Panico's Bistro

Make a reservation ahead of time . We did and were glad we did this time. The crowds descend on this old church building turned quintessential Italian bistro like a WNBA game in Indiana .The menuis great , the garlic in the air is wafting throughout upon arrival. The brick oven fire and overall atmosphere scream “family dinner”. Share everything ! You will want to taste it all, I promise. Appetizers are a good size , so an appetizer and salad would be a filling meal for sure . The complimentary bread is hands down the best I have ever had , anywhere at anytime- never change this ,pretty please. Likely some iteration of their light crispy pizza dough it arrived oven fresh with a well seasoned EVOO . You will be tempted to just eat the bread that’s how good it is . It is BYOB so keep that in mind . We were seated right away just after the 5 pm opening as we had made a 5:15 reservation . We were greeted immediately by a gracious well trained hostess. The entire restaurant was full with a wait by 6 PM, a testament to the summer crowd or just the overall experience at Panico’s, likely the latter , as it’s probably busy year-round. Our server Riley introduced herself and recited the specials by memory, and kindly offered corking service for our wines . Top notch Professional service was evident right from the start. Any menu questions were answered right away without hesitation, the hallmark of a well trained seasoned server and great training . We ordered The Gnocchi appetizer, fried calamari, and Mozzerella Fritto for the table . Of course we were devouring the heavenly pillows of brick oven bread too! It was the Gnocchi for the win but all were delicious . Calamari was tender and fresh, mozzerella crispy and melted perfectly. For Dinner we ordered Chicken Parmigiana , Cavatappi , And 4 pizzas. The pizzas are available in 10” or 14 “ and they are all equally amazing. Fresh ingredients all around and that crust! South Jersey giving New Haven Connecticut pizza a run for their money here! Well certainly NY city pizza for sure. We selected the Marinara , marinara with pepperoni, the Pizza Bianco and the Margarita pie in various sizes to make sure we had leftovers. Every dish we had was amazing and as described. Service was impeccable and efficient. Dinner for six well under $300 . We cant wait to go back again . Thank God they are not closer to home because I might gain quite a few pounds if they were. Kudos Panicos! The world needs more Panicos Bistros.

This place is a gem. Our experience was a delight from start to finish. It started off with a phone call. The young lady was super helpful and patient. She informed us that they were accepting walk-ins as there wasn't a wait at the moment but perhaps a little later there would be. Sure enough, we had a 10-15 minute wait upon arrival but it only seemed to get busier as the night went on. They have a cool patio set up out front to wait while you are seated. If you BYOB, they will pop your cork at check-in and set you up with glasses to enjoy outside while you wait. Our server was super friendly, knowledgeable and very attentive. We were having trouble deciding on our meals and she was not once fazed, instead she was very patient and helpful. We actually changed our order after we had initially placed it and she took care of it without a hitch. The food was absolutely delicious. Definitely our best meal in Cape May. We had the Chicken Trofie, Crispy Spicy Salmon and Margherita Pizza. My mouth is watering just typing it out. Everything was wonderful. Definitely a must visit. Reservations are strongly recommended as this place was bustling and for good reason. Bring a bottle of your favorite drink as well. I didn't even get to mention the wonderful job they did converting an old church into a gem of a restaurant. 👍👍👍👍👍

Tried Panico’s for the first time while visiting Cape May for our first wedding anniversary. Wow! I wish we found this place sooner. We were lucky enough to make a same-day reservation online and got seated right on time. The food was excellent as was the service from our waitress, Maureen. We topped the night off with coffee/espresso and a pizza to go. Can’t wait to come back!

For apps we had a salad from the specials list and the lemon clams. Both were fantastic. I would drink that sauce from the clam dish. My fiance DID drink the sauce like a soup. My fiance had a crab special pasta which was good. I had the char grilled pork chop with the gnocchi and it was absolutely phenomenal. Could not recommend it enough. Dwayne was our waiter and he is the man. One thing I’d say is to sit downstairs or outside. The main floor is a little loud and echoey. But everything was great. Dessert and espresso drinks were also fantastic. Easily deserving of 5 stars. Plus it’s a BYOB. Highly recommend.

Had dinner tonight, dinner was excellent. Our server was excellent, I believe her name was Samantha. Gnocchi appetizer was spot on. My wife had the Snapper which she enjoyed. I had their pizza which was very good. Desert we took home, have not had yet.

My first time here and we loved it 😄 Read some of the reviews. Mostly good. Some bad... but took a chance and was pleasantly surprised! Have been coming to Cape May every year for over 20 years and this is our first time trying this place. We will definitely be back ‼️

Unfortunately among the worst service we have received for the amount payed. The ambiance is fantastic, the hostesses are so sweet. The bread was delicious and my dinner was great. My husbands dinner (the Pinot pasta?) was incredibly mediocre. However our server only checked on us once. My water was empty. Didn't check on us after we got our meal and forgot our sodas. We will not be returning. I won't name the server in case she was having a bad day.

I’ve been going to Panicos for years but last week was not good at all. The penne pasta tasted like it was reheated a million times so it was like eating paste. The sauce was so acidic I felt sick after the meal. The chicken parm burnt to death and my parents had veal that tasted like pork, also burned! We had a late reservation and the servers couldn’t wait for us to leave. I’ve been bragging to people about this place for years….thumbs down Panicos! I sent them an email and have not received a reply. Needless to say it was my husband’s birthday and not a cheap dinner.

The food was not good unfortunately, the pasta I had the sauce tasted sour like it was old, the pizza was bland and the sauce on the pizza very acidic. The dessert they brought out was absolutely old. I took a bite of the since and it tasted like sour old milk. The dessert was def old. The only good thing was our server and the bread and dipping oil. Would not recommend

We went for Valentines night 4ppl ordered 3 apps salad was bad octopus was ok but our rice balls were frozen inside that was disgusting they must buy them frozen.. Meals were terrible my chicken parm and Gnocchi was the worse I ever had I had 1 bite and couldn't eat any more the Sunday dinner was also disgusting was thrown all out as an Italian this place doesn't care about quality especially on Valentines day . We would rate it a zero on food....our 2nd time there and will never return