Fornarelli's — Restaurant in Colchester

We decided to try this spot for the first time and were eager to see what it had to offer. Here’s our honest and detailed review.

For appetizers, we ordered the arancini and fried artichokes. The arancini were solid overall. Each was about the size of a small tennis ball, with properly cooked risotto that was hot, cheesy, and fresh. However, the prosciutto flavor that was supposed to be a key element was barely detectable. The marinara sauce served alongside was watery and unremarkable, offering little to elevate the dish. At $9 for two, the portion felt a bit steep for what you get—$4.50 per piece. While enjoyable enough, they didn’t feel special or worth the price.

The fried artichokes, unfortunately, were a disappointment. These appeared to be canned or jarred artichokes that were halved, dried off, and battered before being fried. The exterior was crisp, but the interior was overly soft and squishy, offering almost no texture contrast. They were served on a bed of mixed greens with the same watery marinara and a mayo-like aioli that lacked the promised lemony flavor. For $12, the portion was underwhelming (about seven halves), and the flavor profile left a lot to be desired. Unless fried canned artichokes are your preference, we’d recommend skipping this dish.

For entrees, we ordered the calamari and the “chicken parm 2.0.” The calamari was the highlight of the meal. It arrived as a generous portion of rings and tentacles that were cooked properly—not rubbery—and were well-seasoned. However, there was an issue with the inclusion of hot peppers, which were not mentioned on the menu. These peppers were visually similar to the calamari and packed significant heat, so they could easily catch someone off guard. While the calamari itself was fine, the lack of transparency about the peppers could be problematic. At $16, it was decent, but not extraordinary compared to similar dishes at other Italian restaurants.

The chicken parm 2.0, unfortunately, was the most disappointing dish of the night. It featured a very large, thin chicken breast pounded to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. While fried to the edge of being overdone, the chicken itself was acceptable, if slightly dry. However, the pasta it came with was wildly overcooked and sat in a pool of watery sauce. The linguini tasted terrible—so bad, in fact, that I couldn’t eat more than a single bite. The menu stated that entrees come with a vegetable and starch of the day, but these sides never arrived. Given the quality of the dish, that might have been for the best. At $25, the meal felt overpriced and poorly executed.

The server, to her credit, was friendly, attentive, and tried her best to make up for the kitchen’s mistakes. She offered a complimentary dessert as compensation for the issues with my meal, which I appreciated. I opted for the Boston Cheesecake to go. Although I had requested the Boston cheesecake, but the server returned to say they were out and had already bagged the mud cake for me which she said was good and put it on the table, boxed and bagged. It was dry, dense, and small, with a clear “store-bought” vibe. At $8, it was incredibly overpriced, and the flavor didn’t redeem it. While the gesture was appreciated, I would have preferred to choose a different dessert.

The atmosphere was another drawback. Despite it being a Thursday evening at 6 PM, the environment was incredibly loud, more akin to a bar than a restaurant. The volume of patrons yelling (drunk) across the room made it difficult to have a conversation or even communicate easily with the server.

In total, our dinner for two came to $61. While the server’s efforts to make amends were appreciated, the overall quality of the food and the dining experience did not justify the cost. We had high hopes for this newer spot, given the always-full parking lot, but now we suspect it’s more popular as a bar scene than a true dining destination. Unfortunately, we left underwhelmed and don’t...

Food was meh and the atmosphere sucks. The upstairs has the classy Italian place vibe which is fine, but the downstairs is lame and confusing. Myself and all my friends were hoping there would finally be a good bar in colchester, maybe some pool tables, a dart board or something to attract the younger crowd. The downstairs is filled with these small tables that seat 2-3 people taking up all the space that could be pool tables and something fun. One night we were having a beer and some food and the owner sat down across the bar and asked us how everything was. We made some suggestions to improve the atmosphere and he was kind of rude and dismissive. Like I get he’s got two other successful restaurants but the demographics for Colchester are nothing like the other locations. Colchester is surrounded by farm towns and there isn’t a single bar with pool tables and a good bar vibe and this guy just shrugged off our suggestions as if we (the literal young people) don’t know what we are talking about. I doubt I’ll be returning here for food or drinks, both bars are overrun by the elderly and the food is...

I am mixed on this place. It is a weird environment when you walk in the door (you walk right into the dining room, decor looks outdated even though the restaurant is newer, weird table arrangements, and it’s extremely loud)! It just doesn’t feel like an Italian restaurant and not a good place if you’re looking for a romantic date night setting. Our service was very slow and they weren’t that busy. I also think it’s very inappropriate to be wearing a belly shirt with your belly button ring out. I did notice other tables getting more attentive service; the girl who delivered our food was more attentive than our actual server. We kept seeing tables around us getting entrees with mussels in it which isn’t on the menu. She said well it’s on the specials tonight (which we weren’t told about) OR if you know the owner you can special request it. 3 stars ONLY because the food was good! Caesar salad, sole piccata, chicken parm all really good! The sides with the sole piccata were lacking (a few vegetables and two tasteless triangular polenta cakes) but the fish...