Esposito’s Pizza & Deli

This past Saturday night, I called and ordered a pizza along with chicken marsala, which came with a side of spaghetti. The order was to go and I said I would pick it up. I was told around 20 minutes. When I got there, around 5:30, there was not 1 person eating in the restaurant. I arrived early, maybe in 10 minutes from the time I called and the chicken and spaghetti were already bagged up and ready to go. The pizza took a few more minutes. I remember thinking how could the chicken be done so quickly if it was freshly prepared? I got my answer once I brought it home. The chicken tasted rubbery, like it had been previously frozen. The so called marsala sauce was a disgusting brown gravy that tasted horrible. The spaghetti was cooked just right but only had about ½ the amount of sauce it could have used and the sauce was tasteless and watery. Even the pizza, which is normally very good, had very little flavor, as if they used a cheap sauce and forgot to add the garlic and spices.
I really hope I just caught them on a bad night but I am not sure if I will go back, as there are plenty of options in the Cedar Grove /​Verona area.

Placed a large order with them. I called to place the order and the girl asked if I wanted half or full tray. I said full. Also asked how many people a 3 ft sub would feed. She told me there are only 8 slices in the sub (which really has about 20 slices). I asked them to deliver the food at 230. The food came at 250 twenty minutes late and I see half trays. The ticket said 1 tray not half. I called and they said they don’t do full trays and charged me additional for the half trays owed (so I had the full tray) though the ticket said 1 tray they said they need to charge me for the additional trays. They didn’t do anything to accommodate any of their mistakes no price cut, didn’t throw anything in. Even though I didn’t have all my food till after the party started. It was ridiculously expensive and I expected to be treated better than they did when I called. They lost a customer for life.

disgusting food! gave me heartburn and worse immediately and through the night even with antacid. overpriced for bad quality! will never order again!
any positive review must be from a friend or family member, no sane person can eat this food and like it. worst italian food i ever tasted!!!

Special Letter A sandwich. All. Day. Long.

Place an order for 4 paninis and 2 pizzas, said I would pick up at 5:45, got there at 5:30 order was ready and cold

Nice people in a clean and brightly lit place but not my first choice when I think Italian food. The pizza is ok. Plain, white and buffalo chicken slices were top picks for me.
I’ve since found better slices in town and only go to Esposito’s for a chicken cutlet sandwich or their California spring salad with grilled chicken — both very good.

My favorite meal from here is the A sub. It’s chicken cutlet, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and mozz. Have to get it with their creamy balsamic house dressing. It’s so good! We’ve been coming here for years and are never disappointed with the food. Delivery times can be a little long on busy nights but it’s never been too bad.

Have been ordering from Esposito’s since I moved to Cedar Grove in 2011. The pizza is great and so is mostly everything else there; just never order fried calamari.

NEVER AGAIN!!!
I haven’t ordered from this place in a very long time (there are so many better pizza restaurants in town), and will NOT be back for a very long time. Ordered take-​out dinners for approx. 12 people on a Sunday night. Picked up the food (the place was very quiet which concerned me) and, when I arrived back home, found ¼ of the order missing. I purposely asked the women behind the counter if this was everyting since it looked a little light and her reply was YES. Well, 20 minutes later, they drove the rest of the order up…
When I called to complain, everyone pointed the finger on someone else demonstrating the incompetence of the staff and their ability to focus on ‘customer service’. How difficult is it to put an order together… COMPLETELY???
If you cannot execute the basics, close the restaurant down!!!
Food was plain at best.
With so many better pizza places in town, I don’t see this one surviving.

Ordered delivery this past Monday at 6:25 and was told that a pizza oreganote, Caesar salad and order of shrimp parm would arrive in 30 minutes. At 7:15 I called to see where my order was and they said it was on the way. The order didn’t arrive until 7:40. It was cold and since it was the third order on the delivery run, the pizza had steamed in the box and the shrimp parm dinner was mushy. Even if it was delivered warm, the pizza crust was too thick, the mozzarella was bad, the only redeeming quality was the basil that had a nice chiffonade cut. The shrimp smelled fishy and was too heavily breaded.
Everything was thrown in the trash after a few bites; it was a waste of $ 47. When I called to speak to the owner the next day, a fake apology was offered, but nothing more was done to rectify the situation. I don’t want a token for a free pizza, I just want value for my money and hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

OK. It happened again so I thought I’d post. I’ve ordered pizza from Espositos a few times now and every few times the pizza gets delivered cold. They really need to do something about their delivery as there are other options here in Cedar Grove that will deliver a pie much warmer…

They delivered chicken in wine sauce
Homemade lasagna, finger sandwiches
Salads
EVERYTHING was excellent

Pasta entrees are absolutely nothing to write home about. I ordered their Penne Esposito and it was honestly just noodles in balsamic vinegar… I would’ve preferred some sort of saucy-​garlic balsamic reduction (as the description suggests).
But, they do have an awesome family deal for $ 20 where you can have a pie, baked ziti, garlic bread and a salad. I do have to admit, their pizza is pretty good… which is why I give them an «a-​ok» rating.

The definition of Italian deli food… in town visiting the Italian side of the family and told them I wanted the real NJ experience… and I now have in my mouth the ultimate Italian taste… clean building and enthusiastic wait staff.

So after reading the reviews on this joint I stopped in for lunch. I heard the buffet was outstanding. It is an all you can eat value. I went from left to right and sampled the hot food they had. It all looked good, so my hopes were high and I was hungry.
Not bad for the price, but the food was just about edible. The penne was so overcooked I couldn’t pick it up with a fork, the marinara sauce obviously came from a can, the machine-​made synthetic meatballs were still cold in the middle because they were removed from the frozen bag they came in and dumped into some sauce that was just poured into a warming tray from its can about an hour before lunch (dead giveaway, they were all identical and perfectly round). The chicken was frozen, pre-​seasoned bone dry cutlets bought from the same wholesale food distributor as the rest of the products on display here. The tortellini was nasty and oily.
This is just another example of ownership cutting corners and looking for higher profits with less overhead. I completely understand the rational, but when you substantially reduce the quality of your end product, people will notice. I certainly did. I will never eat here again.

Recently went with some co-​workers for the some pizza lunch at Esposito’s. A few people told me this was one of their favorite spots, but after tasting a few other local pizza places, I didn’t think it held up.
The staff was friendly and great, but the pizza THAT DAY, just didn’t make me want to go back. I probably will to give it a second chance since it’s so close to work, but it’s not #1 or even #2 on my list unfortunately.

They make everything from scratch. Everything is fresh. And everything is legit to great.
Pizza is beyond solid — their dough has a nice chewy bite to it. And they always have interesting daily blends of pizza. You’ll see.
BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA. DO IT.
Their house blended dressing — you could just dip bread into it and eat that alone.
Pretty damn large portions all around. Dinners, lunch meals.
Try their cold sandwiches — they slice everything fresh, that slicer of theres is always chugging. And in some months they have $ 5 sandwiches that are bigger than your forearm. GREAT deal.
Hot sandwiches — holy crap. You will not be disappointed. Their cheese steaks are sliced steaks, not Philly style. Very interesting and yummy.
All you can eat steam table — everything is again fresh. Lots of options.
The staff is friendly, courteous, and they want you to be happy and fix any issues.
That’s how its suppose to be and they do it right. There is always an owner around — and they have the same motto, they want you to be happy and will fix any issues.
Its constantly busy and they’ve been there for years. I think they’re doing something right.
Bottom line: all their food tastes different than other places. That really makes them stand out to me. They are an individualist family owned eatery.

I have been coming here for years. Great pizza!!! Always something to look forward to! Great atmosphere, even good for groups and families.
Highly suggest!

In the last month I have had 3 meals here. One was a chicken dinner I thought was so lemony I could not eat it. Did they ask if everything was okay with this meal, no the barely touched meal was wrapped up and thrown away when I got home.
Meal 2 was a pizza delivery in the rain. Was the pizza in a heated case, no. Did rain get in the box making the crust wet YES. To add insult I had a coupon they never applied. So I paid extra for pizza that was half ruined.
Meal 3 the lunch buffet. HORRIBLE. Overlooked pasta cold and chewy mozzarella sticks, Stromboli, chicken strips, chicken wings you get the picture. When I asked things to be heated I had to wait for permission to make myself only a plate. Feeling like a pest the small amount was heated and no the did not replace what was taken, nor did they heat the other shelves of items that they were told was cold and not eatable. Never got a drink refill and no none of their staff asked how bad we thought the food was. Clearly was a customer takes 2 plates leaves the majority on the plate cause it is either overlooked or cold you should ask. When we sat there waiting for the bill we heard them complaining about how slow it was blaming vacations. Perhaps the quality of this food has just gone down as I don’t plan on going back. We wee also at a nearby restaurant the nite before and it was packed so the slowness is them. I am now a customer full time of lomardis down the street and Franco Anthony’s both much better quality

As a run of the mill pizzeria this place offers some great and delectable treats. First and foremost the food is always fresh. Very old country feel… think walking through palazzos and taking in the sights. The pizza is very well done and flavorful. Their calamari is superb; with just enough olive oil to add flavor but not drown it. Their veal parmigiana is delicious as well as their chicken. Overall the food lives up to one’s expectations. The one negative aspect of this establishment is the choice of employees. They are a character to say the least. Quite possibly a majority of the staff is high school girls with older college-​age gents that get a kick out of staring at them and acting tough behind the counter. Their bravado is simply tasteless and is off-​putting if you want to enjoy yourself. Aside from this overall the atmosphere is welcoming.