Craig Rudzenski
Google
We've been on a pizza kick lately, where we'll drive a few hours to try new places (We split our time between South Jersey and Bucks County PA). We've been to Frederici's in Freehold, Pete & Eldas, Star Tavern in Orange NJ, The Cabin (don't know where that was), Riccardo's Pizza in Browns Mills NJ that I can remember off the top of our head. On our last visit to Pete & Eldas, a bunch of folks told us that we had to try Vic's in Bradley Beach as it's so close to where we were.
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So today we did. We parked in the lot, walked in and boy oh boy, did this joint remind me of Mom Mom Gallo's Basement. All it needed was an Elvis lamp and with that dark wood decor, you'd have thought we were all hanging out....I think if she was still with us, she'd have enjoyed the food here.
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We ordered Garlic Bread, a side of Meatballs and a side of Sausage (2pcs each order), a Large Plain Pie and a 10" size (smallest they had) of the "Special" which was sausage and green peppers. I added onions for .80 topping, so it was more like a sausage, pepper and onion sandwich.
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Lets start with how PHENOMENAL we thought the Garlic Bread was. So good. It was cut in "medallions" and we loved it so much. We thought it'd be nice to have a cup of gravy (what Betty Gallo would've called it....to us it's sauce) to dip it in. However the sausage and meatballs came out with a healthy amount of sauce to dip!
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The meatballs were fantastic. Hand made, delicious tasting....So good. The sausage was just as good. You could taste the fennel (my favorite) and it was juicy.....I liked the sausage better, she loved the meatballs. Both were great.
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This pizza is SUPER THIN. I think it was as thin, of not thinner than Riccardo's Thinnie Minnie. We think the other places we've mentioned....while they are are in the "Super Thin" categories, we thought this was thinner.
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It came out and the plain pie was a little greasy. Like, ok, maybe more than a little....I don't mind, the girlfriend kinda did. I just assumed they used a high quality, whole milk mozzarella cheese, but who knows. If I notice it (but don't care), it's a greasy pie. Wasn't very crispy, She wasn't a fan, I was indifferent. EVERYTHING else made up for it.
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The "Special" was great. The peppers were sliced super thin as were the onions....The sausage was still awesome. I liked it....I liked both pies.
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Would we drive the hour-ish ride for this PIZZA again? No....HOWEVER, we will absolutely be back to try the italian specialties (she's a Chicken Parm nut and is already looking forward to the meatballs and Garlic Bread again). Me? I'll get the pizza, I didn't hate it. But it's not on my top of spots we've tried already.....but it was really a great lunch, we're so happy we tried it!
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Gave them overall a 5 Star Rating, If we didn't get pizza, food would be 5 stars, but we had to go 4 stars on the pizza (greasy, no crisp....but still edible and enjoyable). Service... the girlfriend was adamant on giving a 3 star rating, and I kind of agree. Waitress (older lady....so I get it), took our drink order, came back took our food order, came back with an empty box and the bill. (box was too small for the pizza, but we didn't want to bother her. to get a bigger one. Once she saw us struggling to fit the left over pizza in the box (half the large pie, 3/4th of the "Special" pie), she yelled from the other side of the restaurant "DO YOU WANT A BIGGER BOX?" By that time, we already desecrated the box and didn't want to waste another one. The girlfriend gives her that rating because she never asked if everything was ok, never asked if we'd like another soda refill or anything...So yeah, that was kinda Waitress 101, check in at least ONCE to the table....but she wasn't like nasty, just I dunno....
