Emma G.
Yelp
My reasoning for coming here and ordering what I did was super random and unlikely to be repeated - one of my chums gave birth a few days ago to a baby that my other friend and I have been affectionally calling a meatball for several months. As a noble gesture, we each decided to separately get something for lunch this past Saturday that was meatball-related. I happened to be passing through Flemington on my way home and figured an Italian place was a decent option to locate said meatballs. So I pulled off Route 31 and wandered in, noting the reserved parking spots right by the entrance for wounded veterans. Nice touch.
This is honestly not my kind of place. I'm pretty snobby when it comes to Italian and pizza more specifically - if a pizza place is selling more than just pizza, that's often a red flag for me. I was a little surprised based on the exterior at how casual Angelo's was; I expected a more formal restaurant, possibly with tablecloths, but it's a blue collar by the slice Italian place with a lot of predictable menu items like subs, mainstream pasta dishes, calzones, etc. Not a negative, just not what I was expecting. I grew up in Hunterdon County, so overall I'd say this was pretty par for the course.
True to the meatball methodology, I decided to go with a meatball sub (I think around $12 or $13). It was okay. SUPER filling, and reminded me why it's so rare that I get subs. I have portion control issues and never remember to just eat half of one (absolutely my issue and no one else's). The bread was the selling point - it was just the right amount of crispness, despite having to deal with potential sogginess on the part of the tomato sauce within its confines. Very pleasant, and made me consider the possibility of sampling the wood-fired pizzas if I'm ever back here again. The meatballs were also pretty good - not THAT flavorful but juicy/tender and a decent size. I was not crazy about the cheese, though this could be at least partially a personal palate preference. You can see in the attached picture that it's very thick and rubbery, and in parts was a little congealed. It's the most obvious area to upgrade, but overall the sub did the job. As an aside, Milano's in Jersey City has the best fresh mozzy for subs I've ever had. Maybe the owners of Angelo's can go on a recon mission there. I also decided to get a cannoli to round out the adventure (I think about $5). Very tasty, and exactly the right portion for someone who accidentally ate an entire sub. The dough was a little too thin, but honestly I prefer that over it being too thick and overpowering the creamy filling.
The service was perfectly fine for the type of establishment this is. When I came in, the waitress was on her cell phone at the counter, but immediately got up and directed me to the seating area. I don't recall waiting a significant amount of time for anything, so above average all the way around. This was also a pretty good price point for the area. Even taking into account that basically every item on Earth is about $3 more expensive than it was last year, I had a huge lunch and dessert that required nothing more than a $20, which included tip. You could do worse.
I'm probably not going to have a reason to actively seek out meatballs again any time soon, but this adventure could have been a lot worse.