette type Ceasar salad. Got the world-famous Chicken Parm. It was decent. But nothing special. Cutlets were juicy, but very little cheese. So little, it was translucent. The pastas are supposedly all home made. However, my side pasta was DRY and had hard clumps in it. Must sit under heat lamp. Everyone else had a pasta dish, not one person liked their pasta dish. We also ordered 3 desserts to share. Nutella bread pudding, Canoli and cheesecake - all homemade. Weird Canoli - filling was savory, like a ravioli, not sweet at all. Bread pudding was horrible. Cheesecake was dense and hard - reminds me of Juniors Cheesecake - maybe some like it, but I have never met anyone who likes Junior Cheesecake when they eat it. It is that thing that everyone is excited to have and then makes a face and stops eating. However- the portions are humongous. Personally - I think that is the attraction. I ate dinner and got 2 big lunches out of my meal. Wont return, I value quality over quantity.
Sal Circelli
Great food and service. Felt very welcomed and was not rushed out with a table of 10. Looking forward to going back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tristan Pashalian
Hands down the best Italian food with even better service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Fiesta, Seafood Fra Diavolo, Stuffed Flounder
Excellent rood and service. Portions are large and it's BYOB. Reservations a must and you should plan a week in advance
Words can't describe how good this place is. I drive 1.5 hours just to eat here. I've been to hundreds of restaurants, and Spanos is the only one I have ever been to that consistently provides the best hospitality. Chef Joe Spanos greets every table with a warm smile and some house appetizers. The food is out of this world... can't wait to come back again this summer!
Delicious food and service was excellent The Atmosphere is old style Italian decor. The eggplant meatballs on the table was surprisingly delicious. The serving size is alot brought home left overs, that was better the next Day. The shrimp parm was very good. the apps where also large sizes feed 6 people no issues
Hands down one of the BEST Italian Restaurants in all of New Jersey. The food is magnificent and there's a lot of it. The wait staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. I've brought my entire family here from New York and they raved about the food and ambience. Hard to get in, but well worth the wait.
Best chicken parm ever! Potato croquettes were great too! Will be back soon. Happy birthday to Joe too.
Always excellent food and service. Veal was excellent and chicken was excellent. Will definitely return.
Been a long time customer of Spanos. Due to a family loss, it's been about a year since we were last in. We came in last Wednesday March 27 for a 430 reservation. I hate to write a review of disappointment, but the food was jiat not on par. We ordered clams casino and they use to be my favorite. The class were burnt and no taste. We ordered zucchini flowers and in all fairness that was pur first time having them, sp perhaps it's just us and we didn't care for them. For dinner we ordered chicken parm because my favorite manicotti was not on the menu that night. The chicken parm was oitstanding. We also ordered chicken Marsala and that is where the issue was. It was tough, I mean really really tough. Overcooked. The potato leak soup, no flavor. The service was excellent. Our waiter was outstanding very attentive. I'm just not sure if this was an off night (I hope) or things have changed in who is cooking. I did not see the big guy Joe who is always a gentleman. Anyway, I wish that I could leave five stars but we spent $114 for what I posted her and two glasses of soda and the food just was not there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
I finally went to Spanos. The NJ Chix Parm facebook page is like a cult of Spanos. First the reservation system is horrible. You call and leave a message and then they have to call back to confirm. This took multiple messages before it worked. We had to get an 8:30pm for 6 people reservation on a Sat Night 2 months in advance. When we arrived place was packed and was about 15 mins behind. Meal started off great with pizza bread and eggplant balls - which are complementary to all and were great. However, was not a fan of the vinaigrette type Ceasar salad. Got the world-famous Chicken Parm. It was decent. But nothing special. Cutlets were juicy, but very little cheese. So little, it was translucent. The pastas are supposedly all home made. However, my side pasta was DRY and had hard clumps in it. Must sit under heat lamp. Everyone else had a pasta dish, not one person liked their pasta dish. We also ordered 3 desserts to share. Nutella bread pudding, Canoli and cheesecake - all homemade. Weird Canoli - filling was savory, like a ravioli, not sweet at all. Bread pudding was horrible. Cheesecake was dense and hard - reminds me of Juniors Cheesecake - maybe some like it, but I have never met anyone who likes Junior Cheesecake when they eat it. It is that thing that everyone is excited to have and then makes a face and stops eating. However- the portions are humongous. Personally - I think that is the attraction. I ate dinner and got 2 big lunches out of my meal. Wont return, I value quality over quantity.
Great food and service. Felt very welcomed and was not rushed out with a table of 10. Looking forward to going back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hands down the best Italian food with even better service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Fiesta, Seafood Fra Diavolo, Stuffed Flounder
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was cooked perfectly and everything was very delicious.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sunday Gravy
You will fall in love with this
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
been coming here for years. always the best!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Caesar Salad, Seafood Fiesta, Chicken Francaise
Great food large portions great service awesome atmosphere. Have too if down the shore
Had an amazing first experience here and I can not wait to go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Caesar Salad, Fried Calamari