Rizzuto's Oyster Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Westport

Came to dinner on a whim at around 7:30pm. The place looks and feels very safe. Inside was closed for renovations but the outside is part of the parking lot converted into outside dining. Many tables there all distanced beyond 6 feet with tents covering each table. It was fantastic and immediately put me at ease about eating outside. The service was great. It was really busy with all tables occupied but we were able to get our own space towards the end of the lot. One thing to understand about this new way of living is that everything is going to take longer than usual to happen and it's ok.

Out waitress Fatimah was excellent and very attentive. The starting bread was fantastic. Crunchy and flavorful. We ordered the calamari, steamed clams, and oysters. All of which was great. The calamari was cooked well and crispy, the clams were excellent. The broth was of plum tomatoes, white wine, garlic and rosemary which I kept sipping on even after the clams were all gone. The oysters were oysters. Fresh with a good mignonette sauce.

The drinks we ordered were strong. Heavy hand at the bar (which is appreciated). I got the martini up with olives and my girlfriend got an old fashioned.

The pasta portion of the menu is customizable. You can pick your sauce, then pasta, then protein and then veggies. I got the garlic and oil, on linguine, with shrimp and all the vegetables (broccoli, peppers, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, and onions). It was fantastic. Fresh pasta, nothing undercooked/overcooked, and seasoned just right. My girlfriend got the NY Strip. She asked for medium well with more on the well side. They got it on the money. While I didn't try any of the sides, the piece of steak I did try had a nice crust, cooked the way it was ordered and was seasoned perfectly. Whatever was on the side and touched the steak also imparted great flavor into that bite so I imagine as a whole the dish is probably very good.

In the end we were elated about the environment and happy with both the food and service. This is a place we can say with confidence that we will be back to. They've handled themselves well and I feel safe...

First time trying Rizzutos on Mothers Day. Really excited because the menu and photos looked great! They were very busy of course as it should be. However somewhat disappointing though. Our server was nice, but she never told us her name. Didn’t tell us what wasn’t available on the menu until we ordered. So my husband had to think of something else while she waited. Our apps came out 20 minutes apart not together. Stuffed garlic bread was delicious but the warm buratta was blah. Drinks were great! Busser cleared our plates and silverware. Didn’t bring us back any. So when our entrees came out we had wait and find another server to bring us utensils. Entrees were ok. My daughter had a burger and my husband and I had the surf and turf. My steak ordered medium was definitely medium well. Tasted like it had been sitting for a while. Our server checked on us when we were just about done. Told her it was good. When we first sat down I over heard the table next to us getting their whole meal comped I think because their steaks came out wrong. So I didn’t want to add to her night. Some things are out of the servers control. And they get the brunt of complaints. However some things are, it took about 40 minutes to get our check and pay. I am a manager at restaurant and I completely understand the behind scenes of what goes on especially on a holiday. I’m writing all this because when a server is in the weeds, they should be communicating to the manager they need assistance. Wether to check on a tables food, letting them know when something ordered took too long to come out, bringing the check over, running the payment. Not sure how sections are done, I saw her wait on two other tables where we sat, so maybe she had tables somewhere else. But we hardly saw her. Hope this feedback helps. I of course love hearing positive feedback where I work but we also have heard the not so good. We make the changes, put in the effort and training to have our customers love their...

If you go, be sure to go with a small group so you can tip according to how you were served. Our party was eight and so they automatically hit us with a 20% tip. I have found elsewhere that as soon as the wait staff knows they are going to get their 20%, they pay closer attention to the smaller groups where they don't have this assurance. Actually, I normally give 20% if the service is reasonably good, but I certainly would not have in this case. The service was so poor, I might have given 5% just to make the point. I think they were understaffed as well - which might be an excuse for our server, but he sat the party of five next to us 20 minutes after we sat down and they had their main courses before we had even ordered. I'm not saying every sit-down restaurant should be as fast as McDonald's, but this was nuts. They weren't all that busy either, on this Saturday night.

The food was ok, not spectacular, but the other problem with this place was the high noise level - just from our own conversation and the other patrons. All hard, sound-reflective surfaces and a low ceiling where we were sitting. Very uncomfortable and easily remedied if they wanted to.

If you like noisy restaurants, and your party is under their auto-20 threshold, give it a try. We live 5 minutes away, and plan to pass it by on every future...