Gennaro's Italian Restaurant & Tomato Pies — Restaurant in Hamilton Township

We recently went to Gennaro's for a birthday dinner. The restaurant is split into to two halves, facing two different sides of the parking lot. One side for pizza, and the other for sit-down service. The sit-down side is nicely appointed, if small. Our table was clean and well presented. The waiter took our orders no problem. I ordered the Frutteto salad as a starter, and the Penne Toscano as an entree. It wasn't until we placed our orders that we were informed that a house salad is included with the entree. Nowhere in the menu does it say this, and the waiter didn't outline that at the beginning. Anyway, the salad was fine enough. Fresh greens and nicely presented. The raspberry vinaigrette, if present, was tasteless. I was disappointed that the salad was served at room temperature. I feel that the fruit would have had more bite if it were cold. Also, room temperature Gorgonzola is a little concerning. But it ate well enough.

The entree was not as good. I will give credit to the chef for the pasta – it was perfect. It had a nice bite, not too soggy, chewed well. The sausage tasted fine, if a bit salty, but that's not unusual for cured meat. However, the rest of the dish was also too salty. And the broccoli rabe, oh my gosh, that was a crime scene. Wilted, overcooked broccoli, so saturated with liquid it resembled in both taste and texture, a wet sponge. It was inedible, and I did not finish my plate.

At desert the waiter abandoned us. We ordered three desserts, one order of caramel mascarpone cheesecake, and two slices of blueberry white chocolate cheesecake. However, we only received the order of caramel mascarpone. When we tracked down our waiter and asked where the rest of the order was, he claimed he didn't hear the rest of the order. This, despite the fact he was looking directly at me when I placed my order before he nodded his head and closed his notebook. Again, the deserts were okay. Plenty sweet, but short on flavor. The mascarpone had just the slightest hint of caramel, and the white chocolate flavor was absent from the blueberry cheesecake. The worst part was that the taste of the crust overwhelmed the subtle taste of the desert so all you could really taste was the crust.

The service was lackluster. We had a hard time tracking down our waiter when we needed something which, fortunately, wasn't often. We never got a refill on our drinks – never even offered. The denial by the waiter that he hadn't heard our desert order while looking straight at us is unbelievable. Oddly, there was an additional server hanging around our table staring at the guests but doing nothing that we could discern. She stood, back to the wall, just looking around the small dining room for a good 15-20 minutes. I understand that sometimes workers have downtime in a restaurant, it's not go, go, go all the time, but it seems odd that an idle waiter should stand around in the middle of a room full of diners and just stare at the patrons for almost half an hour. We found it unsettling. And lastly, the host, to my eyes, was not dressed very well for the type of image the restaurant seems to embrace. The dining room was kind of a modern swank, all tile and subtle lighting, with the waiters dressed smartly in black head to toe, while the host shuffled around in a loose green t-shirt and black slacks. He just didn't seem to match the whole aesthetic and kind of brought the ambiance down.

Overall, the décor was nice, though the dining room was small. The host and waitstaff were mildly apathetic. The food was edible, but underwhelming. In the end, it felt like Gerraro's is trying to be more upscale than it actually is. Like a pizza place attempting to be a fine Italian restaurant. And you know what? I think that's exactly what Gennaro's is. A pizza joint with delusions of grandeur. We...

I went to Gennaro's last weekend with my girlfriend and I'm extremely shocked to say that I was terribly let down. I wasn't even able to sit inside the restaurant to eat.

As soon as I opened the door, a bald man wearing a golf shirt and tennis shoes told me that I could not eat at the restaurant because I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Mind you, we are in summer. It was 85 degrees out. I was not dressed inappropriately or anything. The only "problem" was that I had a sleeveless shirt.

I did not see any signs of rules posted in the restaurant or on their website of any "dress codes." However, the host told me that this was a "new rule that they just recently passed." I'm still very surprised and embarrassed to have been denied at the door.

I used to go to this restaurant since I was a kid with my family. This restaurant used to be nothing more than a simple pizzeria and now they're trying to act high class. I'm sorry, but this kind of snobby behavior will not fair them well. They should be ashamed of themselves for doing this to people who are simply trying to enjoy a nice dinner.

I called many Italian restaurants in South Jersey, including fancy ones that charge much more than Gennaro's and none of them have dress codes. They even told me on the phone, "We would not turn you away for wearing a sleeveless shirt." If I could give this restaurant zero stars, I would. My gf cooks homemade Italian food. They should appreciate the business of the local people who patronize them.

This is not a 5 star restaurant for them to be acting this way. I would rather save my money and cook at home than to be treated in such a disrespectful and condescending manner. God forbid you are driving from the shore or just driving and stop in for a quick bite to eat without changing first.

I don't have time for stupid people or mediocre restaurants like this. I will not be returning to this restaurant ever again and good look to whoever you do...

I've ordered pizza to go from Gennaro's dozens of times before. I love their pies. But this was my first time dining-in in all my years going to Gennaro's.

My mom wanted to treat my brother and I to a holiday dinner. Since I'm in love with their pizza I wanted to try one of their personal pies and see if the experience was any different.

We did have to wait a few minutes for our server, but she was very friendly and incredibly kind. She was also very helpful in suggesting some dishes.

We did start with the sweet and spicy calamari and some buffalo wings to start. The sweet and spicy calamari was amazing! The sauce was perfectly balanced between spicy and sweet, and the calamari itself was cooked so well. The breading wasn't too thick or thin, and the calamari was not chewy at all.

The buffalo wings honestly might be my favorite from a local restaurant that doesn't specialize in wings. They're breaded kinda similar to Hooters wings, but they're not nearly as greasy and the sauce is way better. The buffalo sauce was clearly house made and made me want a buffalo chicken pie.

I don't know what it was, but the personal pepperoni pies my brother and I got were easily some of the best pies I've ever had from Gennaro's. It could also be that I didn't have the chance to eat anything that day, but it was cooked perfectly and none of the cheese or toppings slid off. Easily one of my favorite tomato pies in Hamilton now.

My mom got a house salad with grilled chicken. The house salad comes with their house made balsamic vinaigrette, but they will provide additional dressing options if asked. My mom said the salad was one of the best she had in a while and was glad she got it.

All in all, my first dine-in experience at Gennaro's was excellent! The service was outstanding, the atmosphere was fantastic (the holiday lighting was dope!), and the food was even better. I'll definitely be...