Spring Lake Gourmet Pizzeria & Restaurant

Three stars for good pizza and lunch sandwiches. Minus 2 for the horrible service. 20% tip was in my hands and I felt it was too much for the waitress. So I was going to deduct based on her conduct and I said one minute as I was looking at the bill and was pulling my cash together. She literally grabbed the money out of my hands and walked away. No asking if I wanted change. No «thank you». I watched her throw the plate on my table. I watched her kick the door open to serve customers outside. I watched others upset at her behavior. I will not return for table service ever again. Ruined our day with such rudeness. When we sat down she asked what we wanted. And I said is there a menu? And she threw it on our table. That should have been my first signal to leave. I just never expected anything like this and now I wish I had seen the other Unilocal reviews. I just don’t understand how the restaurant can run watching her treat customers like this. Especially on a quiet afternoon. Wasn’t even busy.

Pizza is decent, being from New York it’s hard to beat. But the quality of the food is not bad. The service on the other hand is way below par. You are not greeted when walking in. The young kids behind the counter do not want to be bothered with eat in customers and said «okay good» when we stated that we were taking our food to go. The waitress, an older lady who I remember being my server from when I was a child, is so rude I don’t know how anyone would tip her. Even a simple excuse me was said as if it had a bad taste in her mouth and she rolled her eyes while saying it. Aver leaving I felt as if maybe I should not give them my business when I visit the town of Spring Lake anymore, due to the sole fact that the employees do not seem to want customers in there.

As we walked in, the stench was overpowering, making me want to run out, run out fast and never come back. It smelled like mustard or horseradish that went sour. Then, a moderately rude waitress approached us and announced that no strollers are allowed. After we proceeded to get the baby out of the stroller no one has approached us more and we were forced to get our own hight chair from the corner. The chair was covered in pieces of food as well as dust. The only table available was dirty and no one seemed to bother with cleaning it. We looked at each otherand without a word headed for the exit. Fast. Steer clear. Not a kid friendly place and not very clean either

I used to love this place but now it really seems like the place is going downhill. Pizza was overpriced for what I got, it was soggy and almost chocked on the amount of cheese. Teenagers at desk seemed to be annoyed that I dare disturb them from their phones while I order pizza. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone seeing as how there are so many good places to eat in spring lake.

I used to love this place. I went today and it’s gone downhill. It seemed like I bothered the young teenage help by ordering pizza. The girl who finally helped me rubbed her nose and lips 3 times with her hand and then picked up my pizza and heated it. Then she took my money and gave me change. Then she grabbed my pizza slices from the oven. And rubbed her nose again. Disgusting. There were also 2 girls eating behind the counter and they stopped mid bite to get pizza for customers. Hello health department where are you? Is it 1980? None of these people had plastic gloves on either. I took 2 bites of the pizza (from an edge I was sure she didn’t touch) and chucked it. It wasn’t even good. No hello… no thank you… I got nothing but nose and lip germs. You have lost a customer. I’ll start praying that I don’t get sick now… carry on…

Found ourselves in the area and hungry. Didn’t want to waste time driving to find a spot so we stopped in here not knowing what to expect. Thankfully we weren’t let down. Can’t speak for anything but the pizza which was much better than I had expected. After all, I’m eating in the Irish Riviera. We had a few plain slices, some Sicilian and a Buffalo chicken. All were good. Good mix of sauce and cheese. Crust wasn’t to thick or thin and done nicely. Sauce was also good. Not too sweet or too bland. Service was friendly. Would definitely stop in again if looking for pizza in the area.

Ordered pizza delivery on two occasions. Pizza is extremely undercooked and soggy. They seem overwhelmed and in a rush to get food out the door.
Had to call them after waiting nearly an hour to check on my home delivery. Not worth it. They are batting 0 for 2 with me. Should I want pizza in Spring Lake again I will try another joint.

I went in a few days ago while I was in town for the first time, and I was happy with my basic slice of just cheese. When I ordered it I was told they were cooking a new pizza for slices and it would be a few minutes. I waited under ten minutes and was rewarded with a pretty darned good slice.
There was a lot of cheese (that’s good), a sauce that wasn’t too sweet but still added to the pizza, and a kind of fluffy crust.
Maybe I was just spoiled because in my opinion it’s hard to get good pizza on the west coast, and I hadn’t had a slice of pizza within 1000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean in a few months, but I was happy with going for that slice.

My 16 year old and his friends ordered a pie to go. After waiting there for over an hour, they asked to talk to someone besides the cashier. The cashier then relayed to an older guy that they had been waiting over an hour and his cold response was, «so is everyone else». This is the 2^nd time we’ve sent our kids there without an adult and both times they’ve been treated rudely. Do yourself a favor and drive to Belmar for better pizza and much better service.

This. Is. Pizza.
I haven’t had anything else but the cheese pizza and it’s exactly how I like it. I don’t know what they put in their sauce… But it’s so good.

Ordered delivery last week and was told it would be here in 40 minutes. After 65 minutes I called and they told me the driver couldn’t find the address and was back at the shop. Nobody ever called us. They dispatched the driver who arrived 20 minutes later telling us that the girl gave him the wrong address. Which was a lie because the ticket attached to the box had the correct address.
I will not order from them again. Cold food and no apology. Good riddance.

Grabbed a couple slices as a quick lunch with the lady. Tasty enough for what we were looking for. While we waited, there was a lady in a booth by the tv who kept staring at my wife and I. I could not tell if she worked there or owned the place, it was just a little weird. If you’re gonna stare, just say hi!

We ate here out of default since every other place along 3^rd Ave., for some inexplicable reason, was closed during peak summer vacation time on a Tuesday night in August. Of course the place was busy as a result, even at 5 PM. There was one table available and the wait staff was harried beyond reason and apparently could not be bothered with extending any courtesies. The pizza wasn’t bad but it was served a good ten minutes before the salads everyone in my party ordered to accompany the pizza, not as a second course. Then we had to ask for the check.
I should have taken that as a clue not to go back but the next night my son wanted a «quick bite» after returning from the city. The «quick bite», which was placed as a take-​out order at the counter, turned into a 40 minute wait. By the third inquiry about the order we saw it had been placed on the back holding wall for who-​knows how long. While waiting, we witnessed an older couple sitting outdoors for an disproportionately lengthy time before anyone on staff paid any attention to them. When a waitress finally approached them she offered her services not by apologizing for the wait, not by cheerfully inquiring what they’d like but by standing there with pad in hand, mutely, until the couple stated their orders. This is service?
Poorly staffed, poorly served, poor attitudes over all. This place sorely needs some competition to whip them back into providing decent customer service to bring their quality back up to standards their food, which isn’t bad, deserves.

Been coming here for years and recently it has gotten worse and worse. We were seated at a cramped table by a waitress who was too busy to even ask for drink orders. This was not her fault though the restaurant was clearly under staffed. So after 10 minutes we orders three waters. These waters took 20 minutes to get to the table. Then we waited 40 minutes for two salads and one pasta. When it came out my salad was missing chicken so we waited another 15 minutes for that. All in all the food was not good and the service was under staffed. This place needs serious revamping. It use to be our favorite place to eat after the beach. Hopefully they get things more organized soon.

The food was simply not good and the waitress woman has got to be the rudest employee i have ever met.
We waited 20 minutes for two plain slices, and 40 minutes– YES, 40 minutes!!- for a small fries. When we asked about the french fries, it went down like this–
*spots blonde, middle aged waitress*
«Excuse me ma’am, I ordered french fries almost 40 minutes ago, and I’ve been standing here waiting for them. Do you know if they’ll be out soon?»
«I don’t know.»
Waitress, who I’ve dubbed The Rudest Person I’ve Ever Met, or TRPIEM proceeds to walk into the kitchen and check her phone. We can see her do this.
I call out to her, «It would be nice to know, since I spent almost 5 dollars on them!»
She approaches me. «Did you order at the counter?»
«Yes.»
“Then ask the girl at the counter. It isn’t my job to find out where your french fries are.“
At this point, I get angry. First of all, IT IS HER JOB. I storm off towards the counter, arms crossed, angry speaking to my friends about the rudeness of the waitress. Eventually, a very kind delivery man (he was wearing a shirt with 3 wolves on it) put our order in and gave it to us promptly. Upon getting home and eating them, we could clearly tell they were microwaved.
This isn’t even the worst part! Earlier, the TRPIEM was SHUSHING small children, and loudly complaining about how loud they were. What we heard included «Why do these gosh darn (the words werent that kind) kids have to be so LOUD» as well as her walking up to a table with several toddlers and their kind parents and saying, NO JOKE, directly to the kids, «Why are you so loud? Theres nothing to be loud about! Calm down!»
Earlier, when we first arrived at the fiasco of a pizza joint, we asked for a small coke and a cup of water. We got the coke, no water. Later, about 25 minutes in to the whole event, we asked TRPIEM for a cup of water, and she scoffed at us, laughed, and said «no». ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is your job.
I made sure that before I left, I said very loudly in her direction, «Because of the terrible waitress, I will not be returning here ever again.» This was the worst restaurant experience I’ve ever had. I am truly disgusted.

Below average food and atrocious service!
The Garlic Knots were bread in a pile of olive oil and minced garlic, the Fried Calamari was badly in need of salt, and the White Pizza was covered with under-​ripe hot house tomatoes. .but the real surprise was the service.
The staff’s children were hanging out in the dining room, taking up the largest table, shouting loudly, shaking the booth, and throwing objects. The waitress was unobservant and didn’t notice our empty glasses. At one point, I watched her go from tying her son’s shoe, to eating chunks of watermelon with her fingers, to serving a slice of pizza to a table.
I also watched a member of the kitchen staff blow her nose into a paper towel and continue preparing food.
Needless to say, we will not be back.

Had a panini Forrrrevvverrrrr waiting.
The pizzas ok.
Great location love eating on the sidewalk!!!

There pizza is just okay. Nothing special. Just the «darn, I forgot to eat dinner and am going out drinking for 5 hours and need to put something in my stomach or I’ll die» pizza. The reason I gave them 3 stars was because the have amazing Chicken Parm Stromboli. Seriously, amazing. Everything else is just, eh.

Nice lite crust

I am from NJ. I am a «Jersey Guy». Not in the sense that I put ridiculous amounts of hairspray in my hair, artificially tan, and start fights a lot and every other lame stereotype, just that I fist pump on occasion and I KNOW PIZZA! So being the open minded person that I am, I constantly search to discover the best pizza joints in the Garden State. Based on a reputable source’s recommendation, I came here bright eyed and bushy taled… and left practically offended!
The pizza in bland.
The crust tastes like white bread crust, not offensive just tasteless and dry. Only fellow obnoxious pizza aficionados will appreciate the need of sugar in the dough, and I didn’t taste any in Spring Lake Pizzeria’s pie.
The sauce reminds me of Chef-​Boy-​Ar-​Dee. Some people naturally like Boy-Ar-Dee’s tomato sauce, but it’s the kind of flavor that just makes the edges of my tongue curl in protest to that flavor. It also gives me heartburn.
Finally the cheese… it was edible but nothing to write home about or on Unilocal for that matter.
All of this coupled with the lack of spices in the entire pie, I’m angry. Why? Not that I haven’t had bad pizzas before, I’ve had plenty. But the fact that this was voted the Best Jersey Shore Pizza by readers of the Star-​Ledger (New Jersey’s premier newspaper) I find depressing. As a state, I expect higher standards from my fellow Jerseyans. Oh well, I’ll just blame the out-​of-​state transplants for the poll just to cope.