East Bay Italian Grill

We have been struggling to find a good Italian spot in the area and lucky for us we found it! East Bay hits a lot of our checkboxes. There is plenty of parking, ambiance is warm and welcoming - I really liked how the tables are not right on top of each other. Plenty of space inside to be comfortable. The menu has a great variety of options. We had the French onion soup, thin crust pizza and penne vodka with chicken cutlet. Soup was tasty, pizza was better than some others we have had in the area and the penne vodka tasted like Calandras which is in northern NJ (where the Italian food is top notch) so a big win for us. We can't wait to go back and try some more dishes. Food was also super hot. Service was quick and friendly. They have live music on Fridays and Saturdays. And the cherry on top is that it is a BYOB...y'all know that's my fav!

Go check it out!

East Bay Italian Grill is a GREAT Italian restaurant. Every selection my family has ordered here was top notch. The service has always been tremendous. The ambiance is fantastic.
Just try the Scarpariello Wings (thank You Jill). The Pizza is GREAT. The meatballs 1st rate. Even the Famous Sliced Filet Mignon is outstanding.
I know you cant please everybody. But for anyone who has had a bad experience and written about it here talk to the owner first before destroying them on Yelp. Matt is a GREAT guy, who truly and sincerely wants you to be happy. He has spent his life making people happy and satisfied. Please give them another try. For me, its very important to have a go-to Italian, Asian and a Bakery. East Bay is my absolute Go-To for Italian food.

This place is too big for its britches. You stop in when they open and there is not a person in the restaurant. We get: "You don't have a reservation. come back at 730."
Really??? so the place is empty. "Yes but we have reservations starting at 6:30"

ok that's an hour away. we are two people . we will be out by then.
sorry - such a bad attitude by the hostess and so absolutely absurd that they would turn away business. We left. we drove by at 645 - there were still empty tables.
Great way to drive away customers, lose business and get a bad rep. I will never ever step foot in side or order from them again. Plus, we had been there before. the food is plentiful but not really great at all.

I stopped by here last night for dinner. We were staying in Barnegat for the week and so I looked up some places to eat on Yelp. The East Bay Italian Grille happened to be close to where we were staying and so we decided to go with that. There were a couple of different options to order online: slice, DoorDash and grub hub and I chose slice. After placing our order it told us it would be ready in 45-60 minutes. I ended up arriving to the restaurant at just after 45 minutes and my food was ready. The area where I picked up my food looked very much like a classic pizzeria. It had checkered table cloths as well as some premade pizzas on display.

For dinner on this evening I decided to go with the eggplant parmesan while my wife went with the Gnocchi Sorrento and added grilled chicken. Then both my in laws went with the Linguini with White Clam Sauce. All of our meals came with salads or soup (minestrone) and I chose the salad to start off. It came topped with some tomatoes, onions and croutons and is what I would expect from a tossed salad at a restaurant. There wasn't anything special about it nor was their anything bad. After that I dug into my eggplant parmesan. It came by itself and might be the first parm I have ever had without at least a side of pasta. Still I didn't leave the table hungry as it could have easily been called an eggplant stack and felt as thick as some lasagnas. It had multiple layers of fried eggplant interspersed with cheese, so how could it not be good? What was nice was that the sauce was really tasty too which I wasn't expecting.

The bottom line for me is that I would head back here again in the future. Everyone's food here was good and no one left the table hungry.

Friendly neighborhood Italian restaurant in Barnegat. Solid food, extremely friendly staff and entertainment Friday and Saturday nights with singers who serenade you while you are eating.

I arrived home from the Bahamas and order a chicken parmigiana panini and a meatball parmigiana panini. Both panini's SUCKED. The bread wasn't panini bread it was terrible Italian bread. Besides the bread, the chicken parmigiana didn't taste good. There was very little mozzarella on the chicken parmigiana. This place has really gone downhill.

Sunday night full house, had reservations and only waited a few min past our time. Server Reannah came promptly & was very attentive during the entire meal. Ordered a pitcher of red sangria ( full size water pitcher)which we heard was delicious and it was.!! 2 apps , Burrata & Arancini, the arancini were ice cold in middle, advised server of issue, she apologized and had us a fresh hot order before we finished the other app, no.big deal, they were delish. An order of Gnocchi Sorrento with a sauce change was no problem, good dish.. Rigatoni Pizzaiola was amazing.. had to be a 1/2 lb. of steak tips in there..sauce & seasonings were perfect. Go hungry or plan on taking home leftovers. We will return. Nice little hidden gem in Barnegat

Dining there on Saturday, March 30th deserves a zero, because no matter how good the food might be, if you are greeted with a condescending hostess and her attitude gets increasingly worse throughout the night, the food & ambiance no longer matter! KINDNESS IS FREE... we were in the right, & not because we were customers! To start the Hostess gave us an attitude when we showed up & stated we had a reservation. She acted like we did not. It was made months in advance, we were celebrating a very special birthday! We were even there earlier that same day to drop off the Birthday Cake and we reminded the hostess/workers which corner table we reserved months ago for this special night, which they confimred!! WE DID NOT GET THAT TABLE! Ok, we moved on... Wine was not opened in a timely fashion, glasses did not arrive for a while, but after being promised glasses were coming, We ordered 5 appetizers. HOT appetizers (ie. Clams w/white wine, Calamari w/Marinara, Hot Antipasto platter, etc). No serving Utensils came with any of it... No Plates Either! After 20 minutes waiting for Andre, we asked the Hostess who kept walking by us for Plates AND Serving utensils! -- The hostess not only did not understand why we were asking for plates or serving utensils after 20 minutes of the apps being on our table -- but at least we finally got our wine glasses -- & Here is when a bad night turned even worse -- The Hostess bumped into the waiter (who finally appeared in front of the singers and our table was the closest to them) & the HOSTESS MADE FUN OF US! The Hostess literally talked about our table within an ear shot because, We the customers, asked for Plates AND Utensils for our 5 Appetizers! She was SO INCREDiBLY Snarky, RUDE, childish & Immature! We NEVER got the serving utensils, the waiter came over and showed us what looked like Huge plastic spoons. I even held up a Spoon (since I could not get a fork) I was saving to eat with -- I stated, give us anything Andre to serve the sauce, clam broth, anything -- The Hostess eventually threw 5 plates down in between my parents (we were 6 people by the way) & Andre looked at us upon his second return to the table like I have never had a waiter look before. Serving Spoons are easy to understand... right!?! We never received any Serviceware! Throughout the celebratory dinner, I tried to keep the peace... and at least Andre returned to the table, not many times as we went without items we wanted... and asked for repeatedly, but The Hostess NEVER came back after throwing the plates down! My family knows the owners, we wish they were there! We are locals & I did not want to write this review, but whether you are celebrating a significant Birthday or you are enjoying a simple dinner ... opening wine at a BYOB, providing wine glasses, cheese for pasta, serving utensils, plates, having water refilled & soda for the kids, receiving the table you reserved, Getting a fork to eat your meal with, being able to enjoy your food when it is hot, and how about just being kind and doing your job... These are Not big asks! DO BETTER EAST BAY GRILLE... it was an awful dining experience, with an disrespectful incompetent childlike hostess... Do, & Be better, please!

I'm done with this place, another messed-up order because the staff doesn't care enough to look at the order. Ordered a cheesesteak panini with fresh mozzarella and the sent us a cheesesteak with American cheese, and it was cold. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me...order there at your own risk

Food is not good. Cheap sauce. All four meals were unsatisfactory. Service was lovely sadly I still wouldn't go back