Mangia Brick Oven Pizza Toms River, Nj

I would give the food, the staff, and the atmosphere all 10 stars. This is undoubtedly the best Italian restaurant in the area. We drive over 40 minutes just to eat here. The owner greets everyone with a warm "hello," making customers feel welcome with his gracious and friendly demeanor. He truly pours his love into the entire experience, and it really shows.

The food was excellent. I ordered the Combo Chicken Panini along with a side of antipasto, which was a great choice, and I ended up taking half of it home. We didn't receive any service, so we had to get our own food. There were eight of us. The pizza looked delicious, and I definitely want to try the Sicilian cake next time. The slices were quite large!

We arrived at 6:15 p.m., and it wasn't very busy, so we were seated right away. After about 10 minutes with no one approaching us, I recalled our previous visit when we had an excellent server named Jose or Juan (I'm not sure of the name). We had the menu and knew what we wanted to order. A young male waiter passed by and asked the tables around us if they needed anything, but he completely ignored us and moved on. Another 10 minutes went by, and a party of five arrived and were given menus right away. They immediately ordered drinks, and when he left, I tried to get his attention, but he ignored me again to get their drinks instead. I understood the restaurant might be short-staffed, so I decided to be patient since we were seated by the window. When he returned with their drinks, they informed him they were ready to order. I reminded him that we had been waiting for 20 minutes. He replied that they were there first, which I thought was unfair because we had been overlooked. The other table then began their order, completely ignoring us yet again, and at that point, we decided to leave. On our way out, I spoke with a young woman at the register who identified herself as the manager. I explained the situation to her. She mentioned that they were only moderately busy, which I acknowledged, but felt it didn’t excuse how we were treated. While being short-staffed is one issue, having untrained staff is another. I expressed that this experience cost them a customer and a recommendation from me. Unfortunately, she didn’t make any eye contact and seemed unfazed, as if I didn't matter. It's truly disappointing that they lost a regular customer due to the inattentiveness of a waiter who seemed to prioritize other guests over us.

I had a white slice and a margarita slice. Both were very good. My friend had the chicken parmigiana they enjoyed very much. Our waitress was super nice and accommodating when we were there after we had finished eating. Appropriately expensive, good quality food.

Food was delicious. Staff was extremely nice and helpful. Noticed there wasn't any low carb drinks so when I ask the young man behind the counter if can put half water half brisk ice tea for my son that's a t1D he did it with no problem and with a smile on his face told me if he needs a refill let him no nd he'll make it again for him.