Meh. Bread was stale. Entree was lukewarm and twice baked potato was bland. Mozz and tomato entrée didn't have basil on it? Weird.

I'm kinda disappointed. I'd heard great things about Elmo's especially the ciopino and bay scallops. When we arrived tonight, there was a special menu for Valentine's Day -- and neither was on the menu. We had also heard good things about the clam chowder. What a disappointment. It had clams, but no flavor at all. After 3 bites, oyster crackers and a LOT of salt and pepper, I gave up. The server was surprised when I refused a box to take it home. The two of us who had the chowder agreed that the best we could say was, "it was warm," The menu had a variety of seafood and chops for the holiday menu, but surprisingly no "surf and turf". The broiled seafood platter was good (slightly over cooked) the prime rib flavorful (horseradish sauce had to be requested) , and the salmon was deemed 'excellent'. The place was busy (we had made reservations just after 1 pm for a 7 pm dinner) and we appreciated the host moving us from the bar to the dining room. Our server apologized that the soups and salads were ready prior to the appetizers, but brought the food out as it was ready (thank you!). Was it good? Sure. Was it spectacular? No. Will we go back? Maybe, but we'll make sure ciopino is on the menu before we go. read more

I have to start this by pointing out that my wife and I are in our 50s, and we are clearly the youngest diners here in the entire restaurant portion. So the fried calamari appetizer- thick, rubbery, frozen not fresh?- rings only, no other squid... even worse was the marinara sauce. No flavor. Really. How, I don't know, but they managed to give a tomato sauce with zero flavor. Caesar salad- excellent. Fresh lettuce, lightly dressed, nice croutons. Clearly, this has not been sitting in a refrigerator premade all day long- so well done on that. The Dockside platter @ $34 - 2 small pieces fish, 2 jumbo shrimp, 2 sea scallops, a few clam strips, and I went with sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries are very very good. Large cut, sea salted, honey mustard dip. Fried seafood was- average. Jumbo shrimp were huge and sweet so probably the best of the bunch. Oyster po boy @$18 was disappointing with 5 oysters and the rest all lettuce. Other reviews are correct- restaurant is clean but clearly set up in 1960-something with no updates since. For prices and ambiance, I would try Saybrook Fish House in Rocky Hill, I think it's a better value. read more

Hello, Joe Turbo here. My friend has been trying to get me over to Elmo's for some time now. We did make it once early summer and evidently ordered the wrong item (a lunch version). Although it was good, but not what my friend was raving about. Went back this month and Oh My, that was a great meal. The Cioppino, simmered in a spicy marinara sauce was just spicy enough and l really did enjoy it. Our waitress was very helpful. We took out time and enjoyed it, with enough left over to bring home to my wife. read more

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Food was ok. Nothing special about it. The fried food really did not have much flavor but not any different than any other fried fish place I have tried in New England so if you are not from down south were they do a very seasoned corn meal breading than this will prob be good to you. read more

Food was okay but certainly not worth the price. 2 entrees and sodas was almost $80 before tip. The staff was nice and the food was pretty good but not worth that price at all in my opinion. read more

A good meal last night at Elmo's. We had a 6:00 reservation (wasn't needed) and was seated right away. The prime rib was very good but under cooked as I had asked for medium rare. My daughter had the fettuccine Alfredo and what was strange is the portion was kind of small.... most restaurants you end up bringing home leftovers but that wasn't the case tonight. If you are in a hurry this isn't your place. This was our second visit to Elmo's and we would go again.... they really deserve 3.5 stars read more

Elmo's Dockside - Prime Rib - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

Well let me start with I have not been here in 5 years, due to crappy help. I came in last week for take out and a few drinks around 3 o'clock and was met with a server at the bar with no personality.Decided to try my luck at dinner time for a few drinks and takeout Prime Rib and stuffed mushrooms. Dinner was fabulous and so were the servers! I will be back at dinner time , definitely not lunch! read more

Been living in town for years finally visited, what a find, friendly faces, FRESH is key, definitely gotta try the $14.00 burger. Huge!! The Ruben is absolutely delicious. And any of their fish tastes fresh off the line! Great prices too. read more

If I could give a zero star I would this place is upright disrespectful the service is horrible and nasty we sat down at 6:30 and me my party had to wait till 8:30 almost for an appetizer and a second round of drinks and the drinks were warm when they came to us and when the food came the it was ice cold the steaks weren't even cooked among other dishes that arrived that were undercooked and other customers threatened us that we should leave and the owner said he can't control other people in the place or how quick the staff can work it wasn't even busy enough to cause this the owner should be on top of his business more then he was just sitting at a table with someone talking and not paying attention I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT AT ALL read more

Came here on a Friday night. No wait but restaurant was busy. Service was a bit slow but the food was delicious! I had the bloody orange martini to drink. We also tried the fried ravioli for starters. It came in one huge squared shape ravioli. Delicious and very cheesy. I had the cioppino with clam chowder. Clam chowder looked way too thick before taking a bite but it was actually very good flavorful and creamy. Cioppino was delicious although cioppinos are usually more on the soupy side like a stew. It came out instead like a seafood fra diavolo which I actually prefer. My husband had the stuffed shrimp and he thought the stuffing was overwhelming. read more

Been wanting to stop for a long time and finally did so on a Sunday evening and we couldn't have been happier. Super fresh oysters and cherry stones, the cioppino and swordfish were perfect. Service from Autumn was outstanding, she was attentive, polite and knowledgeable about the food. We'll definitely be back! read more

Elmo's Dockside - Cioppino - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

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Went out for a birthday dinner for my cousin on a Tuesday night. The place was not busy at all about 2 to 3 other couples. We had a party of 8 adults and 2 children. We were seated in the back area which was perfect since we were celebrating a birthday. My issue was the amount of time we had to wait for the waitress to take our order, to coming over to check on us, to getting our food, etc. We arrived at 6:30 and didn't leave until almost 10. In my opinion this is UNACCEPTABLE. It should not take 3.5 hours to have dinner. The food was also mediocre at best. i will not be returning. read more

Elmo's is one of my favorites in town! I need a dose of their DELICIOUS clam chowder and Caesar salad with homemade dressing at least once a week. I would eat a gallon bucket of the chowder if they served it as an option. Some of my other favorites on the menu include the fried mozzarella, baked stuffed shrimp, lobster roll, and steak with a baked potato. They always have a fresh variety of beers on tap when I visit which makes dining here a new experience each time. Phyllis always welcomes us with a warm and inviting smile and always provides prompt service. If you haven't visited Elmo's yet, you are seriously missing out! read more

Absolutely horrible food and service, we waited over an hour and a half for our food to come out, food had absolutely no flavor. only thing that was decent was the drinks from the bar. Our bill came to just over $140 for our three meals absolutely not worth nearly that amount, we have dined at other restaurants like this and have paid less for much better quality food and service. I completely would not recommend this restaurant to anyone!! read more

This place makes delicious food for sure I specially like the sea scallops omg it's absolutely delicious, but then again everything they make is delicious! read more

Elmo's Dockside - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

Keep going! Do not eat here! Just left this so-called seafood specialty restaurant and it was by far, a total disappointment. This place was not busy and the hostess brought us to a horrible darkcorner booth when there were many other better open choices. We asked to be moved to a more pleasant spot and we were greeted by an obvious novice server who was in a dire rush to take a drink order. We ordered 2 martinis and they came ok. She then instantly wanted to take our order and since we hadn't yet had the opportunity to glance at the menu. ordered a cup of clam chowder which was served quickly and was very good. At that point, she returned to take our order. We ordered 2 entrees from the menu and after about 20 minutes, the server returned to advise us that they could not fill our order, as they were out of mussels and out of salmon. So we had to rethink our menu items and placed an alternate order! We then sat waiting for our food for another 40 minutes and asked for some bread, which was pron ably left over from the weekend(dry and stale) and finally got our order. By this time , we ran short of time and there was no server in sight! She apparently had completed her shift and left for the day. The bar tender eventually came over and took a dessert order of apple pie , which we asked "to go" since we were now running late. when we took a look at what they boxed up, it was an old freezer-burnt piece of apple pie! please, stay clear of this place, it is awful!!! read more

We've been here three times now with a large group and the staff has never missed a beat! All of our dinners were excellent and we really enjoyed the warm lounge for after dinner drinks. I personally have had fried shrimp twice and prime rib once and every meal was great! The shrimp were giant and cooked perfectly the prime rib was, as well. We will definitely be returning! read more

The prices were really high for not much food. But thank goodness they didn't give us that much food because what we got, was awful! The calamari was so rubbery and tough that I had to spit it out. The lobster bisque tasted like canned tomato soup and not even the name brand soup. I sent the full bowl back and when I was asked if I wanted it wrapped, I said 'no'. I did not complain loud enough I guess because they did not take it off the bill. I literally was sick to my stomach before I even left the restaurant. My husband had the Two Fry and he disliked the calamari and said that the breading on the fish was awful. He brought the leftovers home and our adult daughter tried to eat it but said it was horrid and made her sick. So no, we will NEVER eat here again. read more

Stumbled acriss this restaurant. So glad I did. The place is clean medium lighting. When you enter dooor for restaurant side you have a choice to go to the bar side or restaurant side If you enter bar side you go rightt into the bar. Bar side has TVs . Went to restaurant side. You have a choose of booths or chair tables. We had Berger sandwich and a wrap sandwich. Enjoyed tt. They had meals which sounded good but didn't want that. All meals are made fresh in reatutant. Had stack wrap and it was real stack. Nice. Prices are very reasonable. And choice of drinks cover our needs. Plan to go back again for dinner next time. Food and price better than any near by chain. Enjoy when you go. Look at menu online. read more

Sunday night July 2nd, we had an 80th birthday dinner for my wife and had 17 people. The party could not have been better. They set up a long table in the back room we had all to ourselves. We had appetizers ready for us and the table looked exceptional. The appetizers were ready and they were delicious. Stuffed mushrooms and chicken tenders. They had as requested wine that they picked for us and everyone loved their choice. The service was excellent and the entrees were excellent. I had the baked scrod, my wife had seafood crepes and everyone enjoyed different choices as well and at the end enjoyed their dinners. We provided our own cake and were allowed to bring in some of our own nonalcoholic champagne for the toast. It turned out to be a magical night thanks to the great food and staff. This will be one of our go to restaurants for sure in the future. read more

I would say for a seafood place in the Vernon/Manchester area, Elmo's does a solid job. This place has been here for a long time but I only seem to get here 1-2 times a year. It's not really a happening place and caters more to the family and older crowd (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that). I believe it was the manager who greeted us on our last visit and he was very nice and wanted to make sure we were well taken care of. This place is super close by to me so I'm thrilled that they offer oysters and clams on the half shell. Their shrimp are also really good, however I think their cocktail sauce could use a little horseradish. My poached salmon was cooked perfectly and the twice baked potato was tasty. The clam chowder was a little chunkier than my liking but was still really good, and I had a taste of the lobster bisque which was yummy as well. They also offer a nice variety of specials every evening. Service was a tad slow, but good otherwise. Some of their meals seem a bit pricey in relation to other restaurants but again they're working with seafood so things change. If you're in the area and looking for some decent seafood I'd definitely recommend this place. read more

Elmo's Dockside - Poached salmon with hollandaise on the side - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

We enjoyed everything about Elmo's the food was great as well as the service try it and l'm sure you'll like it too

I have driven by this local restaurant so many times but never tried it before last night. We went at about 5:15 on a Saturday evening so as expected it wasn't crowded and we were seated immediately in an almost empty restaurant. The place is cute on the outside and a little less cute on the inside. It reminds me of an old, local place in need of some updating. Fairly clean - but just looked old. Our server mature and attentive. She took drink our order and brought out bread right away. The bread was a simple fresh Italian bread warmed and served with a couple thin wafer like crackers and butter. We both had ceasar salads which were good. Not spectacular, but good and nice size. My date had a chicken dish and I had grilled rib eye & french fries. My steak was a good size and had a nice seasoned grilled flavor to it was was a good sized portion. The fries were crispy and served hot (the way I like them!). My friend's chicken dish had sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes and was covetred cheese - also a generous portion and served piping hot. Overall both the food and service were very good. Good enough that I would go back based on it's close location to home and how good the food was. My problems with the restaurant were twofold; for the ambiance and overall dining experience I thought they were expensive. My 15 oz. steak was $24.95. Deserts were in th $7 range and I noticed a full rack of ribs was $22. I though everything could and should be a couple $'s less. Secondly, the décor - the rugs, fixtures and tables look 20+ years old - needs updating badly - but admittedly it seemd clean even though old. read more

Always a solid meal and friendly service. Something for everyone whether you want a light meal or the full deal. Great clam chowder and their seafood is always delicious. My mom loves the scallops and the tiramisu which is delicious and homemade. A hidden gem! read more

My sons took me here today for a Mother's Day late lunch/dinner and it was my first and last time I will ever eat there. It was awful. I ordered the whole belly clams and all I got was maybe 4 whole bellies (and this is me being generous) and the rest were crumbs, like what was left in the deep fryer from last nights dinner rush And to add to that it was cold. This cost $22 but was worth no more $5 considering I got a Dixie cup of cole slaw and cold potatoes. i would have to suggest if you're lookping for a nice seafood dinner go somewhere else, Elmo's is not worth the the ride there. read more

Now that is a great local seafood restaurant that been here for years Nothing has changed and still as good as ever . The food is fresh and delicious . This family owned restaurant been serving the hartfordareafor over 20 years The chef Ali has been cooking great meals ever since. Service and ambiance is top notch and its reasonably priced. Keep up the good cooking. read more

A very mixed experience. If you like seafood, you may want to give them a shot. Elmo's is a typical New England seafood joint. The prices are a bit steep given the food quality and portions. Service was OK, but their manager attempted to make sure we were satisfied. Being a vegan, I know that a place like this won't cater to me. A family member called ahead to see if they had vegan dishes. They suggested salmon. Nice try. Either ask what vegan means or say you don't know. We eat there and I politely pass on ordering dinner. One of our party members felt bad and pulled the manager over. They simply did not understand the term "vegan". Primavera is not vegan, nor is cheese. Bottom line, this is a place for seafood lovers. It's not for vegans and not very friendly to vegetarians in general either. I don't like going to places where you have to make a big fuss to maybe get a less-than-satisfying dish. The restaurant also wreaked of fish, which I guess may or may not be appealing depending on your personal preference. The only thing saving them from a lower rating was that their manager tried to be helpful. (Even if they failed to suggest any modestly appealing vegan options) read more

The first disappointment-no caesar salad. Waitress said the "chefs" didn't have time to make the dressing. I suggest that the owner make it a priority to have the dressing on hand since the salad is offered as a side for many of the dishes. I had the baked seafood with shrimp ,scallops ,cod and clams casino with lemon butter bread crumbs. Shrimp -2 very small, chewy tasteless lumps. Clams casino - 2 dried-up raisin look-alikes with about a quarter size piece bacon on top of the pitiful little shell. But perhaps, worst of all was the soggy bread crumb topping that never saw lemon or piece of butter in its life. On the positive side- broccoli was green and not overcooked. And the bread and butter was good. Please find some one to make caesar dressing!! read more

Great fried oysters and cold draft beer nice place for a casual dinner good selection I agree it is a little pricey for the portions but the food seems fresh and the staff is friendly alway have gotten good service read more

Elmo's Dockside - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

Biggest lobstah I've ever had. Birthday gift from my husband. Mm Mm delicious. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. read more

Elmo's Dockside - Biggest lobstah I've ever had. Delicious birthday present from my husband...mm mm - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

Friday night my son was in the mood for seafood but as he is only 13 I wanted to go to a place I knew would not be too exotic. We sat in the lounge, which I prefer to the dining room. We had a nice mix of breads with whipped butter while we perused the menu. He decided to have the sea scallops and I, thinking I want to be safe in case he did not like his meal ordered the calamari dinner. Both came with soup or salad, we both got the clam chowder. His scallops were a good portion, I think about 6 and my calamari was crisp and flavorful. The whole meal 2 dinners, a beer and a soda was about 68. I thought this was about right as market prices on the scallops was about 40. There were many options cheaper. The only negative possibility would be the chowder, it was a bit bland. In my father's seafood restaurant he used to add a sherry finish which really brings out the flavor. But that is pickune and I am providing a chowder snob! We have been before and will certainly be back. read more

Elmo's tonight was the best on every level. Phyllis was excellent as our waitress. We had the best seat in the lounge. The food was fantastic. I had the pork chops with shrimp appetizer and a side of pasta and my wife had the linguini with clams. Cocktails were excellent and so weren't the wine choice. What's better than that?! read more

Elmo's has become one of our go to places for great seafood entrees and even sandwiches. Service is always wonderful and the owner is usually there overseeing operations. They know how to prepare fried calamari to perfection. I love the rolls they use for the Cajun fish sandwich. Great coleslaw too. read more

Elmo's Dockside - Smothered calamari - Seafood Near Me - Vernon, Connecticut

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Was excited to go to this place, driven past it for years. Most people told me it wasn't very good but I wanted to see for myself. We tried the prime rib. It came out cold and bland. The twice baked potato came out burnt and was small like a baby potato. The clam chowder was bland and lacking on clams. The lobster was 24.99 a pound and came with a baby potato. The lobster was over cooked and chewy. For $24.99 a pound you'd expect it to be cooked properly. Better off going to Big Y for lobster, at least they dont over cook them. The total bill for 5 adults was $250.00 + $40 tip for 2 prime rib, 1 lobster, 1 chicken, 1 fish dinners plus 2 appetizers. Definitely not worth the price at all in my book. That's over $58.00 per person. read more

Really really delicious and great service! I got the pork chops which were cooked to perfection and the apple sauce they came with was the best I've ever had! Would highly recommend. read more

We stopped by this place on our vacation through New England. The place was not packed at 1pm, but the service was very very very bad. It took 30 minutes for us to get our foods, yet everyone all three other tables got theirs. I think the waitress forgot, and rather than admitting, she blamed it on the cook. We are not impressed with the service and the food. And yes, this is a food service industry so there's an expectation of timely service. read more

Hidden Gem ,came across it by accident! The food was Fresh cooked to perfection staff went out of their way too be accommodating!

My wife and I were curious about Elmo's so we tried it last night. We asked for a booth. We were told we had to sit at a table because the booths are saved for people who make reservations. We were seated at a very small table in the middle of the room. It was like we were on display. Our server was a young man named Steve. After ordering, Steve never once stopped by our table to see if we needed anything. Any time we needed anything, I had to get up and literally chase him down. Steve was far more interested in laughing and talking to friends at another table. My wife ordered prime rib cooked medium. It was served almost raw. By no stretch of the imagination could you consider it cooked medium. My wife asked for it to be cooked more. By the time it made it's way back to our table (about 15 minutes later), my meal was cold. Steve offered no comment or apology; just put the plate down and ran. The thing I hate about tipping is that you are expected to tip 15 or 20% even when the service is terrible. Once is more than enough at Elmo's. read more

Stopped in for dinner last week and had a bowl of their new england clam chowder. It was thick, creamy, rich in potatoes and herbs - and completely void of clams. I this to the waitress and she replied "wow - nobody else has complained about that". Frankly, their thick potatoe soup is masquerading as clam chowder. I've been coming here for years - time to move on and find a clam chowder that is also rich in clams. read more