Zerillos Italian Grill

This is a neighborhood gem in an unassuming strip mall. Typical old school décor down to the checkered red and white table cloths. The menu to the typical New Jersey old school Italian fair of pizzas and parmigiana offerings. The server was accommodating and friendly. The pasta was well prepared and the sauce is good. The salad is crisp and fresh. The pizza has a nice crust with plenty of cheese. The price point is very reasonable. It’s a nice family dinner kind of place.

Such great food! I have never had a bad meal and tonight was no exception. Filet carbonara w/​sautéed spinach was out of this world! Great wine prices and the pepperoni rolls will keep me coming back!!!

2 hours for a pizza and nobody will answer the phone when you call.
Poor service on delivery and this is from a local customer who has been ordering from here at least 2 times a month for the last 4 years…
Something has changed at this restaurant and not for the better.
Very, very disappointing.

I have heard that Zorrillos will under new ownership soon! Stay tuned I will try it again and hope for better results.
Has anyone noticed that the reviews come from the same two people and they don’t review anything else??? (FAKE)
This place just isn’t any good. The manager/​owner acts like he doesn’t want to be there and you shouldn’t either. The food is over spiced and salty. Kitchen is dirty. I am giving it a one for lack of cleanliness. Bring your blood pressure medicine. Between the salt and lousy attitudes you are going to need it.
Also, two ounces in a glass of wine? Give me a break. Buy a bottle if you want to wet your whistle.
Try Fresh Bites on the other end of the shopping center. It has good food and interesting wines.

Good food but terrible customer service. They will deliver to you if the right person answers the phone. They’ve been to my house and my neighbor’s homes numerous times then today I’m suddenly 6 miles from their restaurant when Google maps says I’m 4.7? Also, they won’t let you order everything they offer if you dine in for dinner. Subs are suddenly only a carry out item at night. Clearly they don’t need the business?

Very dissapointing. The stuffed mushrooms were 10 dollars and only stuffed with soggy breadcrumbs. The chicken piccatta, which i had enjoyed on a prior visit, was disappointing at best. The portions were smaller and the prices were higher. Not one drink was even offered a refill, and the waiter did not once ask how any of the food was. The waiter was more dead inside then the chicken piccatta I was eating. The service was abysmal at best, but on the bright side, they did have a candle that looked cool, hence the reason they get one star.

The bartender was very friendly and accommodating. The dining room was very nice, however the best part was the service by Chris and the food! We had stuffed mushrooms as our app, linguini and clams as our entrée and sugar coated donuts for dessert. The food was very authentic Italian. This was our first time here and will be back!

Horrible experience! We went here for a business holiday party, and from the moment we arrived the staff were EXTREMELY RUDE and unaccommodating, despite this reservation being set up days in advance. The salad was ok, but the Chicken Marsala was bland and the baked ziti I could have made better myself. Very disappointing, and there were at least 4+ open tables at the time we were there, so NO EXCUSE! Even the owner/​manager? was quite disrespectful to the gentleman hosting the event, and as I stated it was a professional business gathering, so of course our party was on their best behavior! Just an awful experience! And normally I love to support local small business, not here!

You know how in Mafia type movies, the characters usually go to some Italian restaurant or Italian supermarket, only to be brought to a room in the back where the bosses eat? Where the real Italian food is served? Well, if like me, you always found that enticing, Zerillos is just the hit ordered… I mean restaurant ordered! Ignore that last part.
Tucked away behind some trees from the road, Zerillos is found in a small shopping plaza just on the edge of the Westchase area. Walking in, you find you see no tables. Just a bar area, host stand, and a hallway. You are brought down this hallway to the seating area «in the back», just like the Mafia bosses! Hey look! it’s Paulie Cicero! …I hope I paid him back… quickly, let’s get to our romantically lit table in case I didn’t!
The atmosphere is perfect, not dark enough where you need a miners hat but also dim enough to still be classy. The service has always been great, much better than what you normally receive for food in this price range. You get treated with the service and surroundings of a high class restaurant at middle-​class prices. That is getting increasingly difficult to find these days.
They have a great selection of food that has always come out amazing. The staff is also very knowledgeable about the menu and we have had no trouble making substitutions or special requests.
Zerillos is a wonderful dining experience. If you love Italian food, get over to Zerillos. If you don’t like Italian food, let’s fix that by getting you to Zerillos. For those of you that are not Goodfellas fans, you don’t have to worry about Paulie or the other bosses, they won’t give you too much trouble… for the most part. Hey look! It’s Frankie Carbone! He took care of that thing for me last… oh my, I have said too much.

Above average food and well above average service. Portions are large and flavorful. This restaurant is walkable from my home. It is good as mentioned but I would frequent more often with a more interesting menu. Quite basis Italian.

Amazing Italian food. Service is great! We had the chicken parmigiana and the fettuccine Alfredo and let me tell you. The dishes are HUGE! I would definitely recommend this place if your hungry. You won’t be disappointed I guarantee it!

I had to do another review. We came back here for the pizza and it beats New York. I’m from up north myself and I cannot believe how wonderful the food is here. If u are looking for a taste of «home» then u found It. Everything from scratch and everything is delish. It reminds me of being young and eating my moms home cooking. If you haven’t come here yet, you need to. Great food and great service.

So, it’s Friday night and we arrive to eat some delicious Italian food. We get seated and our waiter asks us for drinks. Everything is great, except how the waiter treated us for the rest of the night. What looked like a prejudice vibe was confirmed. The waiter would not look at us and would get frustrated with us. C’mon you can’t treat your customers like this?!? I’m paying over $ 100 for food, which was terrible by the way. I ordered the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. The fettuccine was undercook and the Alfredo sauce was really liquidly. On top of that our waiter was very rude to my mother, she had ask «may I speak with you?» several times! He just didn’t want to talk with my family. By far my worst experience in dinning ever. Please save your self the embarrassment and don’t dine in. Their pizza’s are great but the rest isn’t.

Owner is so arrogant. Twice I have been there when he was rude. The first was when my children ordered their sauce on the side for their pasta. It was delivered with the sauce on the pasta and the owner asked if they would just eat it that way. The second was when we arrived 30 minutes before closing. I totally understand the concern but we were going to order items that were fairly quick, respecting their hours of operation. Once again, the owner was rude. We asked if he preferred us to go elsewhere and he raised his hands to say, he did not care.
This is not a inexpensive restaurant, no one should be treated as such. Never will we visit this restaurant again. Honestly his attitude does not warrant his less than average menu and food. Do yourself a favor, DO NOT VISIT this restaurant. You are not appreciated. Do not waste your money here! Do not waste your money here!

I absolutely love there Baked Ziti! And there Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad is Amazing! And there Garlic Knots are Yummy & Big! I love when they have there Mini Cannoli special. They may sell out sometimes because there so good! There food never disappoints! I eat there at least once a week! Love this Place!

The pizza was terrible a bunch of cheese just thrown on it, was a big mess, not even close to New York style.

One star because terrible customer service. We were waiting for 40 minutes with a party of 8 and they kept telling us 15 minutes. We had 3 hungry kids with us and they had a ton of tables available. They didn’t seem to care at all or try to accommodate us. Such a shame. If you can’t serve a party of 8 tell us before we keep waiting or offer to seat separately… We just left and went across the street.

After moving to Tampa from New York, I searched far and wide for a really good Italian Restaurant and was mostly disappointed. But then I found this little gem just 6 miles from my house. It’s located in a small strip mall, but don’t let the modest exterior fool you… this is the BEST Italian food in the Tampa Bay region.
My family and I come here every month or two and have been doing so since 2009. Over that time, we have probably only been disappointed once. I’ve also introduced many friends to this place and the biggest complaint was that the portions are simply too big. And the beauty of this place is that you can go basic (Chicken Parm, Veal Parm, etc…) or you can go with one of the more exotic specials and the quality is always outstanding.
The Red Sauce here is simply the best I’ve had South of Philadelphia. The Pizza is only adequate, but it’s not a Pizza joint… it’s a Restaurant. And if you’re looking for a surprise, ask them for the Zerillos Squares… they are not on the menu anymore, but the regulars know about them and they are to die for. Best appetizer you will ever have.

Full disclosure — I’ve never actually dined in at this place, but have ordered take out many times. It’s my go to when I’m craving Italian having a lazy night (too lazy to even boil pasta apparently). The garlic knots are the star of each meal, but the half moon mozzarella and calamari are great too.
I typically order pizza or a calzone and have never had a bad meal from here, though there have been at least 3 or 4 times that some part of my order has been wrong (missing topping for example). But it’s never tasted bad, so I can’t complain. Food always arrives on time and hot.
I can’t speak to the service since I haven’t dined in like I mentioned, but hopefully I’ll change that in the near future.

I gave Zerillo’s a 3 star average rating because their service is 2 stars and the food is 4 stars.
My family and I don’t go out much for italian food, we prefer to cook it our style at home, but when we do go out or get take out, we usually get it from here. I ate in once a few years ago but don’t remember much about that particular experience. Ever since then, we basically just get take out pizza for an easy dinner night.
Last night (Halloween), we called in around 5:00 to get an order for 2 pizzas and were told to come pick it up in 45 minutes. We arrived at that time and it still wasn’t ready, so we left and waited for them to call when it was finally done. A whopping *2 hours* pass before our food is finally ready. Thank goodness we ordered early or we would have been some hungry bears. I know it was a busy night for them, but taking 2 hours to cook 2 pizzas is a bit extreme.
I will say their pizza is fabulous though, one of my favorites around. Nice and thin crust and whatever is in the sauce smells and tastes fabulous. It’s a bit heavy on the grease (probably why it’s so dang tasty), so for those trying to cut back be sure to blot the pizza with napkins before digging in.
I would still go back here again since their pizza is so good but it would be nice if they could get more accurate with their timing in the future.