Mom’s birthday tonight and she just wanted to stay in, so we got takeout from Esposito’s. We had not ordered from here a while and our last visit (the start of this thread) was two years ago. She loves their Bolognese, so she had that with rigatoni. BF had a calzone with pepperoni and black olives. I had Chicken Murphy. The hot peppers gave it a nice zing, but would ask for spicier next time. Pasta AND potatoes together. Carbs, carbs, carbs!
Only pics of my dish. Huge portion. I’m almost embarrassed to admit I polished off the whole thing…and lots of bread. The downside of a garlicky sauce.
As Covid changed the way we do takeout (we literally just do pizza, Chinese, and Indian now because Italian dinners and pizzeria sandwiches always end up just mediocre and Justin and I can cook almost anything better anyway), I was skeptical, but I ended up really enjoying my dish. The pasta was VERY al dente but I’d rather that than mush. Both dinners came with salads and bread.
When picking up, they had a decent crowd in the dining room. Their new location (the old Matawan Insane Asylum, err, excuse me, Pride of the Sea) is nice but very bright. Couldn’t imagine dining there with multiple glasses of wine and sitting in such a bright light. But we eat out so rarely now anyway. Would do takeout again. Prices more than reasonable.
Actually, their “new location” is about 10 miles south on Rt. 34 in Colts Neck - the old Thai restaurant across from Delicious Orchards is their “newest location”. Looking forward to giving them a try.
I’ve only ever been to the Manasquan location and they have discontinued bringing your food out to the car. In addition to eat in, they do pick up and delivery though delivery usually takes at least double the time, even factoring in drive time for me.
@NotJrvedivici I’ve seen the “Coming Soon” sign in front of the ex-Thai restaurant a number of times and thought you were wrong that it’s the “new” location for Esposito’s. But in case my memory was faulty, I didn’t want to say anything until I checked the sign again. Just got back from Delicious Orchards. Checked the sign and, indeed, it says Via S’Posito not Esposito’s. So it appears it’s an entirely different restaurant.
Hmmmmm now I can’t recall how I became of that belief however I may stand corrected. I’m going to assign my top Captain @seal to head up an investigation for the culprit!!! Seal, you have my orders…………Oh one more thing……bring them to me dead or alive.
The mystery is solved!!! Via S’posito’s isn’t the second location of Esposito’s on 34 & 79 in Matawan (one block from 516) is the second location of Via Sposito’s of 516 in Old Bridge. Those two locations are only a few miles a part so when I was told about this location and “who” was taking it over I confused them.
Yes, Via Sposito on 516 in Old Bridge is in The Village at the Town Center. VS’s entrance is across from Heirloom Kitchen and Thai Thai Cuisine. There’s also a sister location in Red Bank.
