Dalton's — Restaurant in North Branford

I am giving Dalton’s 3 stars, a somewhat wobbly 3 stars. I eat out for the food and I only had two things that I would maybe make an effort to have again at Dalton’s and I tried a BUNCH of other items that were really not very good. The place itself is nice. Comfortable, warm atmosphere. COmfy booth seating and chairs. Nice bar, good sized space. Service was Meh. Look, I am restaurant owner/worker and I am ALWAYS rooting for my fellow service workers. That being said…we were sat by the hostess, who also gave us our menus. Our table was set and waiting for us with water glasses filled. And then we had not contact from a waiter for a long time. There are not very many choices if you don’t eat beef, pork or poultry (which I do not). There were zero vegetarian or vegan entrees. For our apps I ordered Buffalo Cauliflower, Chilled Seafood Salad, Panecotta, Eggplant Rollatini and Fried Calamari. I. Love. Buffalo Cauliflower. This was, honestly, terrible. They should not have served it: Burnt, Greasy, almost no Buffalo flavor. Eggplant Rollatini: Pretty good. Decent flavors. But! room temperature at best when it arrived. Borderline cold. Which is, shall we say, not cool. Chilled Seafood Salad: ODDLY ginormous “Calamari” rings. I was afraid to eat them. I did tried scallop, clams, mussels. All of which were completely devoid of any kind of seasoning. They were fresh and cooked properly. But lacked even salt. The Arugula salad they were on was very good though. Fried Calamari. Dalton’s serves their calamari with Sriracha Mayo AND Marinara OR Napolitan style. We ordered it with the Marinara and no Sriracha Mayo. We got it WITH Sriracha Mayo and no Marinara. So took a few minutes to fix that and get the Marinara. Again, GINORMOUS Calamari rings and, no tentacles. I’ve never seen that before. That made me very suspicious. I did eat a few pieces. They tasted good, like actual calamari. Cooked perfectly, nice and tender, well seasoned. HOWEVER. The Marinara. OMG. Terrible. Inedible. We all tried it. My mother (first generation Napolitan) said no one should eat it. Now here is The Actual Thing. If you are an “Italian Restaurant”?? And, most especially, you are claiming to be an Italian Restaurant in the Neapolitan style?? Your Marinara had better SLAP. Dalton’s Marinara is, bluntly, terrible. The only actually good appetizer was the Pannecotta: nice and hot and full of beans and escarole and tasty. Very nice. Good for dipping the very good bread we got at the table into. But we pressed on!! And ordered our entrees. We then waited about an hour to actually get our entrees... Everyone got a salad as part of our entree course. I don’t think anyone finished it. Dressing was okay. Overall: Meh.

Entrees were WAY BETTER than anything we had for appetizers. Which is how Dalton’s redeemed itself to the “3” rating you see here.

I ordered the Shrimp Florentine, which is served with spinach and mashed potatoes. However! They also had Gnocchi with a truffle Vodka Sauce and Sausage on the menu. I wanted to try the Gnocchi. I asked if I could get the Shrimp Florentine, no mashed potatoes and a side of the Gnocchi instead, no sausage.

2 SNAPS to Dalton’s that our waiter said that was no problem and they could do that. Taking 1 snap away because when my entree arrived (an hour later) I did, in fact, have a side of gnocchi instead of mashed potatoes, but that gnocchi was completely naked. No sauce of any kind. But! I was easily able to get a side of the Truffle Vodka Sauce. Entrees were hot and well seasoned. The Shrimp Florentine were LOVELY. Gnocchi were light and fluffy and the truffle vodka sauce was very tasty. I can heartily recommend these two things. The spinach lacked any kind of seasoning, including salt. I gave it to my father. I ordered the Chocolate Mousse for dessert. Weak chocolate flavor, not great texture. I would not choose to come back, but at least I know there are a few things I can order and enjoy at Dalton’s if we do wind up back here. Not sure I would try anymore of their...

Despite its unassuming location in a strip mall, this place is a true hidden gem! We visited on a busy Saturday night, so thankfully we had made a reservation. The restaurant offers a variety of seating options, including high-top tables, a bar with 14 stools, booths, and lower tables with chairs. Our party of five was seated at a cozy round table near the entrance, which was perfect for our group.

The prices are reasonable, including both the appetizers, salads, main entrees and cocktails. We kicked things off with a selection of martinis, all priced at $12. Our server shared a range of specials, and one person in our group decided on the winter salad, while another chose the Chilean sea bass. The rest of us selected from the regular menu for our orders. If the ingredients are available, they're happy to accommodate special requests.

I asked if I could substitute the veal for chicken in the Veal Limone, and they had no problem accommodating the request. The dish featured egg-battered chicken, layered with prosciutto and mozzarella, all served in a tangy lemon white wine sauce. It came with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. The portion was quite generous, leaving me with enough to take half home after enjoying a warm roasted beet and arugula salad with gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and a Meyer lemon dressing.

My friend's Veal Limone was incredibly tender and full of flavor. The grilled lamb chops, served in a red wine mushroom sauce with baby root vegetables and mashed potatoes, earned high praise -- he practically wiped his plate clean. My husband's seafood risotto, featuring mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and scallops in a pomodoro truffle sauce with a hint of cream, was absolutely divine. I believe him as he did not share a bite!

The last dish ordered was the Chilean sea bass special, served with clams and spinach in a light broth. It was exactly what my friend had hoped for based on the server's description, and she said it definitely lived up to its flavorful promise. The presentation was also impressive.

I suggest a visit although make a reservation so you won't be disappointed as it's a...

My real rating is 4.5 stars but sadly we can't do that.

This place is wonderful. Do not let the fact it's in a strip mall type place fool you. Everything about it is great. It's a small place with very tasteful decor. They also have one of those open kitchens, so you can see right in to where they prepare the food.

I heard it could get busy so I made a reservation for Friday night. We were seated right away (and there were a few empty tables nearby so we might have been fine without the reservation). The hostess and our waiter were both nice, so no complaints there.

First up, you get bread and garlic knots with a VERY garlicky dipping sauce. The knots were great and the bread was warm and tasty. I loved the sauce but my husband thought it was too much garlic. For our appetizer we got the stuffed calamari special. The stuffing could have been warmer, it was barely room temp. But the suace it was in was piping hot, so that helped. It was a wonderful appetizer and a very generous portion even for two people.

When they brought the side salad we knew we'd be in trouble because we were already getting full. No idea what the dressing was but it was delicious (although we could have done with a little less of it).

For our mains, my husband had the Linguine Dalton - pasta with lots of seafood. It was a wonderful light and delicate flavor. I got the Salmon Dalton - it was divine!

Sadly we were too full to have dessert but we loved this place so much we will...