I enjoyed my time there. The waitress was amazing. I wish I knew her name. Italian woman. The food was very good. It wasn't the best, but it was good. The burger was a little bit underwhelming but it was hot. The wings were tasty but could have been a bit bigger. The personal pizza for children's meal was a hit with my son. The Oreo cheesecake was superb. The place is very clean and quiet. It smells nice and it's a good place for dates or groups. read more

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We are regular patrons of this establishment for years. A couple of weeks ago, I commented that something was different. Our favorite wait staff members were not around, we did not recognize anyone and the menu changed. Something was definitely off. Long story short, the management changed and not for the better. I ordered my usual, signature salad and it was awful. Brown and wilted greens, tons of nothing and a horrible dressing. Next time, I ordered a burger. I very seldom order a burger but I know Eli's uses quality beef. Just a burger, no fries. I could not eat it. It was dry, overdone and unappetizing. I thought it was just me so I brought it home and my husband would not eat it! Today was the last straw. My companion ordered her usual wine and it was not at all acceptable. The young lady brought another glass and again is could not be consumed. Now, I've been friends with this person for 25 years+ and she has never sent a glass of wine back. Again, the lunches were awful. To the owners/management: why are you ruining a good thing? Are you not interested in keeping your clientele? Another obvious thing we noticed; Thursday lunch and no one in the bar! Empty! Vacant. Just the bartender. It's also obvious they've changed the wine list and quality of the food to save money. The only saving grace about lunch today was the lovely and helpful wait person. She was wonderful. It's all so sad. So Shameful. read more

First time here for dinner. Usually I pop in for lunch. Always sit in the bar area. I like the service there. Tonight's server was Danielle. She helped us decide on our meals. I got the salmon with broccolini, smashed potatoes and avocado sauce ... outstanding. My friend got the Honey Sriracha Chicken. She loved it. I didn't take pictures of the food because we were either laughing with Danielle or busy eating so I forgot. I did manage to get a photo of our chocolate lava dessert. Eli's has been one of my go-to places for lunch and now I can add dinner. read more

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Food is decent but the service at the bar is consistently awful. The bartenders are more concerned about socializing with each other while ignoring patrons. read more

Another great meal last night to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. We started with the Nashville Chicken Sliders for us and Tuscan Meatballs for the kids as appetizers. Both were great. I had a chicken sandwich that came on a focaccia. The sandwich was delicious, but difficult to maneuver. I think a softer brioche would of been a better pairing to get a handle on it. My husband liked his chicken cheesesteak and the kids liked their meals as well. The waitress could have been a tinge more attentive as she always seemed to be nowhere to be found when we needed her, but all in all, it was a good time. read more

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My lunch companion and I both enjoyed our meals. She was very pleased with her Bahn Mi and my Chicken Quesadillas were delicious. It was generous enough that I had to take half home. Our lunch last Thursday was enhanced by our personable young waiter who recognized that we were too busy catching up to look at the menu. He left us alone for a few minutes, then came back, never rushing, encouraging us to enjoy our catch-up time. However, as soon as we placed our small plate orders, everything was delivered with care in a timely manner. I'll be back! read more

Seasonal/Holiday Drinks are always excellent. The Philly steak eggrolls are the best, in the surrounding area. Every place else's are subpar. Avocado Salad with crispy chicken is great, vodka sauce is decent. Service is decent, depending on your waiter/bartender and also what time of day you go. Nicole is my favorite bartender, always on point, very friendly & never misses a beat. Not a bad spot for a quick bite or drink during lunch hours. read more

Eli's On the Hill - Caramel Apple Martini & S'Mores Martini - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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Honestly? I hope I never have to eat here again. Eating out at restaurants like Eli's really crushes my will to live. I would rather not eat at all than to eat at a restaurant with completely mediocre/not good food. Eating out is my primary (potentially only) "leisure activity." For me the place does not need to be fancy. The service does not need to be exceptional in any way. But the food needs to be delicious and the vibe needs to be good. Eli's fails on both these. Here's what happened: we all met up at a nearby restaurant that turned out to be randomly closed (??) and so we just drove down The Hill a bit and went to Eli's. I definitely got out voted on that choice. Oh well. I say that to say I never would have chosen to eat at Eli's. But there we were, so I ordered us a sampling of their appetizers: Fried mozzarella, Street Corn Brussels (bore zero resemblance to any kind of street corn), Nachos, Spinach Artichoke Dip (wow, terrible), Local Tomato Bruschetta (I would bet someone actual money those were NOT local tomatoes and I'm pretty sure they bought the bread at Big Y), Point Judith Calamari. The fried mozzarella and calamari were pretty good and the marinara was not half bad! The other stuff? Bad bar food. Like real bad. The nachos were a travesty. I think we can all agree that nachos should not be "rocket science." However, throwing some jar, white cheese sauce, pickled onion and jalapeños and a few diced tomatoes on top of a pile of tortilla chips is NOT nachos. Eli's nachos is the kind of food that actually makes me angry. As in: the NERVE to serve up something an 8 yr old could have thrown together and then charge money for it. Gordon Ramsey would lose his mind over these things. I tried everything. One bite in was as far as I got. I then ordered the fish and chips and asked for the parmesan truffle fries instead of the Old Bay fries. I ordered a side Caesar Salad. The Caesar was the best thing I had. It was actually totally good. I should have just gotten a full sized Caesar, maybe added some shrimp and called it a day! But noooooo, I had to try fish and chips. To be fair, the fish and chips were FAR BETTER than any of those appetizers. (I'd have to recommend skipping all appetizers.) The mistake I made was asking for the parm truffle fries. Because all they did was sprinkle some sort of parm truffle seasoning all over the plate. And it wasn't good. That was my fault. Because Eli's fries are actually good. Which you're thinking is not a big deal. But it is. A lot of places serve fries. Not a lot of them are good. The fish was nice and flaky, fried crispy on the outside, cooked all the way through. It was perfectly fine. It was not better than perfectly fine. I do not want "perfectly fine" to be the highest praise I give to a meal I am eating in a restaurant. And yet we pressed on and tried some desserts. I have no idea why. We ordered the beignets, the peanut butter pie and the chocolate chip cookies and milk cake. Obviously, these are all premade desserts bought from some food supply company. The cake was awful. The peanut butter pie was pretty good for premade food service dessert. I have no idea why the little deep friend rectangles of what appeared to be pastry dough were called beignets. They weren't beignets. Maybe most people can't tell the difference?? Ugh. Everyone working at Eli's was very nice. But it was still kind of a struggle to get water, to get the eaten food plates cleared before adding more food to the table, to get the to go containers, etc etc. Hopefully I will not be back. This is not the kind of dining out experience I can recommend to anyone. read more

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Five stars to Kelly, Matthew and Dylan who made our family gathering a huge success. Our party of 25 enjoyed an excellent three course meal at a very reasonable price, thanks to Kelly's help in arranging it. Dylan, our server, did especially well on his own with our boisterous group! Thank you to all read more

Quiet rainy night so it wasn't very busy, but service was great and so was the food! We love the Philly Egg Rolls...this is our favorite place to get them! read more

This was our first time eating at the Eli's in Branford, but we've visited the one in Hamden a few times so we knew the food was going to be great! The eggroll sampler is a must, and they just have some of the best American comfort foods on the menu. Obsessed with the loaded croquettes and burger we had which came with fried provolone and and vodka sauce! The eggplant parm was a gorgeous stack, the Mac & Jack was super flavorful, and the spinach and artichoke dip was great too. They have a great selection of drinks to choose from, and they even had some new seasonal ones on there like the pumpkin spice margarita. The food came out quickly - we were in and out within an hour and were very impressed by that! Everything was clean, and the staff was attentive. read more

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Lila at Eli's absolutely rocked her job! She was incredibly attentive, friendly, and made sure we had everything we needed. She checked in on us regularly. Her customer service was top-notch, and it really made our dining experience special. We felt like we were in good hands with her taking care of us. Can't recommend her enough! Eli's is lucky to have her on the team. If I ever go back and I will, I'm requesting Lila! read more

We stopped in for a snack on a Saturday evening. It was surprisingly quiet at 6pm. The manager greeted us as we walked in and asked where we preferred to sit. We sat at a high top in the bar. People around us were a bit loud and rowdy, but it is a bar. Our server greeted us promptly and took drink orders. We ordered 2 appetizers, the steak rolls, and the provolone fritta. They arrived very quickly. The steak rolls are always delicious! I love the sauce on top, and they are crispy. The provolone came in 2 huge pieces. It was hot and crisp, and the sipping sauce was perfect. If we were already full, we would have love to try something else. Their menu seemed to have lots of new items. We will be back soon! read more

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My wife and I are only giving this place 2 stars is because our waitress was friendly and accommodating. The food on the other hand was horrible. My wife orders a Cali BLTA chicken sandwich. I ordered a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Both chicken sandwiches came out over fried to the point that they looked unappetizing. The Nashville hot was not even spicy. The Cali BLTA had no flavor and barely any sauce. We also had Brussel sprouts and they were too burnt with almost no glaze. The restaurant itself looks nice and clean in the inside. But that does not make up for the subpar food. The prices for the quality of food we received was not worth it all. read more

As a former employee of Hamden, I had used Eli's in Hamden for many of my events in the past. I was aware of their great food and service, but never was I prepared for the type of service that I received at Eli's in Branford. Everything was perfect. I had dropped off my centerpieces and the tables were set for my invitees. We were having a memorial for my sister and I got so many compliments on the way things turned out. From the ambience to the food to the service to the accessibility of the room, Just everything! The food was delicious and we had more than enough! Thank you again read more

Eli's On the Hill - Buffet Style Set Up - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

This is the second location I've visited and the food we got that night was good. The problem was that it took us one hour to get our main dishes. When I commented to the waitress that it was an awfully long time to wait for our meal she responded - kind of snotty - like she's worked there a long time and isn't going to take any crap from the customers - that they had a party upstairs and the kitchen was busy. I may go back since we've been pretty happy with the food overall, but I will certainly look upstairs and make sure there isn't a party going on! read more

We recently had my grandsons Christening at Eli's in Branford. From the very start it was a pleasure to do business with Kelly Zampano. The room was set up exactly how we requested Thr service was attentive and friendly from the very start and the food was served hot and delicious. I would definitely have my next event there. read more

Absolutely horrible. The prices on Uber don't match the meal prices in the restaurant. They will randomly increase your order price after you order. They need to update the meal prices on the Uber app to reflect the cost in restaurant. Will not be returning. read more

Ordered signature salad with grilled chicken via uber eats. Received just the salad. No chicken. Called restaurant. She asked me to hold and hung up on me. Horrible experience. Will not order from them again. read more

Had my sister in laws baby shower there this past weekend and everything was great! Working with Kelly on all of the planning from start to finish was great. She was so helpful. We were pleased with the food and service as well, would definitely plan another event there in the future. read more

Started with the fried calamari Asian Style. It had a sweet chili glaze with almost no batter. It also had a small octopus in the salad. It was tasty, sweet and a little heat. I then had the crispy Brussels sprouts with potatoes. It was covered with a balsamic glaze, topped shaved Asiago. This was absolutely delicious. My main course was the grilled chicken caprice. It was served with a chilled orzo salad and broccoli. The chicken was topped with mozzarella and tomato bruschetta. The chicken was cooked on the grill, however it was over cooked and a little dry. Between topping it with the orzo salad and the bruschetta it took away some of the dryness, The person that was with me had the fish and chips. He said it was good, but it contained a very small portion of fish. Service was good, and the place has a bar like atmosphere. Plenty of off street parking and right off route one. read more

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service and food was great for our small celebration in their upstairs area. Everything was done perfectly.

We hold our monthly networking meeting in the reserved loft space and had a great time. The space is private and our servers were top notch. We look forward to many more meetings at Eli's! read more

Stopped for lunch with my wife. Ordered the nachos and steak egg rolls. The nachos were awful. They were cold with tasteless cheese sauce glopped on then son sort of cold garlic ranch sauce They were then topped with marinated sweet red onions. Just an awful combination. I never had such an awful combination of flavors and can't believe they served this. The only reason I gave them two stars is that the egg rolls were good and so was the service. read more

Eli's On the Hill - Terrible "nachos". - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

Used their back room for a post wedding brunch after our wedding in Branford this past weekend. Robin who was out point of contact made the planning of the event beyond easy, and everything was exactly what we expected on the day of. Our server and bartender were great, and the food was tasty and plentiful. We appreciated being able to bring leftovers home. Our server Dylan let us take home extras, customize the music and tv's, and was beyond attentive. Highly recommend hosting your events in their backroom. We comfortably had 45 people fit with no concerns. Thank you Eli's! read more

So let me first start off by saying that I experienced some of the best customer service I've ever had at this Eli's location. Ever. Period. The staff were amazing, attentive, nice, and helpful. I wish I could have this level of service everywhere I go. Awesome job, I'm thoroughly impressed. I came here the other night to try the Elite Chef winning lobster roll, the Parisienne. And wow. It's only available through January 31, 2020 so get in here stat to try it before it's gone. See photos attached for this gorgeousness of a lobster roll topped with cajun hollandaise and served with a side of fried brussels sprouts with goat cheese. You want a lobstah roll, they've got a lobstah ROLL. The brussels are legit and I wanna come back for more, soooooo delish, I could eat them daily. I also had the general T's cauliflower bites and you gotta try them, because they'll give your taste buds a kick in the teeth and you feel healthy because cauliflower. I washed all this deliciousness down with a key lime tini, which I also highly recommend. Totes different martini, it's like drinking some liquid pie. read more

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Pretty good food for the prices I wouldn't go on a Friday night especially after 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. that's when the Riff Raff tends to come in. read more

We had our son's Baptism reception at Eli's and everything went smoothly. Working with Kelly to plan the reception was effortless and she was quick to respond to my emails. Dylan went above and beyond to ensure everyone was taken care of and kept great communication with me during the entire reception. Everything was well organized and the food was fantastic. Thank you all for a successful, beautiful lunch! read more

Last night, I attended my company's holiday dinner at Eli's in Branford. I (along with my other coworkers) had a lovely time here. We had an upstairs room reserved which was set up nicely for us when we arrived. The service was spot on. We were consistently checked on and were served our drinks and food quickly. I ordered the cranberry mint mule and the chicken florentine. I enjoyed the drink, as the minty flavor wasn't overpowering but just tasted like a sweet mule. The chicken was delicious and had a crispy coating. This is a fun, casual place that also knows how to set up a room nicely for a more special event. I would come back here if the opportunity arose. read more

Eli's On the Hill - Cranberry mint mule - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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We celebrated our child's high school graduation party with Eli's on the Hill. From the first point of contact with Robin to help us pick out the menu, she was patient and very helpful and got right back to us with any questions and changes we had. The day of our party went very smoothly, with attention to details, and the room set up exactly as we asked. Our food was ready as soon as our guests arrived and was delicious and more than enough, and surpassed our expectations!! The manager Matthew was very pleasant and attentive and was there for any questions we had. And finally our server Dylan went above and beyond for us, was extremely friendly, attentive, polite and was right there for every single one of our guests. many of our guests commented on how wonderful he was and how hard he worked to make the day a beautiful experience! read more

I met up with one of my girlfriends and tried this place out. I ordered the avocado salad and the Asian Calamari. The service as this location was great! The servers and manager were accommodating. The presentation and freshness of the avocado salad were excellent. Although, it's nothing out of this world. The Asian Calamari was far better; it was fresh and crisp and flavorful. I like how the octopus had a slight crunch as well. Overall, I may try this place one day again. read more

Eli's On the Hill - Avocado Salad - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

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Kid wanted dessert and really wanted crème brûlée. I e would not think of a sports bar/restaurant for crème brûlée, but yea, it's great! Perfectly melted sugar, rich creamy custard. Hit the spot! Our server was great. Very enthusiastic and checked in on us frequently. The back room was a little on the chilly side, but all was good, we just opted to grab some hot tea to go with our dessert. Eli's is a great little spot for some casual dining. read more

Eli's On the Hill - Another night out with the kiddo! We wanted dessert - American Near Me - Branford, Connecticut

Its a great place. I had the bone in chicken wings but it really did not have any taste. I told the waiter but he didn't seem to care. My wife had some kind of sandwich and she enjoyed it. But i gotta say the french fries are delicious. read more

The food was delicious and so We're the drinks. The waitress was good very attentive. I went with a party of 6 . At the end we all split the check it was actually 4 ways . I just wanted people to be aware that when they charged my card they charged twice the Second amount was ALOT of money. Just be aware and check your bank Accounts , I understand mistakes happen often but just be carful read more

i am a tour group operator from pa.i had a group here for a lunch buffet. it was great. service was very good and plenty of great tasting food read more

Had baby shower for my daughter in loft room. The room was absolutely perfect size for less than 20 people. The food was excellent! Our server Grace was fantastic! Would recommend Eli's in Branford to anyone planning any type of event. If there was an option to choose a 10 star rating I would have chosen that option!!! read more

forgot my mashed potatoes and gave me fries then proceeded to make racist comments because of my skin color and then kicked me out

Food is good. Some of it is great. The fish tacos were good the 1st time. Last week they were terrible. Avocado salad, beet salad and burger and steak all pretty good. read more

We had our regional luncheon at Eli's! The food was fantastic. But the star was our server, Eric! We booked for 50 people and the room quickly filled up with 65 people. Eric then went into overdrive making sure we were taken care of. He brought in extra chairs and ran back and forth filling and refilling everything we needed for a successful luncheon. We have booked Eli's before, but this is the first time we had more show up then signed up! A good problem for us but I'm sure a taxing one for Eric! Thanks! Jim Vigue AFT Connecticut read more

Perfect location for a small family lunch gathering. The banquet room sat 45 people comfortably, the food was delicious and the service was great. read more