Great classic Italian restaurant…read more The ambiance is gorgeous and intimate Our service was quick and attentive The food is classic Italian food done right. The drinks are excellent, I love their espresso martinis.

I'm back to a great Italian restaurant. It is located on 124 Hebron Avenue in Glastonbury, CT in a…read morecommercial complex. The Happy Hour here is good! There's a good selection of food and quality cocktails. It's only 3PM-5PM so get here early. My sister also likes their GF pizza (with pepperoni). The pizza kitchen is an open one. The music is definite oldies in here. Disco Inferno! For my first drink, I'm having an Our Negroni made with Beefeater Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth and San Pelligrino Arancitta. Pelligrino Arancitta is an unusual ingredient. Sanpellegrino Aranciata is the original sparkling orange drink from Italy. I've never seen this in a Negroni other than at here. It is served quickly, garnished nicely with an orange wheel and a rosemary leaf (also odd). What a nice touch! They are quick to drop off a complementary ice water. For my first food item, I'm having the Chopped Antipasto Salad made with to subs lettuce, provolone cheese, Genoa salami, string beans (that's new), tomatoes, chick peas (that's different) and Parmesan cheese. They use cloth napkins and metal utensils. That's always a good sign. This is a good sized portion! I remember it as being much smaller before (I could be wrong). All the ingredients are quite fresh. It tastes great! For my next food item, I'm having the Our Meatballs made with parmigiano and garlic bread crumbs (per the Happy Hour menu). These are really the MY AUNT JOSIE'S MEATBALLS (just one less) made with stracciatella, mozzarella, toasted breadcrumbs and EVOO (per the Dinner Menu). These came out quick! They are piping hot! Oh yeah! These are delicious! Sauce is great too! For my next drink, I'm having The Spicy Mango. This is made with Tanteo Jalapeño tequila and Patron Mango Citrone. I'm hoping for a fresh jalapeño garnish. Let's see if they have it. Nope! But, the bartender offered a Tajin rim. Good idea! There a good crowd in here and it's nut even 4PM yet. The bar is full including the two high tops. This tastes great! It's nicely garnished with a lime wheel and has a huge Tajin rim. It's has a little kick to it too! For my next food item, I'm having the Grilled Artichoke. This is made with crushed hazelnuts, lemon and Parmesan cheese. This is definitely a unique item you can't get anywhere else. These is good! I love the salad! Love those hazelnuts! What a unique dish! For my next food item, I'm having the Roasted Prosciutto Wrapped Dates. These are made with Gorgonzola cheese, toasted pumpkin seed and raw Brussels sprouts salad. These are great! Crunchy on the outside. I move that salad! Wow! They're playing Born to Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez. I've never heard that in a restaurant. He's a one hit wonder! For my next drink, I'm having the Venetian Martini. This is made with Absolut Citron, Aperol, Prosecco and lime juice. It's is nicely garnished and tastes great! It is strong too. You can taste the alcohol let me yell you! For my next item, I'm having the Happy Hour Cheeseburger (cooked medium) made with lettuce, tomato, provolone and a brioche bun. I'm not leaving here without it! This burger is huge! I love dill pickles and ketchup! This is delicious! For my last drink, Mercedes is making me a Mercedes Manhattan. Look at this masterpiece! A Manhattan is a classic, spirit-forward cocktail made with whiskey (traditionally rye or bourbon), sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters, stirred with ice and served in a chilled glass, typically garnished with a maraschino cherry or lemon twist. It's known for its balanced, complex flavor, with rye providing spice and bourbon offering sweetness, and variations exist using different spirits or vermouths. This is absolutely perfect! It's perfect garnished with an orange peel, two maraschino cherries and a sprig of rosemary. It is perfectly balanced. There simply is no better than this. It has a hint of chocolate in it. I like the square ice cube to slow the dilution process. They just played Waterloo by ABBA. I haven't heard that in decades! I just noticed that the lights dim as the night goes on. For dessert, I'm having the Vanilla Creme Brulee with a chocolate chip cookie. Hold the phone here! This was served in UNDER ONE MINUTE! I'm told they just torch it. I'm impressed! I think that's a record! I love the confectionery sugar sprinkle! Damn! This is good! No vanilla bean on the bottom (not everyone does that). Wait! I see it. It's on the edges! This is delicious! It's a good portion for sure! The last item is a GF pepperoni pizza for my sister. This is a rare treat she gets once (or twice a year). This place is the best!

I'm back! The restaurant is located on 389 Main St. in East Hartford, CT. It's been a few months…read moresince I was last here (December) which is a crime. Carmine's is a fresh from scratch kitchen that is ALWAYS open. Their appetizers, pastas, entrees and desserts combine old-world traditional Italian flavor with a modern flair for presentation, and the freshest ingredients around. Menu staples like rigatoni bolognese, fettuccine carbonara and chicken Milanese are coupled with unique recipes like chicken ala vodka and toasted almond cake. They've staffed the kitchen with a dream team of chefs and you can tell instantly! They also do parties, catering and online ordering/delivery. The restaurant is well known for its live music. There is never a cover and parking is always free. This place and produces absolutely amazing food and drinks. I have noticed quite a few menu changes. The Happy Hour menu has expanded. It's also no longer all day Monday. The main menu no longer has prices on featured drinks (although that's the tre d these days). Note that the Bar Bites menu is available open to close! The Main Menu looks the same although there is a new Wine List (that's a first here). The music is very pleasant and the right volume level. It's always a big cool in here too. For my first drink, I'm having a Pratt N Whiskey. This is made with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, sweet vermouth, red wine and sour mix. It's definitely an unusual drink. It's not garnished, but it tastes great. The wine sticks out for sure. It's clearly a shaken drink not often found with a whiskey component except for maybe Whiskey Sours. For my first item, I'm having the House Salad made with spring mix, basil, tomatoes, julienned (thinly sliced) carrots, cucumbers and house red wine vinaigrette dressing. This is a big portion! I love this dressing! This tastes great! For my next item, I'm trying the Carmine's Secret Tenderloins. These are off of Carmine's "Secret Menu." They are pan seared, caramelized chicken tenderloins, made with wine, olive oil, cracked black pepper (dried black peppercorns broken into coarse, uneven pieces), kosher salt (a coarse, flaky salt named for its use in the Jewish koshering process of drawing blood from meat), shredded Parmesan and a very special "secret sauce." I'm curious as to what this sauce tastes like. Wow! Nice presentation! These are good! I love that sauce! There's a good crowd in here (20 people). Only one worker (bartender and server). She's damn good at what she does! For my next drink, I'm having a Connecticut Cosmo. This is made with Litchfield Vodka, Wild Moon Cranberry, Triple Sec and lime juice. This vodka is the Gold Medal Winner 2018 & 2019 at the New York International Spirits Competition. Silver Medal Winner at the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition!Our Gluten-Free Batchers' Vodka is distilled from luscious corn grown during the beautiful summer months in Somers, CT. We distill 4 ¾ times and use a gravity-fed charcoal filter that takes 12 hours to filter 100 gallons. The longer the vodka sits on the charcoal, the more impurities are removed, which creates an incredibly smooth taste. Bottled at 80 proof. It is impeccably clean, slightly sweet, velvety smooth mouthfeel and sweet buttery overtones. It's smooth with a warm finish with subtle notes of sweet ripe corn at the end. I actually sat down next to the owner of the Distillery at a wine pairing dinner at Flemings in West Hartford about 7-8 years ago. This looks nice! Wow! This has great flavor! For my next item, I'm having the Rigatoni Matinara. Rigatoni is a large, tube-shaped pasta with ridges on the outside and straight-cut ends. Marinara sauce is a tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. I don't eat pasta all that often. This will serve as my appetizer before I hit the main course. This is a BIG portion! It is very good! For my entree I'm having the Pan Seared Salmon which is "hand cut" salmon with zesty orange glaze served over mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables (broccoli). Add LOTS of crushed red pepper. Nod that's "LOTS." This is spicy! My kinda spicy! The plate is nice and hot! I like the presentation. This tastes great! What a great meal here!

I can't believe we were charged for bread - twice! We got a small half of a loaf (not even as big…read moreas a half grinder roll) and asked for more. Never have I ever paid for bread in a restaurant and we were asked if we wanted bread - no mention of we had to pay extra for it. Side salads are an extra charge too. If you get a chicken meal expect it to have a very charred taste to it. We found the food to be middle of the road and not very big portions considering we usually take food home from other places. There was a birthday party going on in the restaurant, not in a separate room. Not that it bothered us, but it was extremely loud in there and it seemed to bother the table next to us. Don't expect a quiet dinner in this place. Getting the attention of the waitress was impossible. I had to stand at the bar and wait to pay our bill. The party had the entrance blocked because they were filming and we had to exit through a side entrance, which didn't bother us, but not the best from a safety point of view. Do we recommend the place - no. Will we go back - no.

We came here to celebrate a graduation during a very busy weekend with graduations and Mother's…read moreDay, so we completely understand that the restaurant was packed. Our waitress was absolutely amazing. She was kind, attentive, and whenever something was forgotten, she immediately went to speak with the kitchen and tried to make it right. That being said, our table definitely seemed to fall into a bit of a communication dead zone. My chicken parm was forgotten, and while waiting for it the rest of my family's food got cold. They ended up sending their pasta back to be reheated, which also took a while. Our drinks were forgotten at one point as well, and our to go dessert sat waiting for a long time before anyone brought it over. The food itself was great and we still enjoyed celebrating together, but overall the experience would have been much smoother with better communication between the kitchen and staff. The perfume machine in the bathroom is a fun touch

Went with a party of 10, I made reservations and we were able to sit down on time. Service was…read morewonderful. Drinks stayed filled, and the waiter came by to make sure we didn't want any refills on any alcoholic beverages as they were being consumed. He recommended a few appetizers for the table. We got to try the chef special, garlic bread with ricotta, and calamari. All very good. As was the bread and oil that I think comes with every meal. After I heard the specials, I went with the short rib gnocchi, but the salmon with spaghetti squash was a close second. I wasn't disappointed in my dish. It was a really good size and I ended up taking half of it back with me, something tells me it's gonna be even better the next day as most Italian food is. My one regret is that I didn't order the lemon cheesecake to go. All of the desserts sounded amazing, especially the hazelnut tart, however, the lemon cheesecake is super cute and I heard from other people that have been to this restaurant before that it is delicious. Maybe next time!

Went to Salute on a Friday night without a reservation and were pleasantly surprised to get a table…read morefor five within five minutes. That said, it was clearly busy, so I would definitely recommend making a reservation on peak nights--we got lucky. The service was excellent from start to finish. Our waiters were very friendly, attentive, and welcoming. Portions are generous. The cheesy bread appetizer is a must-order--warm and perfect for sharing I ordered the cod and salmon, and both were absolutely delicious, cooked well and full of flavor. The wine selection is also strong, with plenty of good options to pair with the meal. Overall, a great Italian spot with great food, service, and atmosphere. I would happily go back.

My girlfriend and my trip to Salute for our 2 year anniversary was stellar- from start to finish…read more I'll get all the basic stuff out of the way first. The food, fantastic. I got the pasta à la vodka with chicken, and my girlfriend got the pesto gnocchi chicken dish. Everything came fast, warm, and fresh- cooked to perfection. We also got the cheese garlic bread as a starter, which was delicious and the perfect size as to not spoil your dinner. Finally, we split an order of the chocolate lava cake which was one of the tastiest desserts I'd ever had. Now, onto the even more impressive details. First things first, calling in, and then changing the time for our reservation was very easy, and the man who picked up the phone seemed very excited to have us coming in to the restaurant. Upon arrival, it was clear the host (Jimmy) was the same person on the phone, as he remembered my name and was immediately incredibly hospitable and friendly. Jimmy asked me and my girlfriend how long we'd been together, and we told him "2 years today!" This at first seemed like typical small talk on the way to the table (which I should mention was arguably the best seat in the house, a table right by the front window in a nice quiet area of the restaurant), but I was quite impressed when the first thing our server, Vincent, said to us a few minutes later was "Happy anniversary." Vincent was very helpful and made sure to circle by our table frequently enough to make sure we had everything we needed, but not to the point where it was unnecessary- perfect!! As you can see in the attached image, our lava cake came with a nice happy anniversary message, and I'd like to remind you that this was all just from us mentioning it to Jimmy, once on our way in. We were treated to some goodies to take home separate from what we ordered, as well as a nice half off discount on the parking lot up the street. And it was to my great surprise and graciousness that when I peeked at the bill, our dessert was missing- based on the service we received, I would be surprised if this was a mistake. In summary, our trip to Salute was nothing short of a 5 star review. Excellent food, clean bathrooms, calm and friendly atmosphere, and I do not understate this when I say that the service was IMPECCABLE. Thank you very much to Jimmy, Vincent, and Salute as a whole for a wonderful evening- we will be back.

I placed a to go order earlier tonight. My instructions were repeated back to me. When I arrived to…read morepay for my order, it wasn't ready. The customer service person said I was really early. The order needed five more minutes. Once I got home I noticed my hot oven grinder had missed going in the oven. I ate it since the sandwich was good cold also. My garden salad is for tomorrow. I guess more staff would help at Ginos.

Ugh! We stopped by after a quick Home Depot run to grab some pizza slices. Apologies if this comes…read moreoff a bit blunt, but the slices were really disappointing. I'm not sure if it was the tomato sauce or the gummy, undercooked crust, but something was definitely off. If you're going to offer pizza by the slice, it really needs to be dialed in. I'd suggest taking a page from classic New Haven or New York-style pizza--this unfortunately missed the mark by a mile.

One of my favorite place…read more My friend introduced me to this restaurant for their phenomenoal pizzas and nice people. Two people own this place and they are amazing. Very friendly, warm and happy. I feel like I'm eating attention my friends home. Their Penne Bolognese is delicious and Authentic. Service is prompt and timely.

While in the mood for Greek food, we stopped by Adriatik in Glastonbury. When we first arrived,…read moreoutside the door was marked as "Adriatik's Catering" I wasn't sure if this is where Catering orders come out of, but it turns out it's all one place. The inside was entirely empty, a few people stopped by to pick up their orders, but no one was dining inside. On the wall they have awards they've received from 2011 to 2025, all for being in the top 10 restaurants. It was a bit awkward being the only ones here, but there are bigger issues in the world. Their menu offers pizzas, pasta, gyros, salads and more. We first got an order of their sautéed calamari. This had a nice tender and chewy texture. This is unlike what most places offer. The sauce was also very flavorful, we actually ate it by the spoonful like a soup. Their garlic bread was great for dipping into the sauce. Not a very garlicky garlic bread but not bad. We all got some variation of the gyro, with salad, fries or rice. Mine was with the Greek Salad. This Greek Salad was very fresh and the feta cheese on it sealed it all together. Unfortunately the lamb in the gyro was very overcooked and dry. It wasn't good at all. The tzatziki sauce is always a favorite. Overall I wasn't super impressed with my meal. I might stop by sometime in the future and try something else.

Stopped in with my husband for lunch. The building doesn't really look like a restaurant so we…read moreweren't sure how it would be. We were pleasantly surprised. The food was excellent! My husband and I each had a different veal dish and the veal was extremely tender. While we were eating we overheard another diner say that they were owned by the same owners as Cafe Fiore in Cromwell. No wonder the food was so good! High praise for both restaurants.

Very nice family owned place with personable and knowledgeable staff. We had Gizem this evening and…read morewe throughly enjoyed making small talk with her; she was excellent. The menu isn't large but the selection is very comprehensive. The food is consistent and we've never had a bad meal here. My go-to is the Sole Francese but I have also had their delicious veal piccata and lamb chops (which was a special). The place is clean and quiet enough for conversation. Highly recommended!

First time going to Trattoria Toscana an Italian restaurant tucked away in Manchester …read more I must say I had a fabulous time , our waitress was amazing she got us everything we needed and checked on us constantly and was very sweet ! The ambiance was nice and cozy , good music playing in the background , not to loud and easy to have a conversation . To start off we got the Italian meatballs which were amazing highly recommend. We also ordered the mozzarella sticks which I loved the cheese pull was perfection and nice crunch on the outside , highly recommend as well . For my entre I got the NY strip . Served with mashed potatoes and green beans and topped with mushrooms and gorgonzola ! The sides were good but I really enjoyed my steak ! It was cooked medium rare , and the gorgonzola cheese on top was perfection ! I highly enjoyed it ! For dessert I got the tiramisu which was fantastic ( small portion) but very good ! Highly recommend ! Overall 5/5 ! Good atmosphere , good service and great food ! Perfect for family gatherings , eating with friends or even a date night ! Can't wait to be back !

If you read my last review, this one is deja vous two-and-a-half years later. Trattoria Toscana is…read moreItalian on steroids. We arrived at 5:30. No reservation, but were able to be seated. Busy place for a Wednesday evening. Our server, Autumn, was efficient, pleasant, and attentive. My friend and I split rollatinis, which were very good. She also had the veal parm (her go-to meal at TT). I went for Grandma Lena's Sunday Sauce. Don't tell my doctor, but we also had four Aperol Spritzes. My first time; very refreshing. Rolls arrived w a saucer of EVOO mixed w spices. Her VP covered the plate...a very generous portion. Side of penne. My dish reminded me of my sister's best friend, Honey's Sunday sauce. A smorgasbord of different meats and other ingredients slow-cooked all afternoon. There was sausage, braised short ribs, a meatball, etc over spaghetti in a marinara sauce w a dollop of ricotta on top. Both of us took leftovers home. A couple of other things to mention. On Wednesday evening, TT features live music. On this day, it was a singer / guitar player. While she was very good, it can get loud, especially if you're seated in close proximity. Also, entrees took a bit longer to arrive. Maybe because of the crowd? Anyway, food was awesome, drinks potent. A relaxing way to spend an evening. 5 stars

I've been to First & Last a few times over the past year. Food has been very good every time…read more Service is always good, even when crowded. The bar looks like a fun place to hang out too.

As a loyal, long-time customer, I'm sorry to have to report that my recent experiences have been…read moredisappointing: Service was extremely slow and rather perfunctory , and the food mediocre (fattty veal parmigiana, side greens excessive vinegar and inedible) The booth and table upholstery is now quite worn and shabby.

Went in for pizza but they have so much more to offer. Pizza crust was just right. Will be backread more

Decided to try based on number of positive reviews. This place was definitely a disappointment…read more Quality was less than average and overpriced. Ordered 2 pizzas and the flavor was less than average reminding me of store bought frozen pizza. The toppings were also very scarce. One of the pizzas was a veggie, which included broccoli and mushrooms - hardly any at all with few scattered on the pizza. The other pizza ordered was mushroom ricotta and it was completely bland. This place is a hard pass!