Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings — Restaurant in Marlboro Township

Guess I should have known better than to expect much from, A) a chain, and, B) one that started in Florida.

But I'm a sucker for the words "coal fired", evoking as they do memories of Arturo's on Houston Street, so I gave it a go.

Got there shortly after opening for lunch and sat at a table near the bar. While waiting for my pizza, the air conditioning kicked on. After a few minutes I was in danger of hypothermia so I put on my coat. I guess the staff just thought I was eccentric as no one offered to turn off the AC.

Pizza came, and while just a bit pleasantly blackened on the bottom, was soggy, overly thick for the purported style, and too wet on top, although the sauce, tomatoes and cheese were pleasant enough tasting. The crust would immediatedly detach from the slice outside the topping area leaving me nothing to hold the rest of the slice with. My guess is the edge was added separately to a bunch of pre-prepared, pre-cut rounds. Why? Darned if I know. But it completely came away from the rest of the pie. Crust texture and taste was really poor. Really commercial and characterless.

I did, however, have the pleasure of listening to the conversation of two moms, refugees from a kids' birthday party being held at a nearby table. Said two moms parked themselves at the bar near my elbow accompanied by a three year old. Toddler kept repeating in the whiney voice that only toddlers can do really well, "Mom, I'm hungry". She would say this and her mother would ignore her. So she'd say it again. And be ignored again. Repeat al infinitum. I lost count at 384.

Check arrived, I paid it promptly, didn't have to put on my coat as it was already on, and got up. Smiley host told me he hoped the food had been "well" (sic). I muttered something and got outside as quickly as I could where it was warmer. It's February....

This place just opened. They barely have any condiments you can add, claiming their pizza is good just the way it is; it's not. They claim their pizza is "WELL DONE" as a double-entendre, like it's good and also overcooked-- only one of those things is true. They have managers trying to compensate for the cooks' lack of skill by standing in as "dish fixers", so the poor quality of the pizzas made goes unnoticed.

Ninety percent of management is incompetent and just standing around contributing nothing but glancing around the room and gossiping and flirting/fooling-around with service staff. I had the misfortune of sitting next to to the bathrooms/waiter service station, and overheard middle-school level gossip/chatter, sinking so low as to make fun of a 13 year old girl's hairstyle and calling an elderly woman with excessive makeup scary (in their useless and self-deluded opinions.)

Do not go here. The food is mediocre and the service staff is comprised of high-school graduates who never let go of the catty mentality. Giving folks like that even a little bit of power is a dangerous dynamic.

I also saw a waitress with a long braid graze her hair in a salad to be served. She then continued to fix her hair and makeup with stuff she pulled out of a cabinet next to the sugars/biscotti and fixed her appearance in the microwave's reflection periodically during my entire stay at the restaurant rather than paying attention to her table. I again heard her and a group of other waitresses gossip and cackle about a party that had just left.

Real trash on...

AWESOME concept!! Wings are great. Different style than everyone else's, so ya really gotta like them. Been going to Boca Raton, Florida location for years. also, never a problem...... Lil' bit of a wait at all locations, but hey , I'll wait for good food. Picked up food to go several times from Marlboro location. Girls answering the phone are well trained, thorough, and always unconditionally treat you like the establishment "appreciates" every one of their customers. Impressive!!

HOWEVER,...... I did go there 11/15/15 for a pickup and they forgot to give me some stuff. I got a home (10 Miles Later) and called JUST to see if I paid for it, that's all. Just wanted a credit for the salad next time I came in. The "phone" girls confirmed I had paid for the salad and then put Matt on the phone with me. (one of the managers). When he got on the phone, he did not say, " What's the problem?" and make me explain my inconvenience all over again like every public utility/cable company would do. The "phone" girls were professional enough to fill him in on what happened BEFORE he got on the phone. He took care of the problem, and recovered nicely. Not only did he NOT hassle me at all, but he told me he would credit me the salad AND a whole pizza. I told him it was not necessary for the pizza and all I wanted was credit for salad, but he insisted..... :) what was I to do ?

NICE JOB Anthony's. Finally ---nice to see someone knows how to make great food, see that the staff is consistent, and continuously operate a well-run establishment. ...