Christie's Italian Seafood Grill — Restaurant in Howell Township

I will start off by saying I don't usually write a review for negative feedback but the only thing I enjoyed about my experience here was the service (somewhat). Our waiter seemed to be extremely busy, running around the restaurant rehersing the specials for the night to about 5 tables mainly 4 ppl at each table including a large party of about 10-12 ppl. That being said he did not have the ability to spend much time with us at all. He was very polite, friendly and knowledgeable. Just a bit rushed. It made myself and my fiance feel a little uncomfortable like we were at an upscale pizzeria with good wait staff basically not a Italian restaurant for date night. So to get to my main issue... after looking through the menu we both decided to order specials. Both seafood dishes. It took about 15 mins to get out salads, which was nothing more than a spring mix out of a bag with 2 cherry tomatoes and we chose the raspberry vinaigrette. The dressing seemed to be made in house, very tasty. Then we sat and waited about another 20-25 after our salads to receive our dishes. Not only did our server not bring them out but the waitress who did said "these plates our very hot" right then and there I knew our food had probably been sitting under the heat lamp waiting to be ran for a while. Needless to say one dish was so badly over cooked that the salmon did not even flake apart in chunks, it was completely overcooked about 5 mins. A good portion of it was nowhere near palatable without a strong dousing of butter sauce I used from the other dish I was eating. Now on the other hand my dish was closer to being undercooked and very soggy. It looked like the dish had been put together some form of decent but since it probably sat for a few mins all of the juices between the different food on the plate had drained to the center of the plate and made everything unpleasantly soggy. Taste wise we both felt unimpressed for the money for sure. Both our dishes were $30 specials for that evening, there was nothing special about either one. Verry disappointing. As if that wasn't bad enough, I tried to redeem our dinner with getting dessert, hoping to feel good about something before we left. That turned into another mistake, we ordered creme brulee, it came out in about two mins...so basically they microwaved a dish and served it. Let me tell you, not only did I not bother to even try it but my fiance got sick after eating it, the brulee was not lighty congealed like it's supposed to be, it came out close to a vanilla cream soup like consistency...gross! I've honestly had better meals at my usual pizzeria. The thought and set up of the menu and food is ok but the actual follow through to make the two connect is not there. At least for the specials. We saw their "zagat" rated article when you walk in the door from 2013 now I know why they haven't made the list since.... a shame honestly there are not many upscale Italian restaurants in that area, if they worked out a few things this could have been a very good experience and would have probably received a 3 star rating from me. My professional opinion would be to have someone be a designated food runner if the norm is to bombard your wait staff with a large number of guests and have them reciting 5-8 specials in great detail. As well as maybe checking out your options in either getting some assistance for you head chef, or replacing. No respectable chef should have let either of our dishes sit as long as they did and not let them be served. If you are looking for a back of house manager for your business...

My husband and I went here for a free retirement Seminar never expecting to have one of our most wonderful experiences in our 15 & 1/2 year's together!!! The ambiance even from the outdoors in a shopping mall to the pleasant decor inside was warm, welcoming and well worth a visit, if you've never been. They offered us as part of this free seminar so many, many options and courses- fried zucchini, eggplant rollatini as 1st course after bread with scrumptious butter and some other tasty paste spread were put on the table, 2nd course was a pasta dish with option of either vodka sauce or marinara (We had vodka sauce and enjoyed it immensely!) The main course options consisted of several chicken and veal dishes and one fish that was a salmon that I chose since I mainly only prefer fish and veggies. My husband had a chicken choice and also thoroughly enjoyed his selection. We were all seated in one party room that would definitely be a great choice for someone looking to host a private event as they had a unique method of closing off that room from doors that ends up looking like walls. Great feature! Every other guest (the room was full) seemed as pleased as we were! Another guest was inquiring about lunch and dinner menus that can be found on their website. I can't forget the dessert options!!! Do you like creamy cheese cake or tiramisu? You won't go wrong if Christie's is consistent with how extremely tasty and fresh both of these delicious desserts were!!! The waitresses and servers, as well as host at front door all had extremely pleasant personalities. Definitely looking forward to planning a special occasion here someday soon I hope! Only issue for us is location. Wish they'd open a restaurant closer to us in Marlboro/Morganville or Matawan. Highly recommend trying this really...

The service was not good and neither was the food. My family went as a large group and were forced into buying a package for the 20 of us instead of picking from the menu. The server forgot one of our dishes which happens but before and after was making mistakes. The server clearly needed help and management was not there to make our experience better. On top of all that, the ceiling started to leak. Someone that worked there placed something under it to catch the water. No one came up to address the leaking or ask if we were getting wet, which we were. It seemed like the leaking was an occurring thing there. From the time we got there we were constantly looking around and asking for more water, to open a wine bottle, sitting with dirty dishes infront of us. Let me give an example of the poor service, at the end of our meal the 20 of us were just sitting there waiting for the bill, we had to get up and go ask someone at the front where our server was and if we could have the bill. Another server said "since you are a large party you have to go up and ask management for your bill". Well no one told us that, and it would of been nice of our server to say bye and maybe thank you. I am a server so I understand the stress and hard work it takes to give someone an amazing experience but this was inexcusable. So the poor food, service and lack of acknowledgement is why I give this...