We were here last year, mid-pandemic. It was a good plan until Mother Nature dumped a deluge upon us. Fast forward to 2021. We were promptly seated ahead of our reservation time in a large open dining room that sat empty and unused last year. Our server Nate was on the ball. Service was great. Our BYOB wine was chilled and served with fresh Focaccia. A sausage appetizer was followed by Seafood Alfredo (special request) and Scallops Pomodoro. Fantastic. We had to skip coffee and dessert but there no question they would have been delicious too. Very reasonable check. Thanks for a wonderful dinner! read more

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Went twice while in Cape May. First time was great. Second not so much. Their bread is outstanding. Their pizza is pretty good. Some of their pasta dishes are very heavy and the pork shank was just not very good. I wouldn't write them off as Covid has everything. It normal. So will be back to check it out. At least we will know what we like and stay away from what we didn't. read more

We went to Panico's on a recommendation. It's a converted church. Simple design. Hostess was a peach. Waiter was great. The food...so so... We started with the mozzarella tower with pesto. The pesto was very mayo-like and wasn't very good. Otherwise it was edible. I ordered the veal special. Whenever I see veal on a menu and it's breaded, I order it. I can say the breading needed a bit more flavor. The pizza my wife ordered...she enjoyed it. I felt it was below average. The toppings were good but the dough was eh. I don't think I would go back. Better places in the CM... Bonus: BYOB read more

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This is hands down one of if not the consistantly best restaurant we have eaten at in Cape May. We dined on 4 different occasions, 3 times with friends, and we all say the same thing...We cant wait to go back. I had the most succulant Pork Chop with spinach and the fluffiest most incredible gnocchi that were sweet & savory. Our friends and my husband all had seafood dishes and loved their dinners. It is always very busy and a little bit of a wait even with reservations, but, Oh so worth it! We have reservations July 3 and that will be our fifth visit! read more

The good thing about this place is they accept reservations, which helped us with planning our day, as most places were first come first serve. The one thing we didn't know was that this place is BYOB, so keep that in mind and bring your own wine / beer, etc. Thankfully, there's a liquor store about 2 minutes away by car, which saved me, as my wife needed her wine with dinner. They've got a large tent set up for outdoor dining due to Covid restrictions behind the restaurant. The one annoying thing about this is that there were a lot of flies zipping around, which got irritating fast. We dealt with it, as it's tough to eradicate them when you're outside and the restaurant is doing the best they can. Our server was solid, explaining specials, getting our drinks, appetizers, etc. No complaints there. The bread they give you is awesome, along with the olive oil dip. Yum. We also ordered calamari, which was done very well, although nothing provided to dip it in, so we just dipped in the olive oil for the bread, which was awesome. My son ordered pizza, I got the veal Parmesan ( a special ) and my wife and daughter ordered their dinners off the appetizer menu...a philo pasty dish and something else I can't recall. Food came out in decent time, and my son's pizza is huge. He's so happy. My veal looked really good, and it came with penne pasta. My wife & daughter's food looked really good too. Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce used for my veal Parmesan. It wasn't bad, it just didn't have the flavor I expected, so I sort of moved the sauce off my veal along with the penne and focused on eating the veal, which was fine anyway, as I wasn't super hungry after the bread and calamari. The veal tasted great. My son couldn't finish his pizza, so we got a box to go. Our server tried to sell us on dessert, but we had other plans, got the bill, paid up, and bolted. All in all, it was a decent experience overall. Even though my meal wasn't the best, everyone else was happy with their food, I just made a bad choice and should have gone with something else, like the spicy seafood pasta!! A tip to the restaurant is to perhaps add another fan or try to do something about the flies buzzing around, but again, I don't fault the restaurant for the flies. read more

I'm a 25 year veteran of the restaurant industry in Philly and Panico's was one of the BEST restaurants I have been to. Our meal was amazing, I'll be thinking about it until I go back. The atmosphere was comforting and welcoming. Appropriate background music, fresh flowers, simple white tablecloths and an open brick oven, where the pizzas are baked, made for great ambiance. Kudos to the chef and kitchen staff. Everything was so clean and our meals were delivered quickly, even though it was a busy Saturday night. I was/am impressed. FOH was *beyond* accommodating for my daughter's 10th birthday. They put sparkling candles on her cake and she was smiling ear to ear. We had the whole dining room singing to her. MAJOR shout out to Max and Lauren for their patience and attention. We can't wait to go back. read more

Panico's Bistro - Panico's Goes Above & Beyond for 10yr Old's Birthday - Pizza Near Me - Cape May, New Jersey

Panico's provided a unique dining space with excellent service and delicious food. We made reservations in advance and would highly recommend it as the space began to fill up quickly after our arrival. The host and waitress were very friendly and knowledgeable of the menu as we had questions about some of the specials. Our food was absolutely delicious! My husband raved about his spicy seafood entree while I thoroughly enjoyed my brick oven margherita pizza. Overall, we had a wonderful time and will stop in again during our next visit! read more

We love this place typically. The food is great. But they are always packed so this year we called in April to make reservations, which was 3 months before our visit to Cape May. When we arrived they had no record of our reservation and they never sent us any documentation of the reservation since it was made over the phone. They couldn't accommodate us so we don't get to eat there this year. A place this busy should have a better reservation setup. read more

Do not sit downstairs. Dinner interrupted by the sounds and smells coming from the bathroom. So disappointing and clouded my dining experience. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable. Too bad he got stuck in such a bad section. The food was presented nicely but too much olive oil...drowned the bread and pizza. Wine was fantastic but that was byob! read more

Very poor ... called and made a reservation at 9 a.m. left a message. No callback at 4pm. Called again at 430 to learn there were no tables avail until 8pm. In the meantime it's too late to make other reservations. Very poor. This restaurant cherry picks for large groups of people. ​ read more

We had grilled Octopus as an appetizer - Excellent! For dinner, I had the Spicy Seafood - (scallop, shrimp, salmon, clams, mussels, crabmeat, marinara, linguine). One of the best meals I've ever had. My wife had the veal special. Tender veal and a delicious prepartion. I have to say our server Chrissy was absolutley the best! Efficient, attentive and charming. It's also a BYOB so you can take a nice red or maybe a Prosecco and Enjoy! We'll go back whenever we visit Cape May. read more

Thursday evening dinner with family... The wait staff was very busy but remained attentive with no mistakes, even for those around us. Food was very good, especially the Ossa Buca with pasta. Huge portions with plenty to take home! We were seated on the main floor and, although noisy, we had no difficulty hearing each other talk. Would like come back if they use less salt!! read more

We went here for the first time and it was a great experience. The service was amazing. The waitress had great recommendations and we didn't at all feel rushed. I ordered the pork chop that came with gnocchi. The chop was cooked to perfection and the gnocchi had a nice savory finish. My husband had the garganelle and pinot grigio dish that was also delicious. I can't tell you what we ordered for desert but it was mouthwatering and a perfect finish to our meal. We definitely would go back again and recommend trying if you haven't already done so! read more

Great brick oven pizza which is what the restaurant is known for. Dinners are so so. Salmon was dried and Osso Bucco was cold. Service was very good. read more

So accommodating, Liz was a fabulous server, delicious dinner! Highly recommend! A must in Cape May!

Dan, our server was wonderful. Very attentive and friendly. The food was very good - highly recommend the buratta and the tiramisu! read more

Really would avoid! Will not be back and recommend you avoid too for the following reasons: We made a reservation here a month in advance for my grandmother and her identical twin's 85th birthday on Saturday, May 1st at 8pm. The staff, particularly the hostess on shift that night, did not seat us, said that she gave our table away at 6:30-7pm (even though we were on time at 8 - actually 5 mins early), and we would have to wait an hour past our reservation to sit because the table they sat did not order dinner yet. She was completely unapologetic and nasty, and insisted the restaurant did nothing wrong, claiming that each party has a 2 hour block to sit. If that is the case, then do not take a reservation, OR like a regular, minimally competent hostess, don't seat people an hour before a pre-booked reservation. I am not in the business of complaining about restaurants especially in this climate, but this hostess was extremely unkind to my family, unaccommodating, and just honestly plain old mean. She trivialized our occasion and ruined my elderly grandmother and twin's birthday dinner. We will not be back. If this is the person who faces your customers and your view of "hospitality", you should be extremely embarrassed. We have been coming to Cape May for 30+ years and there are a plethora of better restaurants in the area (have eaten at Panico's before and to be honest, the food is not worth writing home about). Our grandmother is Italian and this is why we chose Panico's in the first place. Was a mistake and am sorry for it, next time we will go to Sapore, Iccara, or A Ca Mia. Lesson learned. Shame on you, Panico. read more

I understand in these times that it is difficult to find good help but there is no excuse for unqualified servers. Ours seemed to be running around but not accomplishing anything. After asking for bread 5 times, we were given a greasy bag to take home since it never arrived. Food was much better in the past. My shrimp and pasta was tasteless. After years of going here we will not return. read more

The waiter was awesome (A young Russian kid; I can't remember his name) and that's where awesome ended. Reserved a table for 3 a day or two before. Arriving on time, the maitre'd summoned someone to take us to our table.... It was out the door, around to the side of the building, and down into a basement where a private party was being held. Low ceilings, some dated black faux leather lounge furniture shoved in a corner that looked every part an old basement atmosphere, and a general ambiance that wreaked of an old storage room cleaned out to make room a party. The private party going on was unspeakably loud and gregarious, as a party should be. We were absolutely unable to carry on a conversation at the table. This was completely unsuitable and unacceptable for a dining experience. The food was plentiful, in my case, sloppily prepared and buried in a mountain of lumpy red sauce. For my dining companions, nothing stood out as better than "edible". I wish I had the temerity at the time to march back upstairs and demand seating in the main dining room, but my bad, I didn't. This was complete disrespect on management's part, a bad experience, and I could never recommend, or return to this establishment. read more

Ordered two pizza's for the table which were good. Greek salad wasn't big enough for 4 people to share. (Hardly and spinach lettuce.) Mostly cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta. Dressing was great! We also tried the scallops pomodoro. The scallops were over done and the sauce looked at regular marinara sauce. We ordered two other pasta diners (shrimp one and crab one) they were ok. No freshly made pasta so we were disappointed about that. Staff was friendly and place itself was nice. I'd go back for the pizza. read more

Though the food is alright, I was very disappointed with the service...called ahead to explain to them I'd be proposing and had a reservation, but they completely forgot by the time I got there, didn't hold my reservation, and seated me at a terrible table...had to postpone the proposal. Go to a restaurant where the people actually care about their customers. Won't be coming here again. read more

I'd like to offer my opinion about the food, but I cannot since I waited about an hour after my reservation and ended up leaving to eat at a different place. After 30 minutes, we asked the host how much longer the wait would be, to which he lied and said 5 minutes, gesturing to an area of tables in which other people were sat down shortly after. Another person waiting said their table had also been waiting for an hour, and that the last time they went they waited an hour and a half for their food. She said the food was good but certainly not worth the excessive wait. Quite disappointing. read more

The worst server ever, I think her name was Julie. She came over grabs our bottle of wine opens it puts it down on table and walks away. No greeting, intro, nothing. Doesn't go over specials or offer bread. Had to ask for specials and for bread. Whoever is running the show needs to be more in touch with the servers, she was absolutely terrible. If you get her run, run away. She was a larger woman with a tattoo on her left shoulder, blonde hair. Service was so bad, will not return. Apps: Burrata wasn't creamy in the middle, just not good. Calamari was greasy, a side of marinara sauce or something to sit through the grease would have helped. The house bread was amazing. Entrees: Crab macaroni was good, lots of crab and flavor. Garganelle Pinot was good a little greasy, would not order again. read more

I wish I could give zero stars. You are a pizza place and run out of pizza?!?! I'm sorry. Pandemic no pandemic. That's amateur hour. We had a reservation for 9:15 tonight (late yes but that what was available) and we check in but no one tells us the pizza has run out?!?! Do BETTER. read more

We were able to make a last minute reservation for 6 people. All of the appetizers were amazing and decently sized. Definitely recommend the calamari, bruschetta, and mussels. The eggplant pesto was the best eggplant I've ever had and the pesto sauce was incredible. read more

Panico's Bistro - Eggplant Pesto - Pizza Near Me - Cape May, New Jersey

Dined at Pannico tonight and the place exceeded our expectations. Considering all things covid we had to eat outside and they had a nice tent set up out back. Great music playing and we were spread enough. They had two areas that i saw w hand sanitizer and other cleaning items for use. I had the Ocotpus as a starter and it was done to perfection. I could cut it with a fork. Tricky dish which is easy to ruin. They nailed it. My husband had the mussels and they were meaty and in a very nice tomato sauce. I just got a salad and he got he pizza which he loved The focaccia for the table was another win. Served w nice and flavorful dipping oil. Ask for Dwayne. Give these folks a lot of credit. Working outside in the heat w masks on running up and down a ramp to get the the food and drink. . Service was great but they should really add some runners to assist. Will def be back. Love that you now offer reservations. Can't wait to try Secundo too. read more

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Continues to deliver an excellent meal in a nice atmosphere. Staff and servers are great. Food is consistently good. All of the dishes have a little twist to make it more interesting than your very standard Italian go to's. Really good quality ingredients are obvious here. BYOB is also always a plus too. Definitely worth a try! You most certainly will not leave hungry. read more

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This dinner was perfect. The service was really attentive and the ambiance relaxing. Enjoyed the special crab soup and the pizzas. The 4 cheese is heaven! read more

We just had dinner for my mother in law's birthday. Party of 9 with a 5 pm reservation made over a week ago. We were rushed from the moment we sat down. We were rushed to order. Our entrees came out during our appetizers with zero apologies. We actually had to pile the plates ourselves to make room for our dinner. Then our dinner plates were attempted to be cleared while we were still eating them. We didn't get a change to actually enjoy anything. The food was fine but the experience was terrible especially for a loved one's birthday celebration. We are cape may regulars and we're extremely disappointed by this dining experience. Doubt we will be back at panicos any time soon. We have been rushed for dinners before but usually an apology or an explanation... none here. Very disappointed. read more

Very disappointing. Not the quality we are used to. We picked up takeout. The margarita pizzas mozzarella wasn't fresh today all yellow and not what we're used to. The children's dishes ordered are for up to age 10 the ravioli with meatball were 2 pieces of ravioli with one meatball..each....the rigatoni with meatball was about 9 pieces of pasta in the same size takeout dish...very different in portioning size to the tortellini with sausage....for $10 each it left the children hungry...and the truffle fries were overly greasy and soggy. The only dish that seemed to meet the standard was the basil chicken. I hope this was a one off slip up I would not order off the children's menu again and hope that next time the mozzarella is fresh not processed cheese. read more

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A bit pricey, but both food and service were top notch. The place is in an old church which makes it quite loud as buildings built prior to amplification are built to carry sound. Lots of thoughtful touches - milk, sugar, etc for coffee was in a neat stylish set, the bill was delivered in a signed envelope, etc. The bread was fantastic. If you have a sweet tooth they have a glazed donut stuffed with ice cream that's fantastic. read more

Had an excellent meal last night here. Our server and the manager were so friendly and welcoming. The food was also on point. Surprisingly good pizza, and nary a complaint from anyone in our party of 8 with their apps or entrees. read more

Reserved 2 days in advance, arrived on time- waited over 45 minutes and were never sat. Ended up leaving.

Excellent food! Im not always interested in Italian food for dinner, but this place was awesome! I had the corn ravioli w crab and it's one of the best Italian meals I have ever tasted. Bread was also good and our shared appetizer was simply delicious. It was a girls weekend and we all had something different and all of us were very happy with our meal. Service fantastic too. It's a don't miss when you are in Cape May kind of place. read more

This 1 star review is painful to do but truly necessary. My family traditionally loves Panico's. We have always enjoyed it as a special 'last night at Cape May' dinner for the last few years. But tonight's truly horrible dining experience (even though the food -- starters, appetizers, entrees all -- was delicious as always) has me compelled to write and to say 'buyer beware' and DO NOT EVER HAVE THEM SEAT YOU DOWNSTAIRS!!!! We arrived - a party of (only) 3 people (myself, my son and his girlfriend) -- for our 8:15 reservation, approx. 5 minutes early. We were asked if we wanted to be seated outside or indoors. Because the indoors was on the chilly side, we opted for outdoors. Seated for 25+ minutes before we were eventually greeted by our very friendly and profusely apologetic waitress, we eventually were able to place our order... but all the while getting attacked by a number of bugs. Yes, bugs were not a huge surprise given the time of year... but they were just too distracting for (again), what was supposed to be nice dinner out. We thankfully eventually received our (always amazing) Panico's focaccia and seasoned olive oil starter and ice water and a cooler for our white wine (yes, BYOB is a lovely aspect of Panico's).... but simultaneously we also came to the conclusion that we really needed to move indoors: we didn't know what would happen with all the bugs when we eventually got our "real" (ordered) food. As soon as we could get the attention of our waitress, we asked to be moved indoors. We were told it was not a problem and that we would just have to wait for an indoor table. Approximately 15 minutes later (for better or worse, with still no ordered food served), we were told by the manager that our indoor table was ready. Great! We grabbed our serveware and wine cooler and headed back indoors to the dining area. The hostess had us sit at a nice, center-located table .... BUT then the same manager who first seated us outdoors then told us we had to "move and follow our server downstairs." (??) We thought this was odd, but hey, ok, we'll comply.... big mistake on our part. I really truly wish that we had not complied. This is because Panico's Downstairs is evidently, clearly intended as a private dining space for large parties.... in this case, Extremely Loud (and quite likely fairly intoxicated) private parties. With its low ceiling and "behind a temporary screen bathroom" (our table was right next to it?!) this Extremely Loud and (quite likely intoxicated) large private party was so out of control that the 3 of us could not even hear each other speak even though we were just inches across from each other due to the narrow, long, family style table at which we were newly seated. To say that the other group in the downstairs space was ridiculously loud is a massive understatement. This was clearly a boisterous, very "lubricated" family reunion -- consisting of constant loud spills, overly loud cackling and young children running around the space, plus all guests making frequent use of the bathroom next to our table (again, what?!) This reunion became our major Panico's dining nightmare. We at least now understood why our poor waitress was so harried: she was dealing with this massively high maintenance private party and then (newly) our small, quiet 3-person table, I do not fault her in the least. Ironically, she apologized profusely every time she interacted with us... even though this situation was really in no way under her control. As we realized our predicament would not improve (the large party had not even received their own main entrees yet and were clearly going to take some time to be served), we basically just waited for our food to be served (by now it was 9:20!!) and then we ate cursory amounts : pizza (Vongole, yum); 'macaroni' (Shrimp, yum) and entree (3 cheese Chicken, yum) -- as quickly as humanly possible, just to get done ASAP. Such a shame. The food was absolutely delicious but everything else was absolutely awful and miserable. I attribute this awful and miserable experience mainly to the manager who ideally could have instead allowed us to stay upstairs (in the main dining room) rather than having us move downstairs. Again: I also empathized greatly with our waitress.... she was having to deal with all this with no clear support from anyone else on the staff. An astute and savvy person in charge ideally would have recognized immediately that the Downstairs space was in no way conducive for a smaller party alongside a party of 16+ guests. SO, Panico's just gets 1 star this time. We will be back... maybe.... but with strict instructions to whomever is in charge that we wish to definitely not be seated downstairs ... especially if we are the only other group beside an Extremely Loud (and quickly likely intoxicated) private party. Buyer Beware! read more

I'm not sure why it has such low ratings because I absolutely loved it. It's cool that it is in an old church converted into a restaurant and it is BYOB which worked out since I was at a winery beforehand. I tried the crab pasta and it was AWESOME! Perfect and light and the crab shined through it. The bread was also really tasty. The portions were large and I would definitely go back! read more

If you come to Cape May and don't eat here, it's your loss... Love the service... Love the atmosphere... It can get a little loud now a days, so it's not as romantic as it has been in the past... Lots of kids with families here... If you don't call ahead for seating, be here at 4:30pm... Doors open at 5pm... Every table was taken except 4 when we arrived at 5pm... We ordered the mozzarella ball appetizer, it's our favorite after 8 years... For our entrees we got the 3 cheese chicken (chicken parmigiana) & it was phenomenal as usual!!! However I like the meat sauce on mine... read more

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We have had very good experiences here dining in. Love the service, pastas, pizzas and octopus. The only problem we have had is with take-out, which as you would imagine we have done a lot in the last 1 1/2 years. The take out size of the order of octopus is very small compared with what it was when dining in. Also, I have had experiences, more than once, when I was told to pick up in 30 minutes and I get there and I have had to wait an additional 30 minutes or more. I can't get take out there anymore, it's just not worth it. read more

It"s hard these days for restaurants so I bumped up a star for this place. We had a late dinner at Panico's one night and ordered some appetizers and they were good but they were tinny portions. For example, I ordered Clams Lemon Cello and there were about 7-8 pieces in it, and you know when clams get cooked, they shrink! so my dish was more like garlic butter soup as I don't see how a $12 or $14 is worth what they served me. Wish I took a pic. Also, the pictures of the table settings on their website look really good ( that's why we went) indeed they are not the most comfortable place to sit and dine. our first table was right OFF the main road and cars were whipping by, then they sat us in the back after we complained we were right next to the big fan. LOL. by then it's late so we just "powered through" our dinner. we will not be back anytime soon. read more

This place is a MESS. Waited 40 minutes to get seated when we had a reservation, seemed like everyone else was dealing with the same issues. Waited another half an hour for two WATERS, and another hour and a half for our food, my boyfriend was also served bad mussels. This other family was there for 3 hours waiting for their food. Overall a huge waste of time. read more