Our go to local spot for good Italian food! Wife loves the Chicken Milanese! The vodka parm is very good! Prices are reasonable and the food is great! read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Chicken Parm - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

The American Pepperoni and Traditional Margherita were delicious. About the same as other pizza places with well done crust. Generous amount of pepperoni. It came out juicy. The texture of the crust was nice although could use more flavor. The service was friendly and quick on the phone + at pick up. Interior was cosy and dark-ish. read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Coal Fired American Pepperoni Regular Pizza - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

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What a great pizza spot , the waitress was so attentive and quick when I told her I had to be somewhere in 30 minutes. I ordered a large margarita pizza and my family had different personal pies . Everything was great. The place was empty on a Sunday at noon. I'd definitely come back to try some more things . read more

Interesting experience is all I can say! We arrived about 5:45 on a Friday and got a table right away. The inside is small, and dark, with minimum decor. Our server opened our wine bottle and brought us waters. A little slow to do both. We ordered some appetizers and a pizza: coal potato chips were delicious! The Buffalo calamari seemed like frozen calamari, but the blue cheese dipping sauce was very good. The rice ball was large and good as well, but the ricotta on top was ice cold, so it weakened the overall flavor of the rice ball. The pizza was good. It was a little thin, and not very filling, but the flavoring was good. We got fresh garlic as a topping. The reason I gave this restaurant 3 stars instead of 3.5 stars was the service. Our server didn't know what something was on the menu, and also kind of disappeared for a bit while we were eating. When he finally returned, he didn't ask if we wanted dessert (which we did actually want to try), just said, "Sorry, I got held up, I will bring you the check." Then he quickly walked away before we could say we wanted dessert. So we decided against it. I was a little surprised because the restaurant was not busy. So overall, mediocre food, but probably would go elsewhere for better Italian and better service. read more

Came to try some good coal fired pizza cooked in a brick oven. I dont come by these often so I was excited to give it a try plus I expect the pizza to be better than back home. The review is due to the customer service (or lack of customer service) and the food. Starting with the food, the food overall was good. Tried the oven fired wings and 2 different pies. The oven fired wings were good, it had a nice smokey flavor with rosemary and light seasoning. The wings could've used some lemon and a little salt but overall still tasted good. It was refreshing having wings not deep fried. Although the wings were huge, a couple pieces were underdone but one piece in particular was half underdone. I had asked if they could remake one wing, I spit out half the chicken meat when I realized it was underdone. This is where the poor customer service came into play. To be clear our server was very nice accomadating but either the manager or the chef dropped the ball. He made the poor server take parchment paper and cook the wing that was underdone. It was such an awkward process and unpleasant experience. I understand food costs are high but we could've gotten sick from the food and I didn't ask for the meal or dish to get compensated so it was very disappointing. I also noticed we were served pita bread vs foccacia according to the menu but the pita was good so no complaints. Onto the pizza, the pizza was very good despite the chicken wing fiasco. We order the wild mushroom barrata and truffle oil specialty pizza and a margarita pizza. Both were very good, not too thin where it falls apart but thin enough to be crispy. I will also note the tomato sauce was pungent with nice flavors that made the pizza interesting. One thing to note, there was barely any basil on the margarita pizza, which is the only knock on their pizza. It is in a little shopping plaza with other restaurants and small businesses. The plaza is set up in an odd format, the exit for the plaza comes before the entrance. Don't worry if you think you missed the entrance, it's further down. read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Margarita - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

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Ordered a small Frutti de mare pizza. So disappointed. Barely any seafood. Got a small pie as take out. Maybe it was crispy if eaten there..but still would have disappointed with the measly amount of seafood toppings. Not sure if I will go back for pizza, maybe something else. read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Seafood pizza..aka fruitti de mare" Measly toppings and soggy. No crunch to the pizza. - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

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Always wanted to try their coal fired Pizza, I specifically requested it to be extra crispy and well done. Sadly, it did not arrive the way I requested. Kinda soggy in the middle. I also thought it would be a great idea to order coal fired chicken wings, the only request I had, was for blue cheese, which I did not get. A little disappointed. Good wings thought. Possibly will try again. read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

Great ambiance. Plenty of space for large parties. The service was great from the second that our order was taken to the delivery of our food. The food was delicious. You have to order their house salad just for the dressing. It is addicting. The pizza had a nice crispy crust and plenty of sauce and cheese. Penne vodka had amazing sauce and penne was perfectly cooked. Make sure to finish your meal with a tartufo (ice cream). We will definitely be returning here. read more

Great family place and great tasting pizza in the area. My husband and I order at least 1x week. And they have cauliflower crust. read more

Penna vodka and chicken parm were delish ... and service was great ... also BYOB ... will be back ... thanks for a great relaxing dinner .. where we were not rushed read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Chicken parm - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

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The pizza here is really good. That's it! The owner or wherever the guy is behind the counter is consistently a fucking drip. Been here about four or five times. Always want to come back for the pizza but don't look forward to dealing with this guy read more

Stopped by randomly from an internet search, the Pizza was amazing. 8.8 plain and 8.6 mushroom pizza. Highly recommend! read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Pizza - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

Pizza is made fresh. Crust is crunchy and tender. Anything u like can be added to your pie round or square. Definitely large is enough for 3-4 adults read more

Don't know what I was eating but I ordered sausage. Half of pizza was burnt and some slices were spongy and mushy read more

Coal Fired Pizza - Pizza Near Me - Manalapan, New Jersey

I went with my family last week and the experience was amazing. The service was great, and the servers checked up on us every couple of minutes. I ordered the Margarita pizza and the signature salad and all I can say was that it was heaven! Would definitely recommend this place to others and for families to go out and enjoy the night! read more

Aside from Denino's down near Brick, this place has some of the best brick oven pizza in the area! The crust has a nice char to it while still staying chewy and the margherita toppings are NY quality! I could easily devour a single pie myself, but have to control myself whenever I get pizza from here! Definitely worth checking out! read more

Excellent pizza and salads . Vinnie was a great server too . Fresh ingredients and delicious.

We discovered Coal only after driving by it probably hundreds of times! what a great little restaurant. The Margherita pizza was excellent .. Loved that the crust was not totally black like other places. It was just right. Sauce was really good too. Will definitely return and hope to make this a regular place! read more

excellent pizza and appetizers. friendly owner and staff. comfortable room with free parking. The pizza here is the best I have had in Monmouth County. Quality and freshness of ingredients is apparent. Unsure why this restaurant isn't more well known as it is much better pizza than all the usually mentioned best in Monmouth County.tastes like pizza does Italy. read more

Outstanding food. The appetizers, pasta and pizza are all excellent. They use quality ingredients in all food, especially the pizza. A great experience and delicious every time. read more

Used to love this place but we came for a celebration and it's safe to say we aren't returning! The first sign should have been once our waitress read our order back to us and it was entirely wrong. If only we knew what was ahead.. It took nearly 45 minutes for 2 pizzas (one plain, might I add) to come out meanwhile parties were coming in and out around us before we even received our food. At that point, we realized she forgot to put our order in. Once we did receive it, wrong, of course! We explained what we ordered and she questioned us as if we were wrong. She had to go and check if she could remove it off our bill for us. What are you checking for? Why would we pay for something we didn't order?! When she came over to check on us she asked if we needed anything and we asked for drinks and napkins. 2 minutes later she comes over and asks if we needed napkins or anything. This was when I knew she wasn't listening to a word we said.. Finally after having enough of this nonsense we asked for the check and obviously the items we hadn't ordered were on the bill causing us to wait even longer for the mistakes to be corrected. I have truly never experience service so poor until now. I understand mistakes do happen and that's totally fine. However when it's nearly 10 mistakes that's a different story. What a waste of a night! Do yourself a favor and stick with Anthony's coal fired pizza a mile down the road! read more

Says something went to restaurant is empty on a Saturday night. Place used to be packed and the food used to be really good. Prosciutto what is thick and chewy Bread tasted raw just not the same same thing with the dough from the Nutella pizza lousy would never go back will never recommend. read more

Love the pizza here. Always fresh and tasty! The potato pie is delicious and the wings with sautéed onions are so good!!! We've been here several times now and never had a bad experience. Service is always good and friendly. Prices are very reasonable. read more

Hands down this place has the BEST brick oven pizza. We come from Jackson to get a pie here at least once a week. Servers are awesome and attentive and Al is always friendly and gets our order right and out timely! Highly recommend!!!! You won't be disappointed. Anthony & Heather read more

Absolutely delicious!! Would give 5 stars, but ordered as delivery on a Saturday afternoon (uh oh!) Was quoted 1 hour time-frame (which is long; usually most delivery restaurants, any type, is 45 minutes) - this was mid-afternoon (not lunchtime). They went about 10 minutes beyond that and I saw driver going slowly up & down street, completely bypassing the house... I had to go outside & flag him down. (I get occasional deliveries w/no troubles)....Maybe, they were short-handed that day (?) It was first order. That being said, pizza was well worth the wait!! :) That part = 5*****! They were also very accommodating w/the menu. I asked if a white pizza could be ordered as a Margherita White Pizza. Yes! With Grilled Shrimp topping? Yes! The garlic wafted as I brought it inside & I was concerned about too much, b/c I don't care for a lot of garlic (& never chunks of it; I'll pick 'em out). But, fear not....the scent was more so than the taste...the taste was just right! Okay to freeze & just as delicious when defrosted, wrapped in foil & heated in 340 temp. oven for about 10 minutes! I will be defintiely be ordering again! read more

The pizza was ready shortly after I arrived to pick it up, and was actually very good.... but it wasn't the pizza I ordered. So, haven driven several miles to pick it up, I just went ahead tried it. Not a big fan of truffle oil and wild mushrooms on basically a cheese, no tomato sauce pizza, might try again some day read more

I have always been curious as it's around the corner so I decided to stop in and Justin helped me. I got a personal pizza with pepperoni and pineapple and it was quite good. Justin was VERY friendly and I would totally recommend it. My mother liked her salad (strawberries, blueberries, arugula), everything was fresh, and the music was geared towards someone my age (30s) so I enjoyed it, loud, but chill. Smiles and thumbs up all around. read more

This place is delicious. We ordered the portobello stack which was great along with a Margherita pizza that we devoured. They have homemade blue cheese which I needed to try and used to dip my pizza in. Also, the tartufo is a must. They add cannoli cream under each piece which makes it unique and super tasty. Can't wait to go back and try a specialty pizza. read more

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If I could give 1/2 stars I would give it a 3.5. It's not so much a 3 but not as good as 4. The only reason why I gave it a 4 was because the gluten free pizzas were very tasty and good. They should definitely consider having more gluten free options and expanding their gluten free menu. We decided to try this place after my father in law found this restaurant online. We ordered a couple of appetizers consisting of wings, trio mozzarella and buffalo calamari. Everything was pretty good and came out quickly. For dinner we ordered a large meatball pizza, 2 GLUTEN FREE pizzas and a gluten free penne vodka. The time in between apps and dinner was a little excessive. It took about 35-40 minutes for a personal gluten free pizza which seems like a lot. But man when the gluten free pizzas came out they were some of the best gluten free pies we tasted. The gluten free penne vodka was very tasty and everything came out steaming hot and fresh. We genuinely enjoyed all the food. The restaurant is a BYOB which isn't the most convenient as normally we like to order drinks but being that the food was so good it was worth it. The only complaint we had was the time it took. We spent a-little over 2 hours for dinner which for pizza is a little frustrating. All in all we will be coming back and will be excited !! read more

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Probably one of my favorite pizza places in central Jersey. The vibe inside is very chill. I've never dined in, always take out. The margarita pizza is phenomenal, the mozzarella sticks are bomb and they make a mean Caesar salad. I'd eat here every day if I could. read more

Double compliment... that plum tomato sauce was so good, we asked for a sauce container of it to dip our crust in. It was fabulous. But more importantly, our server was so pleasant. Didn't feel like the paid obligation to serve. She was just awesome read more

Great food! Excellent variety! Employees are friendly and accommodating. The best pizzeria in the area.

The ambiance inside the restaurant leaves a lot to be desired. It feels cheap and more of an empty space with a oven in the corner and does not have the ambiance and feeling of a classy restaurant. Would I take a first date here? Probably not. If you ask for a coke, they give you a can...want another one? It's gonna be another charge of another can. However, they do delivery so there's that. Eat in the comfort of your own home and have as many sodas and beers as you want. But regardless, the pizza and wings here are great. Some of the best pizza in this area. Would recommend, just don't look to impress someone and tell them not to judge the book by its cover. read more

Went here with the husband and in-laws for a birthday lunch this weekend. We started off with a salad which was more than enough for the 3 of us (FIL refuses to eat any veggies) and was nicer than the regular iceberg salad so many places serve. Next we got an order of wings and a large margarita pie. The wings were good though the kicker for me was the carmelized onions they came with. I could not stop eating those onions - maybe next time I should just get a plate of those. The pizza was very tasty, was just like a margarita pie should be with good quality sauce and cheese. The only bad things I can say is that it could have been cooked longer and I would have liked more sauce, less cheese. Those are just personal preferences though. I'd definitely return here if we're in the area. read more

The food is a 5 - but throwing in the service brings it down to a 4. My wife and I have been here 3 times with different friends and family members - and without fail - we've received the wrong dish or had to wait an extraordinarily long time. In all fairness - every time I have been there - it has been very busy - and the staff seems pretty new. My favorite pizza is the San Marco - it's the perfect combination of vegetables, garlic and sauce. It is the best tasting pizza I have ever had. The Margherita is also worth ordering if you want something with less toppings. One of the best Marghertia pizzas I have had. It's definitely better to eat at Coal - it doesn't taste as good if you bring it home. We ordered zeppoles for dessert which were pretty good - but make sure to eat them fresh. It's BYOB - so make sure you bring your favorite wine/beer. If the owners can get the service to where it needs to be - Coal Fired Pizza is going to have a long life in Manalapan - and I am sure it will expand to new locations. read more

Good, but not amazing, Coal is almost a total clone of the Anthony's Coal-fired Pizza chain. So much so that the menu is virtually indistinguishable from its doppelgänger just a few miles north, right down to the coal-fired wings and the availability of pizza toppings like long hot peppers and caramelized onions. We ordered our pie extra crispy, which is standard at many thin crust places. Unfortunately ours still came out a little undercooked. I also didn't find the ingredients to be as high quality or fresh as other higher end pizza joints. But I'd be lying if I didn't say it didn't taste good. We also ordered a tomato, mozzarella, basil salad, but it never arrived, nor were we charged for it. The order must have gone unheard. We didn't complain because the pizza was large enough, and frankly we probably didn't need it. My wife ordered eggplant parm with linguini which was good, but only on the level of your standard issue local pizzeria. The kids each had a bowl of penne, drowned in olive oil and seasoned simply with salt. My daughter claimed "it was the best pasta EVER." (She's 5.) As Joe B. mentioned in his review, Coal serves up thin crust pies, but not as thin as places like Federici's in Freehold. I happen to like super-thin crust pizza, so my preference is still with Federici's. But I do know that many people don't like it that thin, in which case Coal is a very good compromise. I don't know too much about all the local pizza places right in this area, but I would imagine Coal stands out from most of them in a good way. If you live around here or find yourself passing through the area, I definitely recommend giving them a try. I just doubt I would ever make a special trip for this given all the other places I like closer to home. read more

The food is good but the wait to get your food is absolutely ridiculous and the staff is not particularly friendly. There is no reason that 10 people should be waiting for their orders for 30 minutes past the time they were told they would be ready. There are other good places around town that deserve your business. read more

Been here a couple of times for takeout - have had three different pies so far and I can confidently note that I am a fan. To be clear Coal is not your typical pizzeria the focus is on designer pies. Yes this means that the pies are Fifi, but don't worry you need not be. LOVE the Quattro Formaggi pizza -it is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME - prosciutto, arugula, four cheeses and truffle oil. If you like the individual ingredients on their own, then this pie will become your favorite too - don't scoff even you arugula haters might become converts. The Traditional Pie is very very good - another high recommend - however I can totally do without the Antonietta's Favorite -it has Black Olives and Caramelized Onions -in my opinion this combination does not work -my wife likes -however it tasted like I imagine a train wreck would taste to me. Have not eaten in and probably won't at least for the foreseeable future being that I do not see pizza as a fine dining experience -no matter how fancy the pie is -and at present do not have the opportunity to eat out a lot since my toddler seems to have a way of playing with more with his food than he eats and my little man has a good arm. In spite of my snobbery, and my inability to actually give it a shot, the dining area seems pleasant enough. The staff appears friendly and they are very efficient with takeouts so I imagine this should translate into the same or better service if you dine in. All-in-all I would highly recommend Coal if you are in the mood for a refined pie made in a fire brick oven. read more

Just got to try Coal. The menu is not extensive, but there are the essential pizza varieties. We had one with sausage, broccoli rabe, mozzarella, tomatoes. It was really tasty, although a little more sausage would have been nice. An appetizer of fried zucchini mixed with cheese and bread crumbs was not what I expected, but was tasty enough. The wings and onions were fine. Didn't get to try the desserts. I went early, before any crowd, so the service was fine and very friendly. The area has pizza and Italian restaurants aplenty, but the coal-fired feature is interesting and the experience was positive, so this goes on my list of places to go. read more

Extremely disappointed. I used to love coming here: they had my favorite coal oven Margherita pizza. I would even go as to say it was the best pizza in New Jersey. The cheese, sauce, and crust were all perfection. However, this place got new owners and it's not really the same. Sure the pizza looks the same, in fact the crust and cheese tastes the same too; however, the sauce (the best thing about it) changed. I think they took the cheaper route, but the pizza just wasn't that good without the original sauce. I felt disappointed when I bit into it. You can't have a good pizza when majority of it is bad. Furthermore, a lot of the items I used to order just aren't on the menu anymore. You could tell more and more people feel the same as I due to the place not filling as much as it used to. I remember when every table would be filled and people would be waiting outside to get a table. Now, I went on Saturday, there were maybe three tables. My favorite pizza has no turned into ruins. Sadly, I hate to admit it, but I'm never returning here again because I know, it will never be the same. read more