Jules Italian Restaurant

Toms River, United States

3.4

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 732-255-5599
Address:
1861 Hooper Ave, Toms River, NJ, 08753
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Today

Today –
Local time (Toms River) 02:07 Thursday, 12 June 2025

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Tuesday –
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Friday –
Saturday –
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Description

Specialties

Our family run restaurant specializes in Italian and American cuisine. Serving seafood, chicken, veal, pasta and steaks. On Tuesday and Wednsday evenings we offer two dinners for $ 26.9! Your choice of chicken, shrimp, eggplant or pork chop parmigiana including salad & your choice of pasta .

We also have live entertainment twice a week! Friday evening come in and enjoy your dinner with Frank, our jazz guitarist. Sundays are a blast from the past! with Phil Cenicola playing the oldies. We also specialize in catering on and off premisis. Right next door is our private hall that accomidates 30 – 115 guests. No room rental fee. The resturant and hall are BYOB.

History

Established in 1945.

Our history begins with Julia Musto who was the owner of the very first Jules Italian Restaurant, located in the Jersey City Heights. She made a name for her self serving fantastic italian dishes.

Years later in the 60’s Julia’s daughter Rita and her husband Bob Voorhees opened our second location on West Side Ave in Jersey City. This was quite a landmark, Jules became the local favorite. Customers joined us after St. Peters basketball games, for our famous pizza. People still rave about the family dinners that they shared at Jules in Jersey City!

Then in 1996 Bob and Rita’s daughter Barbara opened Jules South in Toms River This then became the popular eatery for our South Jersey customers, they dined on our pizza and Rita’s Homade Lasagna.

Then in 2004 Barbabra decided to bring her restaurant down the block, literally!

Jules Italian Restaurant as you know it today opened and has been making fine Italian cuisine in there full service restaurant and catering hall.

Meet the Business Owner

Barbara G.

Business Owner

Barbara has been in the restaurant business all her life.

She started by helping her Grandmother and Parents in the family business, The recipes that have been handed down to her are still served in her restaurant today. Barbara grew up in Jersey City and attended St. Peters Collage. Years later stetted down and had a family, not too long after that she went into business for herself.

Barbara has two children Elise and David who are following in her foot steps.

«When you come to Jules, I want you to feel like you are pulling up a chair at my family table»

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20 reviews of Jules Italian Restaurant

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Place rating: 4
Manhattan, NY
So happy to have found this hidden gem! Huge portions, byob and one of the best antipastos I’ve ever had. Was not a fan of the dessert as it was pretty frozen but once I ate the leftovers, it was just a fleeting thought in my mind.
Place rating: 4
New Church, NJ
Family owned and operated! The owner is in the kitchen cooking! They use a lot of garlic, but I like that. The food was excellent and the entrée was enough to feed at least 3 people!!! The staff was very friendly and there was entertainment who was very good. We will return!
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
Came here for a family get-​together. The food was excellent, I particularly loved the antipasti salad that had pepperoni, salami, peppers and cheese! The penne ala vodka and eggplant rollatini also stood out.
Huge thanks to Elise for the excellent service.
Place rating: 4
Ridgewood, NJ
Was here for a birthday party and the food was fantastic. Only flaw was that in a party of 20 + my boyfriend and I were the first to order and get here and last to receive our meal. Other wise it was great !
Place rating: 5
Brick, NJ
I went to Jules after having 2 friends recommend it, and now I will be recommending it to friends! The food was delicious; the bread and oil was great, mozzarella and roasted peppers appetizer was great, and I recommend the chicken pepperoni for the main course! While the dinners are pricey ($ 18-​$ 25), you get quality food and a ton of it! Totally worth it! Service was also great, our waitress was a pleasure, attentive and friendly. The place is also BYOB, which is always a bonus. My only complaint about the place is the lackluster atmosphere, the place no doubt needs a makeover. However, this would not stop me from returning!
Place rating: 5
Brick, NJ
Good family style restaurant, large portions fresh & served hot. We shared drunken clams for an appetizer, they are so good, the sauce was delicious, be careful not to fill up on the bread! The bread was warm, crusty & delicious, dipping sauce is very good. Salad was fresh and not the mixed greens, yeah! I ordered the chicken di Vinci, hold the mozzarella, chop the broccoli rabe, it was great, I ate less than half the portions are huge. My fellow had the putanesca, it was hot & delicious, plum tomatoes and all. We also split meatballs, I ate a small slice very good & very good gravy! I had a take home bag will get 2 meals from my leftovers! Unfortunately no room for dessert! The waitress was great, live music too, nice Sunday date night! Bob, who’s 91, was the original owner in Jersey City was there, what a treat it was reminiscing with him! Jules is named for his late wife, now the granddaughter, Cathy, runs the Toms River location. It’s a BYOB too. There’s also a catering room, off to the side, no charge for use of the room, holds 100 – 150 people.
Place rating: 1
Toms River, NJ
Terrible business. I bought the $ 50 voucher for $ 25. I went to use it. Says they open at 5:00 pm. I arrived at 5:00pm. There is a sign on the door, they will not be opening until 6:30pm. I called, and was told it would be 6:45pm.
I need a refund of my voucher, as I will not return.
Place rating: 5
Toms River, NJ
This place is awesome! Family owned made to order just like grandma used to make I felt very at home here and come in it’s bring your own booze. So this would be a great date night if you live in silverton I would consider walking so you can drink and just walk home! Silverton is such a nice neiborhood to walk around in. I got the chicken parm and my boyfriend got the chicken murfey very good and big portions
Place rating: 5
Toms River, NJ
We have been eating at Jules for quite a few years and have never had a bad meal.
I love the Veal Saltimbocca. Last year we ordered dinners on Christmas Eve to go as they are not open to eat in that night and everything was great. We decided to do the same thing this year, but I also ordered a lasagna to have as my pasta course on Christmas Day. I am not usually a lasagna fan, but this was the best I ever had. Everyone raved about it. It was so light and my family is used to lasagna without meat as that is how my grandmother always made it. My grandmother’s lasagna was good, but I have to say this was better.
Barbara’s lasagna will be staple for Christmas every year.
Place rating: 5
Toms River, NJ
I’ve been eating here since I was a little girl and I’ve never been disappointed with the food. The owner takes so much pride in the food she serves and it certainly shows, anything you order is cooked with great care.
Place rating: 4
Leesburg, VA
We had reservation but no table available. Hostess took over and made us a table and was a great improve waitress. Food great. Nuff said.
Place rating: 1
Brick, NJ
Where should I begin?
Should it be the salad oil used to dip bread in or the most incredibly bland meal I’ve ever had in my life?
We’ve eaten here before and had great meals, but this experience put the nail in the coffin.
My veal piccata looked like cow tongue and my wife’s chicken special looked like a car accident.
We could not wait to leave for ice cream and have some type of substance for dinner.
My dog’s dry food would have been a better choice.
Do yourself a favor and go to Culinary School Sweetheart!
Place rating: 4
McLean, VA
Walked in on a Friday night, pre-​beach season and got seated right away (at about 8:30pm). Service was very friendly, attentive (without hovering) and quick (but not so quick they were bringing the entrée before the salad was done). We got the Chicken Mona Lisa and Penne w/​meat sauce. Both were really good — I’m from NY originally and now live in the DC area and you just can’t get good standard italian food like this there. The chicken mona lisa seems to be the house specialty and for good reason — it was really good. Portions were huge — easily enough for a whole other meal if you bring home the leftovers. The owners daughter was our server and she was really great. However, we seemed to be the last customers finishing up there so it’s not a very late-​night type place.
Place rating: 1
Brick, NJ
If you have pretty low standards for Italian food, you can go to Jules. Otherwise, stay away. The meal started with some bread and olive oil. However, what was strange was the olive oil was not extra virgin, but tasted more like vegetable oil. Moreover, for the quality of the food and the slow service, the price of our meal was ridiculous. If you live in Brick, just go to Carraba’s, better food for better price.
Place rating: 2
Newark, NJ
We bought the 25 for $ 50 Unilocal deal. We were served quickly. The fried ravioli special app was great, gf’s linguini with vodka sauce was good as well.
I had srimp stuffed with Jumbo lump crab. No crab, all filler. For 24.95 for that dish alone, stay away… it was bad. If it weren’t for the meal deal I had bought through Unilocal,I would have just sent it back. It was late and me and GF were hungry as we just wanted to finish up and hit the board walk for some epic Khors.
The marinara sauce they use is great, pasta portions are large. Service is quick. Basic pasta dishes seem great here. Seafood… Not so much. :-(
Place rating: 4
Berkeley Township, NJ
While the food was good, the service was very slow. For dinner before 6 on a Sat evening, I was shocked at the delay in simply taking a drink order, much less salads and the main course. Our table had a variety of food-​chic parm, meatballs were pretty good, baked ziti. We had a party of 6 and they added the gratuities in (not realizing so, I tipped my normal 20%) — would have appreciated staff letting me know it was included before I gave the waitress half the bill in a tip.
Place rating: 1
Howell, NJ
Thank g*d for a reservation. Place was packed, couldn’t tell you why. From start to finish total time for 2 was TWO hours! Thankfully they served us a basket of bread with Italian oil to curb the starvation. We waited a good ten minutes for a water
and a diet coke.
Next came the entrée– waited at least 30 mins for chicken parm (enough for 4) and chicken Mona Lisa (BF did not like whatsoever). After the total of 35mins it took to eat. We waited and waited and waited for our entrees to be wrapped and if we wanted dessert. Said, «no thanks. Just the check.»
Honestly took a good half hour for her to get the check. Unfortunately we paid with credit card which took an additional 15 mins to get back.
Needless to say we are super happy to be out of there and spending our V-​Day bitching about this place.
All in all. Too loud. Sucky slow service… Mediocre food and terribly uncomfortable chairs for the excruciating 2 hours of our lives that we will never ever get back. Thanks Jules!
Place rating: 2
Toms River, NJ
Chicken parm people? CHICKEN PARM?!? That’s chicken. Cheese. Sauce. Not much to mangle. If you’re rating Italian joints on the quality of their chicken parm, then we’ve got problems. The menu has raviolis. Yeah! Chicken francaise! Woopee! A SALAD??! With balsamic vinegar? Oh Jules, how did I ever live without you?
If you like friends that eat nothing but spaghetti and meatballs or want a good place to take grandma for the early bird special, this is it. For everyone else that likes real Italian food that you can’t pick up in Shop-​Rite for $ 6.99, come join me…
Place rating: 4
Clifton, NJ
Really good food.
We went here on a Saturday night with a party of 7 and had an easy time getting a reservation. Looks are very deceiving. It is located on the side of a strip mall. At dinner time the entire strip mall is completely empty. We got a little nervous. But then when you go to where the entrace is, there were a bunch of cars.
Not too crowded, service was attentive but maybe a little laggy. All of the food we had was great. I had the shrimp scampi. The shrimps were huge. I tasted the chicken parm, lobster raviolis, and some pasta with broccoli. Everything was great. All entrée come with a salad as well. The balsamic dressing was really good.
Also, it is BYOB which is a huge plus. Prices were extremely reasonable. Bread, salad, entrees, tax and tip came out to 22 dollars per person. Good deal in my book. Also, they add gratutity on parties of 5 or more. We didnt realize that when we settled up, but we were able to straighten that out.
Would go again and would recomend to others.
Place rating: 3
Aurora, IL
Right, so the food is goooooood. It’s delicious, even. My cheese lasgana was really, really really cheesy, with not quite enough sauce, but still really tasty. The chicken parm my friend had was yummy as well.
The service sucked. We stood there for around 5 minutes waiting to be seated, with two employees walking right by us without so much as a glance. When we did get seated, it took a while for our server to come over. We got our salads and bread promptly, and before I was finished eating my salad, the bus boy came and took it off the table. Our food took about 30 minutes to come out, which was fine, but our server didn’t visit our table during that wait, so we ended up with hot food and no drinks. We ended up having to ask for a refill after flagging her down.
All in all, it’s worth a visit. I’d go back for the food, and just hope that we got a different server the next time.
UPDATE: I went back a second time, and ended up with the same server, and again, she took forever to get us our drinks, bring the bill, or generally check on us. We ordered garlic cheese bread which took about 15 minutes to come out and during that time, they brought us regular bread so we ended up a table full of bread. The garlic cheese bread isn’t good, it was really greasy and it could have used some sauce or something to make it easier to choke down. Our food took a super long time to come out this time, but it was really hot when it did.
During the time we were waiting for our server to come back with a refill, I could see her talking on the phone, eating and standing there talking to a co-​worker. When it came time for the bill, we sat there for about 10 minutes before she asked if we wanted the bill, then waited another 15 minutes for her to bring it to us. She only had one other table and she wasn’t helping them during this time, either. It’s a shame that the food is overshadowed by such poor service.