Carmen’s Unique Beach Cuisine

I’m not a big fan of this place AT ALL.

The service sucks and the waiters and waitresses are super snobby for some reason. I kept getting dirty looks from workers and I did not feel welcomed at all.
While their ravioli tasted frozen and their meatballs were average the food did not wow me. So to satisfy my hungry I decided to chow down on the bread for the table. Prices can vary and are sometimes not worth what you’re getting. Place is also dim and small not much noise either so you feel obligated not to talk.
I won’t be returning here thanks to the uncomfortableness my friends and I felt and lack of skill to make good food.

We dined with two other couples and made a reservation for 6 people at 8 pm on Thursday. This was our first experience here and we noted it was very busy on a Thursday night, but it’s prime summer so that was no surprise. I thought some of the pasta dishes were pretty pricey at $ 28 for an entrée of pasta primavera. I opted for the osso bucca ravioli. When the waitress took my order, she mentioned that she thought they may be out of that entrée and would check with the kitchen. She came back and reassured me that they could take my order. Our group enjoyed a variety of appetizers ranging from mussels, calamari and clams chorizo. All were very good. Some time after taking my order, the waitress came back again and said, she was sorry that they only had 2 of the ravioli left and did I want that with a supplement of shrimp. My other option would have been to order a different entrée. I decided on the Ocean entrée and asked her if I could try the remaining two raviolis, but that it wasn’t necessary to add the shrimp. I was just looking for a sampling. When the entrees arrived, she did in fact give me the two raviolis and did include the shrimp. The ravioli was excellent and this taste left me wanting more. I was glad she honored my request because by the time my entrée arrived, everyone else was done with their meal. I took a good portion of the Ocean entrée home and enjoyed it as a leftover. I was happy to see that we were not charged for the ravioli dish. A few people in my group ordered the tuna. My husband’s was medium rare, but cold, which was disappointing. The service was okay, a little slow and the coffee took a long time to come out. I would give this restaurant another try.

We went to Carmens last year and had a great dinner. We went again expecting the same… ugh. The lump crab cakes were the worst I ever had, no lump meat and way too much breading. My wife had the scallops so salty they were undedible and a friend had some pasta and it had so much brouth she thought it was soup. The waitress never asked us how our meal was, guess by the amount we left on our plates she knew the answer. Won’t be going back, plenty of competition on the island to go elsewhere.

Our family has been coming to LBI for vacation for the past 20+years. A tradition was started that one night is the «adult dinner» night out. Looking for a dinner spot we came across Carmens. The menu looked great so we decided that would be the spot this year. We were a party of 14 which can be a lot for one waiter to handle. However our waiter Matt had no problem taking care of us that night. He was attentive, friendly, and overall provided wonderful service. Our family loves to joke around and Matt had a great personality throughout dinner service. At the end of the night he even came outside to take our group photo. All in all Matt is a top of the notch waiter and we had an outstanding experience at Carmens because of him. Can’t wait to come back next summer!

Carmens is– without question– our favorite restaurant on the Long Beach Island! The owner Peter Palladino, his wife Joanne and their entire wait staff could not be more accommodating every time we dine there. We have brought our friends and family there many times and it has become their favorite too!
Some of our favorites are their scallops, Veal Carmen, the beet salad, breaded calamari and Osso Bucco ravioli. The weekend special appetizers and entrees have also been excellent and the BYOB option is fantastic. We also love their dinners in the fall with food and wine pairings. But our new favorite this summer has been a pig roast! Over the Fourth of July, we had a back yard barbecue complete with a smoked pig, ribs and chicken. The food was delicious and Peter made it a festive evening– including naming our pig! A great time was had by all, so much so that we’ve decided it should be an annual event!

Really good food. Friendly service. There were six of us and they took really good care of everyone. Three of us had the stuffed lobster (with crab meat) special. The lobster was sweet and the stuffing delicious. At $ 37, I thought it was a bargain compared to other places.
Everyone who had their pasta loved it.
Will go back again, for sure.

Having been to Carmen’s in the past, I thought it would be a great place to bring our friends who were visiting the island to dinner there. Big mistake! We were reprimanded for laughing. Yes, I said laughing. We were a party of eight adults, on vacation, enjoying ourselves, but apparently that is not OK at Carmen’s. There was no vulgarity in our conversation, and nothing was said that was inappropriate. It was just a group of close friends catching up, laughing. We overlooked the fact that we there was no bread or water put on our table, and we overlooked the fact that two dinners came out incorrectly. Yet, we were reprimanded. I was so embarrassed because I picked this restaurant for a nice night out with friends. So, if you are looking for an adequate dinner, with the average price between $ 25 and $ 35, where laughing is frowned upon, Carmen’s is the place for you.

What an awesome place that I never knew about! It was the first time my mom was on the island although I have been many times. We were walking around Beach Haven and ran into a friend who recommended the place to us. We were not disappointed! We walked to the place and it was July 3^rd mind you. The hostess said that the wait would be over an hour for a table which made both of us disappointed since the moment you walked into the restaurant the vibe was fantastic! Well, the hostess called over the manager to talk to us. I mentioned how our friend recommended the place and she said she might be able to have a table for us in half an hour since two ladies were just finishing up their dinner. That being totally okay with my mom and I we walked a bit more around town and then returned about half an hour later. We were seated and everything was very delicious and the service was friendly and very attentive. I will come here again with my boyfriend for date night. The price is more on the expensive spectrum but not too high compared to other great restaurants on the island. Definitely, make a reservation ahead of time since the restaurant is not very big and tables fill quickly! I would give five stars but I need to return a second time for consistency before I could give the full five stars.

Great LBI BYOB Make reservations for any number. Waitresses & all staff are very attentive

They catered my son and daughter in law’s (first time saying that) rehearsal dinner on Friday. We couldn’t have been happier with the food and staff. Peter the owner is a gem. We had a lobster bake and it was a total success. We even had 3 non seafood eaters and Peter graciously accommodated them. This is my go to place when on the Island. Absolute gem.

overpriced, no atmosphere and crab cakes not lump crab meat. Would not go back I agree with the review that said save your money

Good seafood. Great service. Clean welcoming warm beachy place. Byob. Had linguine with clams. Lots of fresh clams. A little too brothy but still good. Gf got osso buco ravioli. Very good. Will go back.

This beach town is so blessed to have a quality Restaurant like this in their community. Don’t hesitate pick up that phone make reservations because they do fill up quickly but if food is important to you this will be worth the wait.
–Servers are alert!
–The ambiance is romantic and nice if you are out on a date and if you have kids it is just as accommodating and not stuffy!
–The bread is fresh and so delicious. I had to have more.
— And the seafood aha! No words!!! is so fresh you can taste the ocean! …succulent, juicy and delicious.
Go on and indulge! Bön appetite!

Love a BYOB. Family friendly place with very good service. Food was good. Really nicely decorated. Although it was our first time here, they made us feel like we had been coming for years. We would definitely go back and bring friends.

Went here last night and they accommodated us coming in a little before 9pm. BYOB!!! Sandy was extremely friendly! Ambiance is beach causal with a really cool starlit ceiling. Relaxing and cozy! Food was amazing! Had the beef carpaccio and fried calamari as appetizers. Beef carpaccio was thinly sliced and seasoned with capers perfectly, and the calamari was tender and light in flavor. We had The Ocean and the Osso Buca Ravioli. Portions were extremely generous — lots of seafood on the Ocean and lots of prosciutto on the Ravioli! Would definitely recommend this place — think that we found a new favorite spot!

This place is awesome!
We went on a Saturday night, in season, with a large group (had a reservation), and could not have been happier.
I got the New York Neptune — a very finely cooked strip steak, topped with crab & shrimp. We were celebrating a birthday, and the guest of honor had Carmen’s Catch, which is basically the ocean in a bowl.
Ambiance was perfect. The volume was perfect, although we were probably the noisy table…
BYO as an added plus!
We’ll go back in a heartbeat!

My wife keeps saying let’s try it again!
Well we are on our 5^th or 6^th try over 3 years and with moderate to no success.
Save your time, your money and your evening.
Fair to poor food quality
Terrible food presentation
Service is REALLY hit or miss and mostly miss!!!
They give it a good try but there are so many better options on LBI.

Kind of disappointing. We thought the chef was on it but not really just cooking the menu. We came early. Calimari was good, nice chef salad. Then our world was not so good. Each menu item was delivered but no chef looked over it and if so shame on them.
Two stars at best. Thought LBI had an actual restaurant, not so.

My girlfriend and I were looking for a nice BYOB place to go for dinner and decided on Carmen’s. It’s a relatively small place but we had no trouble calling to make a reservation 7:30 on Thursday.
The ambience is very nice and the staff was very friendly and attentive. My girlfriend got a house salad and penne with marinara while I ordered the crab cakes. My crab cakes were nicely prepared and crispy, but there wasn’t as much meat in them as I would’ve liked. The veggies were hardly cooked and were plain, except for the
mashed potatoes were nicely spiced and delicious. My girlfriends pasta dish looked great but she complained that the sauce was a little bland tasting.
My biggest complaint is that the menu was a little pricy considering the quality of food. Most entrees are over $ 30. While it wasn’t
bad, there are other options on LBI with better food for the same price or cheaper.

The best meal we have had on LBI. Peter and his team were great hosts and we had a great experience celebrating a 30^th birthday with them. Sandy was our waitress and she was great!
This is officially our new favorite restaurant on LBI!