The Bossones have owned this place for over 50 years, and are a plus to the town of Manasquan. This place was quite crowded for a Tuesday evening. I haven't been here in 2 years. The place hasn't really changed that much and the quality of food is still on par. The place is nicely decorated for the holiday season. Sherry, our server, has been there 19yrs. We ordered 2 appys cuz we weren't super hungry. Clams Oregenato and fried Calamari Pesto w/green olives & sun-dried tomato . Very tasty. Then: Two Cappuccinos, please. Enjoyably good. Fully stocked bar. read more

Squan Tavern - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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Great pizza, thin crust & very friendly and attentive service. Was the place my Mom always brought Claire & her Cousin Megan when they would visit her. read more

Squan Tavern - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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Perfect shore restaurant. My spaghetti with meat sauce was outstanding. Great staff! You really feel like you're at the shore.

Heard so much about Squan Tavern, so decided to give the pizza a try. Ordered a take out large plain cheese pizza and was not disappointed! One of the best pizzas I have had at the shore. Crispy, thin but not too thin, with great flavor and baked just right. I am impressed. Next time it will be a sit down dinner, and I've got my eye on that squngilli salad. Looks like a cozy family place to enjoy a classic red sauce Jersey Italian meal. read more

I've been a patron of squan tavern since 10 with my family. I'm now 41. Since the covid outbreak I've ordered food for pickup once and in house dined tonight. I used to rave about the food and service but I can no longer do so. The first time I ordered for take away it was clear that my order was never put in. They told me 20 minutes and being realistic I gave it about 40 minutes until I walked in. I then proceeded to wait another 40 minutes for the food.... Ok fine, bad night maybe... Tonight I took my whole family for dinner and upon speaking to the host in person he claimed it was a 30 minute wait. After 70 minutes we were seated. I have a 2 and 5 year old so time is of the essence. After another 40 minutes the kids food and aps came out. After another 20 minutes of waiting I canceled my order and took the 5 year old for ice cream. I'm not a jerk so I'll give credit that the food was great as usual according to those who waited...however..... I'm tired of restaurants simply telling everyone what they want to hear in order to drum up business. If I had been dealt with honestly about timelines I would have gone somewhere else but still remained a patron during less busy hours. Most people have families and its not easy to keep children waiting. I'm in full support of local restaurants and understand that it's a tough job and never easy to keep dining schedules. I do however feel that its a restaurants responsibility to obtain their patronage with realistic wait and service times to not allow their image to be smeared (such as it has now been in my mind and rating) in order to stay afloat. As I previously said, the food is always delicious but I would not recommend take away or sit down dining if you want to feed your family within the normal dining hours. read more

Great (small) bar. There were tables available not sure how many, did not journey far from far area. Really busy for a Wednesday eve around 530. Great bartender (wish I got his name) This place must be crazy busy during summer. We sat at the bar and ordered pizza and a couple beers. Nice tap selection and wine offerings were decent. Pizza was really good, if we come back for other menu items we will get a pie for app or to go. Good time, good place, great staff. read more

If you want a nice evening and a delicious Italian inspired meal, you've come to the right place. There's so many choices but you can't go wrong. The staff is friendly and accommodating and treat you like a regular. It's understandable why this place has been in business for 50+ years! Try their beer flights from local breweries. read more

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When we were unable to get served at two other places due to the long wait time, we only waited ten minutes for a table here. Megan was an excellent server. She had support staff - bus boys - who were on their game. We ordered the garlic bread and the calamari, tortellini Alfredo with chicken, and stuffed rigatoni. Everything was hot and delicious. Masks were required until you were seated and menus were available via a code you scanned with your phone. I don't have a scanner app but the menu is available on their website. read more

Squan Tavern - Calamari and marinara - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

Seven of us stopped there on a very busy Sunday at 5:30. We were told it would be 30 minutes and it was. I thought that with how busy it was we would wait for service. Service was excellent. Our server was very pleasant, very attentive to all of us including the two special needs adults with us, and very professional. We are all Italian food snobs and we can usually find something wrong with Italian food. We couldn't at the Squan Tavern! The bread was perfect. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. The sauces, the seafood, the sausage, the chicken -- everything was perfect! We're definitely going back. I had the linguine, muscles, and white wine sauce. It was excellent. I'm trying the pizza next time. It looked spectacular and a lot of them were leaving the place in boxes. I'm getting hungry just thinking about going back! read more

for the past 15 years my biz partner and I would frequent local shore area restaurant/taverns for lunch, on Friday the 15th we found a new place not far from where we were working, the tavern atmosphere was there along with good and affordable food and drink. But that's were it all stopped; a great experience turned into a horror show. The bar was crowded with few seats available; a couple had walked into the bar and were standing behind us waiting for a seat to open up, I asked my partner to move down some with me so the folks can sit at the bar, as we moved over my partner moved a bar stool back away from the bar because it was still tight with us all sitting there. As my partner was moving the chair the bartender(allison) walked up to him and in a rude tone told him to put the chair back, we need them for customers, I responded to her that we were only making room for the new couple to sit at the bar, she than hit me with another rude comment and said should I get the manager, we told her don't bother, get us a check, we had enough.. we are two 65-year-old men that did not warrant that kind of server attitude and made this probably one of the worst lunch's we have ever experienced. I suggest the owner review the video of that day, this server does not belong in that type of work, not to mention she lost out on are regular 20 dollar tip we normally leave, all because we moved a chair. side note, we were working up the street from the bar, when we got back to the job we told the homeowner of our horror show, he said he knows the owner and was surprised. That bartender has caused that establishment to lose what would have been more return trips, not to mention bad reviews from two men that regularly work in the surrounding area during the year.. read more

Stopped in for a quick beverage and bite. Tried the Hot Pop pizza. Omg! This thing is outstanding! Pepperoni, onions, hot peppers and hot honey on that famous crispy crust. Mom's Hot Mop was my favorite, but I think the Pop has now won me over. read more

Amazing food and a relaxed atmosphere !! The pizza is outstanding !! Eat at the bar if it's packed !! Great service and really nice and helpful bartenders!! Everything you order will be really good in my opinion. I have been here a lot and it never disappoints !! read more

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Ok. I have been to Squan Tavern over a dozen times but never posted During Covid last year I know they took a beating but did a great job with take out and outdoor seating. This place is a local classic. The charm of an old time Italian restaurant. Nothing fancy. A bit loud. A true Jersey spot. People return because the food is amazing and the service is above par. Went again tonight and kept to our usual. The mussels in red sauce is the best I have ever had. We split a medium pizza with riggotta and a large pie with half onions and peppers and half pepperoni. Far above average. Thin crust. Nice and cheesy Although it was very crowded Our sever was there every few minutes to replace our drinks. We finished with some ice cream, cheese cake, and tartuffo. It was amazing. If you get there by 4pm you will be seated right away. After that enjoy a cocktail at the bar and share stories with the locals while you wait. A guaranteed good time!! read more

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I have mixed feelings about this place. To start, cozy tavern atmosphere & nice bar. Had to wait about 25 min for a table on a Friday night, not bad. Had 2 dirty martini's @ bar for $30, pretty pricey! Ordered garlic bread with mozzarella to start & it was deliciously garlicky & buttery. I had calamari & scunglili over linguine with medium spice sauce. I was charged extra to add the scungili. I was put off when my dish arrived because the pasta looked dry and it was served with lemon wedges on the plate. You NEVER add lemon to a spicy tomato sauce. Fish was tender & tasty & I was given more sauce on the side. My husband had the chicken little Dom which was cooked in a wine sauce with artichokes and served over penne. This dish lacked seasoning & penne was overcooked, luckily my lemons came in handy for this dish. Some of their pizzas looked good, I'd probably go back and try it. read more

The food quality and taste was worse than hospital food. This review is not fair to the servers because they do a good job, but this was horrible in so many ways as far as food quality and taste. Even my teenage daughter said that everything just tasted like water and cheap imitation. The scallops had lumps in them, even the Caesar salad had no taste (how can they mess salad up). The clams oregano was flavorless bread crumbs with imitation canned chopped clams underneath. The pasta with pesto wasn't fresh. And my shrimp scampi tasted like puddle water with flavorless shrimp. The bread and butter even was sad. Again the servers did their best. I feel bad for them having to defend the kitchen constantly. read more

We will get their lasagna to bring on family vacations. Very good! Our favorite go to pizza is their sun dried tomatoes and artichoke pizza. Even their plain pizza slid great, and all the staff have been friendly and wonderful. read more

Delicious! This was the perfect spot for our dinner for our only night in NJ. The food was so good. No complaints there! The downside to the food is that the portions are small. Much smaller than I would get anywhere else. The other downside was the staff. Nobody was rude, but nobody seemed glad to be there. Overall it was ok, and the food is good. However, I would probably try out a different place first. read more

Squan Tavern - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

Mandi was our server and she was one of the nicest people we have ever met! She was so sweet and had a smile on the entire time. The food was incredible too. I immediately called my husband after and told him that Squan tavern needs to be our new spot. I will be back for sure. Food and especially the service was remarkable. read more

Stopped in midweek for dinner at the bar. The place is classic old school tavern but clean and had a happy vibe with a diverse mix of patrons. Not sure when they got the cool black granite bar, but I love it. The beer selection is excellent and the menu of Italian classics is extensive and everything is fairly priced. You order drinks from the bartender and the food from a waitress so it's two separate checks- a minor inconvenience. My fried eggplant, spinach with fresh mozzarella over linguine came with a decent salad good bread. The portion was large enough and good enough, I was happy to take a 1/3 home for lunch the next day. The staff was friendly and professional. read more

The Swuan has been a family favorite for years. Today we went for lunch and it was terrible. The today's Sandwich was a chicken cutlet with lettuce tomato and bacon. It arrived and my husband looked at the cutlet and it was overcooked. The onion rings we ordered were over done and burned. The server didn't come back for awhile to check on our food. My pizza was good but my husband's sandwich was burned and dried out so he explained to her. The server notified the manager who apologized and offered a replacement. Great but we needed it to go since we had to get home. At home we opened the sandwich to put it away and we're surprised because it was not the right sandwich, still over cooked, and the size of the cutlet was half the size of the original chicken. We paid for both meals nothing was taken off our bill so we expected that we would get a decent sandwich. Like I said the pizza was very good but we won't hurry back. read more

Squan Tavern - This isn't what we ordered the cutlet was over cooked and had broccoli rabe and garlic on it! - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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After spending 3 years in Florida, we were very excited to get back to NJ and real pizza. After a couple of attempts at mediocre pizza, we finally got take out from Squan Tavern! Its been more than a few years but it was as good as it ever was. Went with our usual, chopped antipasto salad and pizza. The salad was the one I remember. Chickpeas, chopped meats and cheeses. Very fresh and very good. Its kind of been my template of what an antipasto salad should be (yea, never really found one like that in the Sunshine state). Pizza here is quality. Hot and fresh with lots of mushrooms. When I went in to pick it up, they were definitely set up well for social distancing and all that fun stuff. Everyone was masked and gloved and despite the pandemic were happy to serve. Now that we're back, we'll be back! read more

The most flavorless rubber pizza I have had in a while. Can't believe how busy this place is. Don't waste your time

The Squan never disappoints. We arrived in a Saturday night at 5:30 and were Seated immediately . The host was pleasant . Our waitress was attentive and pleasant . I am sorry I did not recall her name . The restaurant was busy , she never missed a beat. Food was outstanding . Scallops special with spinach was terrific and the serving size was great . Chicken and eggplant dishes were also enjoyed . The Lava cake and Tartufo special were also delightful . I would highly recommend . Looking forward to next time ! read more

Marybeth & I Stopped in for dinner last night. Have been coming here for years. Have not been getting there as much as in the past. It was great to see they survived thru Covid. The Food and Service was Fantastic as usual. Joe the owner stopped by to see how the food and service were and how we have been. We both had a linguine and white clam sauce , our favorite and it was terrific as usual. Would highly recommend this place!! Does get busy in the summer and weekends but well worth the wait. Ang our waitress was the best!!! read more

We ordered for take out and weren't impressed. When we called they said the food would be ready in 20 minutes. We got there in 20 minutes and waited for about another 20. The wings were really soggy, the Caesar salad was okay but tasted kind of fishy, the blackened chicken on the salad was good though, and the mozzarella sticks tasted like they were warmed up in a convection oven. We also got an antipasto salad and it was so finely diced we almost had to use a spoon to eat it. read more

I've always loved this place but the past two times there were complete disappointments. My girlfriend and I sat at the bar intending to order a bar pie to go with our beers. The bartender was gruff to say the least and had us waiting to order drinks. The waitress never showed to take our order. There was hardly anyone there and now I know why. It stinks! read more

I came here with the family recently. What happened? What a difference a year can make! Pizza was just lousy. What happened to the crisp? I got a soggy pizza. Like all the sauce ran to the middle and when you pulled out a slice, the cheese just ran off onto the pie plate. What a total bummer. Just soggy crust. Super bummed out. And the pasta was just so so. And the prices have gone up and the service has gone way down. The waitress came over and took our drink order and came back like 10 min later. And then said I will be right back. Another 10 min later, she took our order. And then just delay delay delay. I could not have been more surprised. This used to be our go to place on Friday's. Not any more. Taking our business down the road to Qua or Lubrano's. Even Rellas does a better job than Squan Tavern. It's a hard pass. I don't think they would get a good Portnoy review if he ever came back. read more

What happened to the pizza? It used to be outstanding! We had a take out pie yesterday and were very disappointed. It's time to move on and try another restaurant. read more

Best pizza I've ever had! It's been consistent for many years. Thinnest crust, zesty sauce and good choices of toppings. The clams oregano are excellent as well as the soup choices. Entrees are classic Italian and a Jersey shore tradition. The place is always busy so get there early and don't be in a hurry enjoy the atmosphere, your company and watching the staff hustle to make sure you have drink refills, salads and appetizers out in a timely manner. Locals, past locals and potential locals chill out at the bar and everyone is treated as they have been coming there for years. read more

Talk about a relic from the past best describes the Squan Tavern's ambiance, service and food and I have nothing here to talk positively about at all. If the pricing was not such a rip-off I might be a little kinder, but be that as it may dropping over $90 at this place was a real insult. There are many great places around the shore that provide very nice value so why frequent an old relic like the Squan Tavern? read more

Pizza, pizza, pizza! A local favorite for Italian, and in particular, for pizza. The Jersey Shore has some very good pizza, and Squan Tavern is among the best. Full Italian menu with all the classics, and a full bar. Great for groups or date night. And did I mention the pizza. read more

I saw bills5 baldheads review and I just had to say something. I think bill and his family all had COVID and lost their sense of taste and smell. They had something negative to say about everything they ate, down to the bread and butter., really? Clearly they have an agenda and are just making up shit. We've been going to Squan Tavern for 20 years and I have never had a meal with no taste. It's one of the best and most consistent restaurants around. The same dish the same way day in day out. Italian Comfort food. They been in business for over 50 years I think they got it right! read more

A little overrated I would say describes this place well. The food is good but the expectation isn't met. I ordered the clams casino and to be honest I was quite disappointed with them. Not a lot of flavor and the clams still had some junk in them. Not worth it. The pesto pasta with shrimp I had though was very good. The pesto had a great flavor and the pasta was cooked perfectly. The shrimp were big and fresh. read more

Squan Tavern - Clams Casino - Pizza Near Me - Manasquan, New Jersey

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After all the hype I heard, Sorry but def not worth the wait of 45 minutes for a table for six on the first winter Saturday at 6:30 PM. The restaurant is very loud with an extensive looking menu but why does the draft and bottled beer selections have no prices listed? We ordered salads, pasta and meatballs and pizzas. The waitress staff was excellent but the wait for your food from the kitchen was too long. My Caesar salad was mediocre, I've had better ziti and meatballs from the supermarket and better frozen pizza. Really sad, I wouldn't go back. read more

They have the best pizza. Grandma pie is especially delicious. Service is great. Atmosphere is Jersey shore nostalgic.

Went in July 2021- outdoor dining was offered as well as indoor. Bar searing also. Food was outstanding as well as service. This is a family favorite even though we're from out of town and it's a must-visit whenever we're here. Chicken Alfredo is unbelievably good. read more

I think most of these favorable reviews on their Italian cuisine is from people who frequent the Olive Garden. I would classify their food as home-style mediocre cooked by untrained chefs who graduated from dishwasher to bus boy to chef. Great reputation locally but majority of patrons are more interested in bs'ing with neighbors than good food. I will say that waitress service is always attentive and friendly. read more

What a disappointment. 3 tables 5 waitresses. We were the first in and people that arrived after us, served by a different waitress, received their food before us. We were never offered a refill on our coffees ($2.50 ea, in a small mug) We had to ask the other waitress to find our waitress to get our check. When she finally brought it and given my CC, she walked over to take another table's order! Highly disappointed after been recommended. Choose an establishment that appreciates its patrons. read more

I just don't even know what to think because this place was great at one point. The food tastes like it's frozen and then microwaved right before serving. I had pasta with marinara sauce and it was lukewarm. The calamari is rubbery Costco-style calamari and the drink selection was really not that great. The decor is a bit outdated and matched the menu. read more

Server chased me down the block to demand I tip her more because 20 dollar tip wasn't enough. I explained to her that I gave her all that I could and I'm a broke college student and she literally told me " I shouldn't be going out to eat if I'm not going to tip well" and how shes been a server for 40 years and she deserved more? Honestly killed my mood. read more