This is one of those wonderful Italian neighborhood spots that you just pray never changes. It's predictable in the very best way which keeps you coming back. Tall colorful urns displaying seasonal flowers flanking the entry and the hostess's smile is always very welcoming. The ambiance is intimate yet bright , either banquet seating along the windows or in the rear dining room, small bar, white tile and exposed brick pizza oven, with the always classic Italian dinner music setting the tone. Service: is always friendly, very accommodating, get your order right every time, and make sure your dining experience is a pleasure. Cuisine: appetizers- white bean and spinach soup is excellent, Lamb lollipops perfectly grilled, broccoli rabe and sausage is very good, the the ruby, red and golden yellow beet and crispy goat cheese over arugula with an orange vinaigrette is beautifully presented bright and fresh. Dinner: should they have the eggplant stack as a special I highly suggest you order. It's almost hard to explain these golden disks of perfectly cooked creamy fried eggplant stuffed with cheese and then stacked, served on their fresh summer Pomodoro witches outstanding. The linguine alle vongole red is full of tender local clams, Flounder francaise with baby spinach over capellini perfectly done with a very bright lemon butter sauce. The Woodfired brick oven pizza was enjoyable but as Pizza goes, we are die hard New Haven style APIZZA (self-proclaimed Lol) aficionados. Last but certainly not least is the classic standout dish for me, and many loyal local diners, the Chicken Parm à la vodka. No. This is not anything like one you've had before. Crispy, hot, tender, perfect thickness chicken Milanese over el dante rigatoni velvety slightly spicy just creamy enough à la vodka sauce topped but not smothered in cheese. Once you've had it, you'll crave it. read more

Charming mostly Italian- American spot with a small bar area in Branford Center; footprint is on the small side & with limited parking. We found the menu to be both eclectic & traditional - with a spring in its step. Buffalo Gulf Shrimp were both high quality & home made versus the common pub style. Everything we ate was good. Plenty of friendly servers available on the weekend late afternoon we dined. Tables are close together but the noise level remained moderate in spite of the overwhelming at times music being piped into the bar & dining area. Recommend for weekend lunch as parking might be easier navigate. read more

We recently decided to give the pizza a try at Doma and ordered take out. We got the traditional pizza with pepperoni and the Mac Doma pizza. When I went to pick the pizza up, I was impressed at the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was cozy and clean and not too loud. We both enjoyed the thin crust of the pizza and the generous toppings. The only complaint was the Mac Doma could have used a little more beef on it. I would definitely go to dine in and try some Italian dishes from the menu. read more

Doma On Main - Traditional with pepperoni and Mac Doma pizza - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

This was our go-to for a great meal but the last couple of times it was very disappointing. The hostess was dressed like a slob and she was dismissive. The wait time from ordering was 20 min just for drinks. Our order took another 35 minutes and the food was not as good as our previous times. read more

Good food, casual atmosphere and good service. A solid dinner spot in the branford area. Can't speak to the pizza but the dinner menu is great. read more

I'll start with the good great vibe in the restaurant. My wife and I ordered a absolutely wonderful mashed potato and bacon pizza over the top. Highly recommended. Second part fried calamar rubbery that's the best I can say for it. Coating was good, not thick but the calamar definitely not recommended. read more

Doma On Main - Unfortunately very disappointed. Robbery calamar - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

Loved this restaurant. The food was excellent, the ambiance was sophisticated, and quiet enough to have a conversation. Our waitress was attentive but not pushy. My husband had chicken parm and the sauce was excellent. I had a special swordfish which also was perfect. We will definitely return. read more

Excellent meal. Everything we ordered was delicious. Relaxing atmosphere, good service and reasonable prices. Can't wait to go back and try more dishes. read more

Service is great. The food here is always consistent and delicious. We love having great Italian food right here in Branford. One of our favorite places to eat. The music is always good too. read more

Great Place Solid Pizza Killer Service Great Music Staff is friendly and attentive read more

Had a great dinner this weekend at Doma. I have been there many times but it's been awhile. Everything was great but especially the pumpkin ravioli appetizer special and the pepperoni hot honey pizza. Very good espresso martinis. Can't wait to go back! It's very busy so make reservation early. read more

We came this past Tuesday with 6:15pm dinner reservations to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary and were graciously greeted and promptly seated. Our server Ashley S was perfectly attentive. Around at just the right times of when you needed her. We were the only people in the dining room section for about 1/3 of the time of our stay and it eventually got busier as the meal went on. I started with the Basil Lemon Drop Martini and my husband had the Strawberry Jalapeño Margarita. We were told that they recently revamped the menu and our server hadn't tried the drinks yet. My critic for her was that mine wasn't basil-y enough, but as the drink went on, more and more of the basil presented itself. Regardless, for drink round #2, we ordered two more of those margaritas. Those were so good. I'm planning on trying to recreate it at home. For food, we started with the antipasto appetizer for 2. It was awesome to pick on along with our bread and oil. There was also an Italian sushi appetizer special that was intriguing, but alas we didn't get it. For our meals, I had the fettuccine alfredo with chicken special and my husband had the chicken saltimbocca. Both were absolutely delicious. My pasta noodles were light and not dense as fettuccine can sometimes be. It was one of those dishes were you're full from eating it so you throw in the towel, but it's still there in front of you begging to be eaten so you can't help yourself but to keep nibbling on it for ten more minutes than you should have. Was the meal a tid-bit pricy, well yeah, but I feel that's how most restaurants seem to/need to be in this economy. The ambiance was classy, music was great and atmosphere was cool on a very hot summer day. read more

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Website Menu description: Broccoli Rabe and Sauage Pizza: Broccoli Rabe, Sausage, White Bean, Grated Cheese, Evoo, Mozzarella.   If you ordered this pizza would you expect Broccoli Rabe, Sausage, White Bean, Grated Cheese, Evoo, Mozzarella?   Me too!   However, when you order from Doma on Main in Branford, not only do you get Broccoli Rabe, Sausage, White Bean, Grated Cheese, Evoo, Mozzarella, but you also get spicy hot peppers that even if picked off renders the rest of the pie inedible. No one at our dinner table could eat it.   Best part was the callback to the restaurant thinking maybe they gave me someone else's order.  Nope - She was nice enough to offer to have another "Broccoli Rabe and Sauage Pizza" made as described on their website however when I asked if someone from their restaurant would bring it to our home (7/10th of a mile away) because my family and I were sitting at dinner already, she said "no, we don't deliver".  Oh, we all know and you don't participate with the delivery apps either.   This place is trying to be everything when they should just focus on one thing.  Clearly, you're not capable of running a restaurant and a pizza place.  Pick one and be good at it.  While I'm here, I have to throw in my other favorite Doma experience from back in the summer when the kids forgot to turn the phones on before 6:45 pm on a Saturday night and I ended up driving there to place a takeout order.   All done with Doma on Main. All done read more

I cannot tell you how amazing this restaurant is. From the time we arrived for our 5:00 pm dinner reservations until we left it was a great experience. The staff was wonderful especially Alexa and the young gentleman that waited on us. We met Tom and he was wonderful as well. We talked to him about having a upcoming private birthday party. Well let me tell you our first time experience was awesome. I cannot say enough about the décor and how inviting the restaurant is. Now the food which was AWESOME. We ordered early for the 2 year old and she was eating her dish like crazy. Her dish was called (Mom's Meatballs and pasta). Her dish came out at the right temperature so she could dig right in. LOL Now the 3 adults had amazing food as well. See the pictures below. I suggest you go there and try it out for yourself. Then give your review. I will say one last time AMAZING and AWESOME. Enjoy!!! read more

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Recently had the opportunity to dine in at Doma with friends. Our experience from beginning to end was spectacular! Great service (our waitress was top notch!). They had a horseradish crusted salmon on the menu which my friend and I split along with the lemon shallot bucatini carbonara. The salmon was cooked perfect and the flavors went together perfectly. The bucatini was so good I wanted to lick the bowl. They even plated our portions separately because they knew we were splitting the salmon and pasta. The bowls were a bit large and hard to maneuver with everything on the table but loved that they did that! We will be back again for sure Doma! read more

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Food and service was very good. I had the scallops, that were excellent. Will definitely go back when I'm in CT again.

This place has good veal parm. Very tender and lightly fried to perfection with out an after taste. Pasta belongs in a separate dish. The guest brings the combo together when they're eating not the chef. Sauce is very tasty. Pizza is good. Service is great. read more

First time dining at Doma, and it was worth the wait. Great food, great service fantastic Martinis. If I had to give a rating it would be 5 out 5. Also, our waitress knew not to sit a hot plate in-front of our child and the food was at the right temperature for a toddler. We will be back! read more

Doma On Main - Cheese/pepperoni pizza - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

Delicious food great service and inviting atmosphere. Highly recommended this restaurant.

The food was good. The seating was horrible The young lady at the door sat us in the bar area that was extremely tight. We asked her if we could sit in the other room, but she said it was for reservations. All the room was empty. She lied to us the bar was , a bunch, you guys swearing and yelling who were drunk would not hurry back. get someone at the door who is a little more personable and not a liar. read more

Another excellent choice for Italian food, in the New Haven area we a blessed with many great Italian restaurants. Doma fits in and has a nice menu with a good selection of dishes. Service was a bit slow but their server was very pleasant. The restaurant ambiance is cozy, bar is comfortable. Nice and friendly. Over all I would say a very good restaurant. The pizza is thin crust. The wine by the glass is a fair price. But, the beer? $11 bucks for a craft draft! Wow, that's steep. But, I plan on going back for sure. read more

Small and great restaurant with old school Sinatra music. Food and cocktails and service are perfect. read more

Doma On Main - CHICKEN PICCATA - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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Great atmosphere never had a bad meal there before, friendly staff and highly recommend

Had dinner here Sat night and staff so friendly. Owner came by more than once to check on us. Food came really quickly for a busy Saturday night. The pear salad was delicious and the pan fried branzino was amazing! Hubby really enjoyed his lobster bolognese gnocchi too. Definitely returning! read more

Doma On Main - Pan fried branzino - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

Small, nice atmosphere, friendly and attentive staff. Food was good! Details details details details (Yelp made me add more details to post this as a review). read more

Doma On Main - House-Made Three Cheese Ravioli - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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Meal was delicious. I had short ribs, friends had branzinno and veal picata and split a salad with. Pears. My husband had bolonese which was just ok and a yummy bisque. Prices were fair. The waitress was very brusque. Whenn we asked for more bread, we had to remind her. My friends asked that the salad be split in the kitchen, it wasn't. They asked for a plate and she responded, can't you use your bread plate? We had to ask the bus boy for plates. Really. Why do a job you don't like doing? Aside from the waitress, a delicious meal. Oh,we ended with lemon sorbet..lemony but a little chunky. read more

Just happened to find this on our way back from a trip. Excellent all around. Started with a special "ltalian Sushi" which was a very creative app of cheese, tomato, bunch of other stuff wrapped in prosciutto and served with chopsticks and a pesto dipping sauce! Delicious. I had the rigatoni bolognaise, which was fine, but nothing really out of the ordinary. But my wife had the mushroom linguini thing which was excellent . Fresh bread to start which was great. Nice wine list. Very attentive server, and manager came over twice to see how things were. Classy operation. They even changed the TV channel to the US open rather than some boring baseball game. Highly recommend. read more

I guess this is an update to a previous review. It certainly is the complete opposite of a prior experience. My most recent visit was very disappointing. Four of the meals at my table were very disappointing and three of them were even bad. The bolognese had little flavor. The dish was pretty dry except for the pooled water around the bottom of the dish... water, not sauce. The meat was just ground beef...also dry and not flavorful. Couldn't eat it. The pasta with vodka sauce had hardly any sauce either, which was probably ok because the vodka sauce wasn't tasty. That meal was far more comparable to a diner meal, not that of a nice restaurant. I would think it was a fluke except that it was one disappointing meal, it was four!!! Very, very disappointing!!! read more

So, apparently Doma has been here for a whole while and my parents and I missed it. But! I only recently got them onboard with my #1 hobby: trying out restaurants. I visit from Vermont every other week and now we choose a new spot pretty much every visit. I mean a "new spot" for us. Doma was last week's spot. The location is SUPER convenient: right on Main St in Branford. Although not next to The Green, a few blocks past that. There is no off street parking and there didn't appear to be any handicapped spots close to the corner entrance? Which I did think was weird and which we could have really used... Doma's interior is super nice. Although definitely in a throw back kind of way. It's kind of a theme in Shoreline Italian spots IMO: They're trying to relive the "Glory Days" of Italian restaurants here in the US. You know, back in the 80s when Italian food made it to "fine dining" status. Dad made a reservation for 4 and, for some inexplicable reason, they sat us directly next to the kitchen door? We were across from the bar (a NICE big, roomy bar which looked like it would be a good vibe to eat at as well) and the legit looking wood fired pizza oven). Turns out there is a whole second dining room on the "other side" of the bar/pizza oven. I do feel like that would have been a better seating area for us. But! It is clear that Doma is also operating on the old school/traditional "model" of restaurant management: i.e., the strict hierarchy of staff -there's one guy seating everyone and just watching the staff - the person who fills your water glass cannot take your order - the waitpersons have strictly defined/assigned tables. This model is terrible for the industry, for the workers and for the diners (I own a restaurant, I'm the cook, I know what I'm talking about). I assume they sat us in that corner because our server needed the one more table, although she did seem pretty flat out most of the time. The restaurant industry REALLY needs to wrap their collective minds around moving past this. Believe me, it will greatly improve working conditions and dining experience and help with the ongoing so-called "hiring crisis"... Anyhoo, they were BLARING Frank Sinatra. Like in a weird way. I mean it was INSANELY loud and I myself am a blarer of music. This was so incredibly loud we really couldn't even have conversation. I was laughing at the volume. Which leads me to wonder wth was that manager dude doing? He didn't notice people were YELLING AT EACH OTHER? Dad actually asked them to lower the music and I SUPPORT the request. Dad lectured me about including the bread a restaurant brings to the table in my reviews. I do not. I think serving bread to the table is stupid. I don't eat the bread. I am here for THE FOOD. IMO it's a whole holdover from the '80s, as referred to above. The 80s came to an end (Thank God!). Let's all move on. Shall we? We started with a cheese pizza. It was an excellent cheese pizza for a restaurant. I mean I would not order pizza to go from Doma, this is The Land of Apizza and there are many other spots with better, amazing even, pizza. But for a nice dining spot this was a really, really good pizza! Buffalo Shrimp Appetizer: Weirdly, this was the best thing I had. It was EXCELLENT. Shaved, fried celery strips were delightful. Shrimp cooked perfectly, delicious Buffalo Sauce and Blue Cheese Dressing. Caesar Salad was a solid: MEH. Not bad. Not great. I added A LOT of red pepper flake to give it some flavor. Side of Broccoli Rabe: PERFECTION. In the way it was cooked, seasoned and the fact that they cut the Rabe so you could just eat it with your fork without the big struggle. Then I got my "test pasta" for restaurants: Penne alla Vodka. The Penne was cooked perfectly al dente. But Doma's Vodka Sauce is not Vodka Sauce. It was a sweet tomato sauce. I added A LOT of red pepper flake (which was super fresh and actually spicy - so SNAPS to that!) and kept eating because that Penne was lovely. I tasted the other entrees at the table that were fish and veggies (I don't eat beef, pork or poultry) and they were VERY, VERY good. So I am giving 4 stars because I'm pretty sure I could order something a lot better than the Vodka Sauce... But I do have to deduct a star for that sauce and the weirdo seating and cray cray music volume. (LOL) read more

Been coming here for a long time but it was my last time now. Female bartender the other night is rushing patrons to order and finish their drinks and leave so she can close early; and this is 90 minutes before scheduled closing time!! read more

Love going to Doma! We have been here for happy hour many times and keep coming back. Why? The bartenders are excellent (that's you Lauren and Jules!), the vibe is cool and chill, on one end of the bar is an espresso machine and follow your eye down the long stretch of Carrera marble to the other end with the pizza oven. The pizza -OMG- it's the thinnest and best and yes, we've eaten a lotta abeetz. Ever since we ordered the Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza we can't seem to order anything else, it's a mad craving! You can watch them make it from your seat and once it goes into the oven the pizzaiolo tends it constantly and pulls it out about 3 minutes later. How they get it so crispy and thin with char yet the inside has a chew is a mystery and one I recommend you discover for yourself. I've also had a plain (no cheese) with anchovies that was fabulous, so simple and rustic. A pizza is enough for one hungry person or a bar snack for two or three. The pasta is so popular, I recently had Lemon Shallot Bucatini Carbonara just divine. I want to explore more of the pasta dishes, I have to get past my obsession with the pizza. read more

Doma On Main - Chocolate Martini, Espresso Martini - Italian Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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I took my granddaughter here for her 13th birthday. I'm new in town and wasn't sure where to go. It was perfect. It's a friendly restaurant for families or dates. I gave them the heads up that I was bringing a birthday girl and they announced after our delicious meals that they knew it was her birthday and wanted to give her a choice of desserts. She beamed from ear to ear. Great food and great people. Thanks, Doma! read more

We stopped in quick on our way to the cape. The meatballs were very good, salad good & my husband liked pizza w spinach, beans and pepperoni, although the crust a bit burned. Very busy on a Thursday night, good choice! read more

Went there for pizza once and it was great! My wife and I went last Saturday night for dinner and the pasta dishes are like homemade. We love the place so much that we have been back 3 times since last Saturday!!! read more

Love this place. Food is phenomenal and I love the ambiance and crowd. Dined here and noticed they have a big room that can be rented for private parties. The food they made for the party looked incredible. My groups dinner was fantastic - we had pizza, pasta and a few appetizers. It's a really fun crowd, too. read more

Good service and very good food every time we have been there. We'll definitely be back. Highly recommend

Just left from here and had suuuuuch a bad experience. We made a reservation for 8:30 on New Years Eve. If you're going to rush tables out at that time, don't take the reservation. We were sat in the bar area, not the dining room. We waited until our apps came out to order entrees to ensure we could pace our courses. Before our app plates were cleared our entrees arrived. My boyfriend had the carbonara and we did not see any bacon in it. I got the flounder and it was very soggy. Halfway through our entrees they were already asking to clear our entree plates and box up our order. We sat down no more than 30 minutes prior. Neither of us were done eating so we continued. No more than 5 minutes later someone else was at our table asking to clear our entrees when we were still clearly eating. My boyfriend, feeling awkward, had them box his dinner up. I continued eating. While I'm still eating my meal, they come and drop a dessert menu. I continued eating my entree. Once I finished, we ordered dessert cocktails and a tiramisu. As soon as the dessert was delivered the check arrived. We felt rushed and awkward but tried to enjoy our dessert. That was when a group of men propped the front door open and began smoking cigs right outside ensuring all the second hand smoke came directly to our table behind the hostess stand. They clearly wanted to rush us out all night but that's what did it. We quickly signed our check and left our half drunk cocktails. On our way out I made sure to tell the men that we left our drinks and had to leave because of the smoke and all they said was "You could smell that?" with no apologies. The restaurant was still 3/4 full. If this wasn't enough the owners drunk girlfriend was screaming while making pizzas all night. After spending a lot of money, then being rushed out and forced to inhale cigs, it's safe to say we won't be going back. We don't get out much and our one date night was wasted on subpar food and a horrible experience. read more

Had dinner there tonight with my daughter. Friendly , accommodating and helpful staff. Excellent service and amazing pasta. We will definitely be back. read more

I love Doma.... love the bartenders....especially McLadden. Sorry if I butchered the spelling. He makes the place a lot of fun. Entree wise - I like their fish entrees. Had the sea bass and the Branzino. Phenomenal. After dinner, around 10 on the weekends you have to know that it does turn into kind of a club atmosphere but that's why we love this place. I'm in my late 30s but there really isn't a place around quite like this. Where can you go to have a nice meal and then have awesome music and a drink after? I don't want to be at a club in New Haven....its just nice to have awesome music! McLadden is full of energy, he never runs out of steam all night, is friendly and always gives us a nice hello. He's fast and can basically run the bar himself. He runs circles around the bar. Only reason I'm not leaving 5 stars is the beer selection and Prosecco typically isn't great/extensive but we have a blast here. 5 stars for the bartenders! read more

It's a very cozy place that makes traditional Italian fare. It's simple, but good. Our server, Alexandra, was fantastic. And they actually wrap food to go!! read more