Joe Italiano's Maplewood

This is a very hard review for me to write. I wanted to like this place. But from the very beginning it was disappointing to say the least. The food was really bad. My girlfriend ordered the scallops with bacon and I have had this appetizer several times in different places but this was the worst. The scallops were overcooked and dry, and some of of of them did not have bacon on them. They were nice enough to take that one off. But my entree was the worst entree I've had in recent memory. I had the veal parmesan and I don't know how you could make a veal parmesan without any veal in it. It was so thin that you couldn't distinguish the meat from the breading on it and the breading was very thin. It had zero flavor. It was by far the worst veal parmesan, I ever had in my life and I'm a real Italian.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

Went with friends and enjoyed a great night out! We've been to the other Maplewood locations, and this one may top them all! Decor is upscale and classy! Our server was wonderful, very friendly, and attentive to our requests. Food was delicious and arrived at our table quickly!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Terrible experience this evening! Walked in at 5:15 wanting to do happy hour at the bar. The hostesses said there were no seats. We looked around, I pointed to 2 high tops for 4, they said RESERVED. I asked about the HUGE group of tables pushed together which would sear probably at least 12 people, they said reserved. So we said ok, we’ll take the low table for 4 on the OTHER side they said RESERVED.
ALL RESERVED FOR THE BAND.
WHAT band? 2 people were standing there with IPads. THEM.
NO ONE at ANY of those RESERVED TABLES.
SO WE LEFT.
AS DID ANOTHER COUPLE.
THIS IS BAD BUSINESS, TURNING AWAY PAYING CUSTOMERS FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN’T EVEN THERE AND A BAND WHICH ISN’T A BAND.
We and the other couple just walked down the street to Harvest.
We were welcomed with open arms, although quite packed, a table by the window, great happy hour with food MUCH more elegant than yours, great service, Italian wine on special and a man playing, yes PLAYING an instrument!
I have family coming in next Friday night, getting together with friends, and we were deciding between YOUR place and Harvest. Thank you for making up our minds so easily!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 1

I normally don’t write long reviews, but I really want to share my experience so others know what to expect. A few nights ago, I ordered the seafood pasta with red sauce. What came out was one of the most impractical dishes I’ve ever been served in a restaurant. The seafood — lobster, clams, and crab — was all still in the shell, and the red sauce was poured right over the top of everything. Think about that for a second: the meat is still inside the shells, so the sauce doesn’t actually flavor the seafood itself. All it does is make the shells slippery, messy, and impossible to handle. Instead of enhancing the dish, the sauce actually made it nearly impossible to eat.

I explained to the server that this just wasn’t working and asked him to please take it back and bring me something else. His “fix” was to move the sauced seafood (still in the shell) onto a separate plate, add plain pasta without sauce, and provide a little bowl of sauce on the side. This wasn’t a solution at all. To make matters worse, when I pointed out the issue, the server actually gestured to the seafood crackers on the table and said, “You have crackers,” as if that somehow solved the problem. This was a ridiculous response — no amount of crackers can make sauced shellfish any easier or cleaner to eat.

After repeated failed attempts to explain why this presentation was unacceptable, I finally gave up and asked for a different entrée. I even said I’d pay for it just to get things moving along. When the bill came, sure enough, I was charged for both entrées.

The whole experience was disappointing from start to finish — not just the poorly conceived dish, but also the lack of common sense in how it was handled. Shell-on seafood with sauce dumped over it is unworkable. The server’s dismissive “you have crackers” response only made it worse. I left frustrated, hungry, and feeling taken advantage of. Needless to say, I will not be coming back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 2

Food was awful!! All four meals were extremely bland. Very disappointing. Service was poor- the waitress automatically clicked 25% for the tip ( which I would have gladly given had she earned it) when she handed us the machine. Only good thing was food didn’t take long and the restaurant is nice looking.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 2

Went for lunch. Veal was tough and dry in Parmesan. Chicken Parm was also dry. Never saw a flat crab cake until today. Hammonton and Mays Landing locations were so much better. Won’t be back again.

Very nice atmosphere. If I was to take someone on a date this would be the place. The lighting really sets the mood. The food was pretty good also. My main meal was lovely but I was perfectly fine with the salad and bread alone. It is a little on the pricey side so be prepared to pay.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My first time there was two weeks ago. Friend treated me for my birthday. The staff was great! Food news delish! Loved the atmosphere too! I can't wait to come back

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great food at a reasonable price.

Very awesome place. Food is very good and staff are very nice

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

I went with my grandparents and had a great time, ate great food, and had a great waiter who's memory was amazing. It was a very good experience overall. I ate so much good food. I'll definitely be going back. I ate so much i was stuffed. My only complaint was that the tables and dessert portions were too small. They could have a more vibrant dessert menu but it was good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Clams Casino, Lobster Bites, Cannoli, Just Garlic Bread

If I could give zero stars, I would. The restaurant may say it opens at 11am, but they’re clearly not ready to serve customers at that time, so don’t bother showing up on time. My server was on his phone almost the entire visit, barely acknowledging our table. I had to get up and ask myself for both to-go boxes and the check. Even more frustrating, the hostess heard me mention the issue and only as I was leaving did she admit they were aware of his behavior. If they know he's providing poor service and still do nothing, it’s obvious that customer experience is not a priority here. Extremely disappointing.

Service: 1

Very disappointed. I had heard good things about this place, so we took some out of town friends here. Maybe they just had a bad night?
-Drink order was wrong. They corrected it.
-Appetizer order came out wrong. Also corrected it.
-Lobster was rubber. At this point I was tired of complaining. I hate complaining.
Server was extremely nice and efficient. But she was not getting good support from the kitchen.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 3

Food was very delicious, we ordered bacon scallops, clams casino and my entree was the stuffed flounder, our server William was great!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My husband and I came for a quick beer and appetizers. We ordered mozzarella sticks and calamari. Order was quick and service was great! Mozzarella sticks were good and calamari was ok. Not the best where I would like to come back and try it again. The breading was too much and the calamari was soggy if you know what I mean. But they ad fried hot peppers which was good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5