Claudio's Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in Middle Township

On a Wendsday evening in July around 6 P.m. my wife and I decided to order take out for my family. My wife and I were craving a Seafood Pasta meal. She had ordered the Capellini a al Jess ( Capellini pasta with Sautéed Shrimp & Scallops in a garlic white wine Sauce) I myself had ordered the Shrimp Scampi. ( fettuccine W/Sautéed Shrimp in a white Scampi Sauce) however I asked to add Scallops as well to my meal. Mind you they charged me an additional $1.50 per Scallop. That was not a problem at all. Me being a Soux Chef for almost 12 years at a very popular/busy Seafood Restaurant here at the Jersey Shore , I know that Scallops are priced by Market, and considered that price to be a fare one. My oldest daughter went with the baked Ziti and my youngest got an order of wings with their sweet & spicy Sauce. The wings were a nice size and very tasty at a whopping $16 for 10 of them. The baked Ziti At $12 for the smaller portion that includes a salad was actually pretty good too and the portion was a nice size as well, Now I got a little upset at the fact that I had spent $110 all together on our entire Dinner and the pasta dishes that my wife and I had received were absolutely the most unflavored and disgusting pasta’s that either one of us have ever tasted!! My Scampi was not a Scampi at all but a pile of undercooked noodles soaked in water! There was absolutely no flavor at all. No garlic no salt no Pepper no white wine no Shallots no nothing!! Just bland as can be and watery with overcooked Shrimp! The Scallops were cooked almost perfectly and probably been really good, only they were bland, not Seasoned and just Flavorless!! Both of our dishes were prepared cooked and served in the exact same way. Same taste and the same watery substance claiming to be a sauce!!! Now remember we had different dishes that were meant to have two completely different sauces. Hers was supposed to be a white wine Garlic sauce and mine a Scampi sauce but they both looked the same in the consistency (WATERY) and tasted exactly the same.(TERRIBLE) We also had gotten two appetizers as well, Garlic knots and an order of garlic Parmesan Fries. The Knots were quite tasty and cooked perfectly but the Garlic Parm Fries were all soggy and distasteful with barely any garlic or parmesan cheese on them at all!! I would have to say that it was by far the absolute worst seafood entree’s we had ever had in our lives and we were very disappointed not to mention pissed off that we had spent that much of our hard earned money on this disgusting portrayal of food!! We will not be ordering from there ever again and will not ever recommend this Restaurant to anyone ever! I’m not sure if they just don’t care or if they just can’t cook, but regardless we will not be returning at all!! I personally don’t like posting bad reviews at all but i believe if you EARNED IT, then you should OWN IT!! It’s a shame that ppl work hard for their money and get ripped off in this way!! Be very weary on what you spend your money on.!.!.! I hope no one else has an experience like we did! I also hope this place gets there act together and either take pride in what you do/represent or just hire someone that can...

This place is absolutely disgusting. They are charging homemade prices and delivering dollar store quality. It was obvious that almost everything was frozen or pre-packaged. My wife and I spent 135 dollars on dinner as a celebration and everyone from her job always orders lunch. We ordered the fried calimari, and it was so rubbery, I couldn't chew through it. We also ordered a slice of cheesecake and tiramisu, which never arrived with our order. I called the first time after we noticed and was told the driver forgot the items at the store. Not a big deal, just have the driver bring them back out. 1 hour later, I call the store again, mind you, this was 10 minutes before they closed, I was told that the items were on their way because and I quote "Someone must have took them because they aren't here anymore". I am writing this almost an hour after they closed and the items still haven't been delivered. I am a larger man who expects the quality I pay for, I'm willing to spend more for better quality and preparation. I firmly believe you get what you pay for. I have worked in the food industry for many years doing everything from dishwashing to running the kitchen, I have never seen a restaurant who cares so little for their food and even less about the experience they provide. To say this place is a disappointment, is simply put, one hell of an understatement. How someone can enjoy this food is beyond me. Claudio's, keep the money you stole from me as I want absolutely nothing from your "restaurant".

Love, An angry Fat Italian who loves food.

Edit. The manager reached out to me directly to apologize for the experience. A full refund for the meal as well as a $50 gift certificate was provided. I was assured that all ingredients were fresh and everything is made in house. The manager also promised to review the kitchen staff for the poor preparations. We will give them one more opportunity to prove that was a one off experience.

Edit - over a year later and still never received the...

This is not pizza. We not only were greeted by a disgruntled server, who hadn't cleaned any of the tables around us, there was also a serious fly problem. When another table complained, a different server finally cleared the garbage, and said to the guests "I guess they like you." Since we had already put in our order, we waited for our pizza, still trying our best to be polite. At this point, we were planning to just take it to the car. It arrived 35 minutes later...we waited because we were starving after a very long day of driving. The food arrived. If you can call it that. How you can mess up pizza is beyond me. And to be on the East Coast and in New Jersey on the shore is truly a sin (want the best pizza go to Vic's in Avon by the Sea.)

They didn't put the sauce on the pie, slopped it over uncooked cheese. And the crust was raw. It was vile. Absolutely the worst pizza we have ever tried, and I literally tour for a living, so have eaten all over the country. This place should be shut down by the health department.

You can't imagine a worse dining experience. If I could give no...