Fratello's Italian Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Sea Girt

Old School Local Spot from the minute you walk in the door. We like to go for a late lunch around 3:00 to be finished just before dinner time to avoid any crowds and we hit the timing perfect yesterday. We went straight to the bar and met Joe the bartender. He has been here for 28 years and from the moment we met him we were hooked. He knows the menus inside and out and knew every person who walked through the door by name. By the time we left, we felt we knew him forever too! Just the nicest man and represented the establishment so well. Spoke with several servers as they came in to work the dinner shift and although we did not get everyone's name, they were all very welcoming to us. You could tell many employee's have been there a long time. They offer an array of early specials and we were so impressed that it was not just well drinks. Rich ordered a bottle of his favorite wine and it was also included at a discount, no other places do this from our experience. Food wise we had the Thai calamari, recommended by Joe. Just delicious, we started eating it before we took a picture so just know the plate was larger before we took the pic! We loved that it was dusted in flour but not breading on top of it. Really let the taste of the Thai chili sauce enrobe the calamari. For entree's I had shrimp francese and the shrimp were very generous as they were very large and cooked perfectly. Only thing I would say is I would prefer more sauce since I had it over angel hair pasta and next time I will just ask for it more "saucy". Rich wanted Veal Milanese, (not on the menu) however the bartender who took over from Joe's shift Brad, asked the chef and because it was still not too busy the chef said he would make it. Another excellent nod to a local place who will accommodate when the crowd size allows. Rich loved the dish, he had broccoli rabe on the side extra spicy. The chef added the arugula and "muzz", balsamic drizzle etc. it was perfectly presented. Brad, our second bartender of the day was also just as welcoming, very friendly, made suggestions and took great care of us. We met the Manager, Mike who gave us a little background for Fratello's and we promised him and everyone we had interacted with that we would be back very soon. We commented to him how wonderful we thought everyone we interacted with had been. It will clearly be one of our go to spots going forward. We cannot believe we had not been here before now. Terrific experience, fantastic selection of food, all nicely prepared and presented and the staff is superb. Loved the whole experience from...

Got sick. Ate pork from here yesterday, same order as another in my party. We both have spent a lot of time in the bathroom today. Ugly and concerned we've contracted something. Not adding a photo, just empathize with me.

High prices and high consequences.

Service is very awkward. Salad plate taken away while eating it. We felt rushed out of there (wasn't close to closing).

Bathroom a step far below rural gas station bathroom.

Expensive and not sure where the money's going. You could have a non-leaking urinal at the bare minimum. Bucket of yellow liquid shoved underneath is not what you want to see mid-meal.

Overall recommend avoiding. Eat at your own risk. Stomach hurting over 24 hours later.

EDIT: 1/29/2025 No email response from owner. I sent correspondence promptly inquiring their pork supplier so I may personally investigate and never heard back from them. My email was received, but not replied to even many days later.

The reply under this review was an empty promise. What contamination are they hiding? I don't know. But I won't trust a shady restaurant that poses as "semi-fine" dining.

Protect your health, avoid this restaurant. Frankly go to Wendy's if you want a cleaner and less risky meal for 1/3rd the price.

As a final note, I am a man who has, in the past, eaten food found in dumpsters. Not even dumpster food made me sick. My standards are very low, but above "clocking into the bathroom for a full miserably sweaty shift".

Edit 6/3/2025 I just re-read the owner's reply and, to give a glimpse into the handling of this restaurant, the owner doesn't even acknowledge the Resident Evil-looking biohazard bathroom...

Not to mention how he never replied to my email, he just says $33 is not a lot of money for that poorly cooked flavorless health risk served on a "cleanish" plate that you have to hurry up and eat before the servers snatch it from your table.

I'm not accepting free food or a refund or anything, I just think that restaurants shouldn't charge "semi-fine" prices for run-down Kentucky motel continental breakfast level quality. Semi-fine dining establishments don't have home depot bucket urinals.

This is more of a place to come when you're already depressed and need a reminder that you do, in fact, have standards.

I will come back for another edit the next time this specific bug flies...

Something was off - not the usual good experience. Had a reservation a couple of weeks ago - was seated promptly outside as requested. The service was a little slow getting a drink but we can live with that. We started with the Garlic Shrimp which on the menu clearly says you receive FIVE. Perfect since we are 4 people. When it came out, there were only THREE.....we started to eat as they were getting cold because the waitress never came back, but we no doubt expected that when she did come back, she would correct the problem and bring 2 more. NOPE...she said "oh we have a new chef and he goes by the weight of the shrimp not the amount". I explained that we are 4 people and the menu says you get 5....she did not care. Well that is just wrong and clearly you would have to change your menu if that was the case since it is deceiving and says FIVE....we could have made a scene and called over the manager or owner if there was one there, but decided not too. I honestly do not think there was an owner or manager on site that night, as they would have been overseeing and helping the slow service, such as our appetizer and salad plates still being on the table when the dinner was served. One of us asked for extra salad dressing...never received it. When the meals finally came out, it was clear that the waitress's statement of "a new chef" was correct as we have eaten here many times and nothing tasted the same..in fact I had chicken francese that was so bland and not chicken francese at all - you could not taste the usual lemon at all and of course by the time the waitress came over to check on us it was too late to ask for extra lemon. Overall I was quite disappointed because the other couple we were with had never been here before and I bragged about it and what a great meal we were going to have, and that was not the case at all. We will try it again, in hopes that it was just one bad off night, but I hope they get their act together and the service and...