Nick's Pizza & Grill — Restaurant in Ocean Township

My days of going to Nick’s have long since passed. Not because I found troubles with the service or the food ached my belly so, because I have long since moved away. Things changed, I changed, but still this tiny corner of the world breathes the fresh breath of hot air in the form of yeast on the wind. I cut my teeth on delivery pizza back when it used to be Scala’s over 20 years ago, and I mean cut my teeth literally. I fell from my bike in Allenhurst and broke my front teeth. My dad and I were carted home by the poor resident who I fell in front of. My teeth had been repaired and I was rewarded with the familiar taste of pizza that has made its transition from hot to warm from its ride in the car. Plastic table and all. That poor man who carted us home was rewarded with a bottle of wine. We all received rewards for our traumas. I remember sitting in Scala’s, waiting for the bathroom. NO the man said every time I knocked on the door. When my mom asked what happened when I knocked on the door, I wrote “NO” in the air with my pointer finger. Invisible writing. Ingenious kids stuff, and nowadays we buy writing utensils to write things that convey even less knowledge. Relatively soon after Scala’s burnt down. One of the first days where reality truly struck me. The old pizza haunt was gone. But then it was replaced by Nick’s, and that corner of Monmouth county began to breathe its familiar yeasty sigh. Brand new and shiny, almost reaching out to me and whispering to me the reassuring words that no matter what everything will be OK. Your teeth will heal and sink into delivery pizza, the man will finally let you use the bathroom, the resident who helped you will get his wine, and the pizza place will return better than ever. And by better than ever, I mean it. I tasted my first garlic knot at Nick’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the first things I paid for with my own money. Garlic knots are so cheap even a seven year old can afford them. I have memories of discovering music at Nick’s. Savage Garden back in 1997. I stood with them on a mountain of Italian food and innocence, the “two I’s.” I had many birthday parties at Nick’s. I was sad my one friend got me a sweater instead of a cool Ninja Turtles toy like all of my other friends, but it turned out I wore that sweater a lot longer than I played with any of those cheap toys. And what about biology? I learned what algae was after eating a summertime slice of Nick’s pizza and strolling down Wickapecko to whatever body of water was nearby. The lake was covered in green, I was covered in denim and hair gel. It was a weird phase for a 10 year old to have. I remember leaving Wanamassa for good shortly after that. Looking at my house, my friends, and my pizza and turning my back on all of it. It was on to a new house, new friends, and an ever changing rotation of pizza places that never ended up teaching me about music, biology, and the importance of a meaningful gift. I returned to Nick’s with two of those new friends when I was 19. I had accidentally said something stupid to them on the way down so to make it up to them I brought them to Nick’s and bought them a pizza. I ate four slices of that pizza, so I was really just letting them have a couple slices of my pizza instead of treating them to their own pizza. At least that’s how I view it from a mathematical standpoint. After all this, here I am looking at Nick’s pizza on Google maps. It’s still there. My childhood is gone, but I’m glad to know that a fresh breath of yeast floats of above the Firehouse and sunset florist. I’m glad to know that some other parent can take their kids to Nick’s to get garlic knots, to hear music on the radio, to see the algae in the neighboring lake, or maybe to play at Appelby playground down the street. (I always knew it about the “Truck” park, although I was very upset when its namesake was removed.)

I must mention that the nearby lake wasn’t always covered in algae. Just sometimes. Algae’s been around for a lot longer then me, you, or Nick’s pizza. So I...

Medical Monday complete, now for a quick Lunch!!!

Decided to stop here, first time at this little hole in the wall with a calming atmosphere.

Small Family Owned and Operated Businesses are usually the best for fresh and tasty food.

Kit had half a Turkey Sub with lettuce, onions and vinegar on a plate without the roll.

I choose 2 slices of Pizza, one was just pepperoni and the other was pepperoni and sausage.

Both were reheated, piping hot, very thin crust, perfect char, delicious sauce, topping and cheese!!!

I also sampled, half an Italian Sub with lettuce, onion, tomato, topped with vinegar, mayo, SPA (salt, pepper and oregano)...

Tasty roll and delicious overall with fantastic flavor!!!

Special Note: Facebook indicates the location is Asbury Park, this is due to 07712 zip code.

It's actually on a quaint main street in...

I experienced the worst order experience in my life with this place. I placed an order an hour and a half before they closed. 45 mins later they still had not delivered my food. And so when I called to inquire about my order, no one picked up. I called them about 15 times and still nothing. However, when I checked my bank statement, the money was taken from my account seconds after making my order. I would not recommend this place to anyone. The next day when I spoke to the manager of the place, he informed me that my order got mixed up and besides my full refund, there was not much else that they could do for me. He even went as far as to say that "they were not mad" as if they had a reason to be. This place is a joke and quite frankly, I don't understand how they're still in business or managed to stay in business...