Tardi's Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Toms River

My wife and I have been searching for a high quality, BYOB, Italian Restaurant in the Toms River-Brick area for 2 years. Last night on 1/5/17 we discovered a "Hidden Treasure" on Fischer Blvd called Tardi's. This place was amazing!!! Now remember its just my wife and I as my in-laws were nice enough to watch the kids so we only had two entrees. Tardi's is very quaint as there are about 10-12 white linen tables with wonderful Italian background music. We were pleasantly greeted by the chef's brother who allowed us to choose our table as it wasn't crowded for a Thursday night. Our bottle of wine was opened and we were given time to relax before we were told the nights specials. Our waitress McKenzie (I believe that was her name) was pleasant and professional, just as always expected in any establishment. She brought out complimentary bruschetta on toast for us along with fresh bread and butter and to my surprise we were served a nice small salad with house dressing that was wonderful. We would have loved to try an appetizer but we both settled for just an entree each (and boy were we glad we just ordered that). So now to the MAIN EVENT..........my wife ordered the Fusilli alla Davina which was out of this world!! Its homemade pasta that I have never seen before with shrimp, prosciutto, peas in this heavenly cream sauce. The portion of food was so tremendous with both our entrees that we probably could have ordered one entree for both of us and still had some left to take home. My wife was in food heaven with every bite of this dish. I went with the special of the night which was lobster filled tortellini with fresh crab meat and a black truffle oil in a light cream sauce. It was outstanding!!! I will tell you that Tardi's is serving the same exact outstanding Italian dishes that you expect and get at the well known Casino Restaurants in AC at over half the cost and a 10 minute ride verses an hour with tolls. Our only concern or question is if these dishes will heat up just as well at home. Typically its just not the same as fresh from the kitchen but we will put it to the test either tonight or tomorrow night. Fantastic establishment!! Just what we have been searching for. I wish them much success in the future and only hope it doesn't get too well known ...... for selfish...

We totally love this place! Food, service, everything is wonderful. It's BYOB, which for us is great. Today was my birthday so I brought a couple cans of cutwater beverages to enjoy with my dinner (I'm not a wine drinker) Our waitress brought me a glass with ice and a straw which was extremely convenient. Every time we go, we are never disappointed.

They greet you wonderfully when you walk in the door, seat you almost immediately, bring you bread and bruschetta while you look over the menu. The bread is crusty and soft in the middle and the bruschetta is very flavorful and fresh. Both were amazing. The menu options are extensive. I love it! It makes it hard to choose what you're having that evening because everything sounds so wonderful.

Our waitress tonight, Brianna, was also amazing. She checked in often, satisfied every need, was very personable, pleasant and upbeat. That says a lot considering we were their last service for the evening.

As an appetizer, I ordered their special of the evening, they're stuffed mushrooms. They are stuffed with Italian sausage, broccoli rabe and cheese and served with a Marsala sauce. Omg! Delish!

For dinner, I ordered their veal saltimbocca and exchanged the vegetable (carrots) with sauteed broccoli rabe. The veal just melts in your mouth. I was in heaven!

My fiance ordered the calamari and the zuppa di pesce. It's a mixture of shellfish on pasta with a light red sauce. He absolutely loved both.

Since today was my birthday, I needed to bring something home to stick a candle in. I ordered their Italian cheesecake. Omg! Want to talk about an amazing finish to an amazing meal? Wow!

As you leave, they make it a point to say goodbye. It just made it even more special.

We will continue going here. We were fortunate that being it was a Wednesday, we were able to make a reservation an hour beforehand. I know they are normally booked, especially Fridays and weekends and mostly during the summer, being that we're so close to the shore. My only regret is that they only have 11 tables and are by reservation only. We will probably be taking advantage of their takeout more often. Lol

Thank you Tardi's (and Brianna) for making my birthday so special. We will be back again soon! I...

Worst waiter service ever! Our server started off by cutting his finger while opening our bottle of wine while cutting foil off top. He then tried to continue without attending to his cut finger, and I told him to stop, put the bottle down and get someone else to pull cork out of bottle. Another server took bottle to back to sanitize bottle before returning to table and pulled cork. Alas, the original server returned with band-aid on finger to take order. He should've put a glove on! He described a butterflied pork special served parmagiania style but never mentioned it was vodka sauce which I'm not fond of. Just before my order was delivered, a more competent waiter at the next table described same dish with option for marinara sauce or vodka sauce. I asked to speak to chef to see if he could replace mine with marinara sauce but I was told he was too busy to talk to me. I then asked to talk to a manager but I was told there wasn't any manager available. I sent dish back to kitchen to try to add marinara sauce and box to go. My wife's filet of sole dish was outstanding as was the fried calamari appetizer special. After dinner we had a cappuccino and an espresso. When check arrived, the waiter said he was sorry for all the confusion. You would have thought the coffees would have been complimentary for all the trouble we encountered but they weren't. Also I was charged $58.00 for my special even though I was told it was $57.00 when I ordered it. Also, I wasn't advised that there was a surcharge to use a credit card. Don't get me wrong. The food here is very good and portions are huge. I would recommend this restaurant for really good food. It was the waiter that ruined my experience for my wife and I who were celebrating our 55th...