Clarizios Italian Ristorante — Restaurant in Freehold Township

Tl;Dr: make reservations to eat at this BYOB restaurant. Delicious food, genuine Italian options, and lovely ambiance.

My boyfriend and I made reservations for a table for two (yes, even this should get a reservation!). We waited some to be seated, so just be patient and make sure you are expecting that you may have to wait a while to be seated, since it's a small business and they are always completely packed up with people and reservations and they can't always control how long people are seated at the table you're supposed to get. Be warned, and be nice!

We had a variety of different things. Filet mignon toast, sweet and spicy calamari, and a stuffed portobello appetizer. For dinner, he had chicken and I had a pork special. I can't say enough nice things about the food. The taste, temperature, and truly Italian flavor profiles are absolutely worth waiting and paying for. This isn't a restaurant that calls itself Italian and serves watered down recipes just reminiscent of Italy, this is a restaurant that actually works very hard to stay very true to the flavors you'd expect when visiting a truly Italian menu. They should be proud of themselves, it's a rare quality to find in a restaurant.

The chef clearly knows what they're doing, so I recommend being adventurous and trying a special. The pork I had was something the chef created, and I was amazed at their intuitive ability to understand what flavors go well together when creating a new menu item.

When they say spicy, it's medium spicy, so be prepared if that's what you're ordering! We enjoy spicy and had no issues.

Try the ricotta cheesecake for dessert, but you may have to fight your date for the last bite! The service was great and this restaurant has appropriate ambiance for date night, family night, birthdays, friends having wine, or whatever you want. We will be back much sooner than we expected and will recommend this place to our friends. We have found our new favorite. It's so nice to see a business that really knows what...

We went here for a late dinner Friday night in hopes we'd found a new great little Italian place, due to all the positive reviews. We got the clams oreganato to start. They were loaded with breadcrumbs and basically tasteless, needed salt and lemon to pass. Next we had a Caesar salad. The lettuce was crisp and the dressing was fairly good, but seeing that they said it was homemade, there was a very strong lemon taste and not enough anchovy as a Caesar dressing should have. Lastly my husband ordered the bolognese which he said was passable but not great. I ordered the veal saltimbocca which is usually made with a nice sauce veal, sage, prosciutto and mozzarella. This was a nice flavored veal and was cooked well, but there was no sage flavor only spinach on the bottom swimming in a sauce I can only describe as a jarred Heinz flavored gravy. I give this place two stars because the food was edible, the service was good, although someone needs to watch the table before bringing out the soup course it came just shortly after the starter so we couldn't finish the starter, poor timing. The waiter was distracted and only checked on our table once. Nobody asked us if it was our first time there, which it was. We most likely won't be back for mediocre food. Don't waste...

1st time visiting Clarizio’s last night to celebrate my husbands 50th birthday and it definitely will not be our last. This place came highly recommended and we see why. The service was on point! From the girl who greeted us and brought us to our seats to our waiter John. They were warm, friendly and attentive but not overbearing. Excellent service from top to bottom! The atmosphere/lighting was perfect for a romantic dinner. It’s so rare these days to find a restaurant that doesn’t pack in tables for 2 shoulder to shoulder. We SO appreciated that! The food honestly exceeded our expectations as well. My husband is Italian and loves his Sunday gravy and was shocked at how delicious the sauce, meatballs and braciole were! I ordered the spicy burrata pasta and it was the best I’ve had! The Calabrian chile really sets it apart from others. We also had the calamari, rice balls and Caesar salad to start. Everything was DELICIOUS!!!!! And thank you for pacing the meal to perfection. At no point did we feel rushed. It was an outstanding experience and we already can’t wait to go back! Also the ricotta cheesecake was fresh and delicious! Can’t beat a BYOB Italian restaurant that checks all the boxes! This place does!!! Thank you for a wonderful bday dinner...