Alex’s Italian Restaurant & Brick Oven Pizza

A lovely little family Italian restaurant. BYOB, but a wine store right next store. We had a veal and chicken dish, both delicious. My favorite was the tiramisu

Their food is ok but their delivery is HORRIBLE. Nothing like getting your pizza completely cold.

This is a review for take away experience: previously our guests brought pizza from this place and we liked it. So I decided to check out this place and ordered mushroom pepperoni pizza over the phone. I picked up the pizza and it was amazingly delicious and fresh. My wife who usually doesn’t have more than one slice of pizza went to her third slice which proves how great the pizza was!

Nice Italian restaurant, 2min walk from Grove St Path station. Owners are a husband and wife that really treat you like family, will remember your names after 1^st visit. Good food and large portions on top of BYOB make for a great combo. Friendly and rather casual environment.

Amazing food and atmosphere… felt right at home!!! Definitely recommend this place to all my friends and family!!!

Girlfriend and I got the calamari and stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer and they were delectable. She got tortellini alla russa and I got chicken cordon bleu, both were tasty. The service was great and Alex is a super nice guy. Would visit again.

Generous servings, which excuse the Manhattan prices. (The leftovers taste even better the next day.) The ingredients are quality. The food is artfully plated, and makes the conventional dishes listed on the menu suddenly interesting. I had pasta-​fagioli soup and the mushroom appetizer. I was pleasantly surprised at how successful these dishes were.
Attentive, personable service. BYOB, and Alex took much care in serving us our wine. I didn’t see that they had pizza, so perhaps ask for the pizza menu if that’s what you’re in the mood for? Also specify whether you want bottled water or tap water. The warm bread rolls were a lovely surprise to dunk into the soup. The tiramisu was light, but I could have passed on the other desserts, which were fine but heavy.

The pizza is very good; Italian dishes are pretty standard. I came here one night with my boyfriend for dinner. We were craving Italian and we passed this place as we were walking along Grove st. We decided to give it a try. They had a nice spacious dining area. The Christmas décor was still up, which was fine by me. They were playing Christmas music though, which again I didn’t mind.
The waiter was really nice. He brought us water and menus immediately after seating us. He seemed a bit nervous in the beginning (we found out later that it was his first day). He came by a few times to check up on us and made sure we had water when we needed it.
As for the food, I ordered the Gnocchi con Salmone and my boyfriend ordered the special of the day: Chicken and Shrimp Franchaise. The salmon in my dish was well cooked and so were the red peppers and asparagus. The sauce was okay, wasn’t anything to grab about honestly. My boyfriend felt the same way about his dish. The chicken was cooked nicely, but there wasn’t enough seasoning on it. The franchaise sauce was just okay as well. We’ve had their Buffalo Chicken pizza and we really enjoy that. I think their bread and butter is their pizza, not their Italian dishes.
I will come here/​order here again, but I’ll stick to the pizza next time.

Worst meal in the 15years I’ve lived in Jersey City. Waiter wore a Blue Tooth the entire time as if he would have preferred to be anywhere but working on a Saturday night. The bread was the only edible thing on the table. Coagulated and greasy Alfredo at an astounding price and dry, tasteless, scallop-​shaped chicken. Shockingly bad all around!

The food at this restaurant was very good, but more expensive than I thought it would be. The owner and wait staff were very attentive and friendly during our visit. Our pasta dishes were delicious, and we didn’t have to wait to be seated. This made up for the «fake» iced tea we were served instead of the preferred brewed variety.

Had the fettuccine alfredo here with the stuffed chicken ‘cordone-​blu’. Excellent! Had a great time with the owner and some friends and it was a very nice experience! BYOB a plus! No charge for un-​corking which is also great! Definitely a place that I would revisit!

Time to update since I dined-​in and my last review is just about takeout!
I was under the impression that Alex’s was mainly takeout, but they’ve actually got a really pretty and spacious dining room. At night, they dim the lights and play jazz music and you feel like you are in anything but a casual pizza joint.
Usually at Italian restaurants I can never finish a hearty pasta entrée, so we split two apps and a pasta dish. We started with eggplant rollentini and stuffed mushrooms. Both were cheesy and delicious, especially the mushrooms which were stuffed with a creamy sort of cheese. The eggplant rollentini portion could have been a bit larger for the price, but at least it tasted really good.
For the main had pasta with sausage, peppers and broccoli rabe in a garlic wine sauce. The portion was large and plentiful and there was a ton of meat and veggies on the pasta. This paired great with lots of BYOB red wine… gotta love BYOB. Alex’s is about a foot away from my house so I would normally think to just take out and enjoy at home. But now that I know the dine-​in menu has so many options and the ambiance is great for a date night I’ll definitely be back in for dinner.

Great place!
Alex is so sweet and gave us the best service! :)
The food was amazing (we ate the veal parmigiana and the chicken with fettuccine) and the restaurant is really cosy.
Great place to have a date night!

Had a very lovely experience eating in this restaurant. We always had their food delivered and decided to dine in on a friday night.
My boyfriend and I were greeted the moment we walked in and were seated. Our dinner came with complimentary bread and butter. We met the owner, Alex himself, as he was going from table to table welcoming people and telling us their specials, which he described so vividly that my mouth was watering.
I ordered the gnocchi con salmone and my boyfriend had the seafood special with linguine. We also enjoyed the lobster bisque soup as well as the stuffed mushrooms and calamari for appetizers. Quality of food was great! He invited us to come again and was king enough to give us a gift certificate. I highly recommend this place!

I have heard good things about Alex’s Italian Restaurant on Grove Street. Since I moved to the neighborhood three weeks ago, my friend and I went there and indulged in their Scallops ala Milano and also their Eggplant with Marinara Sauce over Ziti. Both dishes were truly amazing. Very flavorful. Their homemade small twist rolls were tasty as well.
The food came out quickly and the wait staff was friendly and expeditious.
I want to highly recommend Alex’s Italian Restaurant.
Richard C.

Unsure how this restaurant got an average 4 star as an Italian restaurant. The food is really so so. We ordered 2 pizzas and a clam linguine in white source, the linguine was horrible, it’s like water boiled with no flavour at all! The boss was very kind and offered to make it in red source instead, but their kitchen clearly don’t know how to make a decent Italian style linguine. The pizzas were ok, again, just ok.
They offered us $ 15 off coupon if we come back next time, but I honestly don’t see myself coming back again.

What a great place to go. Actually met Alex himself and he made us feel at home. Came with my wife and children and he got to know them all by name. It was one of the best places not just restaurant I’ve been too. The food was amazing and delicious. A must go.
We truly felt like family. It is a fantastic place to go. The chicken parm pasta was excellent, as are the pizzas.

This place was absolutely AMAZING. The quality of the food, the environment, and the service. Alex greeted my boyfriend and I himself and when he read the specials of the night, he made everything sound so delicious! My boyfriend and I were craving Italian food so we decided to search Unilocal to see what was around that had a decent rating. We loved the environment as soon as we got there. Everyone was very welcoming and everything was perfect. I’m definitely returning!
P. s. It’s BYOB but there’s a liquor store next door.

First of all, it’s BYOB in downtown jersey city which is a huge plus. You really can’t beat the value of that. Second, really friendly, enthusiastic staff run the place. Third, the food is good, simple Italian in a neighborhood that is trending towards much more expensive, high end establishments.
I recommend this place if you are looking for a simple, BYOB Italian spot.

Have been here twice and always left stuffed and happy. Very attentive service. BYOB is a huge plus. And even though we brought our own bottle, Alex offered us complimentary wine as well.
Apps: calamari and stuffed mushrooms. I had this the two times I went here. The first time, the calamari melted in your mouth. The second time, it was a bit chewy. The stuffed mushrooms were spectacular both times.
Entrée: (1) Chicken Saltimbocca topped with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese in creamy cheese sauce topped with spinach. This was very well prepared. Chicken was tender.
(2) Zuppa de Mare which is an assortment of seafood — salmon, shrimp, sea scallops, and calamari simmered in a spicy light tomato sauce served over linguini. Plenty of seafood!!!
Dessert: They bring in a dessert tray and you get to choose which one you want to try. We had tiramisu. It was good, not the best I’ve had, but it was delicious.