Patricia's of Toms River — Restaurant in Toms River

Update 9/13/25

Still nothing from this sketchy business. You would think they’d care even a little bit since I’m local, word of mouth as well as social media spreads far but they don’t. And this isn’t slander because this entire story is TRUE and they know it! Sal, the owner, and his employee Jeff are completely ignoring this issue! You would think they’d want me to go away but that won’t happen til they refund me the $400 for these unusable gift certificates they sold me! We are not talking about $10 we are talking about $400!!! I won’t let this go. Be warned about this establishment. Maybe the restaurant is a front for something….who knows!

UPDATE! After speaking with the owner he assured me that if the people I gave the gift certificates to went to a different location, still in the Bronx, that they would definitely accept it. Supposedly the location is the Tom’s River owner, Sal’s parents. I didn’t want to ask my friends to go again to a different location but reluctantly I did and one of the couples did agree to go. Well once again at the restaurant they were told they would NOT accept the gift certificates!!! I am beyond angry and called the restaurant immediately when I found this out which was this past Saturday. Lots of apologizing and a promise of taking care of it and that I would get a call back by Tuesday. Well it’s Thursday and nothing from them! I am embarrassed that I even gifted anything from this place. It’s inexcusable. I’ve been forgiving and patient and trusting for way too long. I would never recommend this place. Their lack of customer service is disgusting. This has been going on since May and was a gift I gave in honor of my mom who had just passed away. Now I guess I go to the Better Business Bureau. I WANT MY $400 back! They should be ashamed of themselves!

I can’t say anything about the food but I will say something about customer service/ownership. After calling this restaurant twice to confirm that I could purchase a gift card there and gift it to friends in the Bronx for the location there, I went into the restaurant, once again confirmed with them and then purchased $400 in gift cards. These gift cards were given as a thank you to two people who supported my mom in her last days , she recently passed and I gave it to them at her memorial. Well they went into the Bronx location (I asked specifically about the Tremont Ave location) they had their meal and when it was finished they presented the certificate and was told it wouldn’t be accepted. They ended up paying for the meal and contacted me to let me know. To say my sister and I were mortified is an understatement. My sister contacted and spoke to Sal at Tom’s River and he had remembered me purchasing them and asking about the Bronx location. He admittedly told her that he thought i said another location also in the Bronx and that it was accepted there and they wouldn’t have a problem using them there. So now we would be sending them to a different location and chance it happening again? We couldn’t chance that so one of the people who I gave the cert called the supposed location to make sure before going and was told NO once again! So as of now I am out $400 and have left 2 detailed messages with Sal who said they could be used as well as fb messages and Instagram!!! And I am completely ignored! I’m out 400! Inexcusable and I will do anything necessary to get my money back. We were willing to let it go and have them just go to the right location but he obviously misled us and that’s why we are now being ignored. I won’t let this rest and all while my family is still grieving my mom and we tried to do something nice for people who took care of her. Sketchy...

Came here for a belated Mother’s Day celebration. Honestly bread and oil apps and majority of the food was perfect. Really appreciate attention to the little things like that. They provide a nice roasted pepper puree and fresh garlic seasoning with quality olive oil dip with some fresh bread which always sets the stage. Grilled octopus and good fried calamari and a few apps made an amazing first impression. The server even broke their protocol to throw the apps in without the whole Order as we waited for our full party of ten to arrive. Put kids food in etc no issues. The server possible Family member of the owner. His name was Sal with big glasses and a booming presence and was a little scattershot with asking us a few times about the same requests but since the service was expedited and seemingly making an effort to satisfy a larger party on a slower night we paid no mind. I had asked a few questions about the specials which prompted him to ask which restaurant I owned I assumed in response to Specificities about how I stacked plates and cleared silverware and made room on a crowded table accommodating the amount of guests. No harm no foul… then when entrees came out I ordered a special which was Chilean sea bass Piccata over risotto. The fish was over cooked the piccata was a broken watery sauce that tasted like a jar of capers and the “risotto was congealed yellow saffron rice that seemed like it was from a box of prepackaged Goya box. Nothing about the dish was worth 44$ and was just a bad dish in general. It had no reflection on the food served and or Anything else at the table. I lost my voice from strept and just tried to explain the dish was not acceptable and to just take it off and I’ll eat some of everyone else’s Food… this guy grilled me hard in front of my entire family about what’s wrong with the dish and again with what restaurant I own that I would make a better dish. And I chose to just say it’s not a good dish and the fish is flavorless and over cooked. Dude just wouldn’t leave it alone. Made a scene in front of the entire restaurant. Had no tact or grace in handling criticisms and was just a complete lunatic. My fiancé and mother both had words with him. We tried to diffuse the situation but this guy made a complete spectacle in front of multiple other tables… it was appalling and everyone in the restaurant was uncomfortable. My Mother who we were celebrating spent fifteen minutes talking to the hostess and we ended up having a 400 bill which we gave the busboy a 50$ side tip because we didn’t want him to lose out on money because of this jerk. We still Tipped this clown 10% because we’re not scumbags. The owner reached out eventually and told my Mother he’d buy them dinner next time they come in and that’s honestly very gracious and he was apologetic. But this dude literally soured an evening so bad I can’t help but just have to leave this review for strictly Sal the server. He offended my entire family and ruined a gathering that my favorite people Travelled from towns over just to preserve his ego. It was seriously so lame. It was so sad and lame it’s...

Well, you know you are in for a bad evening when you walk in a little early for your reservation and find the waiting area crowded with other parties that had already been waiting 30-45 minutes or more for their reservations. Then you overhear a staff member ask the hostess "How did this happen?" and she replies "I don't know." In the end we waited 30+ minutes past our reservation time and were still 3rd on the list to be seated - with little indication there were any seated tables leaving anytime soon. The unapologetic hostess consistently refused to give us a time estimate as to how much longer it would be. We were a large group, with guests ranging in age of 5 to 85, hoping to enjoy a family celebration but were met by rude and indifferent service at Patricia's. When we tried to get updates, the hostess couldn't even remember which party we were!? At no time were we offered as much as an "I'm sorry for the wait" nor did the hostess offer any reason for us to wait around. As did several other groups, we simply left. While waiting at Patricia's we were able to make a last-minute reservation at another local restaurant we'd also tried recently. We found ourselves delighted by delicious food and service - just not at Patricia's. Honestly, our evening couldn't have turned out better - we had amazing food, attentive and accommodating service at a restaurant that felt like home (feel free to see my other recent review if interested in a great recommendation). I feel confident rating Patricia's in all categories as we've dined there before "Family Style" and found that the food was OK but overpriced, and although it has some atmosphere it's incredibly loud. For your money, you can easily find better food and far better service in Toms River. And Patricia's, to quote a famous comedian … You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. We...