Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar
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This is a nice-looking restaurant on Main Street. Exterior has pretty flower boxes. Interior has this fake rock wall behind the bar, bottles of wine hanging from the columns, and iron balconies for the upper seatings. High top tables by the bar have these worn leather chairs that feel like they need more padding. Happy Hour menu looks affordable with the usual bar bites: calamari, wings, etc. Regular menu is more costly ranging $20+ to $58 for an entree. For this kind of upscale dining experience I expected more. For the most part I found myself enjoying 50% of what I tried and had the 50% mostly soured by rude service. It’s a shame because most of the servers there seemed very friendly with a good rapport with their regulars. Server messed up my order and seemingly became upset at me because of it. No apology, just silent treatment. It made for a very uncomfortable remainder of the meal. Perhaps my subsequent review of my food became affected by this treatment but as it stands, most of the food tasted like it was cooked in copious minced garlic and salt. Mashed potatoes had this instant potato taste to it. The garlic bread was actually decent even though I expected some sort of olive oil to accompany it for dipping. Overall, it was a largely disappointing experience with poor service and I would be hesitant to return or recommend.
HH
00
This was our second time here. Once for dinner a few months ago, wonderful experience. Today for lunch was underwhelming. We were one of three tables around noon. We ordered the lunch special which included half sandwich, soup & salad/fries. Soup was lobster bisque. It wasn't bad, but way too salty. Sandwiches took quite a long time to come out. At least the waitress apologized for the wait several times. More concerning was the fact that my girlfriends sandwich (the roasted turkey sandwich) was very small. Smaller than a McDonald's egg Mcmuffin. The top slice of bread was the small butt end of an Italian loaf and hard as a rock, Inedible (see photo). It was supposed to have coppa on it, which it did not. It also had mushrooms on it which it wasn't supposed too. (Thank God she didn't have a mushroom allergy). I was going to leave feed back with the waitress if asked how everything was, but she just cleared out plates and took our check. I'm assuming the slow food service is due to an understaffed kitchen, common these days. But there's no excuse for the food. I will try dinner again but, solid pass for lunch.
BrianBrian
00
Beautiful restaurant with a great vibe. Great customer service. Overall a pleasant experience. For appetizers we ordered the tuna tartare, grilled octopus and calamari fritter. The tuna tartare was bland and unimpressive. It did taste fresh. The grilled octopus was out of this world. A perfect combination of the grill flavor with lemon. Perfectly cooked and tasty. The best plate of the night. The calamari were very tasty but salty. A little less salt and it would stand out. For dinner we had the ribeye. We ordered it medium but some areas of the ribeye were rare. It comes with potatoes and asparagus. The potatoes were a bit dry with only bacon and feta cheese. We also had the mushroom ravioli with shrimp. Great taste although it can improve. The desserts were wonderful. The creme brulee was awesome, tasty and full of flavor. The tiramisu was outstanding. Due to the tuna tartare and the calamari I am giving them 4.5 stars although Google only let me pick either a 4 or 5.
Zully Ann RiveraZully Ann Rivera
00
We had 5 couples last night at dinner. I called a week before for reservations and they got us in. Ignore the other critical foodie reviews. David, the California boy, was our waiter. Absolute best we have ever had and we go out as a crew once a week locally it seems like. He took care of us, provided guidance on menu and drinks. And he managed an incident we had with one of our guests. In fact the whole Esca team handled us with care and professionalism. David you are at the top of your game. Thank you. The drinks were spot on. The food was excellent. From shrimp pepperdale to the braised short rib to the duck. Escas has been here for years because of what they do. How they perform. And their team. And of course. Great food and drink. A must visit in the vibrant Middletown restaurant scene.
Joe The ProJoe The Pro
00
Lovely atmosphere, pleasant waitstaff, food was ah-mazzing, had Arancini balls as app & so yummy! Had Esca Burger n was perfectly medium well done and so pretty! Sorry, didn't have any wine tho they had a bomb selection. It was a Monday and our server mentioned half price either bottles or glasses...Im pretty sure bottles. My friend had Gnocchi& broccoli rabe, gnocchi was delicious broccoli rabe was as bitter n gross as Ive always thought lol(I just cant). No dessert, but next time definitely! Also..if you ask for a booth they are HUGE n accommodate 6-8 people 😆, as it was slow the hostess(very nice) was cool letting us sit wherever. Also, al fresco dinning, next to a busy road but its still so fun! But, thats another story for another time.
Jeri McMakinJeri McMakin
00
Nearby Attractions Of Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar
Kidcity Children's Museum
Metro Movies 12
Amato's Toy and Hobby Middletown
Inn at Middletown
Harbor Park
Metro Square Shopping Center
Cellular Factory 2 LLC
Device Raptors - Phone Tablet Laptop Smartwatch Repair Shop
Main Street Market
Attention To Detail

Kidcity Children's Museum
4.8
(675)Click for details

Metro Movies 12
4.1
(391)Click for details

Amato's Toy and Hobby Middletown
4.8
(344)Click for details

Inn at Middletown
4.4
(326)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar
Eli Cannons Tap Room
Celtic Cavern
ION Restaurant, It's Only Natural, ION
Sicily Coal Fired Pizza
Mondo
Luce Restaurant
Krust Pizza & Bourbon Bar
Puerto Vallarta Middletown
Fiore II Restaurant
Perkatory Coffee Roasters

Eli Cannons Tap Room
4.4
(701)Click for details

Celtic Cavern
4.5
(615)Click for details

ION Restaurant, It's Only Natural, ION
4.5
(540)Click for details

Sicily Coal Fired Pizza
4.3
(515)$$
Click for details
Basic Info
Address
437 Main St, Middletown, CT 06457
Map
Phone
(860) 316-2552
Call
Website
escact.com
Visit
Reviews
Overview
4.4
(371 reviews)$$$
Ratings & Description
Description
High-end Italian cooking is paired with a lengthy wine list at this lavish, marble-laden venue.
attractions: Kidcity Children's Museum, Metro Movies 12, Amato's Toy and Hobby Middletown, Inn at Middletown, Harbor Park, Metro Square Shopping Center, Cellular Factory 2 LLC, Device Raptors - Phone Tablet Laptop Smartwatch Repair Shop, Main Street Market, Attention To Detail, restaurants: Eli Cannons Tap Room, Celtic Cavern, ION Restaurant, It's Only Natural, ION, Sicily Coal Fired Pizza, Mondo, Luce Restaurant, Krust Pizza & Bourbon Bar, Puerto Vallarta Middletown, Fiore II Restaurant, Perkatory Coffee Roasters
