LoMonaco's Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Branford

I had to take a vehicle to Town Fair in Branford today for a front end alignment and was told it may take 1-1/2 to 2 hrs to get done simply because they were very busy. So I took a walk up the hill past Transcend Tattoo where I got my two tattoos because I couldn’t remember what was up that way for food and being that it was lunchtime and the wait that was impending I figured I probably better get something to eat. So I walked up a ways and I wasn’t impressed with my choices such as Burger King, or Taco Bell or anything like that. The first place that I had walked by from Town Fair was a place called LoMonaco’s Restorante. On my way back I thought why not, stop and see what they have to offer. There were no customers in here yet but it was 12:30 PM. I got seated at a cute little table in a corner all by myself and was treated like an absolute queen. I ordered spaghetti carbonara which I love and a little side Caesar salad. She brought out a basket of warm bread, like I needed that LOL, and as if that wasn’t enough then she brought out a little plate with three very hot garlic knots (I know Dianna you wouldn’t like that) And a very fresh, very good little side Caesar salad. I took my time and so did she and didn’t serve my entrée too quick so that I could spread it out over my time period and be relaxed, not rushed. About four or five other parties came in after me but still it was nice and comfortable and quiet and the staff was extremely attentive. Out came my spaghetti carbonara and I thought that I had died and gone to heaven… Literally… From the first bite I was like “oh my God”. I brought anywhere’s from 1/2 to 3/4 of it home along with the basket of bread of course because I was very comfortably stuffed. When I got my bill it was $12.23 and I kept looking at it thinking that can’t be right. But that was the lunch price, that was the lunch size so I can’t even imagine what the dinner size was. Two people could’ve shared what I had for lunch very easily. So this is my take on this restaurant that I visited for the very first time… I would go there again and again, not just because the price was reasonable but more so because the food was absolutely delicious and the service...

We rented the restaurant out for a graduation party of about 25 people. Alcohol service was extremely slow and in many instances drinks never came. Food was cold and service was very rushed. Silverware was not replaced in between courses consistently and staff were not friendly overall. The owner Maria was very rude and did not even greet the host. She was on the phone the whole time the party was going on and anytime we needed something she waved us off until she was off the phone. They added 18 percent gratuity to the bar tab, which is not customary especially when the tab is separate from the food, which did have 18 percent added as well. Toward the end of the party the servers and staff made us feel very rushed. They took away drinks and food before people were finished, picked up the graduate's gifts and moved them to a different table, closed out tabs before we were finished and started moving tables around while we were still there. When we confronted the owner she was very rude and unprofessional and indicated that she told us what time we needed to be out of the room and in fact she never did. They started rushing us at 3:30pm and we had the room until 5. We were out by 4. She failed to offer anything to make up for our concerns. Poor service and I would highly avoid this place. Food...

Was excited to try this place with a couple of friends; it did not turn out how we'd hope. Our server was a little rude, and didn't really come up to check on us all too much. Inside is nice, if that's all you seem to care about. Food on the other hand, did not live up to expectation. We got a large Primavera Pizza to share, and each our own appetizers. I got the Fried Calamari, my buddies got some Fried Mozzarella and Pasta Fagioli. My Calamari was bland, super oily, and not as flavorful as I'd like. My friends liked the Fried Mozzarella, but the other did not like his Pasta Fagioli soup. Almost NO beans and broth had a slight weird aftertaste. The Primavera Pizza was a little sad, super thin tomatoes, almost NO artichokes, BARELY even a hint of garlic, and the crust was slightly undercooked in the center but on the outside it was somehow slightly darker, pretty damn close to burnt. Overall the staff were nice and accommodating, but the food was NOT good. We will not be back at this place, we've had better soup...