Tony D's — Restaurant in New London

Booked a graduation party through Don. Put a $200 deposit for the banquet room on the left. Was reassured that it would be used towards my bill and becuz it wouldn't be busy on the date of the event the party would receive the attention it deserved. Day of we were directed to the room on the right. Questioned it to c if there was a mix up. "We changed it" followed by "Those four tables are yours" Should have recognized that as a red flag.A guest enjoying her mashed potatoes found a piece of what appeared to be a nice size piece of a rubber spatula. Waitress-no feelings whatsoever "Oh, sorry" then disappears into the kitchen. We thought she went to get someone from management. Returns "It'll be taken off the bill" then leaves. Soon after another guest stops eating and points to a purple paperclip on her fork. Who ever heard of finding a paperclip in their food? UNREAL! Waitress "Maybe one thing, but two..."Me-"What! This is common?" Waitress goes back to kitchen. Returns "Don't worry it's going to be taken off your bill" Huh? Two people are now without food. Waiting, waiting-plates are cleared. Waiting, waiting coffee/tea are ordered. Waiting, waiting coffee/tea served. Waiting, waiting cake is ready. A sigh of relief. The whole experience surrounding the cake was pleasant. The woman who made the cake was so humble. It was beautiful, delicious, and enjoyable. Bill arrives-deposit not taken off. Asked the waitress "Oh, just take it off" Paid and waited for the receipt. Waited and waited. Waitress returns and goes to the bar area. Ask her about the receipt. "We don't give receipts, it stays with the bill" Asked for a copy. Waited, waited waitress comes back "We're making you a receipt" Comes back with a receipt. Goes back to kitchen. I'm waiting for the change. Waited and waited, no change. I stop playing the waiting game and left her with the change, if she needs it that bad let her keep it. The state this world is in is making people do things out of their norm. I understand the spatula thing, but the paperclip, not at all! Odd that they put this waitress in charge of a whole party she clearly couldn't handle. She should have at least known the basics:deposits should be taken off the total, how to handle situations involving foreign objects, give a receipt AND change due back and refill water glasses throughout the meal . I don't believe Tony D's does not give receipts. Keep your eyes open and check your receipts, don't put up with the waiting games like I did(nip that in the bud), look at bad reviews before booking your parties, have lunch at the place you want to hold a party to see if it's worth it and if you have a bad experience post it-only having good reviews posted hurts those who end up wasting their money and helps the business get away with mistreating others. To the...

My family and I have been visiting Tony D’s for the last 20+ years, we always had an amazing experience each time we visited the restaurant, every time we leave satisfied with the food and price, although the price is high, but I was paying happily the amount they were charging me because the food was amazing, unfortunately I don’t know what happened to them, but I visiting on july 12th 2025 and I had the worst experience ever on that place, the server was very distracted, He seems like he really didn’t care about our table, It was a table for 10 people, He took our orders And the way he talk to us It was with an attitude, once they start to bring the food to the table One of the steaks was overcooked everybody’s pasta was overcooked and mushy and soft when I asked them that they pasta wasn’t al dente with an attitude He said that’s the way they serve the pasta because that’s fresh pasta, I said I know how fresh pasta supposed to be served, any term you want Al dente or not, he said well if you don’t like it, then you can change it for something else with an attitude Then we order something else but either way everyone was very unhappy with the whole experience today, we didn’t want to complain anymore because we weren’t going anywhere with that server, in the last when you ordered they used to give you a huge amount with a lot of seafood, unfortunately this time the plate was very very small like just unbelievable, two people order pasta with seafood. It was only three shrimps and that’s it pretty much, I honestly don’t know if this place change ownership but it’s not what I used to be, the last time I was in Tony’s It was like two years ago or three probably And I left that place that day with the same experience I always had in the past very happy but this time very very unhappy. I definitely do not recommend this place anymore, my bill was $1,000 for my family and I, again… I was extremely unsatisfied and unhappy didn’t like the food at all nor the service. The server was more worry about talking to his friends in the bar and not taking care of us, we order the food and the drinks, later on he just brought some drinks and we keep asking for the other drinks, we keep asking for the apple juice for the baby like at least six times and each time he said: it’s coming right up, but it wasn’t true, Anyway I stopped recommending this place to everybody and this was my last time going to Tony D’s, ...

In a nutshell, for those who care not to read on: average service, over priced below average food, and poor attitudes from our waitress.

As we entered what appeared to be a fine establishment, we were not greeted or acknowledged in any manner. We were dining with our very young children and instead of being offered a booth we were sat at a table amongst two very large families. Annoying, but we sucked it up and ordered some food. Service was rather slow and our older child was getting restless. The lack of desire to have a toddler yelling in a restaurant and ruining other people's meals prompted our decision to take our meal to go. I asked our waitress to make our main meal to go due to our child situation. We waited another ten minutes before the check and meal came. I believe the waitress knew what was happening and tried to strike up a last minute conversation with us about our kids to "earn" her tip. Our bill came out to 38 dollars and I tipped 2 dollars. My tipping criteria is base purely on service and not the capitalist American percentage based system that makes people feel entitled to money they didn't earn.

We left and had to return later because we forgot our credit card. The waitress exhibited an attitude which I assume was based on the tip and her next comment. She stated that they typically received 20% tip. Unfortunately my wife was the one to retrieve the card as I was in Fiddleheads finish up our groceries. My wife didn't mention my tipping policy or the fact that the waitress provided minimal service and was lucky to get even 2 dollars. Had I been the one to get the card and received the attitude that was given to my wife I would have revoked my tip and left it at that.

Unfortunately that wasn't the only terrible part of the evening. As we arrived home and began to eat the food we paid for we were unpleasantly surprised to discover that the food was extremely sub par. I'm not a food critic but I know when food is well prepared and this certainly was not.

In the end I paid 40 dollars for a snobby waitress and food for the trashcan; as I wouldn't have been doing any favors if I gave it to...