San Giuseppe Coal Fired Pizza & Cucina — Restaurant in Hoboken

I'm not sure why this place has any more than two stars. Pros: we were seeing a movie and I wanted Italian, large men's room Cons: the worst service I've ever had in Hoboken and thoroughly average food.

We had 90 minutes before our movie, but that doesn't mean your wait staff should completely ignore their respective tables. The servers consciously went out of their way to position themselves so that they deliberately avoided eye contact with us. I went outside to make a reservation at Carpe Diem after going 15 minutes without even acknowledgment.

Sadly, we had finally been addressed and my girlfriend had placed our order. I was 70/30 for leaving, but our server put our order in and has disappeared for who knows how long. And man, that was a mistake.

Gf said the server apologized for the "unusually long wait" at peak time on a Friday. But instead of keeping an eye on us to ensure we had a better experience, the same kind of deliberate ignoring continued.

We were initially served half a rocks glass of water, about one mouthful of room temperature disappointment. We were never asked if we wanted to order wine (we did). We were served our bread about 45 seconds before our only dishes came out. We weren't provided or offered olive oil or butter for the bread. We weren't offered cheese or pepper for either of our pasta dishes, which I have to admit is a first for this Italian at an Italian restaurant. When the table next to us finally were addressed after a similar 15 minute wait, same eye contact avoidance and we couldn't get more water.

When we finally got her attention, the check unsurprisingly came immediately. Although after leaving it on our table with the card sticking out, I had to basically thrust it into her face to get her to accept payment.

And the sad thing is, the food wasn't even that good. My lasagna was about an inch thick and looked like someone had flattened it with a frying pan. And the sauce was incredibly acidic as if they had opened a can of crushed tomatoes and let it simmer for five minutes. The gnocchi with pesto was okay but needed some kosher salt and pepper, which we never got. And even the dry bread we were given at the same time as our main dishes couldn't make these bland sauces appealing.

The place is also designed horrendously with the hostess stand in the middle side next to the service counter and a table so you're guaranteed to be in someone's way.

The men's bathroom is huge, which is a plus.

We will never return. It takes a lot to get a 10% tip. Actually it takes very...

Dreadful service. Wretched food. At least the men's room was clean!

This place used to be good, but the last few experiences have been pretty awful. We went there for dinner this weekend -- one of the two entrees we ordered was inedible. We would have loved to have brought that fact to the attention of our waitress, but neither she nor any other staff member passed by our table for 15 minutes. Then, when we told her the dish was inedible, that we were dissatisfied, and that we just wanted the experience to (mercifully) end by her bringing us the check, her response was to ask whether we wanted her to wrap the offensive entree, as though she didn't listen to a word we said. But that's not the end of this story. After another 15 minutes of watching the waitress ignore us, we had to get up and ask her, a second time, for the check. She told us a manager was handling it. For another five minutes (20 minutes after we first asked for the check), we watched the manager do absolutely nothing to get us our check. Not wanting to spend the entire night in this restaurant, I again got up to ask for my check (our third such request), this time by speaking directly to the manager. He was at the register, asked me if I was sitting at Table 19 (as though I worked there and knew the restaurant's table numbering system), and told me he would get me the check in a few minutes. At this point, the sheer incompetence on display was as amusing as it was infuriating, so I shook my head, sat back down at my table, and pulled out my phone to write a review. Then, a few minutes later, the manager came over and brought me a check ... for the wrong table!!!

By the way, the restaurant was pretty much empty while all this was happening. I...

I just got back from my honeymoon, but I needed the take the time to thank San Giuseppe for the amazing job they did on my wedding day two weeks ago! This was the first time I’ve ever eaten at or reserved any of my events at San Giuseppe, and I can truly say I’d return and do business with them again. I felt like I was in good hands from the very beginning. The manager (great guy; very professional and personable) allowed me to close down the restaurant on a Friday night for a small wedding reception of a little over 30 people. Not only did he cater a food menu that was specific to my liking and needs, but the food and dessert were hands-down DELICIOUS; left me and my guests wanting more! They were also able to accommodate my reception set up: I was able to set up small center pieces, a dessert table, and a backdrop; everything looked beautiful. The staff was super friendly, attentive, and detail-oriented from beginning to end, and the space was the perfect size for my dinner. Their location is right inside the parking lot, which is extremely convenient, especially in Hoboken. And for everything I got (location, privacy, amazing food, friendly service, venue size and cleanliness, and overall the manager’s and his team’s hospitality, hard work, and attention to detail) the price I paid was very reasonable. I was very grateful for how much of an easy going process they made everything. Overall, I love everything about it, and I would definitely recommend anyone to visit and try out San Giuseppe! You won’t be disappointed! THANK YOU San Giuseppe, we will hopefully see...