Bites Nearby: Pete and Elda's Bar/Carmen's Pizzeria

Pizza is a favorite among many. While there are a couple joints in Rumson and Fair Haven where you can grab a slice like , a gourmet pie like and , or even lobster pizza at , there is a unique and fun place that is worth a quick drive.

Pete and Elda's Bar/Carmen's Pizzeria in Neptune City may be the most well-known pizza joint along the Jersey shore. Whether it be the "eat an entire XL pie for a free t-shirt" craze, enjoying their other classic Italian dishes, or acknowledging the greatness of their thin crust pizza as a whole, Pete and Elda's is definitely a hot commodity, and fun to go sit at the bar with your friends or sit at a table with your family. 

A tradition for my peers during high school (let it be sports teams or just group of very hungry people) was to go to Pete and Elda's and try to get that free t-shirt. But there is more to this eatery than that.

They have been in operation for 50 years. They have been voted #1 Best Pizza and Bar in New Jersey Monthly Magazine, and #1 Pizza in Monmouth and Ocean counties as part of Asbury Park Press' Readers Choice Awards. I have Jersey friends whom have since migrated to NYC (the mecca for pizza!) make a special trip to Pete and Elda's for the pizza when visiting the shore. 

It really is a treat, and worth the trek (having grown up in the Two River Area, many of our peers frequented the drive for it).  Most recently when I visited with a few friends, we enjoyed a sausage and peppers pie and a classic plain. We ended up sitting at the bar because we were too hungry to wait -- it's always packed on the weekends. Additonal toppings available are quite traditional -- pepperoni, meatball, onion, anchovies, hot peppers, extra cheese, fresh garlic, black olives, and tomato. 

You may also, if not in the mood for pizza, enjoy a variety of their homemade Italian dinners.  They offer traditional pasta with various sauce options, lasagna, baked ziti, manicotta, ravioli, veal cutlet parmesan, chicken cutlet parmesan, eggplant parmesan, stuffed shells, scungilli marinara, fettucini alfredo, or fettucini carbonara. 

They also offer a long list of sandwiches in case you stroll in at lunch time: turkey, meatball, tuna, BLT, grilled cheese, and burgers to name a few,  and a long list of appetizers that frequent a bar scene (think buffalo wings, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, zucchini sticks, breaded mushrooms, etc). 

If you want to stay even longer, order off the dessert menu! They have ice cream, Snickers pie, cheesecake, tiramisu, Reese's pie, cannolis, etc. 

In additional to the typical alcoholic beverage choice, they also have frozen or blended cocktails, and a generous selection of non-alcoholic cocktails. 

If you want to know more, visit peteandeldas.com, call 732-774-6010 or just stop in, but be prepared for it to be busy!