FOX OSTERIA ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR — Restaurant in Meriden

We wanted to love it immediately but we didn’t. Here’s why: My husband and I arrived mid afternoon on a Saturday and sat at the bar. We sat for a bit before anyone acknowledged us as the bar was completely empty. Being short staffed doesn’t bother us as we are aware no one wants to work anymore. The music was very loud and the genre was strange, uninviting and not soothing for dining. We were eventually greeted by a young man with glasses who was fantastic. We were promptly given crescent rolls that were drizzled with olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. The rolls were served with an amazing side dipping olive oil that was infused with ingredients that I can’t quite put my finger on. I started with the spinach gnocchi soup, and my husband started with the pasta fagioli. Both soups were quite good, however, upon delivery of our soup, another young gentleman snapped at my husband saying “both soups are pasta” when my husband said that he had the pasta soup to make the server aware the pasta fagioli was his. Sorry, Sir… Gnocchi is a potato dumpling… And don’t talk to my husband like that. We had two appetizers: the meatballs were good but a little dense. I’m not sure what you use for tomatoes but the sauce was delicious. As a very white English girl who grew up with a 100% Italian stepdad who made everything from scratch, the sauce here is a 10. Our second appetizer were the clams casino. This was the main event for me as Avanti’s recipe was incredible…I guess I assumed it would be the same. Sadly, it was not. I give the clams a 0. Honestly, just take them off the menu if that’s how it’s going to be. They were disgustingly fishy, small and gross. Some were not topped with bacon, and the clams were disintegrated to mush under the bread topping. I told my husband not to complain because I knew I would write a review as it carries more weight than complaining to a server who didn’t buy or cook the food. My husband did eat them as he was curious to know if they were all the same…they were. I watched horrified wondering how he could eat them. We may return for a full dinner after the kinks...

Red Foxes are popping up everywhere, they're like the Spirit Halloween of restaurants. It is like the perfect advertisement just seeing them all the time. This is the first Fox restaurant I've gone to, my group of friends have been wanting to try one, and when we heard they were taking over Avantis my brother who lives in town went on his own at first before we all decided to go as a group and said it was nice because they had Avantis pizza oven and had an Italian spin on their menu. I still want to check out the others to see what the variety is about . We went as a group of 7. We all ordered drinks, mine was the Blueberry Bourbon something, delicious. We got a couple apps. Buffalo chicken balls, like croquettes or risotto balls, they were delicious. We also got an order of the calamari, which was crispy, but the star was the jalapeno aioli, absolutely fantastic and it saddens me to have gone so much of my life without knowing of its existence. I got the chicken piccata, which was a normal chicken piccata, it wasn't disappointing, it was what you would expect to get when you order a chicken piccata. The capers were like eating pickled peas. We ordered desserts for the table and one of our party ordered the lemon creme brulee and it came served in a lemon peel which was so fun. I got the Napoleon to share, it was like a strawberry shortcake in a freshly baked puff pastry with a delightful cream sauce. However above all else, that made this experience exceptional was the water. What nectar of the gods they served us. What fountain of youth tasting freshness. I have never experienced such a treat for my palate. The staffs ability to keep our table completely hydrated was exceptional, we almost were unable to keep up with the abundance of their glorious refreshments, but we managed to accept every drop that was bestowed upon us as quickly as we received it. The staff was also very polite, considerate, and kept up with the banter of our silly group....

The food was fantastic, but the service was lacking in a big way. Our order was taken, along with our drinks choices. The drinks came only after finishing our appetizers, and I asked when we could expect them .

Our meals came, and they were all, without question, delicious! We finished eating, with lots left over, but it was a good 15 to 20 minutes waiting for her to stop by. We ordered desserts, again delicious, but it took a long time for them to arrive. Don't go here if you're on a schedule, but absolutely stop here if you want some delicious food. I sure hope that this was an off night because we really want to try again soon.

As we were leaving, my family used the restroom. My daughter said that the bathroom smelled strong like smoke. My guess is that the bathroom has an exhaust fan and it was a...