Grana Pizza Cafe

I have to say tonight's dinner was very bit "5 Star"!
I had AngelHair Pasta a la Vodka- it was great.
My husband had a special request- Cavatelli in White Clam Sauce- also great. Last he had his standby, Chicken Parmigiana- his favorite. Generous portions, wonderful ambience, Lou is a great guy (the owner). This is our go to place- our favorite. We also love that it is BYOB ! Child friendly, group friendly- what more do you want ?

We look forward to going again; I would like to try more of their menu. I feel this review is too soon to tell; but I liked their spacious and clean dining area without any strong food smells. There was a TV in the corner large enough to see. I think they have a bar area possibly closed due to COVID-19. Staff wears masks and super friendly. Our waitress was awesome.

He tried the chicken parmigiana sub, and I tried steak sandwich adding peppers, onions, and provolone. The steak tasted charred (not really grilled) but chewable/thin. The onions had crunch, (I would have preferred caramelized onions and I would request that if I order again). The half size (was 10-12") I cannot imagine eating whole, but packed up nicely for lunch the next day). The potato croquettes (complimentary from Yelp check in) was nice to have something after checking in.

Oddly, Ciro kept coming up on maps, in reviews, and pictures. From the street "Pizza Cafe" is all that is visible. If you squint your eyes (Grana) is there.

Will go again; we arrived close to closing so we ordered sandwiches. I would like try thin crust grandma pizza, and some of their dinners. TBC. I can update the review soon. Seems like a safe bet though if you are wondering to eat here or not...

Grana Pizza Cafe in Matawan, NJ cuts our $200 first holy communion cake incorrectly. The manager working did not apologize at all and told my sister she was wrong when the workers immediately took the cake right away without asking how to specifically cut it or with a minute for us to speak. Once my sister saw they were slicing it wrong, she kindly asked to stop cutting. And when we asked for the cake back they would not give the cake back. This is the cake. They cut the cake in half and left the top half of whatever was left of the poor cross cake. You can clearly tell how to cut this cake. It was a thick sheet cake, not a 2 tiered cake.We had 30 ppl just about and the cake was able to feed 50. While the commotion was happening, all the workers disappeared and did not come back to serve us and started snickering and laughing when our party left. Most disrespectful and unprofessional manager/ restaurant establishment. Point being, the rude manager could've apologized or made the situation right instead of blaming your customers.

Ordered chicken picara, sauce was nice but chicken had no color and was gross...it tastes like old brown paper bags...very disappointed

Love this place. Best seafood salad in NJ. Great service. Friendly staff. Rice balls, mussels, Wings and other apps are all amazing. Pizza is delicious. Reminds me of Joe & Pats on Staten Island. They also have a excellent upside down pie as well. The calameri in red sauce entree is fantastic, so is the Linguine & Clams. It's not easy finding good Italian places in NJ. I highly recommend this place.

Ordered mozzarella sticks to go and this is what I opened. Completely overcooked and none of the sticks had cheese left in them. Seems like the weekend staff doesn't have the same quality standards for food like the weekday staff. We normally love this place. Who would put this in the container and think "this should be fine." I never thought someone could mess up mozzarella sticks, but clearly they can.

Beware- credit card charge.

Unfortunately, I have to give a bad review. I have ordered here a few times and I enjoyed the food. I normally like the eggplant parm sandwich. Thursday night I got pickup eggplant parm sandwich they are $6 for a small. My dad was picking it up for me and I gave them my debit card over the phone to pay beforehand. They told me the total is $6.36. They did not give a receipt when my dad picked it up for me which I didn't like, but it happens so I didn't give it much thought. However, I checked last night and was charged $9.19? I called and they told me there is a $2.75 credit card charge. That is very unprofessional not to inform me over the phone beforehand. It sucks because I have liked their food but do not want unaware charges to me and will not go here anymore.

The pizza and food is pretty good for the area
I usually get delivery , the very young inexperienced people working the orders seem to mess up my order more than not but they usually credit the screw ups with no problem

Ehh food I think is okay nothing to loose my mind about but it is what it is. For sure pretty pricey but I think overall it's a good restaurant if you want a decent date night. Wouldn't mind returning but wouldn't be my first choice
Chicken Parmesan and potato's and greenbeans

Excellent pizza. Thin crust with the perfect combination of sauce and cheese. The staff are always friendly and make you feel welcome. I've been coming here for years and have yet to be disappointed.