Bottega Italian Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Bethel

UPDATE: Food quality / price (value) rating 9. It's a 9.5 during their very good Happy Hour 3 to 6 pm - draught beer $5 and house wines $8. The atmosphere is contemporary Italian. They have a large bar area that has several high-tops, and a fairly large, separate dining room . We've been here probably 10 times now, and the food is consistently prepared and presented well. I've had the Cup & Char Pepperoni pizza the past two visits. This is a unique pizza in that it has a small diameter sliced pepperoni which turns into a shallow "cup" when it's fired. They then put a few drops of honey into each little cup. The result is a wonderful and unique flavor experience. The place is clean, and the service has typically been good. It appears that their 15 seat U-shaped bar is a very good meeting place for those looking to find companionship. They have a large, very nice outdoor seating area that overlooks the city and has a sunset view.

Food price / quality (value) rating 8.5. The atmosphere is soft neo-industrial with Italian accents. There is a fairly large elevated outdoor patio available. The menu is pretty diverse, and includes several Italian standards. The clientele we saw on a Saturday evening was widely representative and very inclusive . I had the Americano Burger, it was a generous sized burger with plenty of fixings and a large portion of shoestring fries. I thought it was very good. The wife had Rigatoni Bolognese and stated that the pasta was cooked properly, the sauce was full of veggies and included a large dollop of ricotta cheese. The service was good. There were, however, two not inconsequential issues about our experience. One was that the Seafood Fra Diavolo stated that it included "bay scallops" when in fact, it did not. They were knowingly substituting "sea scallops" for this dish. The difference is that bay scallops are mollusks, and sea scallops are plugs of fish filets and cost half as much. The other issue, which is a major faux pas, was that before I was even finished with my last beer, the waiter asked us to "leave quickly as we have a reservation for this table". It wasn't like we were dilly dallying or anything, it was just plain rude as hell. If I hadn't liked the guy, I would have stiffed him on the...

Met friends for dinner tonight at Bottega in Bethel, CT... I mentioned to the hostess that the friends I was meeting might be bringing their "Service Dog" and requested a corner spot in the restaurant. After seating me the hostess came back and suggested moving outside to the patio if they have a dog. I again told her, that it was a "Service Dog" and that we've been in the restaurant before and never had a problem with the dog. She left then the Manager came over and advised me that they couldn't allow the dog inside because other customers might object or might be allergic to the dog, and thus we would need to sit outside.

I was in the Food & Beverage industry for over 40 years and have managed some of the most successful restaurants in the country, but I was not about to get into an argument with a manager who clearly didn't know the law. Perhaps the Owners should educate the staff as to the ADA law!

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a restaurant cannot deny you seating or service because you have a service dog. Service animals are not considered pets and are legally allowed in all areas where the public is permitted, including restaurants. This is true even if the restaurant has a "no pets" policy. Furthermore, you cannot be isolated from other patrons or forced to sit in a specific section of the restaurant because you have a service animal.

Unfortunately, we had to end our evening early because the sun was setting and it was getting to cold to be outside without jackets.

If this happens again, I'll make a point of recording the conversation next time, so I have evidence to bring to an attorney. In the meantime I may file a complaint with the DOJ; who is responsible for enforcing the ADA law, just so it's on record should this ever happen to anyone else.

Such a shame because the food was excellent and so was our server! However, being segregated to an empty patio left us all with a bad taste...

The food: Started with the Calamari appetizer. These were pretty great. Well seasoned, not over cooked, crispy assorted cuts of squid. I was not a fan of the marinade being on the plate and the calamari placed on top with the aioli drizzled on top. Had like four pieces of calamari absolutely drenched in aioli and the rest had none. Bottom pieces of calamari were half soggy from sitting in the marinara.

The pizza was excellent. I got the Tartufo with shrimp added. The dough is slightly chewy with a crisp slightly charred crusting and had great flavor. I enjoyed the toppings which were pretty evenly spread.

The Fra Diavolo was salty and very watery. It’s supposed to be a thinner sauce but it was liquid with some tomato puree here and there. Noodles were cooked well. Menu also said there was Chorizo in it… definitely had the texture and taste of smoked sausage, kind of like the turkey hill smoked sausage you can get at the grocery store? They put a lot of mussels which I suppose is to make up for the dime sized mussel meat. Scallops were large and well cooked. A few of the shrimp were oddly cold compared to the rest of the food.

The service: moderate. Server checked on us once aside from when she took our orders and brought our food. She didn’t ask if we wanted refills and all three of us had empty drink cups. The food took about a half an hour and there were only two tables there besides us.

3.5 stars...