What’s in a name? Or two?

For 50 years, Pete & Elda’s has been a mainstay of thin-crust pizza in Neptune, and almost always ends up on pizza “Best Of” lists for New Jersey.  We had to check it out.

The building and location is certainly nothing special, but it was packed…PACKED with people, so we had high expectations. After a very long wait in a very crowded and noisy bar area, we were seated. We really wanted to be wowed, not by the surroundings, or even by the wait, but by the pizza. We kept the order short and to the point: two famous thin crust pies, one plain and one with fresh garlic.

We were quite hungry and were pleased that the long wait in the bar area was not duplicated for our table service. We dug into our pies and were…not wowed. Admittedly, it was very thin crust. And admittedly, it did not taste bad.  But a Best Of in the pizza stronghold of New Jersey? We think not. Federici’s in Freehold…Conte’s in Princeton…Esposito’s in Matawan…Brothers in East Brunswick…DeLorenzo’s in Trenton…and so many others are better. Leaps and bounds better.

Undercrusted and underwhelming

You could starve while waiting in line til 1 a.m.

There’s lots of other stuff on the menu, but honestly this place, which oddly is also known as Carmen’s Pizzeria, is really about the crust, cheese and sauce. They are known for their “eat a whole large pie, get a free T-shirt” policy, which, once we saw how thin the pizzas really are, seemed too easy. And seemingly to prove our point, several teenagers left holding their Hanes Beefy prizes right under our noses.

The takeaway? Sadly, not worth the wait.

Kaya’s Combo–yum!

We love Kaya’s Kitchen. This Belmar restaurant is one of the only places in New Jersey that has an organic, all-vegetarian menu that goes well beyond Asian cuisine. Comfort foods like lentil loaf with mashed potatoes are the real stars here, as well as Kaya’s Combo for an appetizer–an appealing mix of vegetarian hot wings, riblets, and crispy nuggets with a fabulous bowl of cooling potato salad alongside. There is always a wonderful array of soups, chili, salads and burgers, as well as artfully dressed entrees featuring vegetables and soy proteins. The vibe is laid back, evolved and eclectic, with live music on weekends (shout-out to The Stringbeans, the jazzy trio playing during our last visit) and a Sunday all-you-can-eat buffet we are dying to try. Prices are not cheap, but the portions are huge and there’s really no other place like this in the state that we can think of. It’s also a popular spot, so make reservations if you are targeting a Saturday dinner.

Belmar was ravaged during Hurricane Sandy and as of this writing all access to the beach was still cordoned off, but likely will be opened soon. Kaya’s was not damaged, with the exception of power loss, and its proprietors very graciously offered a “pay what you can” policy for diners in the weeks following the storm. Plenty of good karma (the name of another vegetarian restaurant in Red Bank!) and good food going around at Kaya’s, go and enjoy!