San Marino Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Waterbury

6/2025 - Event food in the private room was a nice balance of bread, salad, and mains. Meatballs are a big deal in the city of Waterbury. This luncheon's were decent but would not have won the coveted golden annual restaurant prize. Still, who doesn't love a meatball? The chicken dish had a great sauce but was a tad dry, though with places like this that have large offerings, patrons can find their own favorites. Service was attentive.

San Marino's is a place to dine in more often. It's always good. Love they are selling house made pasta in coolers in the reception area now. We had to reorder their calamari with gorgonzola as well as the rabbit main with sweet peppers my partner always craves. I tried their braised shredded short rib with spinach, mushrooms, and gorgonzola over risotto. It was okay - a dish not really in their wheelhouse. Drinks, service, seating, all good. Bread took a while to come to the table but they were very busy. Cappuccino always makes a fine finish.

Another pleasant lunch here last week dining in the sun room. My partner ordered the Mozzarella en Carozza once again for a starter. Fried on the outside with melted cheese on the inside and served on warm tomato sauce. Each bite is worth savoring. His main was a Parmesan grinder with eggplant. The sandwich had multiple layers of thinly sliced fried eggplant, mozzarella and house sauce. Very good.

I had the Stuffed Filet of Sole with a crabmeat spinach stuffing and vegetables on the side. It's served with a garden salad (or a choice of soup). The fish was mild in flavor and a nice healthy choice. We ordered off the regular lunch menu but there are lunch specials each day, as well.

Excellent meal at this established Waterbury restaurant this weekend. Our party of four ordered the following lunch menu items which were all delectable or delizioso in Italian:

Fried calamari with gorgonzola and mozzarella en carozza. Both were above par and fine examples of how good these appetizers can be, though calamari continues to be an ongoing experiment for me in terms of subtle interpretations on the high side.

The house bread came with bowls of olive oil and shredded parmesan. Two house salads came with the recommended house creamy pepper dressing, which was the right choice for us, another with blue cheese and a fourth with the caesar option our dining companion thought was worth two more dollars.

Main dishes: Rigatoni alla vodka minus the prosciutto and with add-on shrimp. Our friend from New Haven gave it a 4.5 star review. Penne triesta with chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes. Our friend's wife gave it a five star review. Both were pasta dishes worth returning for again and are available on both San Marino's lunch and dinner menus.

Shrimp Florentine served over spinach. This entrée is perfectly cooked and for those avoiding carbs, a healthier choice that makes every bite enjoyable.

Rabbit. My partner, who has eaten here many times, knew this was taken off the menu two or three years ago, but could still be asked for if requested. Usually served with hot peppers, he asks for sweet instead to not detract from the delicate flavor of the rabbit. Sliced roasted potatoes are the third component of this medley.

Very full and satisfied, none of us wanted dessert or coffee, and there were plenty of leftovers. Our special menu drinks, a Maker's Mark old fashioned, Hendricks cucumber cocktail & pear martini are all great examples that come from a talented bartender.

San Marino Ristorante's dinner menu has a few must-have dining experiences that are not on the lunch menu that include salmon, steak, house made pasta and Tutto Mare "For Two" which is a large portion of mixed shellfish to share . Go online to see both. This is a large restaurant known for holding events of every kind and has a private dining room that holds 12-24 guests. Party size trays are also available for...

I have been a happy customer of San Marino’s for many years. I lived in Waterbury for roughly 5 years and my family got take out here and catering often. It was me and my husbands wedding anniversary in which we thought a Tuesday night would not be crowded (which it wasn’t at all) and we could bring our 2 children (ages 6 and 2) and sit inside for the first time. It was obvious upon sitting inside that their customer base is mostly elderly. Our children were being children and not staying seated and running around, but my husband and I felt they were behaving relatively well for being young kids inside a restaurant. We had an unfortunate interaction with an elderly man sitting near us who was eating dinner alone and he said some nasty comments to us about our children and how we should be able to control them. At the time of this man’s comment to us our children were at an empty table next to him touching utensils and the salt and pepper shakers. An older woman employee who greeted us at the reception desk upon entering the restaurant had went over almost immediately after our interaction with this upset elderly customer and seemed to be in cahoots with him telling him she couldn’t wait to go home which made us realize this man must be a regular customer. On her way past our table after speaking with this man, she had to step over a napkin and a teddy bear that my daughter had laying on top of the ONE step you step down to head back to the main area and this woman employee said with an increased tone “Come on! I don’t want to break my neck.” That was when I decided to pack up our food and leave. I hadn’t even finished the one drink I ordered and wasn’t even half way done with my meal. It’s a shame because our waitress, Jamie, was wonderful and understanding and their food was spot on, but to make our family feel like we were an inconvenience was rude and unacceptable and I didn’t feel they were worthy of us staying there. This would be upsetting for any parent but on top of it one of our children has special needs and is in multiple therapies and on more than one medication and he got scared after the elderly customer made his comment and then the woman working there made her comment and we had to abruptly leave in the middle of our meal. He told me on our way home that he was scared of the man and lady. Overall just be aware that this is not a family friendly restaurant. I actually just asked for the catering menu while there at dinner planning to use them again for an upcoming event but we will no longer be...

I was about to give this place a 5 star from our last experience there with the food and service being great… boy what a disappointment when you go back and the service was not so great , the calamari app was half cold and and sone done too much like it was reheated, if the food was made fresh this would not happen . we told the busboy the hostess or manager who ever she was finally came and asked we sad we were not mad but could not eat it. she took it back. That’s fine I finished my drink the waistress brought more water never came back to ask about refill for drinks … I went to the bar myself and ordered my own drink. Okay got back dinner served and the shrimp was good. Waitress asked is everything good? Yes the shrimp is good. So during our time there waitress came to our table 3 times during dinner. And one more with the check. So I do not expect free food , but do not expect to pay for inedible food that’s not up to the proper temperature ( I really don’t want to get sick from food poisoning) the appetizer was terrible and should not have been on our check. The manager also said that we should have said something right away … seriously we did to the first person who came to our table the busboy . And i wondered why I was charged for food not eaten and sent away, thebhostess or manager who ever she was and she said well you said you were not unhappy , we said not mad about it. Okay was not unhappy but why is this still on my bill ? We didn’t eat it ! She would not take it off our bill. So if you don’t like your food thee is no point they don’t care about the costumer…it’s sad that it ruined my over all experience with a place I’ve gone to for over 30 years. So bottom line is they don’t care about your overall dining experience . Thanks for a previous great 30 years but you now missed the mark. Thankfully there are so many other...