Carini's Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Lower Township

In town on vacation, not a local, no prior knowledge of the place/menu/owners, etc. Saw a lot of 5 stars and a lot of 1 stars, so decided to take a chance.

We got there and saw outside seating with lots of open tables. The hostess (who was less than pleasant) told us we couldn't sit outside because the waitress had enough tables already, so we were seated inside. Super loud place, lots of crashing plates and yelling between staff. We weren't allowed to order pizza for dine-in due to too many deliveries. We wanted wine, they were out of the rosé, and the pino grisio, and chardonnay, and pretty much anything but dry, red.

I think our waitress was newish, because she didn't know what came with the filet mignon, which is what I ordered, and when I said the menu said it came with onion rings she didn't realize that. I think she said she was new, but it was hard to hear her with all the plates crashing in the background.

We got brushetta to start, which was really good. For the entrees, the waitress didn't ask our dressing preference. I specifically requested ranch, but my sister didn't and got oil and vinegar instead. My sister ordered the broccoli rabe with garlic and oil on linguine. Her meal had so much garlic that she couldn't eat it. She didn't even want to take leftovers in her car because the garlic was just that powerful. My 7 year old niece got plain buttered spaghetti and a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate came first. It was just shy of boiling. Aside from the danger factor, have you ever handed a boiling cup of chocolate to a little kid and asked them to wait to drink it? Torturous. We had to send back her plain buttered noodles because the butter had garlic and some kind of green bits and she turned up her nose. She's a super picky eater, so when we ordered plain buttered noodles, and when we explained it to the waitress, that's what we meant. I got a plate with about 7 green beans and a sad looking baked potato wrapped in foil, then another plate a few minutes later with more salad, some "onion rings", which were basically French's french fried onions, like you'd put in green bean casserole, and my steak. I ordered my steak medium, but I should have ordered medium well, so I had to send it back. That one was totally on me. When I finally tucked in to the steak, it was overly seasoned. The flavor was good, but there was just too much of it. I could only take a couple of bites before it was just too much.

I generally don't complain too much about food, and it's hard to mess up a steak bad enough for me not to eat it, so I can promise, this isn't a couple of Karens situation. The total bill was $93, and I left a 20% tip. I don't feel it was...

Update 8/12/2022 Went here for dinner on our last day in wildwood 8/11/2022 with my family and cousins. We did have to wait about 25 minutes, but it was an alright wait. Also we were advised that no pizzas can be ordered while sitting down- which is a bit, odd because one may want pizza but the others may want entrees. of course, i get that the pizza crowds shouldn't hover in the restaurant and take away from the dinner dining crowd, but still. We sat down, and was immediately greeted by our server kathy. We decided on drinks, as we ordered sierra mist with our BYOB. it took a few minutes, but we decided on entrees: i ordered the pescotora, which was very delicous, but i couldn't finish my meal, so i took it home. my parents and family also took theirs home as well. liked it better than the other italian restaurant as far as the sauce goes. much lighter on the sauce. a little expensive, but worth it! Also it came with a salad that is served family style, and i asked for dressing on the side. i eventually got it, but had to wait for a single salad with side dressing for a while. (remember this was a problem last time too!) anyways, food was very enjoyable and hopefully will be back on my next visit to wildwood. original:So this trip to wildwood, we were here twice. The first time, we sat outside, and it was nice. Got waters and was served efficently. The first night i ordered their chicken marsala dinner over pasta, and it was so good that i had leftovers! Also the salad is family style, which isn't bad but sometimes for people like me who may like less dressing, it's better being served sepaterately. However both nights i asked for a side salad with dressing on the side and they were able to give that to me. The second time, we ended up sitting inside. The hostess was kinda rude because we had a stroller but couldn't take it inside. As a restuarant worker i get that, however, there is an nicer way to say: "i'm sorry, strollers aren't allowed inside- however, you can use a child seat. They have highchairs and a place to put a small kid in a seat. Other than that, all was good. the second time, i ordered mussels over pasta, and it was so good! best meal ever! Their cappinano was good as well! Probably will be...

After playing an early round of mini-golf just two doors down, my husband, son and I walked over to Carini’s to have an early lunch. We arrived at 11:15am but when we tried to open the door it was locked. We wondered if we were too early but the restaurant’s website said it opened at 11am. We then tried the door on the right side (we had originally tried the left door) and that was locked also so we decided to call the restaurant. Despite the fact that there were only 2 cars in the parking lot, the woman who answered the phone seemed annoyed by our call from the minute she answered. I questioned if they were open and was told yes. I explained that we were outside and the doors were locked. She simply stated that we needed to go to the inside dining door. I told her that we had tried both of those doors and were right out front. Inside of giving clearer directions, or actually having someone come to the door, she just restated that we go to the indoor dining door. I told her we tried the doors but that we would try again. That is when she simply hung up. At this point we decided that if that was how we were going to be treated before we even walked in the door, then we would go elsewhere. Thankfully the Two Mile Crabhouse (only 2 miles down the road) was the complete opposite…friendly service, great food and very scenic. I have spent the last 20 years in customer service leadership and have learned not to be overly critical since I understand the challenges we all face…however there was no excuse for treating customers who simply wanted to come in and spend money the way...