Artisan’s Brewery And Italian Grill

Artisan’s Brewery and Italian Grill
1171 Hooper Ave.
Toms River
732-244-7566, artisanstomsriver.com

Hours: Mon–Sat, 11:30 am to 10 pm; Sunday, 11:30 am to 9 pm.

Price: $$

Style: Business types eat alongside families and first dates in a warm, Tuscan-style setting. Menu influences include Italian, Greek, Asian and American. Many come for just the beers brewed on site.

Don’t Miss: Burgers and pizza are tried-and-true, but there’s much more. At lunch, tuck into hearty sandwiches like the open-face roast-beef melt ($10.95) with cheddar, grilled onions and horseradish on rye, or the filet mignon souvlaki ($12.95) with cucumber sauce, lettuce and tomato on pita. In the warm farro salad ($10.95), the barley-like grain is deliciously tossed with butternut squash, spinach and a bacon vinaigrette. The generous entrée spinach pie ($11.95) will leave you with leftovers. At dinner, try one of the Italian specialties: eggplant parmigiano ($15.95), chicken marsala ($16.75) or gemelli with broccoli rabe and sausage ($17.95). At least eight desserts are made fresh daily, including a delicious tres leches cake ($6.95) topped with fresh berries and cream.

Heads Up: The on-site brewery crafts traditional beers, specialty ales and lagers. The beer changes seasonally; there are regularly six brews on tap, and another 11 to 12 in bottles. Their signature beers—a light ale and a red ale—are always available. Check the website for featured seasonal brews.

The Scoop: Formerly Basil T’s, Artisan’s was renamed in January 2010 by owners Peter and Petros Gregorakis to eliminate confusion with the unrelated  Red Bank restaurant called Basil T’s.