AriBella — Restaurant in Shelton

My friend and I have been wanting to try this place out for a while, as we workout at the gym in the next parking lot over. So we went with a few other close friends and it did not disappoint. The parking lot is kinda small, but I think you can park in front at the office building lot since they are closed in evening. The outdoor seating area is beautiful, it was a bit cloudy when we went so we sat inside. It was a bit chilly in there, so we asked if the fireplace can be turned in, it was right behind us, and they obliged. Bread was put in table with butter and oil, the bread was not warm and that was a disappointment, but it was still good! We ordered our appetizers to share- calamari, eggplant and another fried dish I can't remember the name. All were take good. But I didn't want to fill up on appetizers bc I ordered the grilled octopus as my entree and wanted to enjoy it. My octopus was served in a bed of arugula and broccoli rab with a balsamic drizzle. It was so good. Definitely worth coming back for. Other entrees for our party was veal chop with mashed potato, asparagus risotto, swordfish, salmon. Everyone was very happy with their meals. Portions were decent. We all shared a slice of carrot cake, they were nice enough to put a candle in it, as one of my friends had a recent birthday. The cake was really good, we finished it! Also, my friend ordered the crab and corn chowder special, but it was a typo, it is CLAM and corn, but then our server, Al, came back apologetically, bc they were out of the soup altogether. But the chef offered her another soup that was not on the menu! That was a boss move! Al was a wonderful server. Attentive and personable. The bus not was good at getting our tables cleared for each course. There's a bar area with TVS, and a room for private events which has a big screen. Bathrooms are clean. Overall we had a great time and will be back I'm sure, hopefully in warmer weather so we can enjoy that...

While the food was good, the service was not.

We had a group of 7 arrive, delighted that we were one of two tables. The other table only had two people. During the next two and a half hours, there was a maximum of 4 tables including ours.

It took a while to get our food orders taken, and a long time before we saw our food. Our waitress rarely checked on us, and I had to get up and find her to ask for the dessert menu because so long had passed since we finished our food, maybe about an hour since we got it. It took another long stretch to get the dessert, and my husband's coffee never arrived.

After the bill was paid and all our friends left, we couldn't find the waitress to ask for his coffee. We found a sympathetic bus boy who made it for him, and gave it to us in a to-go soup container. We laughed as he drank it on the way home!

I understand 7 people can be a lot, but we had no special or complicated orders. We saw our waitress maybe a total of 4 times over 2 and a half hours (one time after I had to get her). I've been to other restaurants with the same group and we didn't spend close to that much time waiting and looking for the server.

What was crazy was the automatic $70.00 tip. I get with big groups it's generally included, but I feel that contributed to the poor service. We tip no matter what, because people need to make a living, but to only see the server 4 times, one of which I had to get her, that's a bit much. My assumption is the server knew there would be automatic gratuity, so why put in the effort? I could be wrong, but at the end of the day the service was bad regardless, and that tip was adding insult to injury to my experience.

Would eat the food again,...

Down grading from 4 to 2 stars. Ordered grilled shrimp with a salad and chicken parmigiana for takeout. Chicken parmigiana was good, but the shrimp may have been old and did not taste good; we had to throw it out. We called to let them know that we were not satisfied with the shrimp. The person who took the call seemed disbelieving and was non-apologetic. We believe that the establishment missed an opportunity to make this right by refunding the cost of the shrimp or providing a replacement meal. We were repeat customers, but no longer. Ciao, AriBella!

Update:

After I wrote a poor review a few years ago, I decided to give Aribella another chance since I heard it changed hands. Perhaps I ordered the wrong dinner item this time. The Pappardelle Amantea ($39), according to the menu has, "Homemade pappardelle pasta with clams, calamari, shrimp and scallops" in marinara. I did not find one scallop and the two shrimp were very over-cooked. I would not order this again nor recommend it.

Service and atmosphere were good.

I am sorry Aribella but I (we) will not likely...