Talula's — Restaurant in Asbury Park

I was really excited to show my partner Talula's because it's top of everyone's recommendation. The pizza / entrees / drinks were really good.

But there were a couple aspects of our visit that soured the experience and it feels necessary to mention. Not in a way that I would say don't go here - it's definitely a must try! Especially for pizza. But I would be wary on the desserts, and be aware not all the drinks on the website are available all day.

This was on Friday Aug 16. We wanted to make a reservation but saw the only thing available online was 2-3 or 9 reservations. I should ve called the restaurant to see if we could have come later, that's on me, but the 2:45 time slot meant there was "no bartender" to make drinks that are on their breakfast or dinner menu. There was a selection of lunch drinks and my partner got one she did want to try, but had planned to try another that seemingly wasn't made clear on the website it wouldn't be there? Again, that could totally be our mishap.

They were out of a couple items which is no problem, what we ordered was fantastic. However, they clearly had ran out of the custard for the "Best Damn Pie Ever" and instead of telling us, they gave us the bottom layer of the pie with a bunch of whipped cream on top.

Sorry to say it did not go unnoticed that the main part of the pie, the custard, was missing. The bottom of the pie is a very rich bitter dark chocolate chunk. Which would’ve been fine as a pie bottom, but as a pie onto itself? No ma'am.

My partner and I went back and forth like - visually the mountain of whipped cream made it look like maybe it could be the pie in the photo, but upon tasting it we knew it surely was not. But we had gone too far eating it to return it and felt awkward about mentioning it.

On top of that (no pun intended) we thought if they had said they were out or had even asked it we wanted just the pie bottom as an alternative, that would've been more appropriate.

But to just serve this as some kind of sly jest, neigh neigh sir. We know our custards from our creams.

I worked in the restaurant industry for years, I never ever want to speak ill of staff. Our waitress was so attentive and wonderful. But someone in the kitchen fluked on this one, and it did make our experience a bit of a bummer.

Please don't serve the bitter chocolate bottom as a pie with a pile of whip cream on...

Not only one of the best Pizza places on the planet, but one of the best restaurants I've ever been to.

Talula's is a place you can take a someone out on a date to, celebrate an occasion with family or friends, or even just come alone to enjoy stellar food and drinks at the bar, while making friends with a delightful staff. It's impossible for me to describe in accurate words how incredible the food is here, but I'll go ahead and try.

Talula's is unique in their ability to rapidly iterate, experiment and surprise with their pizza and dish offerings. You could come in during the summer and by September there's new items on the menu that will have your jaw hitting the table. Good luck trying to decide on one item at a time. I'd say they're closer to exceptionally prized pizza scientists than chefs working there.

While they do classic recipes like a Margherita type pie, their extraordinary endeavors is what you want to try. For a few months they had a pie, who's sauce was made from ground mustard seeds. I thought I knew what love was before eating here. (Note to Talula's - please bring back le colonial mustard!). The crust will literally crunch and then melt in your mouth. I suggest getting the 'bread and butter' starter and saving the honey, come pizza time, for crust-dipping pleasure. I've probably had, without exaggerating, over 100 pies during my 3 years living in town and I've never once had something that didn't leave me affixed with a glutinous smile.

It's worth noting as well that the cocktails here are fantastic as well. My suggestion is the Gin and jam, which will knock your socks off (and I typically go for Gin). Come winter you want to grab yourself a hot tottie. Their crew beer selection is always rotating, and it's never failed to have something for any taste.

Vegan? Vegetarian? Keto? Moody? Just plain picky? They'll have something for you and most likely will sub something on a pie or dish for you. The staff is always remarkably friendly. So much so that I've actually become friends with a few members. I always feel notably welcome when I come in, which typically places me in an immediately amazing mood.

Hands down my favorite restaurant, and while I've moved out of Asbury, I will absolutely make it a stop on my list anytime I'm...

I’ll start by saying Talula’s food is very good. Unfortunately a restaurant is more than it’s food and that is where Talula’s fails. My wife and I have been to Talula’s several times and each time there is some sort of, let’s call it a hiccup, but this time 8/17/22 it was more than that and I will have a hard time returning to this establishment because of it. As my wife and I were being seated by the hostess outside, another patron rushed up behind us from inside the restaurant and claimed that the table we were being seated at was for her. The hostess had no idea what the woman was saying and questioned her as my wife and I were standing by our table. The woman proceeded to explain that she made reservations for the outside tables but upon arrival cancelled her request for outside and took a table inside instead but now she wants to be outside. (This is an issue right from the beginning because Talula’s does not take reservations for outside as per their posted reservation rules.) The woman was unrelenting and the hostess decided that she was going to give our table to the woman and told us we would have to wait for another table or go to the bar stool seating area. I did not want to cause a scene and agreed to the bar seating area, big mistake, because my wife had her heart set on the Just Peachy Pizza (very good). The window bar seating area is extremely noisy, behind the hostess and wait staff silverware station, and has a constant flow of traffic, it was not comfortable and not a good experience to say the least. On top of that the window seating looked out to our initial outside table now occupied by the rude woman that did not order anything for 30 minutes because she was waiting for her date to arrive. My wife and I watched as another waitress explained to her that she had to order something, so the woman looked to have ordered a drink still waiting for her date to arrive (Whom did not arrive until my wife and I were already being served our food). This was not acceptable and should’ve never happened, but the hostess allowed it to. As I stated before, this wasn’t the first time we had an issue with personal at Talula’s, but it certainly was the worst. Retrain the staff so we...