Celestino's Pizza & Ristorante (New Providence) — Restaurant in New Providence

This is my first time eating at the brand new Celestino's location in New Providence, and I have put together an honest review. We ordered online and immediately marveled at the vast menu and remarkable customization options. You can very easily specify toppings on your pizza, crust style (regular vs thin), amount of slices, the whole shebang. The website was lacking some pictures and instead boasted many filler images which would be helpful to see. We ordered the 14" plain pizza half pepperoni cooked well done, caesar salad, pasta Celestino, garlic bread, and cheesesteak egg rolls. To preface, Coppola's was highly esteemed in New Providence, so expectations were high as there is no doubt they are a tough act to follow. The pizza (pretty actually small for a small size) looked delicious. As for doneness, it could have been crispier for well done. The crust was still pale and a little floppy. However, the taste absolutely met expectations. The light sauce, ever so slightly spicy pepperoni, and golden melted cheese brought me right back to Coppola's. I definitely see myself routinely getting my takeout pizza from here. So far, of all of the pizza options in New Providence, this one is the closest to Coppola's. The caesar salad looked very promising. While it did taste above average, my family noticed that there was far too much dressing. The pasta Celestino looked superb. According to the menu, it is a rigatoni dish with vodka and bolognese sauce. The meat sauce was very good but overpowered any vodka sauce flavor. Cheesesteak egg rolls were, according to my family, "crispy spring rolls. Very crispy and crunchy. I like that. I think it was the perfect balance of cheese and meat, and I've eaten a lot of cheesesteaks" Tender, but a little chewy. The garlic bread was most certainly flavorful but the bread was just not toasted enough. Very heavily buttered, and therefore quite soggy. Crispier pieces really shed light on the strong garlic flavor, but others were a little too soft for our liking. It is to be noted, transparently, that garlic bread may be a tough item for take out. In summary, we came in to this most excited for the pizza. From what I have experienced, even with the most basic of all pizzas--plain and pepperoni--there is much promise! The neighborhood pizza seems to be back. I am excited to try more on the menu, including the thin crust options, and countless chicken and pasta dishes. Definitely give the new people in town a try! There seems to be something for everyone, and I'm confident that you will find a favorite.

P.S. for day one, they seem to have their efficiency under control. However, it wasn't the most inviting of atmospheres yet. It most certainly lent itself to take out, but I'm sure more decor and hopefully a menu on the wall will...

8/12 EDIT: went back over the weekend, still awesome after getting 2 whole pizzas and a full order of knots.

Stopped in here on a whim after grabbing some vegetables at the market at the other end of the complex, had no expectations but we were really impressed! While I have no frame of reference for what the former restaurant that occupied this space was, we were very pleased with every aspect of Celestino’s. Counter staff was very friendly and the area of the restaurant renovation that was finished was modern and everything was very clean. The pizza had great flavor- just the right amount of acidity in the sauce and the seasoned crust was really a nice touch. Could tell they use high quality ingredients, for sure. And the garlic knots- great size and truly might’ve been the best knots I’ve had in my life. Pricing was really fair and I wish we ordered more! Can immediately tell this is high up there in the ranks of our “go to” pizza places after just the one visit. Really glad we stopped in and we fully intend on stopping back ASAP- wishing the restaurant a...

UPDATE: Went back a few more times as food is good. The incident was probably just a fluke. I revised it to a 5 star rating as the food is tasty and the people are nice.

Order food online the night before to pick up in the afternoon. Food was not ready as they did not see my order. However, they were nice to provide me with a slice while I waited. Went home and ate the food that I ordered and it was good until the end. I pulled out a tiny strip of curled tin from my mouth when I took a bite which grossed me out. They need to be more careful. Food was good, people are nice but I am glad that I did not swallowed the tin. I gave them 3 stars instead of 5 because of...