Rein Osteria — Restaurant in Danbury

This is sort of a combined review of two visits. I wish that I could give 3.5 stars. I rounded up for Rein because of great customer service during both visits. Perched on a hill in an easy to reach main road in Danbury, Rein has plenty of parking and is attractive inside and out. If you have mobility issues, park in the rear to avoid a whole lot of steep stairs. Upon entry, you will see that the restaurant has a large bar in the center of the floor space. Perhaps this is a subtle hint to the owners priority. On the first visit, I chose the fried calamari appetizer and chicken parm for my entre. My friend got the Brussel sprouts and tuna tartar. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Chicken parm is my restaurant test order for new places. If you can't get that simple dish right, then I never come back for a second shot to disappoint me. My friend ate his tuna like a hostage. My chicken plate was delicious and so plentiful that I had leftovers for two days. Visit #2. I went back to the calamari. This treat was excellent again. My wife liked the clams but did not love them. She kept picking out large pieces of green peppers. Is that supposed to be in baked clams? Surprisingly, it was reported that the skirt steak was outstanding. As most know, a skirt steak can be a toss-up, but this one was righteous. The vegetables depicted were probably blanched and kinda hard. I tried them, and the string beans were ok, but the carrots were as tough as Kevlar. It seemed that they may have been undercooked AND possibly reheated. I chose the ribeye over the 10oz fillet. Maybe that was a mistake. This is NOT a prime steakhouse, and my ribeye reflected that. This steak was as tough as Timberland leather. Both steaks were prepared medium well. I never liked a crime scene on my plate. Your mileage may vary. I have been served great tender and juicy steaks cooked to this temperature many, many times, so that wasn't it. I wonder if the grade of meat was select, which is on a lower level than supermarket choice. The lobster tail was larger than expected and prepared to perfection. My smashed potato and spinach were good, just good. There was one alcoholic drink ordered and no soft drinks. The grand total was pretty darn grand for what we got. With a 20% tip, the damage was $200! This was NOT a two "C" note meal or experience buy any means. I would go back there for the calamari, but I would probably never order a steak from them again. As a final note, the bathrooms and the dining areas were very clean. Enjoy or not. You...

Been here three times. The menu is one of the more imaginative and interesting in the area. I love the food and always struggle with what to order because there are so many good options.

That being said, their service is abominable if you sit in the bar area (even at a table). I think they have the bartenders also double as waitstaff and it just doesn't work. We were about to walk out without paying because we were still waiting for a check 25 minutes after asking for one and that was after waiting close to 40 minutes for our entrees to arrive. The whole operation on that side of the restaurant is so poorly managed and executed that we refuse to sit there anymore, even if that's the only open table.

Service on the restaurant side is much better. Waiters are friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. It's like a completely different restaurant.

Hostess stand is also a clusterf**k. Twice we made reservations, once we didn't, but didn't matter - - you always wind up waiting 5-10 minutes while the initial hostess stares at the seating chart like it's an inscrutable tome in a different language, then calls two other people who all stare at the thing, then they all ask you to wait another few minutes--all while there are plenty of open tables in the restaurant and the online reservations show availability for every single seating time.

It's really a shame because the menu design is fantastic, the food is delicious, and the prices are a little high but still within reason. But they desperately need someone who knows how to manage restaurant operations. And never sit in the bar area if you want to eat.

Finally, just a shoutout about the sticky toffee pudding. Hard to find that as a dessert option (even in NYC) and theirs is one of the...

Overall, it's pretty good. We got French onion soup, chicken parm, crispy lobster bucatini, bucatini with shrimp, and burrata ravioli

Service was painfully slow. Wait staff was slow, bartenders were slow, and the wait for the food was over 35 min. When ordering the French onion soup for one person out of a table of 4, I would recommend asking the table if they want the soup to come out first or with everything if I was a waiter.

The menus were coming apart, and the plastic cover over the paper was falling out with every page turn.

I don't feel great knowing I'm spending a bit of money at a nice dinner, and the first thing I see is old, very used, stained, and scuffed plates.

Chicken parm is a basic dish, hard to mess up, and a safe option. Chicken was cooked great! Cheese melted and crispy on the edges. Bocatini was cooked well. Sauce was horrendous. Absolutely no flavor besides jarred/canned sauce. Please season the marinara sauce (salt and pepper go a long way) .

Burrata Ravioli was amazing. Great flavor. Little small on portions, but that's unfortunately the trend with fancy restaurants. Overpriced for little food. The dish is $25 for 4 Raviolis. I'm aware burrata isn't cheap, but it's not expensive enough to charge that.

Bucatini Lobster had great flavor. Good portions. Great cook on the pasta. Overall, I would recommend it.

Bucatini shrimp was good. Shrimp wasn't overcooked and cleaned properly. Sauce was a little light in flavor. 4 shrimp, pasta, and some garnish for $30 is a bit high. Maybe 6 shrimp and a more flavorful sauce would be more like $30.

French onion was great. Perfect price. Cheese was melted perfectly. Bread wasn't too soggy by the time it got...