Ebby's Ristorante and Lounge — Restaurant in Berkeley Township

I made a reservation at Ebby’s on 7/27/24 for 8/17/24. When we called the week before to confirm, the reservation was lost. The owner, Tina, offered family style dining instead. The highest priced appetizer and dinner we chose was $42 combined. Tina told us it would be $65 per person (not including alcohol, tax and tip). The extra $23 per person was to cover soda and coffee. We said “no thank you” and we’d rather order from the menu

We had a 6:30 reservation. Our group started arriving around 6, but we were told we could not be sat until our entire party arrived. By 6:45, our table was broken down and others were sat. Parking is also abysmal- there is no parking specifically for Ebby’s and very little street parking. Tina was claiming it was past 7pm at this point, we showed her on our watches and phones that the time was actually 6:46pm. While I understand there are expectations of restaurant patrons, Tina should have mentioned this at least once in the many times we spoke. As the owner of this establishment, Tina should also be aware of the parking situation.

She then insinuated that the wait would not be long and she would make it up to us with drinks… this was not the case. She wanted us to buy overpriced, watered down drinks at the bar outside. The purple haze “specialty” drink was undrinkable to several of us. The cosmo I had was more or less cranberry juice in a martini glass.

I also observed several other reservations waiting, while friends of the owners got right into the restaurant without a problem.

Two hours later, my family and I had waited long enough. My brother asked Tina for our cake and he was ignored. My second brother asked for the cake 15 minutes later. Finally, Tina came outside screaming at me about how ridiculous I was being for wanting to leave. I understand that loosing a party of 20 is a monetary loss to her business, the way she handled this situation and her behavior were completely unacceptable.

Not only that, my brother witnessed her talking badly about us for leaving. She felt that it was okay to speak to other customers this way because “it’s a free country”. It is a free country. This is why after waiting for two hours and multiple family members being insulted by Tina, it was time to go. Why would I ask my family to stay and give this restaurant business when they treated us so poorly? The fact that Tina couldn’t seem to grasp the problem with her behavior was astounding.

The entire experience was horrible… lost reservation, refusing to seat us, the wait time and the rudeness throughout it all As someone who waitressed and bartended for 10 years, I have never witnessed such unprofessional, nasty behavior. Ebby’s clearly does not understand how the restaurant business is run. The next day, I read the reviews- it is very clear that Tina’s behavior is the norm and this establishment is consistently run in this way.

To be fair, she did offer us a $100 gift card. I believe this was offered to us because she didn’t want the negative reviews our party of 20 promised. Save your money and your sanity and go to any other restaurant on the island.

Lastly, I want to give a shout to Lenny’s in Lavallette for saving the day. We called them as they were closing, but explained our Ebby’s nightmare and they made us food. That is stellar customer service. Tina and the whole Ebby’s team could learn a lot...

I have never been treated so poorly at a restaurant before. The owner is rude and disrespectful. Do not go here. There are many restaurants that deserve business. However, this is not one. I wouldn't spend a penny at here after the way that I was treated by the owner.

My party had a reservation, and when we arrived, we were told how to find our table. After going to the table, we saw that there were people seated, we were then told that a mistake was made, and others were seated for our reservation and they were working to find a new table. Mistakes are made, which is understandable in the world, but you should own your mistakes and offer apologies. However, the opposite happened in this case. After being told of the error, I asked if our party could be offered a drink for our inconvenience while we wait. The owner then told me that there was no mistake that had been made and took back what she had originally stated. She then started to speak to me in a manner that I have never been spoken to in a service industry before. She proceeded to berate me for asking for something for free, stating I only want free things. I was appalled. My party then proceeded to spend $150 on 8 cocktails at the bar, waiting to be seated for over an hour. Once my party was given a table, I stood by the table, waiting for the rest of my party to come from inside. The owner walked up to me yelling are you going to sit down or not? I replied yes I’m just waiting for the others. She then sent someone to tell me that I was not welcome there and I had to leave. I would have left immediately at the beginning of this saga, but didn’t want the rest of my party to be effected.

What a terrible way to be treated at an establishment. Instead of offering apologies for the mistake that was made I was treated in a very disrespectful manner. Do not spend your money here. There are many restaurants with good ownership and good people, I’ve never felt this way before, but I hope that this restaurant goes out...

Anyone who doesn’t give EBBY’S five stars is off their rocker! Allow me to explain...I have eaten here twice. The first time was a month ago, and then I returned this week. The first visit was with my Italian buddy, he suggested we go here. I was blown away. I am full Italian and I have owned restaurants before...and I can honestly say this is the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to, anywhere! Every single aspect of my experience was as good as it gets. The host at the door got us a great table even though we didn’t have a reservation, and he did it so graciously. Our waitress was friendly, patient, and helpful. Each and every dish was scrumptious! The live music was so good I thought it was recorded. I liked it all so much that this week I brought my surrogate parents to celebrate his 90th birthday. We all loved it (I enjoyed this visit even more than my first, which I thought would not be possible). We had the fried calamari appetizer...and it was far and away the best I’ve ever had. Then we all got salads, which were delish. Then we got shrimp Parm, eggplant Parm, and pappardelle pasta with shrimp and spinach in a light cream sauce. Omg! Every single bite of them all was off the charts good! The birthday boy kept saying he was stuffed but needed just one more bite, and then another, and another! It was that good! Of course the hot Italian bread and the live music were terrific...and Erin was a great server. Thank you to everyone... I know how rare it is for every single person in the restaurant to be at the top of their game (even the great busboys) and treat us so nicely. It is such a comfortable place that we feel like we were at home. Thank you from the bottom of my heart...I respect you...