Caramella's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Egg Harbor Township

We found this little Italian Bistro when a person at the hotel we stayed at in Somer’s Point said the drive to Egg Harbor Township was worth it for a great Italian Hoagie at Pete’s Subs . I notice this Bistro in the same shopping center as I was returning out of the parking lot . I looked at the menu & read some of the previous reviews on here.

This little spot seems like a typical South Jersey pizza parlor which has take out Italian dishes on the menu . It does have take out as I noticed , but inside it has a little dining room that seats about 25 people max at 8 or 9 tables . It is BYOB and quite a few of the parties brought in a bottle of wine . I thought the decor inside that little area was perfect and actually set the mood that the food would be more that a standard pizza parlor / Italian dish menu .

We called ahead for reservation for 2 at 5:30 and arrived early . They were able to get us in when we arrived and within 30 minutes the tables were all full.

We ordered an appetizer of Bacon Wrapped Scallops. My wife had a chicken pastini soup. I order one of the Specials . Chicken Oscar with grilled asparagus and a side of home made spaghetti in white garlic sauce . It was delicious with 3 thinly pounded chicken breast , lots of steamed blue point crab meat , the grilled asparagus and the pasta in a delicious white garlic sauce ( I wish the scallop appetizer had been served with the sauce , but it was also good in a Thai Chili sauce ) . I’ve had Chicken Oscar a few times in my life and this was one of the best. My wife had Penne Bolognese. She normally has either marinara or pomodoro with Penne but I convinced her to try the bolognese. It also was very good with the perfect touch of creaminess .

The servers were very nice and attentive not rushing any of our servings allowing time for a good meal and conversation .

We’ll definitely make the trip again when staying in any of the nearby...

I will start this review by saying that I’ve been coming to Carmella’s way before it was actually Carmella’s. Today, I ordered my usual order, which is a pretty simple order of the same two pizzas we get almost every Friday. The lady on the phone that took the order seemed very distracted and was talking to at least two other people while she was taking my order. I ordered my pizzas at 4:30pm in hopes that after I picked my kids up from school, I could go grab the pizzas and we could go home and eat dinner. I was solo parenting and I had my 15 month old and 3 year old with me. Well, when I go to pick up my order around 5pm, they have no record of it at first with my name. Then, I ask them to look it up by phone number. They only find one of the pizzas and have to remake the other pizza on the order because it was just never made. So here I am with both my young kids waiting 25 extra minutes after I even got there for pick up. Mind you, the lady that took my order said 25 minutes until it was ready. Then, as we are waiting to fix the order THEY screwed up, they still charge me for both pizzas, and don’t even offer a dessert or anything. The lady apologized, but honestly this is the 3rd time they have messed up my order and I’m just fed up with that place. It’s not what it used to be and the staff has no idea what they are doing. I will not support this small business anymore, especially when they treat their customers like that. Time to find a new...

Ordered spaghetti and meatballs, that was ok. Also ordered the steak quesadilla (at an Italian restaurant?; should have known better), that was not ok in any way. It had shredded beef and pepperoni... guess that's an Italian version of a quesadilla. Grease from the pepperoni literally poured onto the plate with food floating in a pool of it. I soaked several napkins in orange grease, and finally couldn't eat any more of it and took the leftovers in a box for the dog. And to cap it off, I ruined my good shirt with dripped grease. 😡 I've been nauseated from the grease all afternoon... maybe pre-cook the pepperoni and drain it before putting it into the food. Holy moly. Total bill was almost $37.00, wish I'd complained but didn't. Food quality: poor to mediocre Service: waitress was polite and attentive, but food took a long time to arrive, with no one else in the restaurant. Atmosphere: really loud 80's rock and metal so not a...