My family and I just left Villari's Lakeside. My daughter has something to do later so we thought we would have a nice lunch outside and enjoy this beautiful day while we could. Villari's was busy outside which wasn't surprising considering the day. We sat ourselves and were given menus and told about the specials, which was the last time anyone came to our table. This is unacceptable!! I understand that you are busy but we sat there for 25 minutes without anything to drink or someone just acknowledging us. We would have understood. Finally decided to leave when 3 other tables were given service when entering after a us!!! Not a great experience and will think twice before going there again!! read more

We live close so we love to go down for a drink or something to eat. Service is always great! We sat in the dining room and bar- both fun in different ways. Check out groupon before you go. Always some kind of deal there! read more

Great happy hour. Crab and mango bruschetta is awesome. So is the pan fried mozzarella.

the asbury park brewery has NOTHING on this place ! i really like the lake and the gazebo and DJ TOMMY B IS A REAL TREAT !

An absolute dining delight. My dining companion raved a out his New England clam chowder and .you house salad was fresh and tasty. Veal parmigiana served with linguini was fork tender and an ample portion. The Veal Italiano was a delicious combination of sautéed, tender veal, procuitto, spinach and mozzarella. Bread is served warm and tasty. The only negative was we couldn't find our waiter for drink refills after the entrees were served. read more

We go often. Big menu. Food is prepared well. Nice attentive staff. Also live bands and DJ. read more

Highly recommend this place for special dinners. We have been there for Thanksgiving, Easter, Fathers' Day etc. and the service has always been outstanding. Food selections on holidays offer something for everyone. Very happy frequent customer here! read more

I have been there several times a for the most part the food was good. My husband and I had lunch there today and there was not one but two flies in my soup. Needless to say I won't be going back. read more

Not really sure where to start. I came here to enjoy the nice outdoor weather with a cold drink in my hand at there tiki bar... well little did i know i set my expectations way to high. I sat down and 20 minutes went by without anyone coming to take our order. We decided to take our own initiative and get our own drinks at the bar. Hour one goes by, still no waiter at our table. Now, we came mostly for drinks so we decided to play this out and see how long it would take for a waitress to come. Mid way through hour one we went back up to the bar for a second round of drinks. Atleast the bartenders are quick otherwise I would have left. Approaching hour two and now we're getting hungry. Couldn't get any waitress's attention without them looking the other way. So we ordered our food at the bar and when it was ready, walked up to the bar ourselves to get the food. We ordered wings and guac. The wings were subpar at best. And the guac. Oh my god the guac. It came it a plastic Chinese takeout container. It didn't even come with chips, but pita chips. As i was very underwhelmed picking up my pita chip, i go to scoop up some guacamole, when i notice how there were ice chips in it. The guacamole is FROZEN!! It's like Mexican water ice. They must pre freeze it and take it out the day of. I literally felt like i was eating shaved ice. It's a shame because this outdoor area is so nice that it is just a waste of space due to the piss poor service. And just FWI as i write this i am now approaching 2 hours and 20 min. Still no waitress. I'm happy to say i am now leaving. read more

Decided to try Villari's as I just moved to the area. We weren't in the mood for a huge dinner and it was a little later on a Saturday (around 9 PM), so we just headed to the indoor bar to have some drinks and apps. Didn't understand why it was necessary to have two separate checks for drinks and our food- seemed to be just an annoyance for the customer. Bartender (Jackie) was sweet but terrible with service. The only time we DIDN'T have to wave her down to come over was when we first sat down. This was with a total of probably 9 people at the bar..It seemed like a bunch of regulars and she was just socializing/flirting with them instead of giving equal attention. She essentially ignored us..i.e., taking my empty beer glass without offering another as she walked by, taking 15 minutes to get us a water we asked for because she was chatting 2 feet away from us, etc. I never care about these things if it's a busy time or there are a ton of customers, but the place was literally almost empty and it's frustrating to watch someone not working yet not helping you. Our food waiter was friendly enough, but the apps were half-hazardly thrown together. The 'margherita flatbread' basically just had melted cheese and my app was essentially a bunch of cut up pieces of cheese and pepperoni thrown on a plate with a two pieces of stale lettuce on the side (??). Calamari was decent..overall, none of the apps included all of the things they stated on the menu, you just don't get what you expect. Not sure if it would have been a better experience if we had sat outside, as I have heard good things about the Tiki Bar. If I were to go back simply because of how close it is to home, I would defintely not sit in the bar/lounge area again. read more

Eating in the main dining room with a view of the lake was a great setting for a great meal. We had to postpone or mothers day dinner plans and tonight's atmosphere and meal made up for that. The coconut crusted crab cake appetizer with raspberry glaze was jumbo lump at its finest. The creamy balsamic vinaigrette house salad was light and super tasty. I had the chicken Vincenzo which was one of the yummiest entrées I've ever had. My wife got her favorite, penne ala vodka and she was equally impressed. My son got the macadamia crusted salmon and thought it was fresh and cooked perfectly. We will definitely be back soon. read more

The wait staff were very good and nice. The restaurant has nice views of the lake and dining area was really homey and comfortable. HOWEVER, the food was over priced and was not good. It was edible but not good. I heard great thing about the place but was sadly disappointed. My husband actually said if it cost to much and he wouldn't return. His hand the bacon wrapped chicken parm, I had the scallops. The sauce on the parm was too acidy and the scallops were sour (not like they went bad) but like they were soaked in lemonade powder. The crab dip was over seasoned with old bay... I am sorry but I am very disappointed. read more

I had heard good things about this place and their tiki bar so my boyfriend and I were excited to go. We walked up and met the host who greeted us and sat us quickly. That is exactly where the positive review ends. We wait almost 15 minutes for someone to greet us. Our waitress told us they she was "running around" but the place was not busy. I serve as well and I was giving her the benefit of the doubt because i know serving outside right now is a lot harder than serving inside. She took our drink order and we waited another 15 for our drinks We ordered a sampler and two entrees which we waited 30 minutes for. Again, the place was not packed what so ever. When our waitress dropped the food off she asked if we needed anything and I asked her to bring the happy menu over so I could get another drink. Five minutes go by since she dropped the food off and I realized my fries were stone cold, the sampler was overpriced for the amount of food you got, my boyfriend and I never got refills, his food was cold and she never brought the happy menu back. When she did show back up to the table i asked her to see her manager. Well he didn't help either. Never took anything off the bill and the waitress came back and gave me attitude saying i should have told her what was wrong so she could better serve me. Never going back again. read more

Thank God we had a Groupon cause the food isn't worth the price they charge. This place is loud even the back dining room isn't much better when the DJ is going. Fine dining it is not. The waiter was simply not attentive at all. He barely came out and when he did he smelled of smoke and was quite a pungent odor. My wife got chicken venchenzo the chicken was bland unseasoned and tasted like leather. The lemon cream sauce was broken and not able to be eaten. My steak a prime rib came out cold and tough all the juices were all over the plate and not in the meat apparently. Only the asparagus tasted good. The calamari was ok but by no means good the dish had onions and peppers in it as well as tartar sauce just a really weird combo we didn't even finish the dish as it was just not that good. After we sent the chicken meal back the chicken was still on the bill. I had to wait until the waiter decided to come back and told him that it needed to come off the bill. They did remove it thankfully but I shouldn't have had to ask. My advice is to Skip this one unless you like loud music, weird sweet Martinis and terrible seats and service. read more

Excellent food and service. The Italian cuisine was as good as or better than most of the restaurants I have eaten at. The view of the lake out the window added a pleasant complement to the meal. The pasta was cooked to perfection and the sauces were nicely seasoned. All in all, I would definitely eat here again. I liked the look of the outdoor tiki bar next door, although I haven't been there in over fifteen years so I don't totally remember my experience with it, except that it was overall positive. read more

Food is just OK, not great. And, whatever you do, do not sit in Joanne P.'s station. She rushes all the courses, she tells you that there are no substitutions on entree's, and she has a excuse why she can't do this or that for you. She's not accommodating to her guests in the least, and she's not at all personable. The view of the lake is the only draw in my opinion. My advice: go somewhere else. read more

I hosted my sister's surprise bridal shower here over the weekend and I was kind of going on blind faith- I'd heard good things, but I had no time to actually try it out myself. First and foremost- Giuseppe was unbelievably helpful in getting me organized. We had a sit down lunch menu, he was flexible with a minor menu request and with major changes to the final guest count. They offer the bridal chair, wishing well and umbrella for rent and he didn't hesitate to let me see them before renting them. He took the time to go through all of the options I had, was clear about deadlines and just tremendously flexible. On the day of we had so much going on at the last minute to beat my sister and her fiance to the restaurant for the surprise. The waiters that served our party checked in with me as soon as I came in, confirmed when they were serving food and cake, and were very attentive. Everyone LOVED the food, and even though we were in the middle of presents when the cake was ready to be served, they still made sure we were able to take pictures before it was cut. I know it sounds like common sense- but I've heard horror stories from other people's showers!!! The room was perfect and everything coordinated so well with the colors we let them know we were using for the decorations. There was room to mix and mingle, and I'm glad we left it to their discretion which room to use. They're judgement was spot on. Everyone had a wonderful time and the price was incredibly reasonable compared to other restaurants we were looking at who didn't offer half as much. I can't recommend Villari's enough, and they're green to boot (my sister said if she knew that in the first place, she would have planned to have her reception here). Kudos, kudos, kudos to them for helping me pull off such an important event for my family. read more

My family and I were very thankful to Villari's and their staff for providing an excellent luncheon, offsite, for us. The food was delicious and plentiful. The servers were so wonderful. We didn't have to worry about anything...from set up to clean up and everything in between. We will definitely be calling them again. read more

DON'T EAT HERE !!!!!!! Had a very bad experience here. We went with a group of 14 people to watch a football game. When we made the plans we saw on their facebook page that they were running a living social special. It was $20 for $40 worth of food, so we purchased it. They were running an all you can eat crab special and they also had some happy hour app specials. We asked the bartender if we could use the Living Social for the crabs. She told us we could so we ordered them. We ordered a couple appetizers, they were your normal frozen bar food items. Nothing special, just ok. The crabs were horrible. The shells were soft and rubbery almost and they were very bland. When we received the bill we were informed that the happy hour appetizers and the crabs were not covered by the Living Social promotion even though before ordering they said it was ok. We spoke to the manager and she was no help whatsoever. You would think that they would have appreciated the fact that we brought a small group to their establishment, but it didn't matter. Frankly, we didn't care about paying the $28 for terrible crabs...its the principle. I see from past reviews that this has been a problem historically here. With this restaurants history of watering down their drinks , and horrible customer service I am surprised they can remain a viable business. read more

Food is pretty good. We got the stuffed portobello mushroom with crab meat. That was delicious. My fiancé's encrusted salmon was a good portion and very tasty. I got the Mediterranean salad, which was not a very good portion size. The waiters and waitresses are not super nice and not willing to budge at all with substitutions. My fiancé's meal came with a soup and salad, but the soup they offered was a beef soup. We don't eat red meat. The only thing they would do for us is give us more salad. At the table next to us, the waitress was really rude to the customer because the customer received her meal and said it was not exactly what she ordered. The waitress was almost accusing her of lying. Also, she took he woman's plate when it still had food on it. The woman was like, 'I'm not finished with that', and the waitress was not too happy! We got a great deal with our groupon and overall the food was very good, but I'm not sure if we would come back. If we are paying for a meal, I want to feel like I can make it a good experience. That means, being able to make substitutions and to order a soup that I'll eat when it comes with my meal. read more

The food was good. Beer was cold and so was our bartender. She must have been having a bad night. Took awhile to get a drink. Never offered a menu. After we got one took another 15 mins to take our order. Whatever happened to service with a smile? This one never cracked a smile. Mind you the other one with the dark hair was very friendly and at least smiled. It's a shame because we came to see the band which was excellent and would've stayed longer if the service was better. Felt like she was bothered every time we asked for something. Bad first impression. read more

Terrible, don't eat here. The manager was very nasty and the food was cold. Some of the food was obviously frozen food from Walmart or something. I will not go here again and would never Recommend this place to anyone read more

We have been here 4 times now. We live very close and we really want to love this place because it has four different venues not counting the banquet rooms. 1) Outside Tiki bar (Deck). 2) A big inside bar. 3) An outside patio with seating for dinner. 4) An inside white tablecloth area for dinner. The Tiki bar is fun with live music and fresh air but it redefines the word packed. I mean PACKED. It's usually standing room only unless you get really lucky and then you could easily wait 10+ minutes to get any service when you need to place a drink or food order. We tried the deck on a Tuesday for a quick bar food dinner with a couple of drinks. 90 minutes later still no food and we had to beg for our second round of drinks. Also keep in mind that you are lakeside and will be eaten alive by mosquitoes and bugs so wear some bug repellent. We tried the same thing at the inside bar on a Thursday night. It was not very busy and the bartender was friendly but the drinks were not cold. The bar food was good but the bar was all locals and regulars that kept yelling at each other from across the bar. One gal was so drunk she fell off the bar stool once and knocked it over a little later. We felt like unwelcome outsiders. Fast forward to last Friday. We decided to give dinner in the dining room a try. We arrived to an insane amount of cars in the parking lot (Tiki Bar Customers) and had to park in the dirt overflow parking area. Once inside we were greeting by a friendly older gentleman that sat us immediately. A waiter (who offered no name) took our drink order (Two martinis) and disappeared for over 10 minutes. When he finally arrived with our drinks he said there was a delay because they ran out of martini glasses. I thought to myself "Fair enough, but if you were waiting all this time for martini glasses why is my martini being served in a rocks glass?" Moving on. My martini was supposed to be an orange cream cycle (Don't judge me, it sounded refreshing at the time) but what I received was a rocks glass of pure white milk with gin or vodka in it, and it was not cold. I switched to beer. We ordered 1 appetizer to share. The stuffed mushroom. It was delicious. My wife ordered the sea-bass and I ordered penne-alfredo. After our appetizer arrived we did not see our waiter again for a little over 20 minutes. We feared our salads were forgotten and our entrees would be out any minute so we asked a busboy to go and find our waiter. Once he was found we asked about our salads and he told us that he was just working on them but was pulled away when we asked for him. "Really? The waiter is in the kitchen for 20 minutes making two house salads?" So the salads finally arrive. Both salads are room temperature with about a teaspoon of dressing in the center of the plate. We finished the salads and waited for our dinner. During this time we noticed the couple across from us that were seated a few minutes after us had eaten their appetizers, salads and finished their dinner and were getting aggravated that their waiter was missing (Different waiter than ours). The wife flagged down the busboy and he found their waiter. They received their check, paid and left. Us? We are still waiting for our dinner to arrive. Earlier during the salad story my wife asked for a glass of Pino Grigio to have with dinner and she received a glass of Riesling instead. Once dinner arrived it was delicious. I have to say the food has always been very good each time we visit. At about the 3/4 point of eating our dinner with forks of food in both of our hands and a conversation going a new busboy walks up to our table and interrupts our conversation by blurting out "Can I take your plates? Do you need anything wrapped?" WTF? I explained to him with my fork of pasta in my hand that we are still eating our dinner. He said OK and left. When we were actually done with dinner our waiter stopped by. My wife was still working on her glass of Riesling so I asked for a beer. 20 minutes later she is done with her wine and went and came back from the bathroom and I am still waiting for that beer. We wait another 5 minutes then grabbed that poor busboy and sent him hunting for our waiter yet again. The waiter arrives and with some frustration in his voice tells me he was just about to bring me the beer I asked for but the busboy made him come to our table instead. I just laughed and said at this point we just need the bill. We paid and left. I end by saying again how much we want to like this place and become regulars but they just don't seem to care enough about the customer experience. read more

This place sucks the food is terrible the service is terrible and the martini I ordered had a BUG in it! To top it off the waitress had the nerve to wipe her fingers on my steak! Do not eat here unless you want to die read more

Food was excellent, forget any bad reviews. I had filet mignon & it was cooked perfectly. I am very fussy about steaks & we're definitely coming back to try the rest of the menu. We're going to hit the Tiki Bar now. read more

Food and drinks are good here, but the bartenders are rude. A friendly smile can go a long way. People need to learn the aspects of delivering good customer service to their guests. read more

Food is super good... Just wish the staff were more friendly. Male bartender should learn to smile for once.

CatDaddy the Band loves Villari's. The food is good, the people are nice, and most of our fans think it is one of the best places we play. We especially like to play at the tiki bar under the stars which is why this venue gets - 5 STARS from us!!! read more

Went here for dinner last night. Our waitress was great and very attentive. Our food was timed perfectly -- apps, soup, salad, dinner...everything came out in perfect timing. Seafood bisque was really good. We got a plate of mozzarella bruschetta for the table and it was amazing! Definitely recommend. I had the special which was Parmesan crusted tilapia with potatoes and asparagus. The potatoes were REALLY good. My fish had good flavor but would have been much better it if was crispy on the outside. There was way too much oil so the breading was soggy. The pool of oil on my plate stopped me from eating the rest. The person I went with got the stuffed shrimp with Parmesan risotto. Both were very very good. I would go back, but I would go for something that isn't fried. read more

Good food. Fun to sit outside for dinner by the lake, but that can get loud on the weekends w/ the bands. They offer great Groupons.

I was in charge of an off site catering event for a tea party wedding shower on Saturday, Oct 1st in Marlton, NJ (yesterday). We had an onsite omelette/waffle chef named Nick one of the owners who was so pleasant and wonderful that all the guests commented on how well it was done. The menu was breakfast which included eggs, bacon, sausage, assorted pastries, omelettes to order with a variety of fillings, bagels, biscuits, array of breads and seasonal fruit, strawberries and whipped cream for the waffles, assorted juices and, of course, coffee and tea. Nick arrived in plenty of time before the event and the setup was beautifully done and well served. We couldn't have asked for a better catering service. Thanks Nick, it was great. Gloria read more

Great good and drinks!! Love their tiki bar in the summer time. Such a great environment and lots of entertainment! Any night of the week you will have an amazing time there sitting outside enjoying a nice cold drink read more

Used Villari's offsite catering service for my husband's 60th this past Saturday... Wow! What a pleasure it was to work with Nick. He was so helpful and a consummate professional from the beginning planning stages to the actual set up and serving. Everything was just wonderful! Rave reviews from guests for the food... Apps to prime rib buffet... Yum! Bartender Stacey was great-What a terrific team- flawless service, flawless evening. I didn't have to worry about a thing. Guests were well cared for and it was really the most relaxed I've ever been hosting an event. Will definitely be using Villari's for future events and will highly recommend their services. read more

Went to the tiki bar 5/7/15 with a group of work friends. We work in the restaurant business and cant help but notice everything when we go out. Our server Isabella had a full section. She was kind, funny and had a personality. We loved her. If you go to the tiki bar ask for her!! read more

We held my mother's funeral luncheon in their banquet room in June 2015. We were very satisfied with the food, the service, and the appearance of the banquet room The banquet coordinator did a great job of helping us plan the event during such a difficult time. I would recommend Villari's for a function. read more

This was my first time here and I will say I was very disappointed. Went with two other couples because we wanted to eat somewhere with a nice outside. It was never clarified that there were two separate menus (one for the bar and one for the patio). When we asked to see the other menu, we were told we would have to go find a spot at the bar. Being it was insanely packed with no seating and I'm 8 months pregnant, there was no way we could sit up there. We were bummed but decided that we would just order from the more expensive menu. After we ordered our drinks, a table across from us, got their food order and it was wings...from the bar menu! When I asked the waiter why that table was allowed the menu, not us, he got very flustered and went to ask someone if we could order from that menu as well. Needless to say, he came back and said he was yelled at for asking and that he was not allowed to give us that menu. If it would've been just my husband and I, we would've walked out immediately. It's completely unfair to let some customers break the rules and others denied. Also my expensive food was definitely not worth it. Won't be back again. read more

We go here regularly. They have a good sized menu and service is good. We have not eaten outside or at the tiki bar. the marinara sauce is amazing. Generous portions with enough for another meal. They also have regular groupon offers but these cannot be used on Saturdays read more

Sooooooo, we just "ate" at Villari's Lakeside Restaurant & Lounge. I don't even know where to begin. The bread was hard as a rock to the point when my husband knocked it on the table, I thought it was his phone. Ive seen Much more appetizing salads come from a pizza place. We were sitting there for quite awhile, thirsty, after about 10 minutes my husband had to go to the bar to get our drinks. In case that wasn't bad enough to start, the couple next to us was smoking which I didn't even realize was still a thing at "restaurants". The entrees finally arrived. I got macadamia crusted salmon with arugula salad and risotto. I'm pretty sure my risotto was yellow rice, someone must've dumped an entire salt shaker over my whole plate because I couldnt even eat the arugula, and the salmon was less than mediocre. The only reason I ate it was because I hadn't eaten since 1:30 and was starving. It was a Miserable experience. I went to the manager, who never gave his name, and explained we were there for my birthday and what all had happened and he asked who our server was and I said the food was so bad I was going to go home and have a bowl of cereal since I was still hungry. He just kind of shrugged offered me a drink and said thanks and happy birthday. We will never be going back and I would never recommend it to anyone. read more

I purchased a $50 gift certificate to Villari's Lakeside on Restaurant.com for Valentine's Day. As a Groupon and Living Social user, I was careful to read all the disclaimers and disclosures regarding use during holidays, etc. There were no stipulations other than $100 minimum purchase, full table service and 18% gratuity added. However, when I presented the certificate, we were told by our server that they were not accepting the coupon for Valentine's Day. Although, it was nowhere on the certificate, the server said they had it printed somewhere on the special V-Day (limited selections) menu. Of course, I didnt see it. To add insult to injury, the server added (for future reference) an additional stipulation that alcohol could not be included in the bill to meet the minimum purchase requirement. Needless to say I was upset. But, because it was Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I did not want that to ruin our evening. As for the dining experience... We were tucked away in a small banquet room and not the main dining area which was part of the attraction of going there. The food was good but by no means exceptional (again, only a limited menu was offered). The service was slow... it took us a good 20-minutes to get our drinks after ordering; the server neglected to bring rolls to the table with our soup and salad (we had to ask); nor did she bring butter for the lobster tail, which was dry (again, we had to ask); and, we had to flag her down for refills, etc. For a restaurant rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED. read more

This place is absolutely terrible--mainly because The service is beyond horrible. We waited 25 minutes to even get acknowledged at the bar.... read more