PJ’s Place

Just ate Sunday dinner at pjs the absolute best. You can cut the meat with a fork so tender and delicious

Very good food we had the muscles and u certainly need. A loaf of the raise is amazing

So I came here with a bunch of friends and aside from our cold meals, my friend found a piece of cheese melted under her pancakes. Not sure if this was a new twist on a classic dish or if they genuinely don’t wash the plates AND don’t look at them when they plate their food. Regardless, unless you want cheesy pancakes, I’d stay away.

Place has really good food and an interesting menu. They have this chipotle mayo that they make which goes with a few dishes. I will be back to try more. Go And try it out.

Very friendly staff & a relaxing atmosphere. BYOB with a nice liquor store across the street!
I recommend the spicy calamari!

I was here over 4^th of July weekend. I could not believe the service at this place. My friends and I came here for breakfast after debating on several other options in the area. We ordered our food and waited over an hour! If it wasn’t for my friends feeling guilty about walking out, I would have left a half an hour earlier. I looked around and the whole restaurant was waiting for their food. We asked the waitress several times how much longer our food would be and many times we were told momentarily. I couldn’t believe how slow the service was here. They also had flies and fly traps everywhere which was disgusting. When our food came out it was lack luster and a waste of money and time. Do not come here, there are plenty of other places in the area.

The food in this place is mediocre at best. starting with the appetizers and ending with the main course. we didn’t stay for dessert, so cannot have an opinion on it. the waitress that was helping us did try, but did not know the menu. did not offer to tell us the specials and in general did not know the details of the dishes. She does get an A for effort though

Clams oreganato was a disgracefully small portion-​with inedible humongous chunks of garlic. My fish and chips were soggy, with no crunch whatsoever. my dining companion had crab cake sandwich-​which was well-​seasoned, but mostly breading. We
regret eating there.

The food is amazing. I did not expect good seafood for their prices at Seaside. There were at times when the service was MIA but I understood it was a busy weekend evening and it was tough to keep tabs on the outdoor and indoor seating at the same time.
The décor could use some work on the inside. It seemed very dark although they had large windows.

We gave PJ’s a shot after deciding not to wait 2-​hours to get into our favorite eatery in the area — Crab’s Claw Inn. The rating could have easily been a 4 or 5 based solely on the food and service but, being in the restaurant business ourselves, I think it’s important for the owners to hear some constructive criticism. I considered a 2-​star rating based on The Ugly but it’s something they can fix and I’m hoping they take my review in the spirit in which it is given.
The Good: The food was excellent. We had starters of Spicy Calamari and Artichoke/​Crab Dip w/​Bagel chips. The calamari was prepared perfectly and the spicy dipping sauce was very tasty. The Artichoke/​Crab Dip had a generous amount of crab and the bagel chips were a nice touch vs. the tortilla chips at most places. A couple of us had the Lobster Paella special and it was fantastic. A whole lobster (split), mussels, clams, scallops, and shrimp served over rice. Everything was cooked perfectly with the exception of my lobster which was slightly overcooked. This may have been a result of serving it on a bed of very hot rice. I saved the lobster for last, so it probably cooked a bit more sitting in the rice. The sauce was delicious and complimented the seafood perfectly. There was too much rice for me and I’m a big eater, so the owner might want to consider cutting down on the rice portion and put a few more pennies in his pocket. All 3 ladies in the group (all of Thai descent) ordered the Seafood Pescatore and the feedback was generally favorable, although they were expecting it to be a little more on the spicy side. I did not sample the dish, so I won’t give a detailed review. Maybe next time! On the service side, I thought the service was very good. We were a party of 9 (6 adults + 3 children) and the server was very pleasant and took very good care of us. We didn’t wait too long for anything, weren’t rushed, and the server accommodated our every need. On the price side, it was fair. We had 2 starters, 6 adult entrees, 1 kids meal, and soft drinks all around. The bill came to around $ 265 including tip which I considered a fair, but not a great, value.
The Bad: The ambiance is somewhere between diner and a hole-​in-​the-​wall. I’m less interested in the décor than the food/​service, so not a big deal to me. But the place needs some work that I’ll detail below. If you’re looking for a place that’s the least bit upscale, PJ’s isn’t it.
The Ugly: The primary reasons for my 3-​star rating is cleanliness. The dining area was rife with flies and we were constantly having to shoo them away from our food and persons. This was a huge distraction from the otherwise great meal. PJ’s has an outdoor dining area and the door to the dining room is also the door used by the servers to service those customers. Therefore; that door is always being opened — exposing the dining room to the six-​legged monsters. There are a few things that can be done to combat this and I would urge the owners to work on that ASAP. Also, the men’s bathroom was also a mess and was in serious need of a good cleaning and updating. There was no cold water in the sink and I would consider the hot water to be scalding. I couldn’t keep my hands under it for more than a second or two.
Sorry for the long-​windedness of my review. I normally wouldn’t provide so much detail but I don’t think I’ve ever been so conflicted about a place. I hope PJ’s corrects the issues I outlined as, with the food and service we enjoyed, it could easily be a 5-​star eatery.

Simple décor and personality to this corner gem.
To be honest, I’ve been anticipating this meal for months. Originally I was planning the Seafood Mediterranean; a melting pot of goodness. Lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams in a light tomato sauce. I detoured merely because of the volume of food. Instead, we (yes, the husband was brought in for a land lovers opinion) went with the summer special of crab stuffed zucchini blossoms, spicy calamari, Pork Parmigiana and –my dish– Seafood Pescatore.
To add to the casual, we relaxed at the Open Kitchen bar, and chatted it up with the owner Patrick, and staff. A very welcoming bunch who know what a restaurant is all about.
We were very much delighted in the flavor, well spiced, perfectly cooked dishes. The laid back atmosphere was a comfy touch to a truly ‘sea side’ experience.

Seafood Pasatore! Sooo much food. I wish I could have shared this. It was spicy so I couldn’t eat as much as I would like to have. This had mussels, shrimp, both cuts of calamari, and clams all sitting on pasta and spinach.
The owner was attentive of his customers, but a bit short with the young ones. Not a lot of outdoor seating and with the kids sitting on a table away from their parents, he would shoo them away.

I’m not sure PJ’s place qualifies as «seafood» or «Italian» — I would have pegged it as «Diner» or «American». Anyhow, I came here for breakfast since it seems to have pretty good reviews for breakfast. The pork roll sandwich I got was quite the animal — it was stuffed with a couple of slices of Taylor ham, three slices of cheese, and home fries in between. I would have much preferred the home fries to be served outside of the sandwich, so I picked it out. The entire thing was a savory, toasted, sodium bomb.
My boyfriend enjoyed the breakfast biscuit studded with Taylor ham and cooked egg within the batter. Overall, 100% hangover food.

Solid breakfast and BYOB!
I had the banana pancakes they were delicious! Didn’t even need syrup. All of the waitstaff was friendly and efficient.
Their thing is the breakfast biscuit, it sounded delicious but my husband didn’t love it. Said it could’ve been cheesier.
Everything was incredibly reasonably priced. $ 6.95 for 3 big pancakes.
Oh, there’s also a liquor store across the street!

Had lunch here with some friends after a fishing trip. Read about the restaurant on Unilocal and thought I’d give it a try. Definitely have some mixed opinions.
Pros — the new clam chowder was very tasty and is a recommended appetizer. The presentation of their dishes were appealing and their sides were delicious.
Cons — the service was sub par and the restaurant seemed understaffed. It took quite a bit of waiting to get a round of water. I had the PJ Lobster, described as being «…stuffed head to tail with crab and topped with shrimp and scallops…». Unfortunately, this lobster was anything but its description. While the presentation was great and made the food seem really appetizing when it arrived the actual flavor and taste could not keep up with its plating. The crab was mostly breading with no noticeable crab meat and there were two pieces each of shrimp and scallops. The lobster itself was on the more lean end, not having much meat or much flavor.
Perhaps if I had ordered off the regular menu I would’ve had a more enjoyable experience.

After reading all the great reviews, I took my family there for lunch. They weren’t kidding when they said this place looks like a dive. Fortunately, they weren’t kidding about the awesome food either! I would have given it 5 stars if there was even a hint of ambiance but there wasn’t, so I gave it 4 stars. I was almost tempted to give them 1 star so that it doesn’t get too popular. I want to be able to get a seat when we come back lol. We will definitely come back!

We went into PJ’S because we were looking for somewhere other than the boardwalk to eat. I am so glad that we found this place from the outside it doesn’t look like much but the quality of the food is great.
The staff is very friendly and our seafood was awesome I would recommend this place to anyone if your looking for good food.

Such an amazing seafood joint right in Seaside. We’ve been waiting for a place like this and thank God it has finally arrived!
Last summer once we discovered this place, we ate here 4 times in the span of 2 weeks. It’s that good.
If you drive past this place, you would never think it puts out the food that it does — but that’s why I love it so much. They don’t hide behind some fancy BS, they just put out good, honest, incredible food.
Don’t miss out on the Seafood Mediterranean one of my favorite dishes. Also the Tuna BLT is top notch. Get it as rare as possible!
Also it’s BYOB and you can eat outside, which I think is a big plus.
Check this place out, you won’t regret it.

AMAZING SEAFOOD! I couldn’t find a decent seafood restaurant during my vacation in seaside heights, and within 15 miles from Seaside.
I had the seafood paella here with my boyfriend. It was cooked perfectly. Service was impeccable! Not to mention, the water tasted like it was from NYC. I am not sure if Seaside Heights filters the water, but every restaurant before this one had HORRIBLE WATER.
We came here another evening during our vacation for my boyfriends birthday. The staff was very accommodating, kind, and genuine.
I must say, I love this place. It’s a block from my hotel, and I will most definitely be coming back!

Good:
— great mom and pop-​run seafood restaurant one block from the main street along the Seaside Heights boardwalk. So one can have a good time on the boardwalk and head over to this restaurant for lunch or dinner.
— a really good selection of options, both for lunch and dinner (soups, salads, appetizers, main courses and desserts)
— this place allows BYOB and there is liquor store right across the restaurant.
— they have both indoor and outdoor seating. We were seated right behind the town sherrif and his SWAT team’s table, who seemed to be regulars at this place, reassuring us that this place was definitely legit!
— dishes we tried:
Seafood Mediterranean– a mélange of scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams and ½ lobster. This is apprently their award winning dish. This is accompanied by angelhair pasts tossed in the same tomato-​based sauce that is in the entrée. This dish can be shared by two people, if not too hungry. This was a good dish, not great. The sauce was good, but the tomato sauce made the dish too one note and acidic for my taste.
Chicken parmesan sandwich– this came with a side of home made french fries which were good. The sandwich was fantastic and one of the better tasting chicken parm sandwiches I have had in a long time. This is definitely a big big portion and can definitely be split between two people. But husband liked it a lot, so he finished it:)
Broiled bassa– this was ordered by a friend with a side of fries. The options for sides were coleslaw, french fries, ½ corn on the cobb with rice, ½ corn on the cobb with baked potato. The entrée came with two full fillets of fish and the side of fries. This was again a great dish and again the portion size was generous.
Tilapia Provencal– this was ordered by another friend with a side of fries as well, this dish also came with two full fillets of tilapis topped with garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and capers. This was by far the tastiest dish on our table. The flavors were well balanced and on point.
Prices were increadibly affordable and the same food would have cost a bit in fancier places in the city
Bad: cannot really say anything bad about this place. The outdoor area is better suited for larger groups. The inside seating area is decent, but the tables and chairs are almost sticking to one another giving somewhat of a cramped feeling, so outdoor seating is a better option. They also run out of the «vegetable of the day» pretty early on during dinner time, so make sure you reach not too late for dinner, if you want to opt for healthier sides.
Ugly: Nothing in particular.