Modelo Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Norwich

Easy parking right in front of the building. Just a couple of blocks away from Mohegan Sun Casino. We just happened to arrive during happy hour which was a lucky move on our part. The specialty martini's were half off ($6) so we each got the Margarita Martini and it was the cat's meow. Served in an ice filled shaker it was basically a good amount of tequila with just a splash of lime juice. It was "to die for" good. With our meals we ordered a couple of glasses of red house wine, ($5 happy hour) and the wine seemed like a cabernet mix, but it was also very good and they gave us a good amount. I ordered a large cheese pizza and all I can say is WOW! They serve a very thin crust oven fired pizza and I believe the crust was seasoned, and boy was it a great pizza, perfectly cooked with just the right amount of ingredients. They provide, red pepper and cheese shakers on the table. I usually prefer to also have oregano but with the seasoned crust I didn't really need it. My wife got the shrimp scampi which was also very good. Pasta tasted homemade and it was perfectly cooked. The scampi was served in a seasoned olive oil sauce with 4 jumbo shrimp which were also very good, (but for $29 they should serve it with more shrimp), but it was also a very nice flavorful meal. We also got a side of bread and it was interesting as the bread seemed like it was made the same way they make the pizza crust, never had a side of bread like it. If you like eating the crust of the pizza, (which I absolutely do), then you will enjoy it completely, especially with the table olive oil and condiments. While we visited in the afternoon and it was a bit slow, we loved the set up on the Modelo side of this restaurant. The bar is a complete oval with plenty of seating around it (like Cheers). They have a nice dance floor and even some outside seating. All in all this is a great place and I bet it get hopping on Friday and Saturday nights so beware. We will definitely make a return trip to Modelo's.

Stopped in again this past week and we were not disappointed. We got the Margarita Martini's and they are still the best drink out there. Ice cold goodness. We each got a special of Linguini with Scallops and my wife substituted for Shrimp. Both dishes were fantastic and they serve the best pasta I've ever had. Fresh and perfectly cooked. Once again this restaurant is definitely on my list of must visit's whenever we are in the area. You will not be...

We got two personal pizzas and an order of mozzarella sticks through Doordash for a total of around $66.

The price was absurdly high for the relatively small and light pizzas, but that also includes a $6 tip and around $12 in fees & taxes, so the price outside of Doordash may be more reasonable.

I'm a huge fan of pizza and mozz sticks, and I'm usually able to enjoy those meals from just about anywhere. But I couldn't take more than a few bites from this place.

The taste of the pizza was indistinguishable for a frozen pizza you can buy from the supermarket. Truthfully, considering the taste and the appearance of the pizzas, it was extremely hard to believe that's not exactly how they were prepared. It genuinely looked and tasted like a shrink-wrapped frozen pizza that was unwrapped and thrown into a "brick-oven". I use quotation marks because anybody who enjoys a true New Haven style, brick-oven pizza will surely be disappointed with Modelo's version. The crust more closely resembled a pizza that had been placed on a literal brick and cooked in a conventional oven.

As far as the mozz sticks go, the outside texture and appearance alone made it clear that they were definitely of the frozen variety. And I'm not talking about ones that were made in advance by the restaurant and then frozen; I mean straight from a bag you can buy in the supermarket's frozen food section. I'd estimate that I've had fried mozz from 50+ places over the years, and I cannot remember any that had a more rubbery, artificial, and tasteless cheese. The fried mozz from fast food restaurants runs circles around these. The small cup of marinara sauce was surely out of a can. Truthfully, it was less enjoyable than the more common store brands. Extremely watery without a hint of seasoning or any flavor at all.

To label the pizza I received as a "gourmet brick-oven pizza" is borderline criminal. Of the six mozzarella sticks (at almost $2/piece), 5.75 ended up in the trash. Simply put, the food from Modelo Brick Oven Pizza cost more than some of the top parlors in Connecticut, and yet, it left us desperately wishing that we had instead ordered from Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Chuck E. Cheese, Little Caesar's, the frozen food section at the supermarket, or any other restaurant...

So I ordered the Nachos Supreme (10.95), Garlic Bread with Gorgonzola cheese(7.95) and Chicken Principessa (16.95)... with taxes and tip came to 40 something dollars... but they had good reviews and it sounded really yummy... don't you think?

SO it arrived, and being hungry, I could not wait to dig in... and then I opened the containers and ... no... just no.. Not even close.. should have stuck with gas station food or the premade frozen bowl I have for emergencies..

Nachos Supreme turned out to be soggy, greasy, tough yellow corn chips with flavorless ground beef and what looked and tasted like that gas station canned yellow artificial cheese sauce... the supreme meant 5 pieces of diced tomato and a small side container of sauteed onions and peppers like you would put on a grinder..

Garlic Bread with Gorgonzola amounted to stale bread ends (or maybe the premade frozen kind) cut into 6 small wedges, dipped in some oily concoction and fried which did nothing to hide the staleness, but made them tough and then pour a low quality creamy italian (perhaps creamy gorgonzola) SALAD DRESSING over them...

The Chicken Principessa came as two decent sized chicken breasts that were sauteed.. in oil.. (the lemon and wine must be in quarantine).. with 5 or 6 pieces of what looked like cut canned asparagus stalk, a couple of canned snow mushrooms, a small heap of very soggy spinach, zero pine nuts, and (again) soggy, what appeared to be at one point roasted red potatoes..

Maybe the pandemic has affected ordering, or staffing, or who knows, but for its price range and previous reputation, shame shame shame.. don't do it.....